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A Summer Internship Project Report on

Importance of Customer Feedback and Customer Retention from Employees’ Perspective

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Marketing)

by

Vikramaditya Mishra

(Roll No – 1012 – C 32)

Under the guidance of

Mr. Yogesh Baviskar

A Study Conducted for Larsen &Toubro Integrated Engineering Services

atIndira School of Business Studies,

Tathawade, Pune 411033

(2010-12)

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Acknowledgement

This special thank goes to my helpful supervisor, Mr. Rajnikant Sangani. The supervision

and support that he gave truly helped the progression and smoothness of the internship

program. The co-operation is much indeed appreciated.

My grateful thanks also go to both Mr. Ronak Soni and Miss Priyanka Soni. The amount

of patience and the deep insight provided by them made the internship worthwhile and

very informative. All projects during the program would be nothing without the

enthusiasm and imagination from both of you. Besides, this internship program made me

realize the value of working together as a team and was a new experience in a working

environment, which challenged me every minute. Not to forget, great amount of

appreciation go to the rest of L&T staff which helped me from time to time during the

project. The whole program really brought us together to appreciate the true value of

friendship and respect of each other.

I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of my college faculty and my mentor

Mr. Yogesh Baviskar who was in constant touch with me and dispelled all my doubts

regarding the project.

Last but not least I would like to thank my friends especially those who work together as

interns at L&T for all their help and out of the box ideas!

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What is the Project?

The project is titled Importance of Customer Feedback and Customer Retention

from Employees’ Perspective.

Definition and purpose of the project

The project may be defined as an attempt to find out as to how much importance

employees actually attach to customer feedback and whether they feel that the feedback

of the customer should be considered and acted upon or not.

Do they feel it has any bearing whatsoever on the future relations with the organization?

Is customer retention a priority for the employees?

Do they find it profitable?

Are they fully aware of the ramifications if a loyal customer ends all future ties with the

company?

And finally Are the employees personally motivated to retain and satisfy the customers?

These questions summarize the purpose for which this particular project was taken up

and answers them satisfactorily.

Scope of the Project

The scope of this particular project is highly advantageous to understanding the behavior

of those who are in direct contact with the clients and the recognition of this behavior and

attitude may be used as a yardstick to gauge and shape my own future performance in an

organization.

By revealing what is important from their own point of view, the employees of a

successful organization have in their own way set the benchmarks of performance and

attitude which should be adopted towards the clients.

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The project also brings forth the current trends being followed by the employees in terms

of their beliefs towards their work and give an in depth understanding of the functioning

of the organization.

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Executive Summary

As a part of my Summer Internship Project I conducted a survey on the employees of the

organization in which I was interning i.e. L&T IES. The purpose of the survey was to

seek out the significance of customer satisfaction and customer retention in the minds of

the employees who are in direct contact with the clients.

In this survey I mainly focussed on the reasons as to how dedicated the employees are

towards the implementation of engineering services as per the specifications of the clients

and if they are willing to take extra measures for their clients knowing that the

competitors are close at their heels. Another important aspect of the project is whether the

employees consider customer feedback, study it and implement it in their future

transactions with them.

To know this I primarily focussed on the employees from the domestic sales and

distribution department and the business development team. The reason was that I had to

only focus on those employees who were in direct contact with the clients since they

were the only sample units who would be relevant to my survey.

In order to conduct the survey the Sampling Methodology used by me was Snowball

Sampling. This method essentially required me to ask the respondent of one

questionnaire to recommend another employee who would have the same characteristics

as the current respondent, i.e. be in direct contact with the customer. This was also done

because of the sheer size of the organization and so it would be difficult to compile a list

from any single source of the employees, so I decided to ask the employees themselves.

The tool used for the survey was a simple questionnaire consisting of 14 questions and

targeting the 35 employees.

As a conclusion of the project it was revealed that the employees indeed are aware of the

implications of client satisfaction and retention. They realize that customer feedback is

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indeed important and should be studied to uncover patterns which should be used for

future transactions with the clients.

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Index

S N Contents Pg No

1 Industry / Company overview

2 Review of Literature/ Theoretical

Background

3 Objectives

4 Research Methodology

5 Data Analysis , Results and

Interpretation

6 Conclusions

7 Limitations of the project

8 Contribution

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Company Overview

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L&T IES L&T Integrated Engineering Services (L&T IES) is a Strategic Business Unit of Larsen

& Toubro Limited, an 9.37 Billion USD engineering conglomerate from India. L&T IES

provides end-to-end engineering services including Product Design, Engineering

Analysis, Application Development, Asset Information Management, Plant Engineering

and Engineering Process Support using cutting-edge CAD/CAM/CAE technology.

Backed by seven decades of rich engineering pedigree, L&T IES engineers possess

relevant domain expertise in various industry verticals.

L&T IES operates from dedicated off-shore engineering centers at Vadodara, Mysore,

Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore in tandem with onsite teams to cater to engineering

requirements of global clients, many of them Fortune 500 Companies.

L&T IES quality and IT security management systems comply with various international

standards, our various centers are certified for CMMI Level 5 and ISO 9001.

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Introduction

L&T Integrated Engineering Services (L&T IES) is the Strategic Business Unit of

Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) that offers end-to-end design and engineering solutions

to global manufacturers.

Mission

"To provide engineering solutions using cutting edge PLM technologies to help our

customers achieve their objectives of innovation, cost reduction and faster time-to-

market."

Our Roots

The evolution of L&T into the country's largest engineering and construction

organizations is among the most remarkable success stories in Indian industry. The

company was founded in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1938 by two Danish engineers, Henning

Holck-Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro - both of whom were strongly committed to

creating L&T as a showcase of India's engineering talent and enabling it to meet the

demands of industry. Beginning with the import of machinery from Europe, L&T rapidly

took on engineering and construction assignments of increasing sophistication. Today,

the company sets engineering benchmarks in terms of scale and complexity.

Inheriting the engineering sapience of L&T group and preserving its tradition of

harnessing the best engineering talent in the country, L&T IES has nurtured a vibrant

multi-disciplinary workforce of engineers who work with strong focus on quality to

provide innovative solutions to a wide range of industries.

L&T IES offers solutions ranging from engineering support across all phases of a Product

Life Cycle to specialized engineering consultancy support for programmes like “Costs

Take Out” or “New Product Introduction” in new geographical markets.

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L&T IES helps its clients to solve technical and operational problems by employing

innovative engineering concepts. Clients benefit from the overall impact on their product

design, manufacturing costs and acceleration of efforts to get quality products to market

before their competitors.

Successful projects require more than just technical expertise and L&T IES possesses the

experience of effectively planning and executing, complex, long term projects to

conclusion within the limitations of real-life schedules and budgets of clients. L&T IES’

track record with working with clients around the world speaks of its technical, project

management and people management strengths and commitment to consistently add

value to clients’ businesses.

