This task is based on the Innovative Widgest Company profile (attached below as Appendix 1,2,3 - Innovative Widgets)- help for this task.

 

Could you please help me with the below task please? This task is focus group. My question is below:

 

Questions:

(A) Brainstorm ideas to develop a customer service charter and plan to include:

• A vision and mission statement for customer service - explain in details
• A list of internal and external customers types  - Explain in details

(B) Brainstorm and agree on five customer service standards for Innovative Widgets

 

(C) Determine and agree on how long it will take Innovative Widgets to achieve those standards

 

(D) Considering that the budget to develop and implement the customer service plan is $ 85,000, discuss and decide if the budget is adequate to implement the plan.

 

Thank you so much.

 

 

 

Appendix 1 -Innovative Widgets

'Innovative widgets' is the largest producer of widget in Australia. Established in 1952, its widgets are used as components in a broad range of machinery, from domestic appliances to industrial equipment. The company is family-owned and run by the children and one grandchild of the founder, who collectively form the board of directors. Until recently, the grandchild had acted as a managing director of Innovative widgets.

Innovative widgets operate from one location. There is a store area in the warehouse (for the raw materials used to make the widgets), a machine workshop (where the widgets are produced) and dispatch and deliveries area. The office block houses the following operational departments:

• Purchasing
• Sales
• Accounts
• Human resources
• A recently established customer service team.

  

In total, Innovative Widgets employs over 50 staff. Last year Innovative Widgets produced a pre-tax profit $2,240,000 on a turnover of 16,000,000.

Innovative Widgets has a diverse customer base. Their largest customer is a major mining equipment manufacturer. This customer accounts for approximately 40% of total widget sales. The other 60% of sales are medium and small businesses and to individuals and sole traders.

The following is an excerpt from Innovative Widgets' business plan.

 

Business plan excerpt

 

Vision statement

To keep every Australian business running smoothly using safe, quality widgets.

Mission statement

• Innovate new ways of manufacturing and testing widgets
• Deliver consistently high-quality customer service internally and externally
• Keep Australian businesses buying Australian widgets through quality products and second-to-none customer service
• Have the best safety record of any widget company.

 

Appendix 2 -Innovative Widgets Customer Service Delivery

 

You are a customer service manager. It is currently December, and over the last few months, you have been receiving feedback from customers that customer service is just 'not what it used to be'. The board of Innovative Widgets has been made aware of the decrease in customer service quality and wants to know what you're going to do to fix the problem.

Mary is a member of your customer service team at Innovative Widgets. Her role is to receive telephone enquiries and complaints.

You have observed the following:

• Mary has been rude to customers on several occasions. This behaviour contravenes company policy on knowing the importance of friendly service to customers of Innovative Widgets.
• Mary has recently developed a habit of letting the phone ring and then placing customers on hold. This behaviour contravenes company policy on the knowledge of the importance of prompt service to customers of Innovative Widgets.
• Yesterday Mary received a complaint from a customer:

'I work as a buyer for the state's largest supplier of mining equipment, Yore Mine Co. We provide a lot of business to Innovative Widgets. 

I ordered 1,000 x 7mm widgets for delivery last Friday. I was promised that the delivery would arrive within three days. It's now a week later, and they still haven't arrived. My production manager just telephoned me to say he might fail to deliver a major order unless the widgets arrive in the next four days.

A few weeks ago, a consignment of widgets arrived from Innovative Widgets, but they were 6mm widgets rather than the 7mm I had ordered on that occasion.

I am considering going to another supplier for your widgets even though Innovative Widgets are the only Australian supplier. I could get them cheaper from China, but the saving isn't great when you add in the extra shipping costs. I'm going to begin legal action if the widgets don't arrive today. I might order the widgets from China from now on.'

• Mary misunderstood and thought that the customer had ordered the products yesterday and argued with him. She accused the customer of being unreasonable as Innovative Widgets is an industry leader in guaranteeing three-day delivery.

When the misunderstanding was eventually cleared up, Mary wasn't sure how to track orders or reorder the products. She said there was nothing she could do as Innovative Widgets' procedures didn't seem to cover this issue. 

As the customer service manager, you will need to email Yore Mine Co. to clear up the misunderstanding and address their concerns.

You will also need to demonstrate your knowledge of developing team members and coaching Mary to improve the quality of her customer service.

