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Investigating client relationship needs and wants within the banking industry in South Africa

Emotional intelligence as determinant of the ideal characteristics to deliver the best service to customers

  • Authors: Vermeulen, Elizabeth Maria
  • Date: 2012-08-13
  • Subjects: Emotional intelligence , Customer services
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:9097 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5556
  • Description: M.B.A. , Applications of Emotional Intelligence in the workplace are almost infinite. Emotional Intelligence is instrumental in resolving a sticky problem with a coworker, closing a deal with a difficult customer, criticising your boss, staying on top of a task until it is completed, and in many other challenges affecting your success. Emotional Intelligence is used both interpersonally (helping yourself) and interpersonally (helping others) (Weisinger, 1998:xvi). One of the most difficult and rewarding practices of emotional intelligence is to help others help themselves (Weisinger, 1998:181). A work organisation is an integrated system that depends upon the interrelationship of the individuals who are part of it. How each person performs affects the company as a whole. That's why it is important to the success of the company not only that all employees perform to the best of their abilities but that they also help others do the same (Weisinger, 1998:183). A general attitude toward one's job; the difference between the amount of rewards workers receive and the amount they believe they should receive. A person's job is more than just the obvious activities — it requires interaction with co-workers and bosses, following organisational rules and policies, meeting performance standards, living with working conditions that are often less than ideal. Therefore job satisfaction is not straight forward (Robbins 1996: 190). Service variability refers to the unwanted or random levels of service quality customers receive when they patronise a service. Variability is primarily caused by the human element, although machines may malfunction causing a variation in the service. Various service employees will perform the same service differently and even the same service employees will provide varying levels of service from one time to another. Unfortunately, because of the variability characteristic of services, standardisation and quality control are more difficult (Kurtz & Clow 1998: 14). To ensure quality at the source refers to the philosophy of making each worker responsible for the quality of his work. This incorporates the notions of do it right. Workers are expected to provide goods or services that meet specifications and to find and correct mistakes that occur. Each worker becomes a quality inspector for his own work (Stevenson 1996: 103). This dissertation is therefore looking at the different viewpoints of experts on emotional intelligence and to identify characteristics important to render quality client service.
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Die meting van Sasol hittebrandstowwe se dienskwaliteit in die bemarking van brandolies met behulp van die SERVQUAL tegniek

Internal marketing in a customer service centre

  • Authors: Naidoo, Logantheran Perumall
  • Date: 2009-03-31T09:45:14Z
  • Subjects: Relationship marketing , Customer services
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:8277 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/2386
  • Description: M.B.A. , Building relationships with various groups of stakeholders is critical to an organisation’s success. One critical group of stakeholders are the organisation’s employees – the Internal Market. Internal Marketing is the key to superior service and the result is external marketing success. Internal Marketing can be defined as the promoting of the organisation and its product(s) or product line(s) to the organisation’s employees. Internal marketing as a term evolves from the notion that employees constitute an internal market within the organisation. This market needs to be informed, educated, trained, rewarded and motivated to meet external customers' needs and expectations. Understanding customer expectations is a prerequisite for delivering superior service. In order to achieve customer and organisation alignment, the organisations have to ensure that their internal processes, systems and employees are aligned to their common objectives of retaining customers and delivering superior service. Internal Marketing (IM) and Customer Service Centre (CSC) employees was chosen as the subject for this research to determine and establish the nature and perceptions of internal marketing in the service delivered by the Customer Service Centre employees from this specific Bank. IM has wide application in the service sector, but there is little empirical evidence that shows how Customer Service Centre employees perceive it. IM comprises of five components. Customer orientation and customer satisfaction involves leveraging customer relationships and their associated in-depth customer knowledge, which guides an organisation’s strategy towards meeting customer objectives. The implementation of specific corporate or functional strategies relates to the alignment, education and motivation of employees so that they can deliver on customer expectations, whilst meeting the organisation’s objectives. Employee motivation and employee satisfaction relates to attracting, developing, motivating and retaining qualified employees through job products that satisfy their needs. Inter-functional co-ordination and integration involves internal cross-functional relationships or co-operation to deliver effective service to the customers. The marketing-like approach refers to internal marketing-like activities that can influence employees to become customer-conscious and marketoriented. It is critical that employees within an organisation understand their impact and influence on other employees who are part of the complete value-chain that renders a service to the customer. This is important as employees within an organisation provide a service or support to other employees who deliver the end product or service to the customer. This study identified the employees’ perceptions of the internal marketing components within a Customer Service Centre of a leading Bank. The Customer Service Centre provides first level telephonic support to the Bank’s employees. This is a key function in order to ensure that all problems are resolved quickly so that the employees can deliver service to their customers. This research contains a background to the study, a literature review that was researched to clearly define and understand IM, it concepts, as well as related subjects to IM and call centre environments. A survey was then conducted with the CSC employees and the findings were then analysed and proposed recommendations were then concluded. The outcomes of the research identified that four of the five IM components are present in a CSC environment.
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An assessment of internet banking service quality