Larsen & Toubro Limited is a multinational conglomerate with interests in Design &

Manufacturing for Process, Defence, Aerospace and Ship Building Industries,

Lumpsum Turnkey Projects on EPC basis for industries in the Process, Power, Cement

and Mineral Sectors, Electrical and Electronics Products and Systems, Machinery and

Industrial Products apart from its strong focus on the IT & Technology Services Sector.

This breathtaking panorama of manufacturing and services offerings are made possible

by the vast reserves of engineering talent that constitute Larsen & Toubro Limited. Thus

it is this pedigree and core competence in all things that engineers at L&T IES can draw

upon to deliver well researched engineering solutions each time.

The people at L&T IES are leaders in their areas of responsibility, sharply focused on

fostering synergy with clients to deliver value not just to them but also to their end-

customers.

L&T IES attracts and recruits the finest engineers in several disciplines to provide

solutions in varied engineering domains ranging from Automotive to Plant Engineering

and Aerospace to Ship Design as well as everything else in between. L&T IES takes

onboard engineers straight out of college as also engineers with 2 to 5 years of work

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experience and builds on their strengths by rewarding and propelling them to leadership

positions. L&T IES also welcomes domain specialists who have put in 15 years or more

in core engineering functions to complement existing skill sets in design with the right

blend of manufacturing and technological know-why and know-how.

L&T IES’ engineers are driven by a passion to deliver, solutions that are just right as per

client requirements. With this aim in mind, engineers at L&T IES value individualism

while working in teams, think creatively while working to exacting international design

standards and specifications, take on tough deadlines without compromising on stringent

quality norms.

To cut a long story short, the people at L&T IES are highly motivated to make a

difference – to clients and through their products to the whole world.

IES Quality Management System (QMS)

 

IES Quality Management System is a repository of best practices adopted from

various standards, applicable quality assurance models & learning’s / best

practices drawn from our own implementation experience over the years.

QMS provides a robust framework for delivery considering different types of

projects undertaken in various areas like

•Engineering solutions for CAD/CAM/CAE/PDM/AIM & other customizations

in application

•Engineering services for design, consultancy, project engineering management

in the areas of Architectural, Civil, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical,

Automation & Instrumentation

•Embedded Systems & Software design / development, Maintenance, Porting &

testing services including Firmware, Hardware, Product Engineering,

Application Software, Independent testing & test automation, test systems

development & other verification & validation services

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  »  Key Quality & Process practices

QMS at IES ensures that all the activities necessary to design, develop and

implement the product or service are done effectively & efficiently considering

the overall scope of the activity. It assists the organization in continuously

working towards

•Increased productivity

• Reduced rework

• Bringing greater visibility

• Reduced Cycle time

• Improved Employee satisfaction

• Improved Customer satisfaction

To facilitate institutionalization, our QMS has been deployed on the intranet in

the respective centers. The structure of the QMS is shown below:

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Some of the key practices followed in the projects are explained below:

• Well defined systems to guide the teams, right from Estimation / proposal

making to delivery

• Integrated Project Management

• Quantitative risk management

• Reviews at intermediate stages to uncover internal defects closest to the stage

in which they are injected

• Periodic measurements done in every project facilitating root cause analysis &

continuous improvement

• Organizational metrics analysis by metrics teams with focus on defect

prevention

• Knowledge management – Capturing learning’s & best practices and utilizing

them for improvement

• Dedicated Quality team in each center driving the quality movement as a

mentor, guide & facilitator

• Engineering process groups continuously working towards refining /

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redefining the practices for improvement in respective areas

• Formal introduction to processes & systems right from induction to all new

joiners

• Extensive usage of tools in various stages of the project

  »  The Pillars of Quality Movement in IES

• Our people, who are the practitioners of process committed to delight the

customer

• Visible support from Senior Management

  »  The Key factors which drive our Quality Movement

• Our aspirations to meet & surpass the expectations of our customers

• Our urge to continuously improve upon our performance

• Our focus on improvement through quantitative measurement & analysis

  »  Certifications

•IES centers located in Bangalore, Chennai, Vadodara & Mysore are certified

to comply with ISO 9001:2008 requirements.

•Embedded Systems & Software activities of IES undertaken from its centers

located in Mysore, Bangalore & Mumbai are assessed & benchmarked at

CMMI ® – Dev + IPPD, Ver 1.2 Maturity level 5.

  »  Awards & Accolades

• In recognition of the process improvement initiatives undertaken in Embedded

centers of IES, We were awarded “CSI & QAI National award for Process

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Excellence” award in the Asia SEPG conference held in 2003.

Automotive The automotive industry is facing several challenges today – intense competition, rising

labor costs, pressures on profitability and declining customer loyalty. In addition, this

consumer-focused industry faces the challenge of constant reductions in the time it takes

to bring a new vehicle to market and the need to standardize while still maintaining a

large portfolio to meet the customer expectations.

Vehicle manufacturers and suppliers are component suppliers alike aim to have a global

presence, expanding through acquisitions and partnerships in target countries.

L&T IES understands that the automotive process requires rapid adaptability and

concurrency of all phases of design. On account of L&T IES’s proven inter-disciplinary

engineering knowledge, expertise on emerging engineering tools and experience of large

business engagements, we are strongly positioned to offer end-to-end design and

engineering solutions to the Automotive OEMs and suppliers. L&T IES’s strong financial

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standing and brand equity as an engineering leader enables us to constantly build new

capabilities, attract and retain the best talent in the industry.

At the concept and product planning stages, L&T helps its clients in styling and

visualization. Our engineers also contribute manufacturing advice to designers, where

manufacturing might influence the aesthetics. At the product engineering stage, we

collaborate with our clients to achieve optimum component and sub-systems design with

respect to their functionalities. Further, into the process engineering stage, where

manufacturing knowledge is paramount, we substantiate production processes by

working closely with our clients and conforming to the most rigorous manufacturing

standards. Our tool design and mold design services take the product a step closer to

reality by substantiating the product features that can influence its final design and enable

the improvement of designs developed further upstream in concept and product

engineering stages.

Automotive Product Design

For any product manufacturer, the design of the product has significant bearing upon

nearly every aspect of the company's business. Most crucially, for an Automobile

manufacturer, the design of vehicle is invariably the single most important manifestation

of its brand.

At L&T IES, we believe that Innovation is a natural part of the design process and we

help our clients strike the right balance between functionality and appearance while

meeting twin challenges of cost and time. Our automotive group has expertise in various

kinds of passenger and commercial vehicles as well as special purpose vehicles.

Automotive Engineering Analysis

In the highly competitive and fast driven automotive market, L&T IES works closely,

with OEMs, Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies, in carrying out Engineering Analysis for

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various requirements. We aid customers in reducing product development cycle time by

providing design and validation analyses which translate as building prototypes close to

the final product.

