Running head: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 1

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Introduction

In every competitive business environment, businesses confuse the best type of business model to

choose for their businesses. Most companies focus on competitor-focused, product-focused, and

technology-focused, rather than being customer-focused because customers are always very important to

a business, and it is always cheaper to retain existing customers rather than getting new customers.

Where people go wrong is by confusing also between service delivery, good manners, and products.

Services to customers are very crucial, because they are not physical objects to be touched, but rather,

are experiences that customers feel and they do always remember.

The reason why I chose this case, is because it's a clear illustration of what the slogan "the customer is

always right ", and what a "customer-centric " type of business model means to a company. In reflection

to the slogan, service staff should always give high priority to customer satisfaction and it goes hand in

hand with being customer-centric, where the business aims at providing customers with the best

experience to maintain profits, and build a string of trust and loyalty with the customers, that last for long.

The relevance of this case study is that it focuses on the company to customer service gap model where

the customer's expectations snd perceptions are much important to the sustainability of a business, in

relation to its service delivery to its customers, communications between both parties, and the company

understanding its customer's needs, to sustain and retain its customer basis.

In this case study, Jane hates the Swedish retailer because she had ordered a wardrobe a week before

from the retailers, and it had not been delivered. Jane decided to pick it up by herself only to have the

worst customer service ever since even being served by the company was a big problem. After all, she

found out that the store did not have her ordered product. In this case, the Swedish store does not

understand the knowledge gap between them and the customer's expectations in terms of service

delivery. It could be that the store does not understand its customer's expectations due to poor

relationship focus and failure to listen to the customer's complaints. In the second scenario, Jane is sent

to a nearby IKEA's distribution center, and it's also the worst place as she had to wait for half an hour for

the generation of her receipt because the company had lost her order request barely a week after placing

her order. The company also has poor customer services, as they do not keep their customer's records,
Running head: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 3

which can help them learn about their market needs to help them satisfy their customer's requests. The

company also does not understand its policy gap probably due to its poor management and lack of

customer service standards. This makes Jane sob because the product she had ordered did not meet her

expectations. Jane tries to face what she was in search of and decides to walk away. Therefore, failure by

a business to meet the policy gap, causes the customers to seek for a similar service but with better

services than the latter, and this is evident in the case study as Jane is informed about Argos and

Sainsbury stores that offer similar furniture products and this makes her smile and says that she shall

never again return to neither the Swedish retailers nor the IKEA's distribution due to poor customer

services.

In conclusion, without customers, then there are no sales, and without sales, there can be no revenue,

nor profits. Therefore, businesses must streamline their supply chain strategies, by satisfying their

customers with the expected products at relatively low costs (A, 2020). This is evident in the case study,

where Jane sobs because with the anticipation she had for the wardrobe, the company was not able to

satisfy her needs, despite providing them at an affordable price. Therefore, to improve the customer's

satisfaction and lower the risk of losing customers, businesses should meet their demand and supply

gaps and ensure they drive down their costs.

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Reference

2001. [Customer Satisfaction]. [Austin, Tex.]: The Dept., Internal Audit Division.

A, H., 2020. Logistics Management & Strategy. 4th ed. Essex, England: Prentice Hall. ISBN:

9780273730224.