The customer service plan as well as a review of the SWOT Analysis is the focus. These are two very important parts of customer service since knowing the plan of this department and the goals help to hone the strategy and align the customer service provided to the company’s mission, vision, and values. Evaluate a SWOT Analysis just as you would in an actual customer service management position. A new startup company has established the following preliminary SWOT to date. See the Strengths and Weaknesses and Threats from the company customer service SWOT and discuss what should be addressed as opportunities based on what has been completed so far. · Enter the missing opportunities for building their customer base based on the information you have in the Reading*, Learning Activities and CSR Tool Belt. · Then share the opportunities you found based on the scenario, in the Discussion area and explain why you chose them. · Finally create two SMART goals you might use based on the opportunities you found and explain how you addressed each of the letters in SMART for these goals. SWOT Template: Strengths -Ease of contact on live chat -Customer Ability to post on Facebook® page -100,000+ likes on Facebook® Weaknesses -Website issues –unable to manipulate site -Website issues – not able to download as an app -Website issues-not accessible for visually impaired customers Opportunities Question: What are their opportunities here for addressing these outside threats based on their strengths and weaknesses? Threats The newest competitor has very active participation on all the social networks. The volume of customers is increasing demands on the providers. Respond per the Syllabus guidelines. * Read: You previously reviewed the internal aspects of the SWOT Analysis, the strengths and weaknesses of a company. Now you will examine the customer service plan in addition to reviewing the SWOT analysis from the threats and opportunities viewpoints, in other words, the external factors that impact the customer service plan. You will not be reading in your text this week. Instead you will read through the following sections, accessing the linked information to assist you in better understanding and being successful in completing the assignments. The customer service plan includes the department’s SMART goals aligned with the company’s mission, vision, and values statements. In larger organizations, the customer service department may have its own mission and vision statements. Scroll down to continue Reading about the customer service plan contents… The customer service plan specifies the target customer and describes the customer experience as a process from start to finish keeping it simple. It also discusses how feedback and preferences for the customer will be addressed and how problems or concerns will be resolved by Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) in a timely manner. It specifies the social networking plan and how these aspects are ...

1. The customer service plan as well as a review of the SWOT
Analysis is the focus. These are two very important parts of
customer service since knowing the plan of this department and
the goals help to hone the strategy and align the customer
service provided to the company’s mission, vision, and values.
Evaluate a SWOT Analysis just as you would in an actual
customer service management position.
A new startup company has established the following
preliminary SWOT to date. See the Strengths and Weaknesses
and Threats from the company customer service SWOT and
discuss what should be addressed as opportunities based on
what has been completed so far.
· Enter the missing opportunities for building their customer
base based on the information you have in the Reading*,
Learning Activities and CSR Tool Belt.
· Then share the opportunities you found based on the scenario,
in the Discussion area and explain why you chose them.
· Finally create two SMART goals you might use based on the
opportunities you found and explain how you addressed each of
the letters in SMART for these goals.
SWOT Template:
Strengths
-Ease of contact on live chat
-Customer Ability to post on Facebook® page
-100,000+ likes on Facebook®
Weaknesses
-Website issues –unable to manipulate site
-Website issues – not able to download as an app
-Website issues-not accessible for visually impaired customers
Opportunities
Question: What are their opportunities here for addressing these
outside threats based on their strengths and weaknesses?
Threats
The newest competitor has very active participation on all the

2. social networks.
The volume of customers is increasing demands on the
providers.
Respond per the Syllabus guidelines.
* Read: You previously reviewed the internal aspects of the
SWOT Analysis, the strengths and weaknesses of a company.
Now you will examine the customer service plan in addition to
reviewing the SWOT analysis from the threats and opportunities
viewpoints, in other words, the external factors that impact the
customer service plan.
You will not be reading in your text this week. Instead you will
read through the following sections, accessing the linked
information to assist you in better understanding and being
successful in completing the assignments.
The customer service plan includes the department’s SMART
goals aligned with the company’s mission, vision, and values
statements. In larger organizations, the customer service
department may have its own mission and vision statements.
Scroll down to continue Reading about the customer service
plan contents…
The customer service plan specifies the target customer and
describes the customer experience as a process from start to
finish keeping it simple. It also discusses how feedback and
preferences for the customer will be addressed and how
problems or concerns will be resolved by Customer Service
Representatives (CSRs) in a timely manner. It specifies the
social networking plan and how these aspects are implemented.
The customer service plan determines the feedback loop
regarding analytics (i.e. the statistical data analyzed regarding
customers’ use and experience) on the website for improvement.
Although it usually includes budgeting and the like, for the
purposes of this course, we will focus on customer service
management excluding this area.
Review the customer service plan outline^. Then continue on to
read about the specific sections of the customer service plan