L&T IES depth of Design Analysis experience and knowledge of vehicular testing and

standards in various markets help execute aggressive schedules in a timely fashion.

The usage of wide range of analysis softwares such as ANSYS, NASTRAN, ABAQUS,

LS Dyna enable the delivery of results in the software of the customer's preference. An

outline of the different areas in the automotive area are given below.

  »  Closures - Front, Rear and Side

•  Static stiffness load cases•  Sash Rigidity Analysis•  Optimization•  Opening and closing efforts•  Subsystem level crash analysis•  Slam durability•  Outer panel stiffness – Quasi-static stiffness

  »  Powertrain

•  Finite element modeling / Meshing•  Bore distortion Analysis•  Thermal Analysis•  Structural Analysis•  CFD Analysis for Intake and Exhaust systems•  Dynamic Analysis

  »  Body Structures

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•  Body/Closure Interface stiffness•  Body Global stiffness•  Body-In-White modal analysis•  Fully trimmed body modal analysis•  Durability•  Roof crush - Quasi-static analysis•  Rollover Protection Devices

  »  Exterior/Interior

•  Static stiffness•  Normal modes•  Gravity sag analysis•  Durability with G-loads from road inputs

  »  Safety and Crash worthiness

•  90 degree Barrier Full Front Impact•  30 degree Angle Barrier Front Impact•  Offset Barrier impact•  Side impact•  Side Pole test•  Roof Crush•  Analysis as per FMVSS Standards

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Aerospace

L&T Integrated Engineering Services Aerospace business group is specialist in offering

Engineering Services to global Aerospace and Defence OEMs and their suppliers. With

our ability to offer comprehensive service offering, we have evolved as a unique player in

the Engineering Services space.

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Our Engineering Service offering spans entire product life cycle right from Concept

design, virtual testing, prototyping, Physical testing certification support and

manufacturing.

With our domain experts, experience & values, we have orchestrated the right value in

our customers thereby enhancing our relationship to a strategic partnership.

Off-Highway Vehicles

The Off-Highway Vehicles group at L&T IES represents a major strength area. The

group since its inception has been working with prestigious global customers on critical

design and engineering projects.

The group has designed not only individual components e.g. chassis, boom, bucket etc.,

but also successfully developed and integrated structural, mechanical, hydraulic,

electrical and electronic systems, etc for complete vehicles. The array of off highway

vehicles that we have experience in includes:

 • Wheel Loaders

 • Skid Steer Loaders

 • Graders

 • Dozers

 • Backhoe Loaders

 • Excavators

 • Fork Lifts

 • Tractors

 • Cranes & Tele-

Handlers

 • Scrapers

• Vibratory Soil Compactors

• Rigid, Articulated & Bottom

Dumpers

• Material Handling Equipment

• Combine Harvesters

• Round & Square Balers

• Hay & Forage Equipment

• Sprayers & Spreaders

• Special Purpose Machines

• Mobile crushers & screening

  equipment

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Off-Highway Vechicles Product DesignL&T IES has been successfully supporting its clients in their “New Product Innovation”

programs and helping them realise benefits like faster time to market and cost reduction.

People at L&T IES are capable of designing integrated products in the Off-Highway

Domain from back of the envelope sketches through manufacturing drawings and

prototyping.

L&T IES has capabilities in following equipment:

• Wheel Loaders

• Dozers

• Backhoe Loaders

• Excavators

• Vibratory soil Compacters

• Fork Lifts

• Rigid Articulate Dumpers

• Underground Mining Equipment

• Tractors

• Combine harvesters

• Round & Square Balers

• Hay & forage Equipments

• Sprayers & Spreaders

• Material Handling Equipments

• Special Purpose Machine

• Shovels

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• Cranes & Tele-handlers

• Dumpers

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Industrial Products The Industrial Products group of L&T IES supports manufacturers across the globe from

diverse industries such as electrical & electronics equipment instruments, process plant

machinery, industrial machinery, rotating machinery, hydraulic equipment and consumer

goods. It is adept at handling wide-range designing and engineering requirements right

from concept development stage to prototype development.

The team undertakes product design & development process, right from concept design,

product layout/assembly planning, component design, to assembly design, assembly

analysis and product / package designing. It has successfully executed large projects

using top-down approach and relational assembly management.

Well acquainted with UL, CE & FDA standards, the team ensures that designs fulfill the

appropriate regulations. L&T IES specializes in the design of medical equipment,

electrical equipment and accessories, food and other process plant machinery, industrial

valves, regulators, actuators, pumps, generators, controllers, switch gear cabinet design

and optimization of a range of industrial valves that conform to international standards

such as NACE, API, ASME, BS, PED, ASTM, ISA, and AWWA.

Products Range   »  Industrial valves Design

•  Conceptual Design for valves and pumps•  Re-design to accommodate material, stress and weight

changes•  Design Optimization for better range, control and

reliability•  Determination of Valve Characteristics•  Actuator Design Calculation (diaphragm, rotary,

electrical and cylinder)•  Extreme Condition Design (Cryogenic, High Pressure

and Nuclear Applications)•  Trim Design for anti-cavitations and low-noise•  Micro Flow Valve Design•  Valves Design for Engineering Offshore Application•  Complete range creation using calculation and modeling

templates

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Plant EngineeringToday's process & manufacturing industry, as a part of the Global Restructuring

Initiative, is aggressively looking for Strategic Partners who can become a Single Point

Solution for all their Engineering Services needs. This phenomenal Initiative is being

implemented to bring about cost, engineering and administrative efficiencies across the

portfolio of the capital projects.

L&T IES Plant Engineering Group has both the skill and experience to be the Strategic

Engineering Partner that clients seek, with an ability to work as an integrated extension of

client's internal engineering organization.

We are a full service consulting firm offering end-to-end PLANT CHANGE

MANAGEMENT SERVICES for our Client’s facility from Process Change Management

to Information Change Management to Product/Machine Change Management.

We have long term engineering service partnership with major North American CPG

companies for their global operations and provide to them the Plant Change Management

Services on an annuity basis.

Focus Industries

• Food & Beverages

• Dairy

• Pharmaceutical

• Home Care

• Personal Care

• Brewery

• Specialty & Agro Chemical

• Minerals, Metal & others

L&T-IES is engaged in providing Engineering Design services to a wide variety of

overseas clients in the areas of Civil, Architectural and Building services (MEP) for

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general buildings like office complexes, multiuse buildings, commercial buildings,

residential buildings, hospitals, institutional buildings, factories, etc.

