Successful Customer Service Strategy in The Philippine Business Enterprise
Successful Customer Service Strategy in The Philippine Business Enterprise
Successful Customer Service Strategy in The Philippine Business Enterprise
Lesson 2.4
Successful Customer Service Strategy in the
Philippine Business Enterprise
Contents
Introduction 1
Learning Objectives 2
Quick Look 3
Case Study 15
Keep in Mind 16
Try This 17
Challenge Yourself 19
Bibliography 20
Unit 2: Customer Relationship: Customer Service
Lesson 2.4
Introduction
It is typical for customers to ask for assistance from product and service providers. It may
concern a defective product or an unsatisfactory service. Customer service programs are
designed to address these problems.
Through customer service, customers can talk about the product or service and the
particular issues they encounter. They can also give feedback and suggestions to improve
these products or services. Maintaining profitable customer relationships requires good
customer service. But have you wondered what type of customer service they could offer
you?
In this lesson, you will learn the definition, principles, and types of customer service. These
learnings will guide you in exploring and assessing the customer service strategies used in
the Philippines.
customer service.
● Analyze the customer service strategy
employed by businesses.
● Evaluate the customer service strategies
used by Philippine business enterprises.
Quick Look
Online stores adopted this practice by sending a welcome greeting to new customers via
email, text messages, or mobile applications. But here is something unique: a personalized
greeting thanking buyers for completing their first purchase.
A renowned productivity drink is doing this and taking it to a higher level. After making their
first purchase, the clients get personalized video greetings from the staff members. The
representatives also took the time to explain how to maximize the benefits and enhance the
product experience.
Questions to Ponder
1. Why is customer service important?
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Customer service is the aid you provide to your consumers before and after purchase and
utilizing your products or services, allowing them to have an easy and happy experience with
you. If you want to retain clients and grow your business, you must provide excellent
customer service. Customer service now extends well beyond the usual phone support
worker. It may be accessed by email, the web, text message, and social media. Many
businesses also provide self-service assistance, allowing consumers to discover their answers
at any time of day or night.
It's no wonder that as today's social, mobile customers have gotten accustomed to having
what they want, their expectations have risen when they want it accordingly. Furthermore,
today's customers are ready to share negative experiences online, where they may rapidly
reach big audiences. It is more critical than ever to serve customers across all channels from
the start and determine what good customer service looks like internally and externally.
Essential Question
How will you know if you are providing excellent customer service?
Customer service provides assistance and guidance to customers before, during, and after
a purchase. A customer service program assists consumers during product or service
discovery, usage, optimization, and troubleshooting. It is also used to gather customer
feedback and improve the overall service. The purpose of customer service is to build
long-term connections with customers.
Various marketing research proved that excellent customer service is a need, not merely a
“nice-to-have.” The quality of customer service directly affects customer retention and
success.
Give one example of a customer service strategy you have experienced with
a Philippine business enterprise. Explain how the service affected your
experience with the product.
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Reactive assistance has been the norm in customer service: enterprises wait for a
consumer to raise a question or an issue. On the other hand, proactive engagement is
quickly becoming a critical sort of customer service—it entails predicting the clients'
problems and addressing them before they even happen. It can be done by using
frequently-asked questions (FAQs), self-service pages, or alerting the customer of a shipment
delay. Essentially, proactive customer service entails resolving client concerns before a
problem causes a drop in satisfaction.
1
Churn— (verb) or customer attrition; the number of customers that do not become repeat customers in a given period.
A good customer service experience links a consumer's online, mobile, and in-store visits.
Retailers are trying to fill that gap by offering "Click and Collect" and "Click and Reserve"
options.
Closer Look
Email Support
Email is the traditional, popular, and widely used asynchronous method for customers to
contact businesses. When combined with the correct email management software, email
may be one of the simplest methods to organize, prioritize, and allocate customer support
conversations in one location. What is the advantage of email as a platform? Customers may
reach out at any moment to log an inquiry, and almost everyone has an email account.
Typically, email is also the initial form of assistance a company provides. It is another popular
form of internal help. Email may be used by Human Resources, Payroll, and IT staff to resolve
concerns or answer employee queries.
As artificial intelligence (AI) and automated chatbots have increased, so have message rates.
Bots have quickly become an essential component of any messaging strategy, with faster
replies being the primary reason organizations utilize messaging. Bots provide
round-the-clock service and may take basic and repeated requests off agents' plates, making
them important support staff partners.
