4. What is Customer Service?

Customer service problems in industry are seldom what they superficially seem to be. They are almost invariably symptoms of deeper more basic problems in a company's logistical co‐ordination. The key to effective customer service policies lies in the extent to which the total logistical activities of a company — from raw material and plant location decisions through to delivery modes and credit — policy are brought together and viewed as an inter‐related system. Many companies have no clearly defined policy toward customer service, indeed, in many cases, customer service is only narrowly perceived in a technical or after‐sales sense. The wider view of customer service, adopted by a handful of innovative companies, brings together all the points of contact with the customer in terms of delivery frequency and lead‐time, back‐up inventory, responsiveness to complaints, technical service and a host of other aspects. Obviously creating an integrated and cohesive service involving all these elements is a task requiring careful analysis and planning.