     

POWAI WORKS(385,000 sq.m )

 COIMBATORE WORKS

   

         

     

RANOLI WORKS(Special Equipment)

 HAZIRA WORKS

(900,000 sq.m )   

         

 

Strategic System Complex - Talegaon

  Sohar, Oman    

 

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  »  Industrial Structures

L&T IES has a long and established history in the design and delivery of industrial structures like: •  Automobile Manufacturing Facilities•  Balance of Plant for Petrochemical Plants•  Cement Plants•  Fertilizer Plants•  Glass Plants•  Power Plants•  Water Supply & Treatment Plants

 »  Utility Systems

L&T IES provides a comprehensive range of solutions for the following systems : •  HVAC•  Fire Protection Systems•  Plumbing•  Building Electricals•  Building Automation

 

  »  Infrastructure

L&T applies its multidisciplinary approach to provide the best solutions for a range of projects: •  Bridges & Roads•  Ports & Marine Projects•  Airports & Hangars•  Substations

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Review of

Literature/

Theoretical

Background

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Customer Retention

Customer Retention is the activity that a selling organisation undertakes in order to

reduce customer defections. Successful customer retention starts with the first contact an

organisation has with a customer and continues throughout the entire lifetime of a

relationship. A company’s ability to attract and retain new customers, is not only related

to its product or services, but strongly related to the way it services its existing customers

and the reputation it creates within and across the marketplace.

Customer retention is more than giving the customer what they expect, it’s about

exceeding their expectations so that they become loyal advocates for your brand.

Creating customer loyalty puts ‘customer value rather than maximizing profits and

shareholder value at the center of business strategy’. The key differentiator in a

competitive environment is more often than not the delivery of a consistently high

standard of customer service.

Customer retention has a direct impact on profitability. Research by John Fleming and

Jim Asplund indicates that engaged customers generate 1.7 times more revenue than

normal customers, while having engaged employees and engaged customers returns a

revenue gain of 3.4 times the norm.

Customer retention is not only a cost effective and profitable strategy, but in today's

business world it's necessary. This is especially true when you remember that 80% of

your sales come from 20% of your customer and clients. With these statistics I am

wondering why most marketing and sales campaigns are designed for the new customer.

Sophisticated technology and database equipment has made it possible for specialized

firms to make attempts at customer retention through database marketing programs.

Establishing a detailed client database will allow these companies to keep track of

personal information and individual preferences of all their customers.

CUSTOMER RETENTION TACTICS Monitor the service delivery process

Properly install products and train customers

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Be there when you are needed the most

Provide discretionary effort

TYPES OF SERVICE GUARANTEES Implicit Guarantees

o An unwritten, unspoken guarantee that establishes an understanding between the firm and its customer

Specific Result Guarantees

o Guarantees that apply only to specific steps or outputs in the service delivery process

Unconditional Guarantee

o A guarantee that promises complete customer satisfaction

THE BENEFITS OF GUARANTEES Customer-directed Benefits:

o customers perceive a better value

o perceived risk is lower

o the firm is perceived as more reliable

o helps consumers decide among alternatives

o helps consumers overcome resistance

o helps to overcome negative word-of-mouth

THE BENEFITS OF GUARANTEES Organization-directed Benefits:

o forces the firm to focus on the customer’s definition of good service

o the guarantee states a goal that is communicated to employees and customers

o invoked guarantees provides a measurable means of performance

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There are many reasons a customer or client may leave you, but the ones you will hear most often are:

They felt your pricing was too high or unfair. They had an unresolved complaint. They took a competitors offer. They left because they felt you didn't care.

When you consider that the last two make up the majority of why a client or customer

will no longer use your service or buy your products - it can be a hard pill to swallow.

After all it means they are an inactive client because they felt you didn't care about them

and your competitor did.

This makes sense when you consider that customers often purchase your service or

product because they have developed a relationship with you, they owned another

product or yours, or they were referred to you by a friend or associate.

Before you spend your time and money going after new customers and clients you do not

currently have a relationship with consider the following statistics:

Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers.

Referrals among repeat customers are 107% greater than non-customers.

It costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than to sell that same thing

to a customer

Top 5 Customer Retention Marketing Tactics1. Regular Communication with Customized Content and Special Offers – This

is the cornerstone of any good customer retention program and careful attention

should be paid here.  Most companies have some sort of newsletter to

communicate with existing customers but fewer are actively making offers to

their current install base that are customized according to what is already known

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about the customer.  This can be as simple as offering an upgrade at a special

price to tiered discounts or preferred access to support or other resources.

2. Customer service – Poor customer service accounts for 70% of customer loss. 

Marketing should take that number very seriously and work with the support team

to deliver content that can help service folks do their job.  In my experience many

thorny customer service issues stem from a mismatch between the offering

functionality and customer expectations.  Marketing can create content that can

set customer expectations for functionality and performance to make sure there is

a good match between the product and what the customer is trying to do.

3. Listen (and then talk) – The overwhelming majority of unhappy customers will

never communicate their dissatisfaction with you.  Regularly checking in on

customers will help you to see signs of an impending departure while there’s still

time to fix problems.  Regular customer contact through customer advisory boards

or other less structured customer calls will often alert you to bigger problems

before they’re reflected in your metrics.  You can learn a lot by eavesdropping on

customers on blogs, Twitter and forums.  Just remember that if you are going to

engage with customers in this way you need to be prepared to act on the issues

they are complaining about

4. Loyalty programs, appreciation awards and customer referral rewards –

rewarding customers for referring you new business or for repeat buys is always a

good idea.  Even in markets where that isn’t appropriate (I’ve never seen a

rewards program for enterprise infrastructure software for example) you can still

give customers an award to recognize them (and give them something to brag

about).

5. Bring Your Customers Together – at the larger companies I worked at our

annual user conference was one of the most successful marketing tactics we did. 

Companies with smaller user bases and budgets are doing similar things by

creating online spaces (in the form of forums, custom social networks, facebook

or LinkedIn groups, etc) where customers can connect, share their experiences

and learn from each other.

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Product and services meeting customer expectations and product promise

This is the core- There are two parts in there:

Product Promise- This includes not only what you said in your brochures, and

advertisements, but also what your sales person told the customer. It is evident

that sales people can over play the good qualities of the product or may mis-sell

the product. Therefore, companies not only have to focus on creating authentic

published sales pitch, but also ensure that their products are sold but not mis-sold.

Customer Expectations: One needs to manage customer expectations, as

misplaced customer expectations lead to dissatisfaction even if you are meeting

your product promise. As a customer behavior, in this sales driven world,

consumer, do give a little tolerance to your performance short-falls, but its minor.

The methods to manage customer expectations can be:

o Try to address the key expectation gap areas (as you learn by your

experience), and clarify it to the customer.

o You can be factual about the key areas which can lead to customer

expectations mis-match. For example, for a life insurance company, one

can clarify to the customer the sales illustrations (which provides the

estimate of the asset value of your policy till maturity), are a guess and not

a promise.

o You don't have to go around telling everything what your product cannot

do. Focus on key areas, where customers may have wrong expectations.

As long as you are positioning it in a factual and positive language, it

should do the trick. One other way is to submit detailed technical and

functional specifications in a user friendly manner. The product

comparison charts with your other products also helps.

