Social Media and Customer Dialog Management at Starbucks

Question: Discuss about a Report on Social media and customer dialog management at Starbucks? Answer: Section 1 Customers in the organization, TOMS are not only those who visit the store and buy the products and services but also those who serve for the betterment of the company, the employees. The external customer is essentially an individual who buys the products of the company and is the major source of company's revenue. Internal customers are significant for the company's growth. However, its internal customers i.e. its employees are also important. This is mainly because although the internal customers will not buy the company's products but is key for the company's growth. For example, a salesperson if fail to perform effectively while dealing with the external customers then the company's morale gets affected adversely (Peppers and Rogers, 2011). 1.3 The customers are made aware of the various offer of TOMS by various marketing methods. Some of the most commonly used marketing strategies are direct selling, sales promotion, and advertising. In direct selling method, the company can use its sales representatives to go door to door to sell the product. Sales promotion is a technique generally used for new products where target customers are attracted; inventories are cleared out, and new product is introduced in the market. Advertising is used both through print media like newspapers, magazines and leaflets or via electronic media like TV, e-mail, SMS and social media like Facebook and YouTube. 1.2 The methods to keep up to date with the offers of TOMS can be done by effective marketing management. It includes that the manager should follow effective management. It includes analysis of the total stock of existing product, their market demand to the target market and revenue earned from the sales of the old products. Based on the analysis the company may decide to offer the new product or upgrade the existing product and launch it to the target market (Wilde, 2011). 1.4 Publicity can be defined as a way (either positive or negative or both) of promoting the product to the customers. Often companies adopt promotional tactics to gain publicity, which will help them market their product effectively. Some of the ways of gaining publicity which TOMS can apply are- Arranging a talk on the product Announcing an appointment with some renowned name into the company Conducting a public survey or poll Giving sponsorship to national or club sport teams Issuing a report or commendation Staging a debate on sensitive topics Making some controversial ad campaigns which are bound to get negative views. 1.6 The policies and procedures of TOMS relate to customer service, and its importance is described as follows: The employees are told to treat the customers as per the training given which includes expertise and product knowledge. The sales and marketing executive are required to solve any sudden problem in a polite and calm way. The employees should always follow the company guidelines and treat their customers irrespective of their situation and status. In case of situations which cannot be resolved, then the employee in charge should report the issue to the supervisor or manager (Gallaugher and Ransbotham, 2010). 1.5 Section 2 The ways in which the customer expectations can be met by TOMS can be identified as follows- Providing an efficient, accurate and fast service to the customers Providing a standard and quality product at a very competitive price Developing a helpful and friendly service staff that will provide all the information and meet all the queries of the customers Providing a prompt response to every query of the customers Providing an easy to surf website as well as a clean facility Keeping an adequate stock to meet any sudden increase in demand. 2.2 The ways to tell the customers that their needs cannot be met by the organization are described as follows- Offering an alternative- The best way TOMS can tell the customer is by offering a different alternative. Even if the customer did not like the alternative, they would appreciate the effort of the company. Ensuring proper updates of stock levels to the customer- Customers often stay loyal to a particular brands, company and supermarket. Thus, when the goods are out of stock TOMS should tell that to the customer and give updates about the stock levels from time to time. Giving more attention to the customer than normal- When a customer visited a shop and told that their favorite product is out of stock they are bound to be unsatisfied. Thus, the shop executive should politely entertain the customer to make a positive mark on the customers mind (Verhoef, P. C., Reinartz, W. J., and Krafft, M., 2010). 2.3 Section 3 The customer service offers of two organizations can be outlined as follows: Commercial Organization- The customer service offers can be explained about a commercial organization like a retail outlet where if the product quality is not good then the customer gets the money back. Also, when there are some customer grievances, the company executive can get back to the customer within 24 hours. Moreover, to explore the target customer better the company can give several offers and discounts to the customer. Public or third sector organization- The public sector organization like the banks can offer the customer service by understanding the needs of customers and service users. Unlike the commercial organization, the sole objective of the public sector organization is not to make the profit. As in banks, they can offer supportive services like special packages for the weaker and small-scale businesspersons, families and shops. The major customer service offers of this public sector organization are value driven which means to improve customer welfare and they're economic and environmental well-being. 3.1 The ways in which the resources available can affect the offer of TOMS to its customers are- If the customers are offered a standard quality product at a high price, the sales will be improved due to price fairness. If the company aims to decrease its price to fulfill the needs of customers, then the product quality is hampered. If the human and another resource of the company decreases then, the production of the company is likely to get affected. The ways in which the financial implications of TOMS can affect its offer to its customers are- Instances when due to the change in the foreign exchange market, increases the production cost and so does the sales price. The increase in sales price will result in the fall in the customers' demand. 3.2 The two examples of when customer service may be limited by organizations goals can be identified as follows- The price of the product affects the customers needs. This is because to implement fair price to implement customer loyalty and satisfaction the company needs to maintain fair price, which may not comply with some customers who wish to get a product at a cheaper price. Contrary to this incident, when the customer wishes to get better quality product irrespective of the price they become price tolerant. But when the company fail to increase its product quality due to increasing operating and production costs but increases its sales price then the customer's interests, and loyalty get adversely affected. 3.4 Section 4 The ways in which consumer complaints may be defused prior to escalation are identified as follows- Face to face- Giving undivided attention Showing care and using I to show concern Listening clearly and asking question to understand the customers problem Offering the customers problem as per his/ her interest Written (letter or email) Clearly reading every word mentioned in the mail Finding out the exact area of customers dissatisfaction Responding politely and neatly in writing Providing special complimentary offers if necessary Via the telephone Going straight to the area of complaints Adopting a positive tone and not taking anything personally Cross questioning the customer to confirm his exact complaint Providing a solution and if it is not possible to provide an immediate solution, then giving proper assurance to the customer. 4.3 Customer complaints are monitored because- To use the customer feedback to improve the customers experience and build customer satisfaction To develop the companys brand morale and customer loyalty The customer complaints are monitored in the following ways- Using monitoring tools like the social media, Twitter and Facebook to monitor the customer complaints. Using monitoring tools like customer support software, like the contact us and customers helpdesk column in the companys official websites (Goetsch, D. L., and Davis, S. B., 2014). 4.4 Section 5 The business service improvements might be limited by legislation. The legislation demands certain measures, which ensure to protect the individual safety and health, workplace ethics and corporate social responsibility in the organization. These measures can limit the potentiality of improving the service improvements. However, these limitations can limit the service improvements but ensure long-term sustainability. 5.2 The individual safety and health responsibilities while delivering customer service is explained as follows- Controlling any operational risks Using proper safety in the workplace Reporting any safety and health concerns straight to the employer Getting proper training and education regarding safety and health measures (Kumar, 2010). 5.4 References Gallaugher, J., and Ransbotham, S. (2010). Social media and customer dialog management at Starbucks.MIS Quarterly Executive,9(4), 197-212. Goetsch, D. L., and Davis, S. B. (2014).Quality management for organizational excellence. pearson. Kumar, V. (2010).Customer relationship management. John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. Peppers, D. and Rogers, M. (2011).Managing customer relationships. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Verhoef, P. C., Reinartz, W. J., and Krafft, M. (2010). Customer engagement as a new perspective in customer management.Journal of Service Research,13(3), 247-252. Wilde, S. (2011).Customer knowledge management. Heidelberg: Springer.