Thesis on customer service

Categories: Bank Customer Customer Services Data Marketing Research

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ABSTRACT
Customer satisfaction is important to the success of every business organization. Customers turn to be loyal to organizations that meet their needs and expectations. They stay with the organizations, refer friends and family to the organization. Profit making organizations cannot exist without customers. If customers do not patronize their products and services, they would seize to be in business. It is for this reason that meeting customer expectations should become the main focus of the operations of profit making organizations.

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But the question is, do organizations actually satisfy their customers? Is there any relationship between customer satisfaction and the success of organizations? The objective of this research is to guide the answer the questions of what really customer satisfaction is in the banking industry. What the level of customer satisfaction is in the organization of study, in this case, UT Bank. We look at how this bank and other ones can improve upon their customer satisfaction. An attempt would be made to sort the views of bank officials to know what the banks do to make their customers satisfied.

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The main methods which would be used to collect data include surveys, questionnaires and personal interviews.

CHAPTER 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Why should banks satisfy customers?

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It is in fact the end result, a desirable outcome of creating a satisfied customer. (Sheth, Mittal and Newman, 1999). Making the customer satisfaction a priority calls for leaving no stone unturned to provide effective and efficient services for the satisfaction of customers. This is the path to gaining a competitive advantage over other organizations in the same industry. In the words of Patterson and Spreng (1997), cited by Payne and Holt (2001), creating value and more specifically is increasingly seen as the next source of competitive advantage.

Every customer has his or her expectations as far as their dealings with business organizations are concerned. They therefore desire that their expectations are met by their service providers or suppliers. (Kotler, Armstrong and Saunders and Wong, 2002), agrees that every customer has some level of expectations in dealings with the organization. If the performance of the organization and product falls below the expectations of the customer, they become dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectations of the customer, he is satisfied. Furthermore, if the performance exceeds the expectations of the customer, the customer is delighted. Explanation of key words/concepts

· Customer satisfaction: pleasing customers by meeting their needs or expectations. · Customers: a person/organization who patronizes the goods and services of other people/organizations. · Productivity: how successful or profitable something is. · Competitive advantage: an edge over one’s competitors or rivals. We can say that there is a direct relationship between organizational productivity and customer satisfaction. This means that for profit making organizations to be successful, it depends on how satisfied their customers are with the products and services they offer them. Our motivation for carrying out this research is that, we as customers of banks receive banking services that we are not pleased with and we believe that other customers go through the same experiences. So, this research is to encourage other customers and also the banks to do more to satisfy their customers.

Problem statement
Do customers really have their expectations met by their banks? Is there any relationship between customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction and the productivity of banks?

a) To identify how much time customers spend in the banking halls b) To identify the attitude of bank officials towards their customers c) To identify the level of customer satisfaction

d) To solicit views of customers on satisfaction
e) To identify how prepared customers are to recommend their banks to others. f) To find out how the banks measure satisfaction
g) To identify the procedures in handling customer complaints.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The researcher will find answers to the few questions listed below. These questions will help achieve the mentioned objectives. These questions include;

a. Are customers prepared or ready to recommend their banks to friends and relatives? b. How long are they willing to spend in the banking halls (time spent)? c. What are the attitudes of the bank officials
towards customers? d. What are the views of customers about satisfaction?

e. What measures are in place to ensure customer satisfaction? f. What are the procedures for handling customer complaints? g. What is the level of satisfaction of customers?

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study seeks to access the effects of customer satisfaction on productivity in Unique Trust Bank (UT Bank). The findings will help the management to realign itself, as far as customer satisfaction is concerned. This is because management’s understanding of the effects of customer satisfaction on the firm is essential in increasing the level of productivity. More importantly, this study will add up to existing body of knowledge with empirical facts offering a lending hand to future findings by other .

CHAPTER 2

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature review section is in two parts, the theoretical literature and empirical literature. This chapter seeks to review relevant related literature on the effects of customer satisfaction on productivity in service industries. In this case the banking industry.

2.1 THEORITICAL LITERATURE
Who is a customer?
A customer is defined as a person or organizational unit that plays a role in the consummation of transaction with the marketer or entity (sheath et al, 1999). We can say from this definition that, bank customers could be individuals, households or organizations. What does it mean then to satisfy one’s customer? Customer satisfaction according to Parkinsen, McCarthy, Perreault and Stewda (2000), is the extent to which a firm/organization fulfills customer needs, desires and expectations. Kotler (2003) also defines customer satisfaction as a person’s feelings of contempt resulting from comparing a products perceived performance or outcome in relation to his/her expectations. Customer satisfaction in the banking industry in Ghana is a great challenge to the banks. This is because banking is a service and since services are intangible in nature, they need to do more in order to meet the needs and expectations of their customers. Why must banks satisfy the needs of their customers?