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Trust relationship with the customer

This is a soft factor, which provides long-term sustainability to your customer base and

loyalty. It provides strong foundation to your brand perception and value. This factor

mainly emerges from the corporate culture and value systems. The trust-factor with the

customer is built in following representations:

Veracity of the statements in the sales material.

Authenticity of the sales statements and scripts

The product recalls, in case of product issue

Product promise match with the actual product features

No fine-prints

Customer service and support

The quality, promptness and friendliness (in that order of priority) of your customer

service and support will determine the level of your CSR. Customer service and support

is a big subject in it-self. Here are some key areas of Customer Service, which drives the

customer satisfaction:

Knowledge of the product and domain- A customer loose confidence, if the

person who picks up the phone does not understand the products or processes of

the organization. The following training and support of the front-line staff can

help:

o Product features and organization process

o Top 500 questions, a customer can ask about the product and the

organization, and their answer.

o Create an online FAQ data bank and also the searchable product and

process data-base

o Create train the trainers, which are on the shop-floor to handle any

complex query.

Identity of the customer and customer interaction history

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This is a norm in large organization. All interactions with the customer should be noted in

detail. This should include:

The customer issue.

What did we respond on?

What did we promise to do?

Was that issue linked to a previous issue?

A single view of the customer in terms of all his relationships and transactions is key to

creating the customer identity. A good operational business intelligence platform or an

operational data store can help.

Customer relationship and constant touch

A customer likes to be contacted without the context of any issue. The customer touch

can be achieved on the following counts:

Checking with the customer on if the product is working well?

Checking with the customer on his level of satisfaction after a repair or service

call.

Sending a mail or a gift token on important customer dates like birthdays and

anniversary.

Contacting customer with new offerings

Sending regular newsletter, industry developments, and tips on 'how to make the

best out of our product' etc.

Level of customer satisfaction index

One can say that customer satisfaction index is inversely proportional to the customer

attrition. This is not 100% true, due to following reasons:

An unsatisfied customer may not attrite, because the exit costs are too high.

A satisfied customer may attrite, due to aggressive competition campaigns or you

may not have the product, which the customer wants.

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Customer sales experience

Customer sales experience can leave a kind of good or bad taste. This after taste does

contribute to customer retention or attrition. For example a great sales experience may

retain a customer, even after some post sales issues. However, if a customer had an

inadequate sales experience, it catalyzes attrition.

Customer post-sale experience

The post-sales experience can help reinforce the long term retention. The post-sale

experience includes:

Order Delivery

Product-installation and demo

Product kit and user manuals

Introductory call with the relationship manager or account manager etc...

Customer loyalty

Customer loyalty is all about attracting the right customer, getting them to buy, buy often,

buy in higher quantities and bring you even more customers. However, that focus is not

how you build customer loyalty.

You build loyalty by…

keeping touch with customers using email marketing , thank you cards and more.

treating your team well so they treat your customers well.

showing that you care and remembering what they like and don’t like.

You build it by rewarding them for choosing you over your competitors.

You build it by truly giving a damn about them and figuring out how to make

them more success, happy and joyful.

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Long-term client and customer loyalty is a long-term challenge that you must strive for

every day and with every transaction no matter how big or small.

Lack of communication is the biggest problem that plagues most doomed relationships

whether they are personal or professional. Identifying when a lack of communication is

occurring can save problems from escalating.

The bottom line is that one of the key components in marketing and business growth is to

spend the majority of your time and effort nurturing customer relationships, so that you

get business from existing clients and customers. This is a strategy that will move you

forward in increasing your sales by 50% without increasing your budget.

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Frequency Marketing - definition

ICLP – the global loyalty marketing agency – is an expert in developing and

managing frequency marketing programs (programmes).

Frequency Marketing is a term that relates to marketing programs that aim to maintain or

increase the ‘frequency’ of visits, purchases, orders etc. of customers in order to

maximise their profit contribution over-time. Such programs, more often termed as

loyalty programs (or loyalty programmes), recognise and reward customers based on

purchasing behaviour.

A frequency marketing program is a means to an end; it is the means in which companies

are able to identify its ‘best customers’ and once identified, enables companies to

recognise and reward those customers in order to keep them loyal. A frequency

marketing programme also enables companies to identify potential best customers and

market to them. Customer recognition and reward then come into play accordingly.

Frequency marketing programmes need to be innovative and motivating enough for

customers to want to join while volunteering information about themselves, such as name

and address, therefore enabling companies to identify and communicate with selected

customers. The most basic identifying information could simply be a name and an

accompanying email address. Rich information, provided on an application for a loyalty

card for instance, will give an address, an age demographic, previous purchase

information and a whole range of other specific information, such as consumption of

media, frequency of holidays, even income bracket.

Every time a frequency marketing (or loyalty) card is used, this identifies the customer,

and links relevant transactions to their record. Companies then analyse this data and turn

it into knowledge (either on a non-aggregate or aggregate level) and use this accumulated

insight to reward customers with the objective of retaining or growing their profit

contribution.

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Frequency marketing has been around long before the Internet. A prime example of

frequency marketing are the many "frequent-flyer" programs. Many airlines offer free air

miles if you travel on their planes. This is their method of building brand loyalty.

Should you implement frequency marketing in your marketing efforts?

Frequency marketing is a long-term strategy that requires commitment. Unlike

promotions that may last only weeks, frequency marketing programs could last for

several years. If you cannot make this type of commitment, then it will be tough to

develop a successful frequency marketing strategy.

The rewards that you offer should be of value. Here are a few more examples of

frequency marketing:

Credit Card Contests - Some credit card companies are offering you a chance to win

prizes. Everytime you use your credit card, you are entered into the contest.

Stamp or Points - Companies will give you stamps or points that can be redeemed for

brand merchandise. (e.g. Pepsi Points)

Contest and Games; Companies provide games or contests which require the player to

make repeat purchases. (e.g. McDonalds Monopoly)

You do not necessarily have to offer a tangible reward. Studies indicate that rewards such

as special treatment or recognition provide a stronger bonding impact.

Be genuine about your rewards. How many times have you received a "preferred

member" plastic card with a toll-free number on the back? Where is the value?

Don't promise the world. If you cannot deliver on your promise, you could seriously

damage you reputation and credibility.

When conversing with your customers, you should do it genuinely and not generically.

Sending a letter that starts off with "Dear Valued Reader," will not be as effective as

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"Dear Jim,". Remember you are trying to develop a relationship. Frequency marketing

communication is one-to-one, not one-to-a million.

The most important aspect of a successful frequency marketing program is to add "real"

value to your customers. You have to look at your product or service and decide whether

it warrants a repeat purchase. If you do not offer a high quality product or service, your

frequency marketing strategy will fail miserably.

