Marketing Service Journal

Personal Insights

While completing this service journal I realized many things about myself as a consumer. As a consumer, I realized that I most value promptness, politeness, and a sense that the service provider is aware of customer expectations and is doing their best to meet them. For example, in the grocery store entry, the supervisor involved appeared to have no sense of his role in satisfying customers. It seemed as if he believed his only responsibility was to the employees and performing his duties in managing the employees. On the other hand, in the gas station entry, the attendant was doing everything possible to ensure customer satisfaction. I found this incredibly refreshing, as it made my opinion of the organization as a whole better. Customer service is vital to an organization’s success, because it can influence whether customers return or not, and whether customers bring in new clients by referral or scare new clients away with their horrible service stories.

In terms of being a better manager, this service journal helped me realize many changes I would make in the problematic encounters, and the superb attributes of other encounters I would emulate. For example, in the bank entry, that particular bank almost always has only one teller working, while many other employees are just relaxing on their computers. Although I know some of those other employees have different roles, such as helping clients open accounts, etc., I have also seen at other banks when the line is becoming long they step in to assist. If I were the manager of that particular bank I would make sure the front line employees know to assist when the line is getting long and they are not occupied with other work. In the gas station entry, I believe the Shell gas stations have an impeccable training program and management team. The employees are always doing their best to satisfy the customer’s needs and are friendly while doing so. I believe this stems from their training program, and this is something I would emphasize as a manager. I would make sure that employees that will interact with customers are well aware of ways they can satisfy the customer.

Overall, I found this service journal assignment very enlightening. It made me think about what I value as a customer and how my perspective can influence the success or failure of the company. This also got me thinking about how different companies value and approach customer service, and the relation to how I felt as a customer. I realized that managers must think from the customer’s perspective when considering customer service methods and how to achieve the desired satisfactory outcome.

Your name: _Mark Olive____

Service Journal Form

Name of Firm/Service Provider: _____________Planet Cable_______________________

Type of Service (e.g., gas station, bank, restaurant): ______Internet Provider Company_________  Date: _7/1/19__  Time: ___1 PM_____

How did the encounter take place? (e.g., in person, over the telephone, by mail, online?)  

In Person_________________

What specific circumstances led up to this encounter? (e.g., purpose, location, expectations, etc.)

I wanted to upgrade my internet plan to a faster speed, so I went to the nearest mall with a Planet store.___________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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