  • Authors: Molapo, Masopha Nehemia
  • Date: 2010-11-09T06:46:40Z
  • Subjects: Internet banking , Customer services
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:6964 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3472
  • Description: M.Comm. , Extensive studies have been done in the past on measuring service quality where the service is delivered on a face-to-face encounter. This study assesses and measures online service quality where there is no face-to-face encounter. The service quality measures are particularly on Internet Banking service. The research problem has been stated as the lack of insight into customer perceptions on Internet Banking service quality by management in South African banks. The purpose of this study was to explore customers’ perceptions on key electronic service dimensions or factors of Internet Banking service quality. The primary objective of the study was to have an insight into how Internet Banking customers in South Africa perceive their respective banks’ performance on pre-defined electronic service quality dimensions. The secondary objective was to determine if there was any difference in Internet Banking service quality perception based on age, gender, or primary bank offering the service (service provider). Even though online shopping and Internet Banking are online services there are subtle differences between the two services. With online shopping there is a physical item that gets traded and in Internet Banking only services are traded. It is for this reason that the original E-S-Q instrument was slightly adjusted. Some of the dimensions that were excluded from the original E-S-Q instrument include flexibility, price knowledge and customization Given the purpose and objectives of the study a quantitative approach was taken as the major research approach for the study. The sampling design was a nonprobability sampling one because the convenience method of sampling was used. The survey population was all online banking users, utilizing services from South African banks. A slightly revised electronic service quality (E-S-Q), a service quality measurement instrument, was used in this study. Data was collected via a web based self administered survey. The original E-S-Q instrument measured customer service quality from an online shopping experience point of view. This study aimed at gleaning respondents’ perceptions on key Internet Banking service dimensions.
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Value disciplines: measuring customer preferences.

  • Authors: Dannhauser, Z. , Roodt, G.
  • Date: 2001
  • Subjects: Customer services , Psychometrical properties
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: uj:6306 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1054
  • Description: According to the World Competitiveness Report: 1999, South Africa ranks poorly in terms of delivering customer services (Garelli, 1999). In order to assist South African organisations to identify their customers' value preferences, three scales collectively called the Customer Preference Questionnaire (CPQ) were developed. The purpose was to assess the three value disciplines as conceptualised by Treacy and Wiersema (1993; 1995a; 1995b) by empirically evaluating the CPQ and determining the psychometrical properties of the various identified scales. A combined sample (N = 436), consisting of undergraduate (N = 281) and post-graduate (N = 155) students in the field of human resource management, were asked to assess the university from a customer's point of view. All three scales were subjected to factor analysis and iterative item analysis. The three scales yielded acceptable alpha coefficients, indicating that customers' preferences could be measured reliably. The implications of these findings are discussed.
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Marketing guidelines based on quality service that secure customer added value