Organization success depends primarily on customer satisfaction. Without customers who patronize their products and services, organizations would not exist. They stay in business because they have customers who patronize their products and services. So in order to continue to stay in business , banks need to meet the expectations of their customers. Organizations have both internal and external customers, meeting the needs and expectations of both customers, is important to the success of their organization but most often, we find organizations focusing solely on their external customers, whiles neglecting their internal customers.

The internal customers need good and comfortable working environments, they need incentives both financial and non-financial, motivation both financial and non-financial. They also need to be given opportunities to improve themselves. The notion of not focusing exclusively on external customers is supported by Baker (1999), who also said that it is a grave mistake on the path of organizations to focus exclusively on the external dimensions of customer’s satisfaction. He goes on to say that the internal dimension is also of importance. Just like the internal customers, external customers also need banking services like · Having access to quick and low interest rate loans. · Not wasting time at the banking hall.

· Easy, better and quicker ways of banking like the ATM services and Mobile banking · Free consultancy services
· Money transfer services. Just to mention a few.

Customer expectation of banking services may not be the same as there are numerous customers. According to kotler et al (2002), customer dissatisfaction arises if performance falls below customer expectation. Satisfaction arises if performance meets expectations but if performance goes beyond expectation the customer is highly delighted. Motley (2003), emphasizes the ideal of matching service performance with customer expectations. He notes that the mission of banks is to create satisfied clients who tend to favor the organization through time by patronizing the financial services being delivered by the banks. He goes on to say that banks can achieve this by trying to understand what satisfy and dissatisfy customers. Clients serve as gate keepers, they refer other people to the bank if they are satisfied and they turn them away if they are dissatisfied.

Weber (2004), made a critical study of banks in the US, he made mention of the fact that private banks have changed and partnered with their banks. The banks according to him are reaching more communities in an attempt to provide quality banking services that meet the needs and expectations of customers. Weber quoted Boston Private CEO, Timothy Vail as saying “the products that are sold in this market (the banks) are commodities”. The difference lies in the area of services. Motley (2002), however, does not see banking as a commodity. Commodities are those products that are the same everywhere you go. They are product such as salt, sugar and water. He states further that price is paramount as far as commodities are concerned. According to him, banking services are different and come with some challenges to both banks and clients. However, Weber and Motley both believed that, the bottom line is quality services and customer satisfaction.

The fact that customers are changing banks all because of the continuous fall in service quality has made banks alert and this has called for a drastic measure in the improvement of customer satisfaction. The CEO of Martiz again stated that by implementing internal communication, through training and incentive programs aligned with their brands, banks can ensure that the services enjoyed by their customers at their branches, online or on phone matches what is promised.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY AND A BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW

Brian Clegg (2000). has hinted that how good a product or a service is, customer satisfaction is the main key that can create a gap between the organization and its competitors. Brian again quoted Dr. Kotadia and Prof. Srinivaga as saying, “satisfied customers are the most profitable customers in any business and the driving force behind any sales and profit growth rate”. Winstanley and Martha (1997). outlined a number of factors which account for the importance of customer satisfaction. They perceive customer satisfaction as having a major payoff for banks in short and long run. They also see satisfaction as having a link to revenue generation and in a number of ways;

Customer referrals, willingness on the part of customers to pay a premium price for services, the tendency to move services into the bank by customers and to have a long standing relationship between the bank and the customer. Customer referrals is the process by which satisfied customer provide recommendation to people about their banks. In their study, Winstanley and Martha found out that although this varies by segments, highly satisfied customers are almost seven times more likely to recommend their banks to others. A satisfied customer is 3 times likely to recommend their banks to others and a dissatisfied customer is less likely to recommend his/her bank to anyone. They are also 8 times likely to switch between banks.

CHAPTER 3

3.0 METHODOLOGY
This chapter seeks to explain the study area, sources of data, and methods of
data collection, sampling methods and analysis and ethical issues.
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

The research will be approached both qualitatively and quantitatively in accessing the effects of customer satisfaction on productivity in the banking industry, specifically Unique Trust Bank (UT Bank) Ghana. Cross sectional study will be employed to collect both primary and secondary data. The primary data will be collected by administrating questionnaires and structured interviews whiles the secondary data will be collected from the reports of UT bank in relation to customer satisfaction. The data collected from the field will be analyzed using both descriptive and inferential analytical techniques.

