Customer Service Logistics DEFINITION Customer service is a

Customer Service & Logistics

DEFINITION Customer service is a process for providing significant value added benefit to the supply chain in a cost-effective way.

Logistics and Customer Service: Deliver the best possible value. Builds Competitiveness. 3

Customer perception of Service quality. Competence. Reliability. Responsiveness. Transaction security. Trustworthiness. Access. 4

THE COMPONENTS OF CUSTOMER SERVICE Pre-transaction elements: customer service factors that arise prior to the actual transaction taking place. Transaction elements: the elements directly related to the physical transaction and are those that are most commonly concerned with logistics. Post-transaction elements: these involve those elements that occur after the delivery has taken place.

Pre-transaction elements written customer service policy; organizational structure; method of ordering; single order contact point; accessibility of order personnel; order size constraints; system flexibility

Transaction elements condition of goods; inventory availability; order preparation; service/order cycle time; delivery alternatives; delivery time; delivery reliability; delivery of complete order; order status information.

Post-transaction elements invoicing procedures; invoicing accuracy; product tracing/warranty; returns policy; availability of spares; call-out time; customer complaints and procedures.

MULTIFUNCTIONAL DIMENSIONS of customer service 1. Time – usually order fulfilment cycle time; 2. Dependability – guaranteed fixed delivery times of accurate, undamaged orders; 3. Communications – ease of order taking, and queries response; 4. Flexibility – the ability to recognize and respond to a customer's changing needs.

CONCEPTUAL MODELS OF SERVICE QUALITY Service quality is a measure of the extent to which the customer is experiencing the level of service that he or she is expecting. Service quality is the match between what the customer expects and what the customer experiences.