Closer Look
Phone Support
A phone chat is still an effective technique to settle difficulties. Operators can handle
complicated issues more quickly when clients call for assistance and provide extensive,
individualized support. Phone support may be costly in terms of service representatives. Still,
software with integrated analytics can help companies better understand how to staff, how
many calls support agents can accept, and how ticket traffic from phone channels compares
to other channels.
Customer service through phone support may also benefit from comprehensive client
history, automatic ticket generation, call recording, and other time-saving capabilities with
the appropriate software. To provide the finest phone assistance, companies consider the
hours when the amount of calls peaks, the waiting time, and routing regulations.
Self-service
Support professionals are well-versed in client difficulties and the best ways to resolve them.
However, agents also spend a significant amount of time hunting for information. A collective
knowledge base can help firms tap into institutional knowledge and provide their customer
service staff with the information they need to assist consumers effectively. It may also assist
the firm in understanding and filling any knowledge gaps that may exist.
Furthermore, clients prefer self-service since it reduces interaction friction. Firms can
minimize customer friction2 while simultaneously boosting efficiency and delivering faster
2
Customer friction— (verb) It is anything that stops customers from buying the company's goods, products, or services.
Is there such a thing as the “best customer service channel”? Explain your
answer.
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Accessibility
“How easy is it for your consumers to get in touch with you?” This is the first question your
customer support representatives should ask. Can your consumer contact you through a
channel of their choice? Some of your clients may choose to phone you, while others may
prefer to use live chat, and still another group may prefer to email you. The institution should
always be accessible and available 24/7.
The greatest strategy to be available is to poll your consumers and determine which kind of
communication they prefer. This is where omnichannel support can assist; invest in a system
that will give your consumers a more comprehensive experience.
Can you recall a time when you or your family transferred from one telecom service provider
to another, owing to a lack of recognition? Customers hate waiting, and they hate it much
more when placed on hold. So, if you want to enhance your customer service, starting with a
quick response is a good place to start.
Clarity
While reaction time is critical, you must also be clear in your communication. Clarity refers to
the ease with which your speech may be processed. It is always not easy to process
information, especially when under pressure, but the organization should plan to ensure
fluent and accurate information processing.
When writing a first answer email, ensure your phrases are not too long and complicated. Be
as concise as possible, and you can describe the problem later when you have resolved it.
Below are tips to keep in mind to communicate clearly:
● Conciseness
It is difficult to speak or type concisely—the less mental work required to analyze a
statement, the greater the consumers' comprehension. The issue with extensive replies is
that people tend to tune out at a certain point, and you may need to repeat yourself to make
it clear.
● Structure
If you're sending a response email, arrange it to be simple to process. Discuss the what, why,
and how-to. This makes it more appealing to consumers.
● Analogy
Nothing works better than an analogy when it comes to learning new things. Structure any
complex or new use cases to understand, even a layperson. While this may lengthen the
message, it will assist you in guaranteeing that customers know what you're trying to say.
Transparency
Keep your consumers informed; transparency is just as crucial as speed in customer service.
No one enjoys waiting, and being open and honest may help you remove some of the delays
from the process. If you are transparent, it can mean you are accountable for any actions
and policies of the company.
Inform your consumers about the causes of the delay, why it takes so long, and how much
longer it will take to resolve. Communicating with a customer should ensure that they can be
as transparent as possible.
Closer Look
Being Transparent
When you get a ticket, instead of just sending an acknowledgment email,
send out frequent messages to indicate what you are working on, how
long you have been working on it, and what you are doing to resolve it.
This will reassure clients that you are working on their issue and will
assist in alleviating the bitterness and frustration associated with the
waiting time.
Accuracy
Most of the time, speed and precision do not mix. While quickness is vital for acknowledging
consumers, accuracy determines service excellence. Your emphasis should be on how well
you were able to fix your customers' difficulties rather than how many client issues you could
handle.
Your representatives should not rush clients off the phone to fix additional difficulties.
Nobody wants to be disregarded, and service quality is important for total client happiness.
Train your agents to provide superior service to your clients even when there are several
issues to tackle and focus on quality rather than quantity.
