Customer Service Processes at Orbitz

Orbitz, which is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, officially began doing business online in June 2001, and had originally been created in 1999 by five major airline companies-American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and Untied. What’s more, Orbitz is one of many Internet travel company websites that offer services to people who are researching and planning trips and vacations. Some of these services include booking flights, cruises and hotel rooms, and also reserving rental cars. Other services are provided as well, and all of these can be combined in different configurations. For instance, there is a case that relates the following customer service in Orbitz. Scott Paton, who is an editor-at-large for Quality Digest. Scott Paton noticed two charges for the same amount and same itinerary but he had only purchased one ticket. So he logged onto the Orbitz site, and contacted the customer services to solve his problem. Finally, he received a good response from Orbitz. What aspects of Orbitz’s service processes led to Mr. Paton’s favorable service experience? Generalize the lessons learned from this example to other organizations. What challenges might organizations encounter in designing quality customer service processes?

Understanding the definitions of customer services.

Customer Service is the commitment to providing customers value services, including attitude knowledge, technical support and quality of service. Nowadays, customer service has to be a team effort and not just the responsibility of employees who deal with the public directly. Providing good customer service is a vital part of managing a business. Most customers have the option to go elsewhere if the quality of customer service is lacking. Therefore, good customer service leads to customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers are more loyal, but dissatisfied customers take their money elsewhere and tell their friends about the poor service they have received. In other words, good customer service is a source of competitive advantage.

What aspects of Orbitz’s service processes led to Mr. Paton’s favorable service experience? After reading the case of “Customer Service Processes at Orbitz,” I catch eight aspects of Orbitz’s service processes which led to Mr. Paton’s favorable service experience as listed. The site’s low fares and easy-to-navigate interface. This is a good way to attract new customers. At the top of the page in large, easy-to-read type was a tab said “Customer Service.”When Paton clicked on the tab, he was surprised to find there were three options: an FAQ database, an e-mail link, and a toll-free number to call for help. There are three ways to contact Orbitz’s “Customer Service,” and bring convenience to customers. These facts show that Orbitz cares every customer who needs help. The customer service department is open seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.

Obviously, Orbitz does very well keeping in touch with customers if they need services, and does not any risks to lose customers. After entering his phone number, Paton was led through a surprisingly quick and easy voice mail navigation system that divided calls by type of inquiry. Since confused customers have no patience to wait on a long phone line, this kind of voice mail system is very helpful. A pleasant woman asked how she could help Paton, and her first reaction was to apologize. This is the most common reaction, but the most effective to make customers calm down. When the women came back on the line after about two minutes, she apologized for leaving Paton on hold. This show the courtesy of Orbitz. The women again apologized and asked if there was anything else she could do and if Paton was satisfied with the solution of the problem. Afterwords, Paton receive the letter which included a $50 discount coupon toward his next Orbitz purchase. The coupon serviced as a compensation to him.

Generalize the lessons learned from this example to other organizations. What challenges might organizations encounter in designing quality customer service processes? According to the eight aspects of Orbitz’s service processes that led to Mr. Paton’s favorable service experience, there are seven items of challenges might organizations encounter in designing quality customer service processes: Attracting new customers costs more than retaining existing customers. On the other hand, if you lose a customer because of bad service or anything else, it means that you are helping other competitors to eat the market share. So, we providing great service, and customers will be loyalty. Companies reduce the cost of customer service by using telephone voice response systems, outsourcing call centers to cheaper locations, and self-servicing on the internet, but they must ensure that the quality of service is not reduced .

3. Understand your customers’s needs and meet them, and listen to the“voice of the customer”and take action accordingly. 4. Good process and product design is important, because design products and processes will meet customers’ needs more often. For instance, Six Sigma will help the customer service backstage to selecting much more questions and conflicts during the serving, and optimize service processes to improve the efficiency of service. 5. Every customer contact is a chance to shine. Let customers know that they are making the best choice with the source of most competitive advantage. 6. Open all communications channels. This presents a technical challenge, as it requires an integrated, streamlined solution providing the employee with the information they need in order to effectively service the customer. 7. People expect good customer service anywhere and anytime. Friendly voice and smiles are always appreciated.

Reference

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