The influence of internal marketing on internal customers within retail banking

  • Authors: Reynolds-De Bruin, Leigh
  • Date: 2014-06-19
  • Subjects: Bank marketing , Relationship marketing , Customer services
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:11550 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/11257
  • Description: M.Com. (Marketing Management) , Despite the extensive research undertaken in the subject area of services marketing, not much research has been conducted in the internal marketing area, specifically in the South African context. This study attempted to address this subject and focused on seven internal marketing mix elements (internal product, internal price, internal promotion, internal distribution, internal people, internal process and internal physical evidence) and their influence on the satisfaction of graduate development employees within retail banks in South Africa. Further to this, the link between employee satisfaction and affective commitment was explored due to its impact on employee productivity. The growth of the service sector worldwide has led to services being considered as one of the most important sectors in the world. The contribution of the South African service sector to GDP was 68.1% in 2012, where the financial services sector in South Africa has already overtaken the manufacturing sector as the largest contributor to GDP. The financial service sector contributed 22% in 2008. Given the homogeneity within the retail banking industry, there is very little differentiating the banks, and imitation of any innovation is inevitable. For this reason a market-driven strategy that enables retail banks to deliver superior quality is essential as service quality is the only real differentiator and key to building a competitive advantage. Given its employees who create the service experience, the employee as the internal customer becomes the organisation’s most valuable asset. For this reason, retail banks in South Africa have been placing an increased focus on recruiting at the graduate level leading to the establishment of Graduate Development Programmes (GDPs). These banking GDPs are specifically designed to help graduates succeed in complex environments and to build the talent pipeline by providing an in-depth training programme. However one of the biggest challenges faced by banks is the satisfaction and retention of their GDP employees. Banks generally experience high attrition rates amongst this group of employees mainly due to job dissatisfaction which impacts service quality provided to external customers, and which increases the organisation’s costs. An internal marketing programme aimed at employees could enhance employee satisfaction which in turn could enhance employee levels of affective commitment resulting in higher retention rates. Satisfied employees will go the extra mile to serve external customers and in this manner service quality can be improved. In order to investigate the influence of the internal marketing mix on employee satisfaction and test the relationship between employee satisfaction and affective commitment, an empirical investigation was conducted. The primary research objective of the study was to investigate the influence of the internal marketing mix on employee satisfaction from GDP employees’ perspective in order to enhance their satisfaction at retail banks with graduate development programmes in South Africa. In addition to this, the relationship between satisfaction and affective commitment was explored. A census approach was applied to the study using a person administered and an electronic survey method. All retail banks with graduate development programmes were invited to participate in the study of which three agreed to participate. Of the 360 graduates, 64 employees agreed to participate in the study. Regression analysis was used to test the relationships proposed in the study. The internal promotion and internal physical evidence scales were discarded due to poor construct validity, internal distribution emerged as a two-factor solution and was split into collaborative culture and organisational structure, and the internal price element was not regarded as statistically significant. From the study, the internal marketing mix elements that influenced employee satisfaction to come to fore included internal product, collaborative culture, organisational structure, internal people and internal process. The outcome of the regression analysis showed that employee satisfaction is influenced by internal product, collaborative culture, organisational structure, internal people and internal process. In addition to this, it was concluded that employee satisfaction influences affective commitment. Based on these outcomes, recommendations were made to retail banks for the implementation of a formal internal marketing mix through for example the implementation of the internal people element. Retail banks would be able to ensure that supervisors are easily accessible and providing constant ongoing feedback, a benefit which was identified as the most important contributor to GDP job satisfaction.
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The influence of employee engagement on customer experience in a customer centric climate and culture

  • Authors: Slabbert, H.O.
  • Date: 2018
  • Subjects: Financial institutions - Customer services , Consumer satisfaction , Customer services , Customer relations
  • Language: English
  • Type: Masters (Thesis)
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/292386 , uj:31773
  • Description: M.Com. (Business Management) , Abstract: According to popular opinion, happy employees lead to happy customers. Many businesses are realising having great products and services are no longer enough. How organisations service their customers is as important as the products or services provided. Customer experience is therefore more than just managing customer interactions. It is putting customers at the centre of everything an organisation does, supported by a culture of engaged employees. Engaged employees are considered an important and influential factor in creating superior customer experiences. Despite of the increased attention, there is a lack of empirical research on customer experience and employee engagement in the academic literature on aspects relating to the drivers, measurement and value to organisations. This dissertation investigated the proposed relationship between employee engagement and customer experience in a South African financial services company. This study advances the current knowledge in the employee engagement and customer experience field of study by combining the constructs into a theoretical model. Employee engagement and the influence on customer experience of the service interaction are postulated to influence total customer experience and business success. Data was collected using two surveys from 386 customer respondents and 82 employee respondents. The collective data was empirically tested using Structural Equation Modelling. The conceptual model examines various pre-requisites of employee engagement, linking resources to customers' perceived level of service employees’ performance (service interaction). The model further examines employee engagement as a dynamic and important variable influencing total customer experience. The results indicate a positive relationship exists between climate and culture, employee engagement and customer experience of the service interaction.
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Supply chain responsiveness as a means to a sustainable competitive advantage in the manufacturing sector