3. below.
See an example of alignment between mission, vision and
values^^ at a real life company.
Review company mission, vision, and values statements
explanations^^^.
Review information about the target customer and value
creation for the customer^^^^.
Read about the Customer Experience Life Cycle^^^^^ (Tool
Belt tab # 5)
Feedback/preferences, addressing problems/concerns :Based on
the feedback to CSRs (see Step 4) and any statistics that have
been gathered from the website and call center, how are
customer concerns and problems resolved or dealt with in an
expedient manner?
Read about the customer interface^^^^^^.
Read about in-house, offshoring, homeshoring, nearshoring or
outsourcing versus online self-service^^^^^^^.
^ Customer Service Plan Outline:
Company Mission: (Company purpose - Why is the company in
business?)
Company Vision:
Values Statement:
Customer Service Manager: Name
1. Customer research, feedback, and data analysis:
2. Department Goals and Strategy:
3. Target Customers:
4. The Value Proposition:
5. Customer Interface and experience:
Customer Experience:
6. Personnel/ Training
7. Budget
8. Implementation
Quarterly actions needed:
By Manager
By CSRs
^^ Example of alignment between the mission, vision, and

4. values statements at a real company.
An industrial products company’s mission was to produce a
product that had zero negative impact on the planet by 2020.
They kept an interactive timeline on their website that showed
the company’s progress in attaining their mission. Their
ultimate vision was to eventually stop producing the product at
all but to recycle existing product (see Ray Anderson interview
by Ariel Schwartz 2/07/2012, “Climbing the Mountain of
Corporate Sustainability” accessible doing an Internet search).
Among other values they valued integrity, company
responsibility to take care of the planet and commitment by
employees to do their part in helping to make a more
environmentally sustainable planet.
Their customer service personnel knew and lived this mission
and the values. All CSRs reported any travel that would affect
carbon emissions and thus the environment. To mitigate the
carbon emissions if they could not eliminate travel for instance,
they would plant a certain equivalent of trees to offset the
emissions. CSRs started carpooling so as not to cause more
emissions than absolutely necessary. The employees started
providing suggestions and innovating to increase environmental
friendly processes and products. Because the mission was so
ingrained throughout the company, customers viewed the
company as having integrity and improving the planet’s
environmental sustainability. As a result, the company’s
customer list started growing to the point of becoming a world
leader in their product and eventually employees speaking on
environmental stewardship around the world and ultimately
providing consulting services to other companies to help them
become more environmentally friendly. The company has
inspired millions of people to adopt more environmentally
friendly operations and processes. A full length film was
created with a well-known film star concerning the founders’
and employees’ inspirational mission, vision, values and
environmental journey.
For an initial look at the company alignment with mission and

5. vision view the YouTube video: “The Business Case for
Sustainability” with Ray Anderson original founder of the
company on youtube.com or go to any of the many interviews
located on the Internet.
Interface® Global website. (2015). Mission and vision section.
Retrieved from http://www.interfaceglobal.com
^^^ Review company mission, vision, and values statements
explanations.
Company Mission Statement
The company mission statement is basically the direction in
which the company is going and what they see as their focus.
An example could be “The mission of our company is to ensure
100% customer satisfaction with XYZ green brand”. This shows
that the focus of the company is on the customer.
Company Vision Statement
The company vision statement is a statement of the future of the
company and the plan for what they would like to happen but
cannot be sure is possible. An example could be “The vision of
our company is to harness our customers’ preferences to make
XYZ company the environmental leader in the industry”. This
shows that the company wants to increase their use of media in
the future.
Company Values Statement
The company values statement is a statement of the values of
the company employees and management.
“We value honesty, integrity and concern for the planet. We are
honest with each other and with our customers. We do what we
say we will do (i.e. integrity). We value the planet; the air,
land, sea, and all mankind and animals that inhabit it.”
^^^^ Target Customer and Value Creation for the Customer
Read about the Target Customer and value creation for the
customer
As previously discussed, the target customer is the best suited
customer for the service or product that the company is
offering. This target customer is the primary focus of the
customer service representative. However, sometimes the person

