Federal Express: Customer Service Department, II

Group 4
Shruti Mandal PGP/17/050
Ajinkya Pachghare PGP/17/128
Pratibha Pal PGP/17/158
Srilekha Bhattiprolu PGP/17/178
Srishty Barla PGP/17/179
Subrata Pradhan PGP/17/180
Harsh Naroliya PGP/17/208


AGENDA
Case Facts
Problem
Statement
Offerings
Recommendatio
ns
Case facts
1979, FEC introduced a centralized , computer-based order-entry system named COSMOS (Customer Operations service
Master On- Line system),at a initial cost of $ 5.6 million
2 regional call centers located in Somerset,New Jersey & Memphis,Tennessee & 3
rd
one scheduled to open in
Sacramento,Calfornia
Call Centre : 180 CSAs & 14 supervisors
CSAs were trained and freedom to decide whether to handle a difficult caller over to a supervisor or executive assistant
Tracing Agents: Working with FECs invoice adjustment department could authorize a refund
Station Dispatchers : Handled requests by customers for late pickups & decided on accommodation of last-minute calls
The new system was already introduced in FECs 141 stations, On-line ,customer-station telephone contact has being eliminated by
COSMOS
Case facts



Middleman Approach : Direct process of calling a call station was obsolete and now they have to leave message at call centres to reach
sales representatives
Low customer service : As their problems were being handled at call centres and sales representative didnt return their calls
Less training period : Only 3 months training to CSAs before handling clients
Segment of Big industrial shipper less business as they used to order through sales department earlier
Lack of attention to special treatment customer segment who provided them with bulk orders
Unclear Idea: The agents lacked clear idea of what kind of potential business they were dealing with
Customers were not able to differentiate between Cosmos and earlier fragmented system
INTERNAL CONFLICT
Sales force had a low opinion about CSAs
Communication gap between customers and
sales reps due to CSAs
Customer handling approach of CSAs different
from that of sales reps
Important to have direct contact with the
customer especially because of the recession
Helping the sales rep by forwarding only the
calls that are real problems

Recession cutting down call volumes of sales
reps
Resentment because sales reps now had to
work instead of just returning calls

Customer Services Perspective Sales Representative Perspective
Benefits of COSMOS
Benefits to the company:
Greater operational
efficiency ,greatly expanded
capacity for growth
Benefits to Customer :
Standardized , faster , more
consistent response to calls
Pros and Cons of COSMOS
Offers distinct benefits to the company
Offers standardisation
Creates checks and balance for the
operating department
Increased FECs consistency in training
and services
CSAs have reduced the calls to sales rep
by 75%
CSA had to use their own judgement and
there was no common guideline
process added a middleman between sales
force and customers
The big customers and regular customers
were treated in the same manner
With recession and addition of middlemen in
the form of CSA the pressure on sales force
was increased.
Personalized or Customized
Standardised service
Developing efficiency that encompasses all customer segments
No dual standard training for CSAs required in the short span of 3 weeks
Better control
Risk of losing gains from specially catering to higher order customer
segment
Personalised service
Dual standards may propagate negative sentiments amongst non-
large order customer segment
High opportunity to better cater to higher order customer segment
and increase revenues
Training for dual treatment could confuse and saturate CSA trainees
Risk of gradually losing non higher order customer segment due to
possible shifting preference to higher order customer segment


5 Ws Model: for effective customer service communication.

5 Ws

Who
CSAs
Supervisors
Specialized tracing agents
Executive desk assistant who
handled calls requiring more
follow up, Station Dispatchers



What
General information on FEDEX
service
Tracing requests
Informing and educating them
Personalized service
Escalating
Whom
Professional service and high
technology firms
Big industrial shipper
Where
COSMOS



Why
Differing perspective on
Customer service
Increase awareness regarding
customer service
Training provided was not
sufficient


Offerings
Single contact for all your dealings at no additional cost from
anywhere






Core
Service
Refunds
Last
minute
changes
Order
History
Late
pick up
Hold file
Tracking
New services offered after
Cosmos implementation
Recommendations
Internal
Communication
Select one of the influential sales
representative from each
collecting center
Train regarding the COSMOS
system
These trained representative will
educate the rest of the sales
representative to the cosmos
system
Objective of the training will be to
focus on your core responsibility
of getting new customers and
expand the business

External
Communication
Educating the customers about
the process and benefits of
cosmos through the print ads

Unique Identification number for
valuable customers

Dropping a user guide template
at the door step for fragmented
customers



Targeting big ticket
customers

Sales rep will be contacted by
the customers

The rep will handle the business
communications

Before returning the rep will also
educate the customer about the
latest technology i.e. COSMOS


Expected Service Improvements
Reduced uncertainty and perceived risk by providing standardised
process and information

Uniform service experience

Single information flow

Easier to track customers and shipments

Single point of contact
Thank You