  • Authors: Mailula, Onicca
  • Date: 2016
  • Subjects: Business logistics - Management , Customer services , Consumer satisfaction , Production management , Just-in-time systems
  • Language: English
  • Type: Masters (Thesis)
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/225753 , uj:22809
  • Description: M.Com. (Business Management) , Abstract: The aim of this study is to determine if supply chain responsiveness, or the ability for an organisation to respond to customer needs or market signals, has an impact on competitive advantage in the manufacturing sector. The case study is conducted at company GSC which is a supplier with market dominance in the carbohydrate sector. A survey was distributed to the employees to gauge their perception of responsiveness in the organisation. A different survey was distributed among customers to gauge their perceptions about the responsiveness of company GSC. The study also investigates drivers and attributes that enable responsiveness in the organisation. Improved production reliability is an important driver for supply chain responsiveness at company GSC according to the findings of the study. Production reliability impacts product availability which in turn influences the ability of the organisation to meet customer needs. The major source of competitive advantage for company GSC is local market presence and the ability to meet customer needs, which defines supply chain responsiveness and will provide a barrier for competition. The study also indicates that if customer needs are met in all dimensions of quality, quantity and timeliness, supply chain responsiveness criteria is achieved.
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An appreciative enquiry into customer service provided on an executive education programme at a South African business school

  • Authors: Schaap, Willem Gerard
  • Date: 2008-06-24T13:18:36Z
  • Subjects: Customer services , Universities and colleges' customer services , University of Cape Town
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:9825 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/722
  • Description: In the ever increasing competitive market of executive education, providers not only need to deliver new and innovative courses on an ongoing basis, but also need to find a competitive edge to distinguish themselves from the rest. The consumers of executive education courses base their purchase decisions on more that just the academic excellence of the course. In addition to the academic excellence of the courses, the experience of the delegate attending such a course needs to be exceptional. The focus of this study was high calibre customer service which reinforces the excellent academic experience of the delegate. This would include an extraordinary experience before, during and after the programme. In order to capitalise on the strengths of an action research approach, a relatively new action research approach, Appreciative Inquiry was used in this study. The focus was on the development of new methods to improve customer service by building on the positive experiences of the past. In a planned and systematic way this study explored new methods of taking ordinary customer service to a level of extraordinary customer service. The result of this positive action research intervention resulted in a multitude of positive actions and provided UCT GSB with a method to open-up their thinking and actions and to become more innovative and resourceful. , Prof. Freddie Crous
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Evaluation of a process- and product-innovation framework in decentralised international organisations