3.2 POPULATION
The population of this study will be the employees of UT Bank. The choice of the bank was due to the company’s reputation over the years with regards to innovation and market share increment.
3.3 TARGET POPULATION
For the purpose of this study, the target population will be employees and selected customers of UT Bank Ghana in Accra. This data would be collected in March 2013. The sample size was 300 (three hundred) customers and this was done using the random sampling.

3.4 SAMPLING METHODS
The study will employ a mixed approach. This is because it provides an in-depth study of the phenomenon in question. However, quantitative approach has the following advantages. First, it is objective and reliable. It also allows facts to be obtained on value tree and enables the researcher to be emotionally detached from the research. However, qualitative research approach allows more detailed investigation of issues (Mendlinger and Cwikel, 2008).

3.5 DATA COLLECTION
The data will consist of both secondary and primary data from UT Bank, Ghana. The primary data will be sourced from the employees and management of UT Bank. In essence the question asked are tailored to elicit the data that
will help them study (Selden I. J, 2000). Secondary data will be collected from the reports of the bank, books, and articles from the internet.

3.6 INSTRUMENTATION
For the purpose of this study, the instrument that will be used to gather primary data will be self-administered questionnaires and structured in-depth interviews. Questionnaires are considered appropriate for a quantitative data collection because it is assumed that majority of the target population will be able to read and will have some basic knowledge in English and can conveniently answer the questions. Also, questionnaires offer greater assurance of anonymity and help avoid bias or errors caused by the presence or attitude of the researcher. In-depth interviews were also considered, because it provides well detailed information.

3.7 ANALYSIS OF DATA
The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) will also be used in analyzing the data collected from the both primary and secondary sources.

3.8 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study will be organized into five (5) main chapters.

Chapter One, will be an introductory chapter and the first of five chapters of the study. The sub topics discussed under this chapter will be the background of the study, research objectives, research questions and the justification of the study. Chapter Two, will review relevant literature on variables related to the effectiveness of customer satisfaction on productivity in the banking industry. Chapter Three, it will explain the research methodology employed for the study. The sub topics include research design, sources of data target population, sampling methods, research instrumentations and analyzing of the data. Chapter Four, will deal with drawing possible conclusion on the basis of the findings. The chapter will end with recommendations.

LIST OF REFERENCES
1. Baker, M.J. (1991). The marketing book: Chartered Institute Of Marketing series III, second edition. Oxford. 2. Butterworth-heinemann, Brian, Glegg (2000). The Invincible Customer: Strategies for successful customer Service Down the Wire, London: Kogen Page. 3. Chee, H. & Harris, R. (1998). Global Marketing Strategy, London Pitman 4. CMA management (2004). Convenience and Service; A top concern for Bank Clients. Journal of marketing, 78,11 5. Keegan W. (2002). Global Marketing Management. 7th edition. London, Prentice Hall. 6. Kotler, P. Armstrong, G. Saunders, J. & Wong, V.(2002). Principles of Marketing, 3rd European edition. London Prentice Hall. 7. Kotler, P. Marketing Management. 11th edition, London: Prentice Hall.

CHAPTER 4

5.0 CONCLUSION
The above analysis has shown clearly that customers of the banking industry are not completely satisfied with services of their banks. There are a number of problems customers encounter in dealing with their banks. There is therefore the need for the banks to come out with strategies aimed at satisfying customers and building their confidence by delivering quality services.

FINDINGS
Findings of customer satisfaction based on the views of bank customers. The following are examples of explanations given by respondents with regards to customer satisfaction. Firstly, customer satisfaction is about rendering services to the customer in a way that the customer doesn’t feel cheated. Secondly, customer satisfaction simply put, is meeting or going beyond the expectation of customers. Customer recommendation, out of 300 people, the response was 90%. The preparedness of customers to recommend their banks or not is shown below.

BANKING HALLS DELAYS

EXCELLENT

NEUTRAL

DISSATISFIED

This message has been truncated
Show Full MessageAbstract ………………………………………….. Chapter 1.0 Background and introduction ……………………. 1.1 Explanation of key word/ concepts
1.2 Problem statement ………………………………… 1.3 Research objectives …………………………………. 1.4 Significance of the study ……………………………….. Chapter 2.0 Literature review ………………………………………… 2.1 Theoretical literature review…………………………….. 2.3 Empirical literature review ……………………………….. Chapter 3.0 Methodology ……………………………………….. 3.1 Research design……………………………………. 3.2 Population …………………………………….

