Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [584]
The growing complexity of modern products, the richness of their features and the mind-boggling speed of technological advancement all make usage of new products (or services) a challenge to all but the few technically gifted (or simply very young). That, when coupled with ever shorter life cycles of most products, makes a thorough knowledge of all of a product’s (or service’s) features truly “Mission: Impossible,” and makes external help an essential part of our daily life. However, the fact that it is such a daily affair does not make it any easier. Quite often, it is an ordeal we have to endure if we are to enjoy the benefits our modern world has to offer.
There is hardly a person who has not witnessed first hand both the best and the worst of technology; from a help-desk person who has revived a “dead” computer with a few simple instructions to a Kafkaesque ordeal, often involving automated replay systems.
In this chapter, however, we will limit ourselves to CS of industrial equipment and software, which is also called technical (or tech, for short) support.
So, what’s this CS we talk about?
Of the many definitions one can come by when conducting a basic search on the Web, two main characteristics stand out: One deals with making a proper (and cost-effective) use of the product or service, while the other focuses on customer satisfaction. For example:
The range of services designed to assist customers in making cost-effective and correct use of products or services. It may include assistance in planning, installation, training, troubleshooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of the product (or service), as defined by www.BusinessDictionary.com.
According to Turban (2002), “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction—that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation.” For the purposes of this work, we will use the following definition, which combines both elements of the proper usage as well as that of customer satisfaction:
Range of services designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction—that is, the feeling that a product or service has met customers’ expectations. It is achieved by assisting the customers in making cost-effective and correct use of product or service. It may include assistance in planning, installation, training, troubleshooting, maintenance, upgrading and disposal of the product (or service).
At once, this definition outlines the critical importance of customers’ expectations in achieving the goal of providing a good CS. It also shows the wide range of CS activities, which can spread over the entire life span of a product.
However, it clearly shows that a significant part of CS activity comes quite early in the life cycle of the product; during the phases of planning its usage, the installation of the equipment (or service) and its initial use, together with the training of the staff in the proper procedures of exploiting it.
Usually, the first period of product (or service) use provides CS free of charge to the users; it is the warranty period. It is often then, when mundane reality, with all its problems, clashes with customers’ illustrious expectations. True, quite often these expectations are derived from what the marketing and sales personnel have communicated—be it explicitly or implicitly—to the future clients. The resulting perception stemming from the comparison between the expected and what was actually delivered creates a lasting impression, which will (almost) forever influence—for good or for bad—the relationship between a particular customer and the product or service provider.
Thus, the quality of CS one receives may be a crucial element in future business decisions regarding repeat buy of a product or a service. Nowhere do these decisions have