  • Authors: Van Wyk, Anne-Marie
  • Date: 2018
  • Subjects: New products , Consumer satisfaction , Customer services , Corporate culture
  • Language: English
  • Type: Doctoral (Thesis)
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/293722 , uj:31944
  • Description: D.Phil. (Engineering Management) , Abstract: The availability of big data, supported by advanced technologies, has given rise to a more informed and empowered global consumer, resulting in extreme pressure on organisations to continuously find new innovative ways to serve these clients. When operating under tough economic conditions companies tend to challenge the timing of innovative initiatives. The truth is that they simply have no choice. Clients now have more information and more choices than ever and an ever-growing list of demands and expectations. Simultaneously, there is increased competition for the same share of wallet. They must rise to the challenge, gear up for the battle and understand that they need to innovate and operate differently to survive. The journey to client centricity through structured innovation has a beginning but no end. It starts with the conceptualisation of an idea, develops through organisational alignment and iterations of implementation, learning and improvement. Client centricity has proven to be an elusive goal for many organisations. Agile disruptive innovation is required to remain relevant in the areas in which they operate. A paradigm shift is required and organisations need to change the strategies from being product centric to focusing on client centricity instead. The biggest issue and major challenge typically faced by organisations attempting to make this shift, is the organisational culture. Above and beyond client-centric innovation, the organisation needs to enhance more disruptive thinking around the development of radical new client-value propositions that move beyond the traditional confines of their current capabilities and commercial models and address client demands in other industries. Qualitative research, combined with action-based research, was conducted to assess the technical and non-technical enablers required to implement a generic product- and process-innovation framework to establish a client-centric culture in a diverse and decentralised international logistics solutions organisation. The intended contribution of this study to the academic body of knowledge is to create a new paradigm that proves that client-led disruption should be countered by innovation driven by client requirements instead of the traditional product driven innovation...
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Supply chain performance and customer service in the mining explosives industry

  • Authors: Buthelezi, Thandeka Zamashenge
  • Date: 2018
  • Subjects: Business logistics , Risk management , Customer services , Explosives industry , Consumer satisfaction
  • Language: English
  • Type: Masters (Thesis)
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/292134 , uj:31742
  • Description: Abstract: In the mining industry that is plagued with increased competition and low profitability, gaining a competitive advantage is a mammoth task as the mining customers are faced with decreasing profit margins due to declining commodity prices and increases in critical cost drivers. Thus, there has been increased focus on more profitable production, which has meant an increased focus on a reliable supply of cost effective input materials such as explosives. Therefore, an explosives supplier should aim to offer a product and service which will optimise the mine’s costs. However, there is limited competitive advantage that can be derived from cost strategies (Naoui, 2014), thus many have opted to look for differentiation strategies through enhanced customer experience (Gonzalez, 2017). This research is aimed at investigating how the supply chain performance of an explosives supplier affects the quality of service rendered to mining customers. The study is also aimed at determining what supply chain risk mitigation strategies can be used to improve the performance of the supply chain and the customer service thereafter. The research hypothesis is that “Supply chain risk management leads to a positive customer service experience” The hypothesis was to be proved by showing the effective management of supply chain risk increased supply chain performance which leads to an improvement in customer service experience. The research was conducted using a single method qualitative approach, where the qualitative primary data was derived from interviews with personnel from four distinct groupings within the explosives supply chain, which consisted of production and supply chain personnel, sales representative and customers. The interviews were aimed at determining the critical customer service attributes that represented the various service quality elements that the customers deem important to their business performance. The reader will benefit from the research as it highlights the risks that are inherent in the supply chain and shows how these risks can be mitigated with the implementation of supply chain performance measures to drive improved customer service experience. It provides insights into how to ensure improved customer service in stringent, highly regulated, supply chains and ultimately achieve competitive advantage. , M.Com. (Business Management)
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Service quality expectations and perceptions of staff and customers at travel agencies, Gauteng

  • Authors: Beedassy, Ray
  • Date: 2012-08-28
  • Subjects: Customer services , Travel agents - Customer services
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:3274 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6680
  • Description: M.B.A. , In recent years South African travel industry has been facing ferocious competition. The competitive business environment has driven managers to consider the performance of their organizations in order to increase market share, or in other words, improve the quality of service as the ultimate weapon for achieving high performance. The delivery of service quality to customers requires a congruence in the perceptions of the customers and the providers of service. The aim of this research is to examine if there are any statistically significant differences in the perceptions of received service between the three major groups i.e. the customers, the staff and the managers of travel agencies. The information was gathered by means of a mail survey. A questionnaire was developed (based on SERVQUAL), where all possible answers of respondents were pre-specified and standardized, in order to ease the comparison of responses. The findings of the research revealed significant differences between the perceptions of customers and staff and that of managers and staff of the travel agencies but not between managers and customers. Of most concern, were the differences in the perceptions of the dimension of reliability, which was considered the most important dimension by the customers. Therefore, the managers of travel agencies in South Africa need to devise strategies and seriously consider the issue of internal marketing to achieve this alignment in the perceptions
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The importance of demand planning in the management of a fast moving consumer goods supply chain