3.3 Target population …………………………
3.4 Sampling method …………………………….
3.5 Data collection ……………………………………. 3.6 Instrumentation ………………………………… 3.7 Data analysis …………………………………… 3,8 Scope of the study………………………….
Chapter 4.0 Conclusions …………………………….
4.1 Findings …………………………………..
List of references………………………….

The objective of this research is to guide the answer the questions of what really customer satisfaction is in the banking industry. What the level of customer satisfaction is in the organization of study, in this case, UT Bank. We look at how this bank and other ones can improve upon their customer satisfaction. An attempt would be made to sort the views of bank officials to know what the banks do to make their customers satisfied. The main methods which would be used to collect data include surveys, questionnaires and personal interviews.

CHAPTER 1
1.0 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Why should banks satisfy customers?

One of the most important or vital resource a business organization has is its customers. This was supported by Peter Drucker who said “the aim of every business organization should be the creation and retention of customers”. Peter Drucker believes that even though businesses are to make profit for survival, profit making is a necessity and not a purpose. It is in fact the end result, a desirable outcome of creating a satisfied customer. (Sheth, Mittal and Newman, 1999). Making the customer satisfaction a priority calls for leaving no stone unturned to provide effective and efficient services for the satisfaction of customers. This is the path to gaining a competitive advantage over other organizations in the same industry.

In the words of Patterson and Spreng (1997), cited by Payne and Holt (2001), creating value and more specifically is increasingly seen as the next source of competitive advantage. Every customer has his or her expectations as far as their dealings with business organizations are concerned. They therefore desire that their expectations are met by their service providers or suppliers. (Kotler, Armstrong and Saunders and Wong, 2002), agrees that every customer has some level of expectations in dealings with the organization. If the performance of the organization and product falls below the expectations of the customer, they become dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectations of the customer, he is satisfied. Furthermore, if the performance exceeds the expectations of the customer, the customer is delighted. Explanation of key words/concepts

Problem statement
Do customers really have their expectations met by their banks? Is there any relationship between customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction and the productivity of banks?

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND QUESTIONS
1.2research objectives
The main objective of the research was to determine how satisfied customers were as they deposited and withdrew money from the banking hall. The specific objective of the study were the following
a) To identify how much time customers spend in the banking halls b) To identify the attitude of bank officials towards their customers c) To identify the level of customer satisfaction

d) To solicit views of customers on satisfaction
e) To identify how prepared customers are to recommend their banks to others. f) To find out how the banks measure satisfaction g) To identify the procedures in handling customer complaints.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The researcher will find answers to the few questions listed below. These questions will help achieve the mentioned objectives. These questions include;
a. Are customers prepared or ready to recommend their banks to friends and relatives? b. How long are they willing to spend in the banking halls (time spent)? c. What are the attitudes of the bank officials towards customers? d. What are the views of customers about satisfaction? e. What measures are in place to ensure customer satisfaction? f. What are the procedures for handling customer complaints? g. What is the level of satisfaction of customers?

CHAPTER 2

2.1 THEORITICAL LITERATURE
Who is a customer?

A customer is defined as a person or organizational unit that plays a role in the consummation of transaction with the marketer or entity (sheath et al, 1999). We can say from this definition that, bank customers could be individuals, households or organizations. What does it mean then to satisfy one’s customer? Customer satisfaction according to Parkinsen, McCarthy, Perreault and Stewda (2000), is the extent to which a firm/organization fulfills customer needs, desires and expectations.

Kotler (2003) also
defines customer satisfaction as a person’s feelings of contempt resulting from comparing a products perceived performance or outcome in relation to his/her expectations. Customer satisfaction in the banking industry in Ghana is a great challenge to the banks. This is because banking is a service and since services are intangible in nature, they need to do more in order to meet the needs and expectations of their customers. Why must banks satisfy the needs of their customers?

· Easy, better and quicker ways of banking like the ATM services and Mobile banking · Free consultancy services
· Money transfer services. Just to mention a few.
Customer expectation of banking services may not be the same as there are numerous customers. According to kotler et al (2002), customer dissatisfaction arises if performance falls below customer expectation. Satisfaction arises if performance meets expectations but if performance goes beyond expectation the customer is highly delighted. Motley (2003), emphasizes the ideal of matching service performance with customer expectations. He notes that the mission of banks is to create satisfied clients who tend to favor the organization through time by patronizing the financial services being delivered by the banks. He goes on to say that banks can achieve this by trying to understand what satisfy and dissatisfy customers.

