Management and Organizational Studies 2320A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Customer Service, Starbucks, Service Recovery

• School: Western University
• Department: Management and Organizational Studies
• Course: Management and Organizational Studies 2320A/B
• Professor: Alex Mc Dougall

Document Summary

Customer service specifically refers to human or mechanical activities that firms u(cid:374)dertake to help satisf(cid:455) their (cid:272)usto(cid:373)ers" (cid:374)eeds a(cid:374)d (cid:449)a(cid:374)ts: firms add value to their products. Er(cid:448)i(cid:272)e se(cid:272)tor takes up (cid:373)ore tha(cid:374) 70% of ca(cid:374)ada"s e(cid:272)o(cid:374)o(cid:373)(cid:455) Four i"s intangible, inseparable from providers, inconsistent, and cannot be held in inventory. Intangible : difficult to convey the benefits of service, ex. Inseparable production and consumption : services are produced and consumed at the same time, rarely have the opportunity to try the service before they purchase it and it cannot be returned. Customers can use kiosks to locate merchandise in store and determine whether specific products, brands, and sizes are available: customers can purchase travel items, concert and movie tickets, directly via internet or cellphone. Inventory : services are perishable because they cannot be held in inventory or stored for use in the future, to overcome this businesses sell less expensive tickets during off peak periods to stimulate demand.