Encourage agents to be personable in their emails and fill any dead time with small talk to
give customers the impression that they receive a personalized service. Even if the
interaction is positive or negative, add components that give your support workers a
welcoming face. After all, no matter how brilliant AI grows, customers will always prefer a
human touch.
This will assist enhance speed, and your salespeople will be able to answer inquiries more
accurately, resulting in an overall good client experience. Make training a priority in your
customer service operations. Allow them to test each feature and activate any
integrations/add-ons to respond to any questions that arise.
Learn to provide experiences to customers rather than solutions. Offer them something that
goes above and beyond the expected - something that makes them say 'wow.'
Personalization is one method to do this; it elevates customer care into the realm of a more
comprehensive customer experience. Seeing and serving above the call of duty helps raise
3
Interactive Voice Response— (noun) is an automated telephone information system that interacts with a caller through
fixed voice menus and real-time data from databases.
What are the benefits of knowing the core principles of customer service?
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Your consumers' requirements, interests, and worries should guide your company's policies,
offers, and support methods.
Create policies and procedures to guarantee that all team members give the same level of
thoughtful, dependable customer care. Introduce these rules when onboarding new staff,
and allow current employees to ask clarifying questions.
Make it apparent that everyone is working together to promote the same ideals. To provide a
consistent experience, put every new team member through the same customer service
training session regardless of title or status.
Empower Employees
The more difficult it is for your personnel to go out on a limb to please a customer, the more
stressful the scenario becomes for everyone. Unfortunately, there are a variety of factors
that restrict firms from providing their customer care employees with the finest service
available. Whether it is a complicated approval procedure, an inability to give discounts, or a
general lack of power, if a regulation impedes employee performance in any way, it should
be reconsidered.
Above all, strive to empower your customer service representatives. Create regulations that
allow them to tackle problems imaginatively, so they may rise to meet the specific demands
of each consumer.
You should still strive to reply to all consumer feedback — or as many as feasible. Even if
someone congratulates you on a new product launch or a nice review of your latest product,
it is critical to communicate with your consumers positively or negatively
Case Study
Communication is Key
A well-known tech company chose to slow down their older gadgets
without informing their clients. Although they may have had a valid basis
for making this move, their inability to warn clients sparked anger among
users.
The company claimed that the action was taken to extend the battery life
of older phones. While this was true, the lack of transparency enraged
customers. The company eventually apologized to their customers and
offered cheap battery replacements.
Keep in Mind
● Customer service provides assistance and guidance to customers before, during, and
after a purchase. The purpose of customer service is to build long-term connections
with customers.
● A customer service program can be reactive or proactive. Reactive assistance allows
customers to approach business representatives and raise their concerns. Proactive
engagement entails quick action to address anticipated issues before they even
happen.
● Philippine business enterprises use different channels for customer service programs:
traditional, email support, messaging, chat and phone support, and self-service.
Try This
A. True or False. Write true if the statement is correct. Otherwise, write false.
________________ 5. If you cannot give a quick solution, let them wait until you have
the answer.
________________ 4. Reading a FAQ page to learn more about the service they are
offering.
________________ 5. A customer goes to the store to ask about their latest shoes.
Passengers on two different Air T planes were redirected to Manila. While the
airline had no control over the detour, they treated their customers fairly after
landing. Despite this, passengers on one aircraft reported being detained on the
runway for more than four hours, with no food, air conditioning, or drink. At least
one passenger sought assistance from the authorities due to this event.
The Philippine Transportation Agency fined and held the airline accountable
following the incident. During the hearing, however, consumers and the press
remarked that the airline and airport were making excuses and blaming one
another, prompting customers to vow they would not fly with them again.
1. Do you agree with how the airline treated its passengers? Why or why not?
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2. What do you think the airline should have done to show good customer service?
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5. How would you handle the situation if you were the manager or head of the said
flight?
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Challenge Yourself
1. The suki system is a traditional customer service program employed by small and
medium-enterprises in the Philippines. A suki is either a seller or buyer who gets
additional privileges for regularly transacting with the same customer or provider.
What are the usual privileges of a suki?
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Pros Cons
Bibliography
“Customer Service Strategy 101: A Framework for Serving Customers & Measuring
Success: Boomtown.” RSS, September 15, 2019.
https://www.goboomtown.com/blog/customer-service-strategy.
Grant, Mitchell. “Good Customer Service Matters.” Investopedia. Investopedia, May 19,
2021. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/customer-service.asp.