Clients serve as gate keepers, they refer other people to the bank if they are satisfied and they turn them away if they are dissatisfied. Weber (2004), made a critical study of banks in the US, he made mention of the fact that private banks have changed and partnered with their banks. The banks according to him are reaching more communities in an attempt to provide quality banking services that meet the needs and expectations of customers. Weber quoted Boston Private CEO, Timothy Vail as saying “the products that are sold in this market (the banks) are commodities”. The difference lies in the area of services. Motley (2002), however, does not see banking as a commodity. Commodities are those products that are the same everywhere you go. They are product such as salt, sugar and water. He states further that price is paramount as far as commodities are concerned. According to him, banking services are different and come with some challenges to both banks and clients. However, Weber and Motley both believed that, the bottom line is quality services and customer satisfaction.

2.2 EMPERICIAL LITERATURE
Convenience and satisfaction: priorities for bank customers. A recent Martiz survey has identified that in choosing primary bank customer rank; convenience and customer satisfaction were far above interest rate, fee structures and other financial services. In a sample involving 1000 candidates, the number of respondents who favored convenience and customer satisfaction rose above 6% as compared to the same poll of candidates conducted the previous year, 43% of those respondents said that it would not take lot to switch from one bank to another that make them feel valued and cherished as customers. The president and CEO of Martiz Canada said that, customer loyalty now and in the future will center on the two Cs (Convenience and Customer satisfaction). The fact that customers are changing banks all because of the continuous fall in service quality has made banks alert and this has called for a drastic measure in the improvement of customer satisfaction. The CEO of Martiz again stated that by implementing internal communication, through training and incentive programs aligned with their brands, banks can ensure that the services enjoyed by their customers at their branches, online or on phone matches what is promised.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY AND A BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW

Customer referrals is the process by which satisfied customer provide recommendation to people about their banks. In their study, Winstanley and Martha found out that although this varies by segments, highly satisfied customers are almost seven times more likely to recommend their banks to others. A satisfied customer is 3 times likely to recommend their banks to others and a dissatisfied customer is less likely to recommend his/her bank to anyone. They are also 8 times likely to switch
between banks.

CHAPTER 3

3.0 METHODOLOGY
This chapter seeks to explain the study area, sources of data, and methods of data collection, sampling methods and analysis and ethical issues.
3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

3.5 DATA COLLECTION
The data will consist of both secondary and primary data from UT Bank, Ghana. The primary data will be sourced from the employees and management of UT Bank. In essence the question asked are tailored to elicit the data that will help them study (Selden I. J, 2000). Secondary data will be collected from the reports of the bank, books, and articles from the internet.

3.7 ANALYSIS OF DATA
The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) will also be used in analyzing the data collected from the both primary and secondary sources.

3.8 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study will be organized into five (5) main chapters.
Chapter One, will be an introductory chapter and the first of five chapters of the study. The sub topics discussed under this chapter will be the background of the study, research objectives, research questions and the justification of the study. Chapter Two, will review relevant literature on variables related to the effectiveness of customer satisfaction on productivity in the banking industry. Chapter Three, it will explain the research methodology employed for the study. The sub topics include research design, sources of data target population, sampling methods, research instrumentations and analyzing of the data. Chapter Four, will deal with drawing possible conclusion on the basis of the findings. The chapter will end with recommendations.
LIST OF REFERENCES
1. Baker, M.J. (1991). The marketing book: Chartered Institute Of Marketing series III, second edition. Oxford. 2. Butterworth-heinemann, Brian, Glegg (2000). The Invincible Customer: Strategies for successful customer Service Down the Wire, London: Kogen Page. 3. Chee, H. & Harris, R. (1998). Global Marketing Strategy, London Pitman 4. CMA management (2004). Convenience and Service; A top concern for Bank Clients. Journal of marketing, 78,11 5. Keegan W. (2002). Global Marketing Management. 7th edition. London, Prentice Hall. 6. Kotler, P. Armstrong, G. Saunders, J. & Wong, V.(2002). Principles of Marketing, 3rd European edition. London Prentice Hall. 7. Kotler, P. Marketing Management. 11th edition, London: Prentice Hall.
CHAPTER 4

BANKING HALLS DELAYS
EXCELLENT

20
NEUTRAL

70
DISSATISFIED

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