2005 Case*
Quality Wallpaper & Floors is a 50-year-old family-owned
business located in a town of approximately 20,000 people.
The company was owned exclusively by family members until
10 years ago when it was sold to a trusted family friend,
Steve Blake. Blake had extensive experience in the manufacture
of home products and he was excellent with the technical
aspects of the business. His familiarity with retail from
a management perspective, however, was limited; and he had
little know-how when it came to dealing with people.
During the past five years, the company experienced a steady
decline in sales that Blake was convinced was due to competition
it faced from major home improvement chains, such as Home
Depot. At a recent meeting of the local Chamber of Commerce,
however, Blake heard from several business associates that
his company’s service “isn’t what it used
to be.” Blake was shocked because good customer service
had always been a way of life at Quality Wallpaper. In fact,
the company’s policy is on a plaque hanging next to
the framed “first dollar” above the cash register.
Dated June 6, 1954 and initialed W.F.D. for the founder
of the business, the customer service policy states:
| At
Quality Wallpaper & Floors we strive to bring the
customers we serve the best products and services possible.
We aspire to make our customers happy and create
lifetime relationships with them. Our community
of customers, if we do our job, will always think of
QW&F when they have needs related to the comfort
and beauty of their homes.
|
In order to straighten
out the customer service issues, Blake hired you, a recent
college graduate with a degree in business, as Customer
Service Manager. You spent most of your first month on the
job meeting the employees, getting to know company procedures
and policies, and trying to understand the business. Digging
through files during your orientation, you discovered several
outdated company handbooks, a few newspaper articles about
the company’s early years, and a dusty notebook with
minutes from company meetings dating back to the early 1950’s.
As you flipped through the yellowed pages of Quality Wallpaper’s
minutes you experienced a new appreciation for the richness
of the company’s history and the founders’ commitment
to their customers. In fact, attached to the minutes from
December, 1953, was a list of customer service requirements
from which the company’s current customer service
policy had obviously evolved.
CUSTOMER
SERVICE IDEALS
December
3, 1953
- Know
customers' needs, values, fears, and goals
- See
the situation through the customers' eyes
- Serve
customers with creativity, compassion, and competence
- Provide
customers with the best products and services
- Understand
customers' challenges
- Keep
customers' best interests at heart
- Deliver
real solutions
- Educate
employees to provide good customer service –
the customer always comes first
- Recognize
that the customer is always right
- Tell
the truth
|
Assignment
Checking your in-basket this morning, you find a customer
complaint letter and an attached note from Steve Blake.
After reading both documents, you decide you have two messages
to write immediately. First, you must respond to the customer,
Mrs. Schoemann, in a message in which you offer a solution
and convince her to give the store another chance. Second,
you must write a message to the sales staff in which you
address basic customer service principles. You need Blake’s
approval for both documents. Your store address is 1880
Cyclone Boulevard, Harlan, IA 51537, and there is plenty
of company letterhead available.
Mrs.
E.N. Schoemann
Box
117
Portsmouth,
IA 51565
Dear
Store Manager,
Last
week I was in your store to get a price for new wallpaper
in the dining room. Your three sales ladies found
plenty of time to gossip about their personal lives, but
nobody had any time to talk to me. They were the
worst excuse for help I've seen in my life.
Now
you can just send somebody out to my house so I can pick
out the wallpaper here. My carpet is blue and I want
something with little flowers. Be sure to call before
you come.
Sincerely,
Mrs.
Gene Schoemann
*Adapted from an original case submitted by Dale Cyphert,
PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Management,
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA.