Frequency marketing is not for all businesses. They usually apply to business that have a

high need for repeat business. You should also be in a business where it is hard to

distinguish between you and your competitors to effectively use a frequency marketing

strategy. If you have a monopoly in your business, it does not make sense to implement a

frequency marketing strategy. Everyone has to purchase from you no matter what.

The downside to frequency marketing is that once all your competitors realize how

successful it is, they will jump on the same bandwagon. Pretty soon, the whole strategy

becomes meaningless if everyone else is doing it. That is why a frequency marketing

strategy needs to be well thought out and constantly reapplied or revamped.

Frequency marketing is still in its infancy on the Internet. There are many programs

evolving at this moment. There will be a lot of companies implementing this long-term

strategy into their marketing efforts.

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The Importance of Customer Feedback

Consumer is the king in today’s market. Excessive competition among the

manufacturers has given an extra advantage to the consumer’s .Their opinion and views

are important for every organization who wants to succeed and capture the market share.

Especially, in case of new entrants who want to establish themselves, feedback plays a

vital role in helping them to make a niche for themselves from struggling stage to a

successful stage.

Today’s consumers are always updated and  alert on the various  changes in

different brands of products and services. They are more informed and hence have in-

depth knowledge on all the  products and its competitors.So, the marketers; in order to be

in line with the exciting market trend has to know about its customer’s needs and

requirements from time to time and act accordingly on the same. Thus, a feedback helps

the manufacturers to bring about the changes as per their consumer’s need  and

desires on its products or services and thus serve them better.

This in return, helps the manufacturers to retain their customers and convert them

into loyal customers. It’s believed that the cost incurred to create new customers is

comparatively lesser than the cost involved retaining the old customers. They feel their

opinion is valuable and hence feedback develops the special feeling about the

organisation in its consumer’s mind.

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In order to succed ,organization needs to move with time. They need to understand

their customers and move hand in hand with them. If they do not tune in with their

customers requirements, they will give their customers an opportunity to exploit and try

out competitor’s new products present in the market.So, it’s entirely manufacturer’s

decision to either look forward to their consumer’s feedback and act accordingly or

be ignorant and allow its consumers to try out other brands present in the market. The

choice is entirely theirs.

The key to making the most of customer feedback is looking for patterns and common

challenges. You might look through several suggestions and notice a lot of feedback

about communication preferences. If you looked at them one-by-one, then it might just

look like some isolated situations. But once you pull them together you discover a pattern

around the need to manage both online and offline communication preferences.

Developing functionality that can use Solicit Codes from The Raiser's Edge not only

helps provide a solution, but the native integration is already in place to make it work at

no additional cost.

Connecting the dots between suggestions and other forms of feedback really helps drive

more meaningful improvements. This also means that you can help provide solutions to

both existing and new customers that are valuable. That's a win-win scenario.

Get Honest Opinions

o Customer feedback is a vital way to get honest opinions on your services

or products from people who are familiar with them. These opinions can

make it easier to get into the minds of the most important critics.

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Improve Relations

o When customers feel that a business truly cares about them and what they

think, they may be more likely to be loyal customers. When a business

makes changes according to feedback, it shows that they truly listen and

respect those opinions.

Inexpensive Business Advice

o Some businesses pay thousands of dollars for someone to come in and tell

them what improvements need to be made to the business to get more

customers. Customer feedback is essentially inexpensive business advice

directly from the source.

More Customers

o When a business is willing to receive feedback and listen to it, word

spreads and more customers may be willing to give you a shot based on

your commitment to excellent customer service.

Positive Changes

o A business does not like to brag about the negative aspects of their

operation; they want to have mostly positive things to say. Customer

feedback can mean positive changes according to their comments, which

could mean a better reputation and more money for the business.

Customer feedback consists of communication that a customer provides to a company on

the performance of its products and services. The feedback can come through the form of

surveys, comment cards or simply through a customer's comment while already speaking

with a company representative.

Improvements

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o Customer feedback loops inform the company of how the products or

services can be improved. When a customer expresses frustration with a

product or service, this is an opportunity for the company to explore

deeper and remove the barriers to efficient customer service.

New Products

o Customers use a product or service often. They have insight into which

products or service would work well with a current product or service

offering. For example, a company that sells olive oil would benefit by also

offering a cookbook featuring recipes that require olive oil.

Revenue

o If customers complain, this is an opportunity to prevent the customer from

seeking their product or service from a competitor. A loss of business

leads to less revenue.

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Objectives:

1. To find out the importance of customer satisfaction in the minds of the employees.

2. To find out if the employees are aware of the benefits of customer feedback and satisfaction.

46

Research Methodology

47

Research was done to know the importance of client retention and their feedback in the

minds of the employees of L&T IES.

The analysis can do well only on Methodology on which it is done. The Up-to-mark

methodology improves the validity and Quality of findings.

The area Studied:

The Study was carried out in L&T Knowledge City, Vadodara.

Research design:

Research design is the specification of method and procedure for acquiring

information needed. As per my research design I went through the path as follows:

Decided the Objective of Research.

Determined the most liked way of Method.

Specified the source of data collection.

Defined the most appropriate sample design and sample size.

Conducted the survey of data collection.

Process and Analyze data.

Method of data collection:

There are several methods of collecting data. Mine was primary

data collection.

Primary Data collection, it is method of collecting data in which marketers collect data

very first time and that collected data is called fresh or first-handed data.

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PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION

Collection Methods

1) OBSERVATION

a) Natural setting

b) Field experiment

Advantage minimizes response bias

Disadvantage limited to measuring behavior

time consuming

subject to investigator bias

2) COMMUNICATION

a) Personal interview

Advantage permits detailed & in-depth questions &

responses

minimizes non-response

Disadvantage costly

interviewer bias

investigator bias

interviewer cheating

b) Telephone Interview

Advantage convenient

saves time

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relatively inexpensive

less interviewer & investigator bias than personal

interview

Disadvantage non-coverage

limited length & depth of questions and

responses

c) Self-administered Questionnaire

Advantage cost effective for large areas

minimizes interviewer bias

promotes accurate answers

Disadvantage low response rates

unanswered questions

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Question Formats

1) OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS: Respondents are given complete freedom to

answer in their own words.

Advantage a) eliminates "forced choice" bias

b) unlimited response varieties

Disadvantagea) promotes investigator bias

b) responses difficult to code and analyze

Best Use a) small scale exploration

b) establishing rapport

c) as final question

d) to collect facts: e.g., age

2) CLOSED-ENDED QUESTIONS:

A) Yes – No Questions: Respondents are limited to a positive or negative

position.

Advantage a) minimizes investigator bias

b) responses obtained quickly

c) coding is simple and inexpensive

Disadvantagea) simplistic / limits range of commitment

b) wording can cause biases

Best Use a) telephone interview

b) self-administered questionnaire when topic permits

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B) Multiple Choice Questions: Respondents are limited to choice of more

than two positions.

