press release

July 2014: How often does a service company truly

exceed expectations? For many consumers, the
satisfaction from purchasin a physical product
often increases sinificantly from the moment they
unpac! and "ein utilisin the product #i$e$ such as
a new technoloical device%$ However, when it
comes to services that consumers utilise, the
satisfaction delivered as a result of the service
rarely increases to the same extent once the service
experience has come to an end$
&loria 'orres, Head of (ustomer )ervice for *H+
,xpress )u" )aharan -frica, says that due to these
lower satisfaction levels post a consumer.s
experience, "usinesses within the service industry
need to constantly loo! to truly exceed a customer.s
expectations to pea! satisfaction durin the process
of deliverin a service, and this is often achieved
throuh a seamless and positive customer
experience$
'he recently released &lo"al (ustomer )ervice
)urvey "y /nteractive /ntellience &roup /nc$
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hihlihts the importance of a positive customer
experience$ /t revealed that 041 of consumers
would tell others when they had a positive customer
service experience and that 421 of consumers tend
to ma!e purchase decisions "ased solely on
customer service$
3'he professionalism and attitude of a company.s
employees, especially in the services industry, can
have a massive influence on a customer.s experience
and perception of service, and in turn, how a
customer promotes the company to other potential
customers$ (ustomer service therefore plays a
sinificant role in a "usiness.s "ottom line,4 says
'orres$
)he adds that that the world of loistics is a !ey
area where customer satisfaction levels need to "e
manaed$ 35hen a customer is payin you to
deliver somethin within a specific timeframe, the
upside, at first lance, is limited$ 6ou can et it
there on time, in one piece$ 7ut that.s what the
customer expects$ ,ven ettin it there earlier miht
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not "e welcomed$ For example, if the customer is not
at home or their warehouse is not yet ready to ta!e
receipt of more stoc!$ -t the same time, the
potential to disappoint is hue 8 deliverin
somethin late, not at all, or in worse condition
than when it started the 9ourney is almost
uaranteed to create immense dissatisfaction$
3-dd to this the numerous interactions a customer
has with diverse interfaces in many service
companies and another important dimension comes
into play: human relationships$ /n most "usinesses
8 even in today.s diital, automated world 8 there
are still numerous people who provide different
aspects of service to the customer$ From the account
manaer who ma!es the pitch, the "oo!in aent
who ta!es an order and the operational employee
who delivers the service, riht throuh to the "illin
department that issues the invoice and follows up
on payment 8 every sinle person can impact
customer service levels$ /t is for this reason that we
at *H+ see hue potential to help service companies
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deliver additional value "eyond what a customer is
payin for$4
'orres says that there are three !ey areas which
*H+ "elieves are crucial to deliverin service
excellence:
'he voice of the customer: ,nsurin that the
voice of the customer resonates throuhout the
oranisation is essential to reat service$
/nitiatives, such as the :et ;romoter -pproach
#:;-% manaement tool, which measures
promoters and detractors amon your
customer "ase and proactively sources
feed"ac! from them, can have a hue impact in
identifyin areas for improvement and
ena"lin the company to ma!e the necessary
chanes to enhance their offerin and
continually offer "etter ways to deliver
excellence to customers$
-n insanely customer<centric culture: -n
employee who simply smiles at a customer can
have a hue impact on the customer.s
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perception of their experience$ 'he only way to
drive this perception in the service industry is
throuh promotin a culture that is intensely
customer centric, with the customer at the
forefront of every activity$ )ervice is not 9ust
the responsi"ility of the customer service
department$ However, the customer service
function, iven its expertise in this area, can
play a !ey role in focusin the whole
oranisation on its customers$
'ransparent !ey performance indicators: 5hile
a service culture is larely an intani"le thin,
the 3measura"les4 are still important$ 5hen
these are set correctly, they help to focus teams
on achievin a common o"9ective, and
manaers to identify areas for continuous,
incremental improvement$ ;erformance
indicators should also "e "uilt around service
=uality from the customer.s viewpoint, and they
should "e constantly visi"le to top
manaement$
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3'he service industry, despite its name, can "e one
of the most difficult in which to consistently deliver
reat customer service and to exceed customers.
expectations$ However, throuh focusin
relentlessly on the little details that drive =uality,
listenin intently to what your customers are tellin
you, and ma!in sure that every individual in your
"usiness understands the impact they can have on
the customer experience, "usinesses can deliver
value "eyond the 3transaction4 level and ensure
lon<term success,4 concludes 'orres$
*H+ 8 'he +oistics company for the world
*H+ is the lo"al mar!et leader in the loistics
industry and 3'he +oistics company for the
world4$ *H+ commits its expertise in international
express, air and ocean freiht, road and rail
transportation, contract loistics and international
mail services to its customers$ - lo"al networ!
composed of more than 220 countries and
territories and a"out 2>2,000 employees worldwide
offers customers superior service =uality and local
!nowlede to satisfy their supply chain
re=uirements$ *H+ accepts its social responsi"ility
"y supportin environmental protection, disaster
manaement and education$
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*H+ is part of *eutsche ;ost *H+$ 'he &roup
enerated revenue of more than 22 "illion euros in
201?$
For more information: www$dpdhl$com
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