FOUR CUSTOMERS IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS

SERVICE MARKEKING

OVERVIEW OF THE CASE

The case Four Customers In Search Of Solutions, is all about four telephone subscribers from the same street in a suburb of Sha Tin, in Kowloon, Hong Kong complain individually to Telephone Company about a variety of different problems. Nature of problems encountered by Leung Yew Wah is concerned about overcharging, Sherry Tanaka about missed calls, Chong Siew Lam about obscene calls and Victor Hung about poor sound quality. Leung Yew Wah is top two percent of all Hong Kong household bills a big spender on telecommunications. Sherry Tanaka is a relatively median level for a household subscriber. Finally Chong Siew Lam is a low spender being in the bottom 10 percent of all household subscribers. Location of numbers called International calls are made by Leung Yew Wah to United States and Canada, Sherry Tanaka to Japan and Philippines, Victor Hung to the ShenZhen Lon Leung Yew Wah and Victor Hung presumably all four subscribers make local calls. The potential underlying causes of consumer complaints highlight the fact that complaints are often opportunities in disguise because they may enable the firm to satisfy the customer by not only resolving the immediate problem but also selling additional services that provide useful solutions to ongoing needs.

Submitted By Jigme Namgyel

En. Roll No. GC/ (1)0800545

BBA 8th Semester Mkt.

Page 1

FOUR CUSTOMERS IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS

SERVICE MARKEKING

1. Based strictly on the information in the case how many possibilities do you see to segment the telecommunications market

Answer: The possibilities for segment the telecommunications market are: I. Geographic segmentation The background information for the case already highlights geographic segmentation all the customers live on the same street in the same suburb of Sha Tin, in Kowloon in Hong Kong.

II.

Socio economic segmentation Segmentation on socio economic grounds because the location is a middle class suburb

III.

Psychological Segmentation This supplementary case provides a brief psychological profile about each of the four customers. Key characteristics to note for each customer are as follows

Leung Yew Wah -Not the easiest person to deal with especially if he has a grievance and has a short fuse and doesnt trust people Punctuality accuracy and probably deference will help. Sherry Tanaka-Communicates effectively has high standards pleasant Will interact well with anyone competent Chong Siew Lam-Charming but nervous Will be easy to talk to once she knows who theperson is but is lonely so may waste time on idle chat Victor Hung- His tendency to be arrogant and a bit of all may alienate service workers. May not listen well to what others have to say and be too quick to volunteer his opinion probably need to be humored?

Submitted By Jigme Namgyel

En. Roll No. GC/ (1)0800545

BBA 8th Semester Mkt.

Page 2

FOUR CUSTOMERS IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS

SERVICE MARKEKING

IV.

Additional segmentation possibilities raised by the case include: Value of usage: Leung Yew Wah is the highest of all Hong Kong household billsa big spender on telecommunications; Victor Hung is a relatively heavy user; Sherry Tanaka is average, being at the median level. Finally, Chong Siew Lam is a low spender, being in the bottom 10 percent of all household subscribers.

Location of numbers called: International calls are made by Leung Yew Wah to United States and Canada, by Sherry Tanaka to Japan and Philiphines, and by Victor Hung to the ShenZhen. Presumably, all four subscribers make local calls.

Time of calling: Calls are readily identified by time of day and date. We know about Leung Yew Wah and Victor Hungs calling patterns, but the phone company would be able to identify dates and times for all charged calls.

Nature of problems encountered: Leung Yew Wah is concerned about overcharging, Sherry Tanaka about missed calls, Chong Siew Lam about obscene calls and Victor Hung about poor sound quality.

Types of services and equipment used: The phone company will have records of what value-added services (e.g., call waiting, caller ID, call forwarding) each customer subscribes to. If the customer has purchased equipmentsuch as an answering machine or faxdirectly from the company, he or she will know about that, too (some phone companies sell equipment, others dont). The case tells us only that Sherry Tanaka subscribes to no value-added services and that Victor Hung has an answering machine.

Submitted By Jigme Namgyel

En. Roll No. GC/ (1)0800545

BBA 8th Semester Mkt.

Page 3

FOUR CUSTOMERS IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS

SERVICE MARKEKING

2. As a customer service representative at the telephone company, how would you address each of the problems and complaints reported?

Answer: As a customer service representative at the telephone company, I would address each of their problems and complains by asking questions to the customer in following ways. Leung Yew Wah - Is that true Telephone Company is charging for calls that were never made. Does he recognize the entire phone numbers actually dialed? Alternatively is he being charged too much for a specific call? Does the length of each call as identified on the bill seem too long? Leung Yew Wahs complaint may simply be that companys prices are too high. If he says he never made a specific call then it would probably be best to give him the benefit of the doubt and offer a refund on that call without further argument unless the record shows that he complains and seeks refunds on a regular basis in which case there might be grounds for suspecting either a billing malfunction or dishonesty.

Solutions: It may be a good idea to offer to help him separate his business calls from his home calls and consolidate the billing of the former to his other number so as to obtain better documentation and also perhaps discounts. Perhaps a special plan can then be instituted for frequent personal calls from his home to specific. There may be special pricing plans that would reduce his phone bill. There may also be discount plans for international calls.

Submitted By Jigme Namgyel

En. Roll No. GC/ (1)0800545

BBA 8th Semester Mkt.