  • Authors: Müller, Gert Hendrik
  • Date: 2012-08-20
  • Subjects: Delivery of goods - Management , Business logistics , Customer services , Sales forecasting , Supply and demand - Forecasting
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:2761 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6202
  • Description: M.Comm. , As part of supply chain management, the handling of market demand information forms one of the most important concepts in any supply chain. One of the specific goals of supply chain management is to manage and co-ordinate the flow of information from the original source to the final customer. If consumer demand forms the activating element in the supply chain, it becomes clear that the process of demand planning can play an active role in improving the effectiveness of a supply chain. The correct management of information can thus greatly influence the level of integration, the responsiveness, level of customer service and value added to the end product. This is however not a one-sided approach where demand planning can be used as the tool to facilitate supply chain synchronization. The opposite effect can also be found that certain efforts to synchronize the supply chain can greatly improve the demand planning process. The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry relies heavily on forecasted demand figures due to the structure of this industry 5. Developing demand forecasts forms a great part of the demand planning process and the accuracy, timely flow, interpretation and final format of the information is of the utmost importance. A well controlled forecasting process can form a solid foundation to address supply chain problems, reduce the level of wastage, increase the product value to the customer and improve the level of supply chain agility. With this background, the aim of this study will be: To explore the subject of Demand Planning in the synchronization of a FMCG supply chain. It will aim to show how an effective demand planning process can positively influence the supply chain management process and form an active element in supply chain synchronization. To investigate certain supply chain strategies on demand planning to indicate the level of integration between these two processes. In order to do this, a theoretical study needs to be done on Demand Planning and into the elements thereof. Within this structure it will be possible to formulate a structure to evaluate the concept of Demand Planning.
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An analysis of customer service in an optometric practice

  • Authors: Meyer, Erwin Martin
  • Date: 2012-08-16
  • Subjects: Customer services , Optometry -- Practice -- Customer services
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:9453 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5886
  • Description: M.Comm. , The importance of service is constantly increasing in most economies (Gronroos 1988), and service is becoming exceedingly vital to success for manufacturers of goods as well. Service is very frequently referred to as the definitive competitive tool (Kyj 1987; Coppett 1988) and some writers (Quinn and Gagnon 1986) have warned that services if not managed suitably could follow manufacturing into decline, as inattention to quality, emphasis on scale economies, and short-term orientation predominates. Indeed Levitt (1981) has questioned the services-goods dichotomy, and states that all products, whether they are services or goods, possess a certain amount of intangibility perhaps the fundamental difference between the two referred to by most other writers. It is this intangibility which is seen as being the fundamental distinguishing characteristic of services.
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Functional requirements of eCRM solutions for the South African SME sector

  • Authors: Zaayman, Philip
  • Date: 2009-01-15T13:12:09Z
  • Subjects: Small business , Customer services , Customer relations management
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:14798 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1874
  • Description: M.Phil. , The issue of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) within organisations has gained importance over the last five years, and the trend is set to continue with new CRM software vendors entering the market regularly. For a business, it is cheaper to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones, therefore increased customer loyalty and interaction is important. The value that electronic CRM (eCRM) allows is that it increases customer interaction, by eliminating physical intervention and subsequent errors. The Internet has allowed this interaction to become more sophisticated, with service information instantly available to both the customer and the business. The number of channels for interaction has also increased. Specifically, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need low cost eCRM solutions that adapt to their business models and IT structures. The South African SME is limited by certain budgeting, resource and time constraints, and the owner of the SME cannot always devote time in search of a suitable eCRM solution for his business. The multitudes of vendors, offering various levels of functionality with increased focus on the SME sector, allow the SME many choices. However, companies selecting eCRM software vendors often lack an objective basis due to a lack of alternative information sources. Vendors making unsubstantiated and incorrect claims about the functionality of their software, further complicate the problem. From an SME point of view, the functionality and cost criteria of the eCRM solution is the most important. However, the minimum functionality criteria that vendors’ software packages must adhere to, in order to be considered an eCRM suite are: Customer Analysis; Marketing Automation; Sales Automation; Customer Service and Support; and Web-centricity. The research problem lies therein that South African SME owners or managers are unsure which functionalities are available, and which to deem important when considering eCRM solutions for their businesses. The objective of this study is to formulate a matrix of functionality that eCRM solutions must adhere to in order to be successfully implemented by the SME. This matrix is not prescriptive, but will guide SME management by identifying criteria and functionality that the solution needs to contain. The aim is to help SMEs select the right software, not to select the software for them.
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An investigation of customer switching/defection behaviour in a selected segment of Standard Bank retail division

