MANAGING THE CUSTOMERS

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you
did, but people will never forget how you make them feel”
-Maya Angelou

Customer New to the Business Organization

They are the customers who are likely to divert from the competitor to a business if a
business offers variety in product or service or better deal. These customers can be very
expensive to acquire if they are loyal to their existing supplier

Customer New to the Product or Service

These are the customers who find new solution for their new or existing needs. In such
case, they can avail a different product altogether.
Customer acquisition

The new customers contribute to business growth and future profitability. Two
types of customers can be acquired by a business.
STRATEGIES TO ACQUIRE CUSTOMERS
1. Product awareness
new customers can be acquired by the following means:
• Communicating with the customers
• Advertising on the television or internet
• Offering sample product for zero cost

2. Better Deals
Acquiring diverted customers is mainly winning back the customers who diverted to
competitors for some reasons. The businesses form the strategies of offering better price
deals, free maintenance service, or by offering some additional benefits to the customers
CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT
Customer development is an important process in any product development with which
a business uses customer feedback to define and develop its product.

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”

 Four core phases of customer development
1. CUSTOMER DISCOVERY
In this phase, a business evaluates how it can address the customer needs or
problems. The business knows about the target customer. The business gathers
customer feedback about their requirements.
2. CUSTOMER VALIDATION
This is a phase when the customers understand the idea of the product and
validates the product by realizing that the product will be able to solve their
problems. In this phase, a business knows about the problem and the solution.
3. CUSTOMER CREATION
The business then evaluates customer feedback, and plans a strategy for
product launch and product positioning in the market based on the feedback.

4. COMPANY BUILDING
It includes transforming ideas and concepts to execution and scaling the
business venture.
CUSTOMER RETENTION
Customer retention is the process of maintaining continuous trading relationship in
long term.
STRATEGIES FOR CUSTOMER RETENTION
NEGATIVE STRATEGIES
The clauses of penalty, switching costs, and high exit costs make the customers feel
trapped with the business. If the business enforces such strategies, it risks the reputation
by customers’ negative word-of-mouth.
POSITIVE STRATEGIES
They help increasing customer delight by understanding customer requirements,
meeting them, and providing little more beyond their expectation. Customers are
delighted to do business with you when their perception is more than their expectation.
• Adding perceived value, ideally without increasing product or service prices.
• Conducting loyalty schemes by rewarding the high spending customers.
• Organizing sales promotion where a business offers discounts on future purchases,
cash back on spending above a specific amount, gifts, scratch coupons, etc.
WHICH CUSTOMER A BUSINESS SHOULD RETAIN?
• The ones satisfied with the product or service.
• The ones who can suggest product innovation.
• The ones who are value to the business and are capable of contributing to business
profit

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”

 TERMINATING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
The relationships are terminated either from customer side or from business side.
Businesses terminate customer relationships with unprofitable customers.

WHICH CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP A BUSINESS SHOULD TERMINATE?

• Serial complainants of product or service.
• Constantly late-paying customers.
• Fraudulent customers.
• The ones who constantly look for better deals.

“Be thankful for customers who complain.

You still have the opportunity to make them happy”

Module 3: THE CUSTOMER SERVICE

Competencies: 1. Define customer service
2. Value the importance of excellent customer service
3. Discuss the ideal process in creating good customer service program
Discussion:
John Herstein, SVP for Customer Service at Box once said, “When I think about
Customer Service, it is about you how you take every interaction you have with the
customer and use that as a way to improve their perception of your organization.
Customer service is defined as an organizations ability to meet the needs and
desires of its customers. It is a process of ensuring customer satisfaction with a product
or service. This can take the form of an in-person interaction, a phone call, self-service
systems, or by other means. Customer service is an extremely important part of
maintaining ongoing client relationships, which are key to continuing revenue.
IMPORTANCE OF EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE
• The Best Customer Service Builds Trust

This will take a work harder to keep customers and build trust in the
business brand. If the business will provide the best customer service, it will
increase trust, and that could mean customer loyalty.
• Customer Service Matters more than Price

Great customer service is much more important than price. Service to a

customer is by far the most valuable thing to a business, you provide a good
customer experience and the relationship and strength of this relationship builds a
mountain for your competitors to have to climb over.
• Customer Service Build Brand Awareness

If the business will provide the best customer service, people will talk about
the business. Word of mouth is the most powerful ally you have on your side. What
your customers say to others could make or break your business.
• Good Customer Service Build Reduces Problems

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”

 Problems are always going to arise for any business no matter how hard you
try to avoid them. If customers know that they can voice complaints and those
issues will be handled properly, they will feel more comfortable doing business with
you.
• Good Customer Service Appeals to the Customer

This is someone who expects to be treated as a person, who wants more

from the experience, and who does not want to be just a number. Better customer
service will ensure you are providing them what they want.
IDEAL PROCESS IN CREATING A GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE PROGRAM
Creating a customer service program can help continually offer a highly competitive
customer experience. Examine customers' perceptions and expectations of a company,
and guides the company through the process of bringing its customer service activities in
line with customers' needs. The following are the steps in creating a customer Service
Program
STEP 1: Assessment
External and internal assessment of the company’s present service paradigm
EXTERNAL SURVEY: The baseline study attribute rated are the following:
● Reception
● Deco rum
● Dress code and grooming
● Handling
● Ambiance

INTERNAL SURVEY:
● Climate study

STEP 2: Analysis
✔ Focuses on the SWOT matrix

SWOT analysis (or SWOT matrix) is a strategic planning technique used to help a
person or organization identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
related to business competition or project planning.
This technique, which operates by 'peeling back layers of the company is designed
for use in the preliminary stages of decision-making processes and can be used as
a tool for evaluation of the strategic position of a city or organization.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) resolve issues concerned
and it can establish new or improved direction of the company
STEP 3: Plan Development
The mission statement provides the organization with a clear and effective guide for
making decisions, while the vision statement ensures that all the decision made are
properly aligned with what the organization hopes to achieve. In this step the following
are guides in formulating vision, mission and values.

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”

 VISION
✔ What does the business/company want to become or what does it want to attain in
the foreseeable future?
MISSION
✔ It is the description of the business model and its operating paradigm, or why the
organization exists
VALUES
✔ Defines how the organization shall behave internally with regard to the working
culture it wants to imbibe among its employees relative to the vision and mission
statements.

“Customer service is not what will cost us and the customer

more, but what will provide the customer the most value. When
our service delivery is integrated into our business strategies and
processes, it is also the most profitable way we can do business.”
Betsy Sanders, Author, “Fabled Service”.

Self Check:
A. Answer the questions that is being asked. Write your answers on a separate sheet.
Question
1. This is the ability of the company or organizations to meet the needs and desires of its
customers.______________________
2. The ideal step process in creating a good customer service program which focused on the
SWOT Matrix.____________________
3. A core phase wherein the business evaluates customer feedback._______________
4. The description of the business on what they want to become or what does it want to attain
in the foreseeable future?_________________
5. It is the description of the business model and its operating paradigm, or why the
organization exists._________________

Enrichment Activity:
1. Discuss the strategies on how to acquire customers.
2. Enumerate and briefly discuss the importance of excellent Customer Service.

VISION MISSION
The leading center for academic and technological excellence Develop competent and morally upright professionals and generate
and prime catalyst for a progressive and sustainable Quirino appropriate knowledge and technologies to meet the needs of Quirino
Province and Southern Cagayan Valley. Province and Southern Cagayan Valley.

“Molding Minds, Shaping Future”