Advantage a) minimizes investigator bias

b) responses obtained quickly

c) coding is simple and inexpensive

d) permits greater range of commitment than yes-no

questions

Disadvantagea) good questions are difficult to write

b) wording can cause biases

Best Use a) personal interview

b) self-administered questionnaire

c) telephone interview if item is not too complicated

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C) Rating Scales: Respondent rates an attribute using the provided scale.

EXCELLENT VERY GOOD AVERAGE FAIR POOR5 4 3 2 1

EG.1 Evaluation

EG.2 FrequencyNEVER SOMETIMES ALWAYS

1 2 3

EG.3 Intensity: the Likert ScaleSTRONGLY AGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE

5 4 3 2 1

Best Use a) personal interview

b) self-administered questionnaire

c) telephone interview

D) Semantic Differentials: Respondent's evaluation ranges between opposites.

VERY IMPORTANT 5 4 3 2 1 NOT IMPORTANT

VERY INTERESTED 5 4 3 2 1 NOT INTERESTED

VERY RELIGIOUS 5 4 3 2 1 NOT RELIGIOUS

NEGATIVE IMPRESSION -1 0 1 POSITIVE IMPRESSION

Best Use a) personal interview

b) self-administered questionnaire

c) telephone interview if item is not too complicated

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Questionnaire Design

Preliminary Concerns

1. Consider the data collection method.

2. Consider the measurement scale and statistical analysis to be used.

Wording

1. Use correct grammar and sentence structure. Avoid slang and colloquialisms.

2. Wording should be as simple as possible without being condescending to

respondent.

3. Use a conversational tone. Wording should be as closely as possible to the

manner in which people would talk to each other.

4. Wording should be neutral and clearly communicate the intent of question.

Instructions

1. Instructions on how to answer should be communicated to the respondent as

part of the question.

2. Special instructions to the interviewer should be clear and located on the

questionnaire.

3. Clearly distinguish the instructions to the interviewer questions and responses by

always putting the instructions to the interviewer CAPS, Italics, etc.

Content

1. Write brief questions.

2. Have a specific goal for each question.

3. Make efforts to write questions that are valid measures of the study’s variables.

4. Be careful not to assume behavior or knowledge on the part of any respondent.

5. If a question contains facts, make sure they are accurate.

6. Carefully choose wording so that accurate information is collected.

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Be precise and specific in the use of concepts (for example, government--is it

city, county, or federal?).

Be precise and specific regarding time, either as a period of recall or as a time

limit to a certain behavior.

Avoid "loaded" questions that suggest to respondents that one answer is

preferable to another.

Avoid double questions where two or more issues are mentioned.

Avoid all-inclusive terms such as "never" or "always."

Avoid the use of technical terms and abbreviations that can be misconstrued.

Avoid the use of inflammatory words such as "racist" or "exploitation."

7. Be sure all questions are relevant to the research goal.

8. Be certain all important questions are asked.

Response Categories

1. Response categories must match the attributes mentioned in question.

2. Response categories to closed-ended items must be:

sufficiently exhaustive.

mutually exclusive.

the categories respondents would naturally use to classify the item or

themselves.

3. Questions may contain a response category of "don't know" or "no

answer/refusal."

Order

1. Treat all questions as part of a whole, not isolated or separate from other items.

2. Remember that each question is perceived by the respondent to be in a context of

questions. Thus, answers to one question can be affected by responses to others

in the same group.

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3. Questions should be grouped according to topic.

4. Within a topic it is usually best to arrange questions so they move from general

to specific.

5. The question order should permit the interviewer to keep the interview moving at

a conversational, yet purposeful pace. To achieve this:

Order questions using a logic that will make sense to the respondent.

Use transitional statements freely so that the questions "flow" easily one to

another.

6. The first questions should be relatively easy-to-answer questions that are

related to the research topic that was expressed in the introductory message

or cover letter.

7. Place important/sensitive questions in the middle of the questionnaire.

8. Place easy-to-answer questions, such as demographic items, at the end of the

questionnaire.

Format

1. Clearly distinguish questions from response categories.

2. Vary response patterns and group topics as often as is practical to prevent fatigue.

3. Avoid breaking a question between pages of the questionnaire.

4. Splitting complex issues into two or more simple questions in order to eliminate

respondent confusion and error.

5. Avoid questions that duplicate earlier items or appear to the respondent to be

redundant.

6. Precode the questionnaire. Include the response codes on the

questionnaire.

Sample Universe:L&T IES Employees

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Sample Size, Technique & Time Period:

Sample size was 35

Technique used for it was Non - Random sampling and Time Period was 7 Days.

57

Data Analysis and Interpretation

58

Sample Size – 35Sample Unit – L&T Employees (Domestic Sales and Distribution and Marketing).Sample Tool – Questionnaire.

59

Importance of Customer Feedback and Customer Retention from

Employees’ Perspective

1. Customer satisfaction is my primary objective.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree 57.14286

Agree 37.14286

Neutral 5.714286

Disagree 0

Strongly Disagree 0

This question seeks to find out just how important the employees feel customer

satisfaction really is. The result was that almost the entire lot of employees sampled

believed that satisfying the customers through their services is their primary objective.

Only about 5% people were unsure about it, whereas no one disagreed with the statement.

This clearly shows the commitment of the employees towards their clients.

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2. Customer satisfaction always leads to customer retention.

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree 57.14286

Agree 34.28571

Neutral 2.857143

Disagree 8.571429

Strongly Disagree 0

This statement was to test what the employees really believe. Do they feel that

customer satisfaction will “always” prohibit their customers from switching over to

their competitors?

Or will the clients still shift over to the competitors even when they are satisfied?

Again a majority of the employees felt that if the client is satisfied he/she will

continue to do business with the organization. However again 8% of the respondents

felt that its not compulsory that a client will always stick with the company even if

he/she is satisfied.

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3. Which of the following is less expensive?

Retaining an old/loyal customer.

Attracting a new customer.

Can’t say.

Retaining Old Customers 77.14286

Attracting New Customers 5.714286

Cant Say 17.14286

This question was to see if the employees were actually aware of the importance of

the expenses involved in acquiring a new client in comparison to the miniscule

amount of time and resources which are spent in simply retaining a client.

As expected an overwhelming percentage of respondents were well aware that

retaining an old client was less expensive than attracting new ones. However about

23% were still not sure.

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4. Does giving guarantees of your service encourage customer loyalty?

Yes.

No.

Can’t say.

Yes 62.85714

No 14.28571

Cant Say 22.85714

This question sought to find out whether giving guarantees of the product’s

performance will encourage repeat business. Again a majority felt that it would,

however about one fifth of the respondents were still not sure of the same.

This shows that nowadays clients are looking for more than just guarantees.

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5. Apart from company policies, have you taken any individual initiative at

encouraging positive customer relationship?

Yes.

No.

