In the more and more competitive service industry, it is no longer enough to pro

In the more and more competitive service industry, itis no longer enough to promise customer satisfaction. Today, customer “delight”is what companies are trying to achieve in order to keep and increase marketshare.

It is accepted in the marketing industry, andconfirmed by a number of researches, that customers receiving good service willpromote business by telling up to 12 other people; those treated badly willtell their tales of woe to up to 20 people, and 80 percent of the people whofeel their complaints are handled fairly will stay loyal.

    New challenges for customer carehave come when people can obtain goods and services through telephone callcenters and the Internet. For example, many companies now have to invest a lotof money in information technology and staff training in order to cope with the“phone rage”—caused by delays in answering calls, being cut off inmid-conversation or left waiting for long periods.

“Many people do not like talking to machines,” saysDr. Storey Senior Lecturer in Marketing at City University Business School.“Banks, for example, encourage staff at call centers to use customer data toestablish instant and good relationship with them. The aim is to make thecustomer feel they know you and that you can trust— the sort of comfortablefeelings people have during face-to-face chats with their local branchmanager.”

Recommended ways of creating customer delight include:under-promising and over-delivering (saying that a repair will be carried outwithin five hours, but getting it done within two); replacing a faulty productimmediately; throwing in a gift voucher (购物礼卷) as anunexpected “thank you” to regular customers; and always returning calls, evenwhen they are complaints.

Aiming for customer delight is all very well, but ifservices do not reach the high level promised, disappointment or worse will bethe result. This can be eased by offering an apology and an explanation of whythe service did not meet usual standards with empathy (for example, “I know howyou must feel”), and possible solutions (replacement, compensation or whateverfairness suggests best meets the case).

Airlines face some of the toughest challenges overcustomer care. Fierce competition has convinced them that delighting passengersis an important marketing tool, while there is great potential for customeranger over delays caused by weather, unclaimed luggage and technical problems .

For British Airways staff, a winning telephone styleis considered vital in handling the large volume of calls about bookings andflight times. They are trained to answer quickly, with their name, job titleand a “we are here to help” attitude. The company has invested heavily ininformation technology to make sure that information is available instantly onscreen.

British Airways also says its customer care policiesare applied within the company and staff are taught to regard each other ascustomers requiring the highest standards of service.

Customer care is obviously here to stay and it wouldbe a foolish company that used slogans such as "we do as we please”. Onthe other hand, the more customers are promised, the greater the risk ofdisappointment.

1.We can learn from Paragraph 2 that        .

A. complaining customers are hard to satisfy

B. unsatisfied customers receive better service

C. Satisfied customers catch more attention

D. well-treated customers promote business

2.The writer mentions “phone rage” (Paragraph 3) toshow that________.

A. customers often use phones to express their anger

B. people still prefer to buy goods online

C. customer care becomes more demanding

D. customers rely on their phones to obtain services

3.What does the writer recommend to create delight?

A. Calling customers regularly           B.Giving a “thank you” note.

C. Delivering a quicker service                   D.Promising more gifts.

4.If a manager should show his empathy (Paragraph 6),what would he probably say?

A. “I know how upset you must be.”           B.“I appreciate your understanding.”

C. “I’m sorry for the delay.”                          D.“I know it’s our fault.”

5.Customer delight is important for airlinesbecause________.

A. their telephone style remains unchanged

B. they are more likely to meet with complaints

C. the services cost them a lot of money

D. the policies can be applied to their staff

试题答案

【答案】

1.D

2.C

3.C

4.A

5.B

【解析】

试题