Use the Innovative Widgets Complaints policy and procedures document in Appendix 3 of this task to assist you.

The following is an excerpt from Innovative Widgets' business plan.

Business plan excerpt

Vision statement

To keep every Australian business running smoothly using safe, quality widgets.

Mission statement

• Innovate new ways of manufacturing and testing widgets
• Deliver consistently high-quality customer service internally and externally
• Keep Australian businesses buying Australian widgets through quality products and second-to-none customer service
• Have the best safety record of any widget company.

Customer Service Data

Call Frequency per month

	Jan	Feb	March	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Number of calls	1200	1150	1320	1300	1260	1320	1380	1350	1400	1480	1560	-
Variation in number of calls from previous year	-2%	-2%	+3.5%	-1.5%	-0.5%	+4%	+4.5%	+3.5%	+7%	+10%	+12%

 

Customer service staff

Employee	Jan	Feb	March	April	May	June	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Supervisor	John	John	John	John	John	John	John	John	John	(Annual leave)	(Annual leave)	John
Customer service officer	Mia	Mia	Mia	Mia	Mia	Mia	Mia	Mia	Mia	Mia	Mia	Mia
Customer service officer	Nitin	Nitin	Nitin	Nitin	Nitin	Nitin	Nitin	Nitin	Nitin	Nitin (quit)
Customer service officer	Jonas	Jonas	Jonas	Jonas	Jonas	Jonas	Jonas	Jonas	Jonas	Jonas	Jonas	Jonas
Customer service officer										Taya (new)	Taya	Taya
Customer service officer										Mary (new)	Mary	Mary

 

Report from HR:

• Nitin quit because he did not feel supported by the supervisor (John). Nitin was exhausted because he had to work overtime most days.
• John has an authoritarian leadership style; he is knowledgeable, but he lacks coaching and mentoring skills.
• Taya is a good customer service officer, but she was not properly inducted in the team. She finds it hard to work with her colleagues and she makes data entry errors due to lack of training on the CRM system in use.
• Jonas has been with the company for years and he could be a good supervisor, however he fears to clash with John, and he flies under the radar at work.
• The CRM system is use needs updating.
• Complaints have increase by 25% from previous years.
• The team works overtime most days to return calls. This is increasing operational costs in the customer service team.
• The team spend too much time on the phone with customers.

 

Appendix 3 -Innovative Widgets Complaints policy and procedures

 

Innovative Widgets 
Complaints Policy and Procedure

Purpose	The purpose of this policy is to ensure the management of complaints is carried out consistently, fairly and transparently and in accordance with organisational requirements.
Scope	The scope of this policy covers the management of customer complaints by employees and contractors of Innovative Widgets.
Resources	Specific procedures for the implementation of this policy are available below and on the company intranet.
Responsibility	Responsibility for the implementation of this policy rests with employees and management of Innovative Widgets with responsibility for managing customer complaints.
Relevant legislation etc.	Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth) Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cwlth). ISO 10002:2014; Quality management -- Customer satisfaction -- Guidelines for complaints handling in organisations https://www.iso.org/standard/65712.html https://www.iso-9001-checklist.co.uk/tutorial/8.2.1-customer-satisfaction.htm Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cwlth) Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Vic). Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cwlth)
Updated/authorised	10/2021 - John Doe CFO

 

To manage complaints - customer service representatives

1. Greet the customer courteously and give them your name.
2. Listen fully to what the customer is saying. Try to gather all the facts about the complaint and jot them down. Then, ask questions and summarise what they are saying.
3. Never argue with the customer.
4. Apologise for any product fault or poor service. Be sympathetic. Ask if the customer will allow us to send the faulty item to our quality department for testing.
5. When you have all the details about the complaint, ask the customer how they would like it to be resolved.
6. No product replacements are within all staff members' authority.
7. All staff members can use their professional judgement and refund an additional 10% of the value of the faulty product up to a maximum value of $25.
8. Complaints involving damage to other property are covered by our insurance. Help the customer to complete the Claims Form and ask if the customer can obtain quotes for repairs.
9. All complaints involving injury must be referred to the Customer Service Manager. Agree a suitable time for the Customer Service Manager to call the customer.
10. Any complaint that is not covered in the above procedures must be directed to the Customer Service Manager. Agree on a time for the Customer Service Manager to call the customer.