  • Authors: Ngcobo, Philisani David
  • Date: 2012-09-12
  • Subjects: Customer loyalty. , Customer services
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:10317 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7682
  • Description: M.B.A. , Increasing customer longevity in branch banking is a difficult process, with the average bank loosing fifteen (15%) to twenty (20%) percent of its customers each year, any help a bank can get in holding on to them is welcome (Power, 2000: 19). Central to these concerns is researchers and practitioners realization that: Not all customers should be targeted with retention and loyalty efforts and, Some of the most satisfied and loyal customers might still switch / defect for reasons beyond the control of the bank and at times even beyond the control of the customer. Although it is encouraging to note the increasing awareness that not all customers are alike (Blattenberg and Deighton; Reichheld, 1993), little is known about how and why they differ. Simple put, if important attitudinal and behavioural differences can be identified among various customer groups, service providers can efficiently identify and target customers as part of a broader acquisition, value assessment, and retention strategy. This, in essence is the focus of the current study.
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The development of a service delivery index for municipalities

  • Authors: Van der Walt, Tjaart Andries
  • Date: 2009-02-27T06:04:02Z
  • Subjects: Local government evaluation , Customer services
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:8187 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/2191
  • Description: D.Phil. , Performance management has become legislative requirement for municipalities in South Africa. Unfortunately, not many tools exist to measure and monitor municipal service delivery effectively. Municipal managers and politicians require accurate information to ensure that their decisions are not based on emotions and assumptions but that the information with regards to municipal service delivery is accurate and relevant. Descriptions and terminology used to describe engineering services are sometimes complex and confusing. To aggravate the situation, technical and non-technical people seem unable to communicate effectively about township engineering services. The development of the Service Delivery Index is a helpful tool in providing decision makers with accurate information. The index translate engineering services and service delivery aspects into numerical data that can also be represented graphically. The Service Delivery Index for municipalities comprises four components of engineering services being delivered in residential areas. The components are infrastructure quality, delivery efficiency, access to services and affordability. Each component comprises specific elements that are measured on a regular basis such as payment levels, proportion of household income to service charges, service interruptions, response times to outages and service levels. Not only can services be measured and represented graphically, they can also be compared and over time to establish trends. Desegregation of the index is easy. The index system allows municipalities to provide service delivery information to communities effectively and transparently and in an easily comprehensible manner. Components of the index can also be linked to a GIS system to display different aspects of service delivery geographically. The index system in combination with services costs graphs can also be utilised to make instant and accurate assessments of upgrading costs for township services. The data used for the compilation of the index is normally readily available form Census data, financial statements and departmental job evaluation reports. The index also effectively addresses the issue of communication between technical and non-technical people with the aid of graphical presentations.
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Critical competencies to promote a customer service care capability in a bank sector call centre.

  • Authors: Grobbelaar, R.L. , Venter, A. , Roodt, G.
  • Date: 2004
  • Subjects: Customer services , Information-intensive environment , Human Resource Call Centre , Qualitative research paradigm
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: uj:6382 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1125
  • Description: In today’s information-intensive environment customer service is an important aspect that differentiates one organisation from another. This research focuses on those individual competencies which will lead to a customer service core capability in a Human Resources Call Centre. Data was obtained from Call Centre agents (n=18), supervisors (n=3) and customers (n=25) by means of five focus group-, three individual- and 25 telephonic interviews, respectively. The transcendental realism research procedure was applied within a qualitative research paradigm. Ten key competencies were identified by all groups of participants.
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