Yes 77.14286

No 22.85714

The objective of this question was to ascertain whether the employees take any

personal initiative in making their offering better. If they go beyond the required

protocols in order to provide better service it shows commitment of the employee not

just towards the client but the organization as well.

Again in this case more than three fourth of the respondents responded positively

thereby showing their commitment.

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6. In the past, if the company has lost any clientele, what was the plausible reason?

Client wanted to stop the outsourcing.

Lack of required attention to the client.

Inability to solve the client’s problem.

Lower prices of range of services by the competitor.

Unrealistic demands of the client.

Can’t say.

Customer wanted to Stop

Outsourcing 28.88889

Lack of Attention to the Client 22.22222

Inability to solve client's problem 8.888889

Low Prices of Competitors 17.77778

Unreal Demands 8.888889

Cant Say 13.33333

The purpose of this question was to find out the various reasons as to why the clients

may have decided to discontinue business with the organization.

A large number of options were provided to the respondents for this purpose.

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As a there were a mixed number of opinions. Although the largest number of

responses pointed out to the reason that the client wanted to top the outsourcing, the

employees also admitted that sometimes there was a lack of attention from their side

which made the client go away. This was the second most important reason as seen in

the survey.

Low prices of the competitors was also a factor which could not be ignored and

showed that apart from client satisfaction, low prices are also important.

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7. Do you offer any special schemes or discounts or services to your most frequent

clients?

Yes.

No.

Yes 82.85714

No 17.14286

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8. Does frequency marketing lead to customer satisfaction and good word of mouth?

Yes.

No.

Can’t say.

Yes 57.14286

No 5.714286

Cant Say 37.14286

Frequency marketing refers to tactics like loyalty programs or offering considerably

lower prices to repeat business giving clients. These tactics are also a smart and

efficient way of retaining the customers and encouraging their loyalty and faith in the

company.

In this case most employees replied positively, still more than one third respondents

were not sure whether these schemes actually made any difference or not.

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9. Are you in constant communication with the client while your product or service

is being installed on the client’s premises?

Yes.

No.

Yes 94.28571

No 5.714286

This question shows another parameter related which is closely related to customer

satisfaction. By staying in constant touch with the client the service provider re

assures the client that utmost attention and due care is being provided to the project.

Failure to do so may make the client feel insecure and may cast an impression that the

project is not being done with the due attention it deserves.

Also by staying in constant touch, if any changes are to be made from the client’s or

service providers side, it can be done with total transparency.

The respondents are bang on target as they understand the relevance of the parameter

and 94% have responded in favour of it.

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10. How important would you rate the client feedback in your business? (1 being

highest and 5 being lowest).

1

2

3

4

5

11. What is the practical importance of customer feedback?

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Source of new product ideas.

Discovering weakness in our product/service.

Identifying area of skill set.

Source of Ideas 29.03226

Discover weakness in our product 43.54839

Identify area of skill development 27.41935

This question seeks to find the perception of the employees towards the feedback they

receive from the clients.

Is it of any value to them? If so then what improvement, if any, is brought about using

that particular feedback?

Nearly half the respondents felt that feedback was responsible for bringing to the

front weaknesses in their product/service and was hence very important to them, since

they could improve it for future projects.

While other respondents were split almost equally on the opinion that it is a good

source of ideas for new and innovative projects or services and helps them to identify

the area of skill development.

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12. Have you ever noticed and studied the patterns in customer feedback?

Yes.

No.

Can’t say.

Yes 71.42857

No 20

Cant Say 8.571429

The importance of studying customer feedback is highly underrated even by those

who value customer feedback. By studying patterns or common responses an

organization can ascertain where it is going wrong and can help to reduce the

frequency of inadequacy in their services.

Thankfully in this case, most of the employees were well aware of the importance of

studying the patterns of feedback, with only one third of the respondents saying that it

was not important.

13. Does you after sales service reflect the feedback of your client?

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Yes.

No.

Yes 91.42857

No 8.571429

14. Importance of after sales service:

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Individual attention to client.

Leaves a lasting strong image of the company.

Leads to client satisfaction.

Leads to client retention.

Individual attention to client 18.18182

Lasting Strong Image of the

Company 27.27273

Client Satisfaction 31.81818

Client Retention 22.72727

Conclusion

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When it comes to client satisfaction and its priorities in the minds of the respondents i.e.

employees, it is highly important to them. The first 2 questions clearly delve into finding

out the no of employees who feel that client satisfaction is of paramount importance and

it is answered quite vividly by way of the survey results which demonstrate that an

overwhelming majority of the employees are in favour of it.

However it was also found through the survey that some of the employees were not

precisely clear whether it was more advantageous to attract new clients or to focus on

retaining the existing ones. This is slightly disturbing as one would expect the employees

of an engineering conglomerate to be clear about this matter. It also shows that the

employees perhaps need to be coached about this issue.

It was also a little disappointing to see that not all employees were taking any personal

initiatives apart from the company specified one in order to encourage positive

relationship with the client. In today’s competitive scenario even small personal gestures

go a long way in differentiating the services and that has a large bearing on who the client

will eventually endorse.

When the plausible reasons for losing clientele were investigated an important reason was

that enough attention was not given to clients. This is a very appalling reason as in a

service industry; it is an unsaid rule that one must always give the required amount of

attention to the clients. If one fails to do so, that means that there are some

misconceptions at the fundamental/core level.

Frequency marketing was another topic which has gained importance in recent times but

was not on the agenda for most employees. The awareness level regarding this particular

topic was low and the employees were not sure about its importance. Perhaps the

employees are not very abreast of these marketing topics and this should be definitely

changed by educating the employees in this regard.

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Thankfully customer feedback is given a lot of importance which provides a positive

insight in the working of the organization. The importance of feedback should never be

undermined and this was proven by the respondents. They have used feedback for various

reasons like improving their services and have also studied the patterns of feedback

which helped them to improve upon the certain deficiencies.

Limitations

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One of the biggest and most evident limitations of the project is that the employees

refused to be identified while doing the survey as they were concerned that it may have

negative implications on their employment. As a result none of the respondents have

mentioned their names or designations on the questionnaires.

Although one might question the authenticity of the survey in such a situation, it should

also be pointed out that had the anonymity of the respondents not been maintained, there

would be a possibility of receiving very few responses. Also the responses that would be

received would be biased, in fear of future implications.

For ex, if the respondents were not anonymous most of them would not have replied in

the 7th question that they did not pay much attention to the clients. As a result in order to

get frank and honest opinions the respondents have not been named.

Another limitation can be that the sample size is relatively small i.e. 35. The reason for

this was the unique requirement for the survey. The requirement was that the employees

who are surveyed must be in direct contact with the clients. Finding such clients in the

whole organization was a difficult task in itself only 35 such employees could be

contacted.

A final limitation was that some of the employees may not have understood the language

of the questionnaire, even though the grammar was relatively simple. However doe to

this reason some questions may have been answered incorrectly.