Page 4

FOUR CUSTOMERS IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS

SERVICE MARKEKING

Sherry Tanaka - Is there a particular time of day when the busy signals were received by her callers. Is there anyone else at that address that could have been using her phone at those times? Is there any possibility that the phone instrument was off the hook and thus indicating busy? Is there other equipment such as a fax or computer modem that could have been operating at the time and thus prevented incoming calls? Depending on the response different solutions may be appropriate see the answers to question because she has no value added services she clearly doesnt subscribe to call waiting service.

Solutions: Learning more about Ms Sherry Tanaka situation reveals new opportunities because she is self employed she may lose a valuable assignment if she misses a call. It would therefore be worth her while to invest money in extra services. Renting a second line one for her personal use and the other for her sons with an answering machine or voicemail as an added value service would be a good investment in her case. A distinctive ring tone and or availability of a cordless phone might solve the problem of failing to hear the phone ring because she needs to fax translations to many of her clients Telephone.

Chong Siew Lam - Problem must be handled with sensitivity and good judgment Mrs. Chong Siew Lams voice may give some clues as to what sort of person she is e.g. her age nature of her emotions frightened angry level of self confidence etc Details of the timing of such calls any information about the caller s voice gender age how well spoken any identifiable accent may be helpful and the nature of what is said if Chong Siew Lam is willing to discuss it may be helpful. There are well established procedures in most phone companies for dealing with obscene calls and the customer service representative will need to follow these.

Submitted By Jigme Namgyel

En. Roll No. GC/ (1)0800545

BBA 8th Semester Mkt.

Page 5

FOUR CUSTOMERS IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS

SERVICE MARKEKING

Solutions: One option is to change her phone number and consider having it unlisted. A second is to install a phone machine to screen calls before she answers. A third is to subscribe to caller ID, which would display the number of the phone from which the incoming call was being madeagain, a useful screening device.

Victor Hung - Details of what the noises sound like and whether they are encountered all the time may provide some technical clues as to their source The representative can arrange to have the line tested by an engineer but might first suggest that Victor Hung try disconnecting the phone machine to see if that makes any difference if not it is probably not the cause.

Solutions: Solutions: Only a home visit by a field engineer will allow Telephone Company to determine the precise cause of Mr. Victor Hung problems with his phone. This will have to be done at a time convenient to Mr. Victor Hung. we wish to suggest opportunities to establish a second line for the tenants or to institute billing procedures that would clarify who incurs which call charges. If the phone machine turned out to be the problem, then Telephone Company could offer him a digital messaging service (Telephone companys service is branded as Answer Message Manager) as an alternative to buying a new machine for the house.

Submitted By Jigme Namgyel

En. Roll No. GC/ (1)0800545

BBA 8th Semester Mkt.

Page 6

FOUR CUSTOMERS IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS

SERVICE MARKEKING

3. Review the product line of your local telephone company. Then, examine whether there would be any marketing opportunities of your telephone company relative to the type of complain reported.

Answer: The product lines of our local telephone company are as follow:

B-Mobile Services (Mobile) Postpaid Prepaid Vouchers Roaming GPRS,EDGE, Data Card & 3G More Mobile Services

DrukNet Services (Internet) Broadband Domain Registration Internet Leased Line Web Hosting Technical Consultancy More Internet Services

Fixed Line Services International Calls Bills Online Call Details eBilling GMPCS Satellite Phones More Fixed Line Services

Complaints may present marketing opportunities and may be good reasons for the customer to purchase either a different service package or additional features at extra cost. To the extent that the service provider can help the customer obtain better value they may be glad to pay more or to change their usage behavior.

Submitted By Jigme Namgyel

En. Roll No. GC/ (1)0800545

BBA 8th Semester Mkt.

Page 7

FOUR CUSTOMERS IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS

SERVICE MARKEKING

Some of complains reported to local telephone companies are: a. Some mobile Internet users have been complaining that B-Mobile has discontinued its 3G or third generation mobile telecommunications service. b. Druknets email and website service vexes clients c. Postpaid and broadband users feels that their monthly bills are to high d. Internet speed is to slow e. Net work problems in most of the areas f. Most of the users they complain that their pin code and puck code is not working due their carelessness where their SIM gets blocked. g. Some users complain that some the unknown mobile users disturb by miscalling and sometimes the use slang words. Same problems are also encountered in our local telephone company and apart from those problems there also other related problems which is listed above. The company they considered complains as opportunities and they try to solve those problems as far as possible. The responses for complain depend on the nature of the problems that the users face. Some of complain it takes times to solve their problems and it depends on companys product line. Although not everyone complains about their problems most large firms do receive a lot of complaints and it s important to handle them well. A key challenge for the customer service representative charged with complaint handling is to be sure to get the full details and avoid jumping to premature conclusions that might lead to proposing the wrong solution to the problem.

Conclusion
Finally complaints are the feedback for the company that ensure goodwill of the company which ultimately lead to marketing opportunities and may be good reasons for the customer to purchase either a different service package or additional features at extra cost. To the extent that the service provider can help the customer obtain better value they may be glad to pay more or to change their usage behavior.

Submitted By Jigme Namgyel

En. Roll No. GC/ (1)0800545

BBA 8th Semester Mkt.

Page 8