6. calling into customer service is not the end user although they
purchased the product as in the case of parents purchasing for
their children. Based on the mission, vision and values
statements above, the target customer would certainly in general
be a customer who is concerned with the environment. The
latter target customer needs to be further defined however using
demographics, customer life stage, generation etc.
The Customer Value Proposition section of the plan:Each
company should delineate the customer experience (i.e. the ease
of use) in their customer service plan as a process from start to
finish. This can be illustrated in graphic form with explanations
below the graphic. The company should keep this simple. They
also want this to define customer control-how much and when
they have control of the tools the company provides. Can they
go back and forth to view different aspects of the company
website? If there is video, can they pause the video and is there
closed captioning for the hearing impaired, or audio for the
visually impaired?
According one recent article, “Value occurs when the offering
is useful to the customer or beneficiary” (Lusch & Nambisan,
2015, p. 159). Although a company’s management may believe
they are offering value or additional value to the customer, it is
only really value if the customer or the user thinks so based on
the currently used Service Dominated logic in the marketing and
customer service literature (Terblanche, 2014). This is
consistent with our consideration of customer defined service.
Reference
Lusch, R. F., & Nambisan, S. (2015, March). Service
innovation: A service-dominant logic perspective. MIS
Quarterly [Special issue: Service Innovation in the Digital Age],
39(1), 155–176. Retrieved from Business Source Complete.
Terblanche, N. S. (2014). Some theoretical perspectives of co-
creation and coproduction of value by customers. Acta
Commercii, 14(2), 1–8. Retrieved from Business Source
Complete.

7. Feedback/preferences, addressing problems/concerns:
Based on the feedback to CSRs (see Step 4) and any statistics
that have been gathered from the
website and call center, how are customer concerns and
problems resolved or dealt with in an
expedient manner?
^^^^^http://extmedia.kaplan.edu/business/Media/AB221/AB221
_1503B/AB221_CSR_ToolBelt/story.html
^^^^^^ Read about the Customer Interface
Read about the Customer Interface: (the communication aspects
of the plan)
This part of the customer service plan specifically outlines the
use of the company website and other communication aspects
that the company and CSR use to communicate with the
customer. Since social networking and social media is a large
aspect of business these days, this section should include future
uses of social networking/media such as the company blog or
live chat as well. You can use the Website Checklist to
determine how the company’s website meets the needs of the
customer.
Other considerations using the 5 W’s: Do you want your call
center or live chat to be available 24/7 or only during United
States (U.S.) daylight hours? Will you increase your hiring for
the in-house call center CSRs or will you outsource extra
volume to another company within the country or offshore the
volume abroad where they can also address the night time hours
due to the time differences? Will this be another office of your
company, or will you contract this offshore operation?
In order to decide about using another company to handle the
volume or another company abroad for instance, you would
consider some of the following:
Are the products complex (with a lot of technology or parts)
versus simple? (Ex: A stuffed animal (simple) or a mechanical
robot (complex).

8. Who calls in by phone or live chat, a parent, an adult, or a child
or a young person? What are the problems and why? When do
the customers typically call in or contact the company (where)?
What volume of calls or contact are anticipated? How long does
it take to resolve the issue (when)? What language or vernacular
will be an issue?
The answers to these questions along with the department’s
budget (which is not addressed in this course) will help you
decide the answer.
Considerations regarding the customer interface: How is the
customer service function implemented in the company?
^^^^^^^ Read about the customer service function location
possibilities
In-house, Offshoring, Homeshoring, Nearshoring or
Outsourcing Versus Online Self-service:
Homeshoring: When a company has employees working from
their homes using the phone and or Internet providing customer
service. Although less expensive that in-house customer service,
it is still more costly in some cases than offshoring and possibly
outsourcing. It also has the advantage that the company can
monitor employees’ effectiveness and provide training updates
rather easily while maintain intellectual property control and
some control over the level of service provided.
In-house: This entails having a company customer service
department within the company building. This location of the
customer service function is preferred when the product or
service is complex or involves intellectual property (ex: original
software for which the company has a patent). The major
concern is that this is usually the most expensive option.
Nearshoring: This involves a type of outsourcing of customer
service to a location that is near to the company in terms of time
zone or a nearby state that requires lower wages.

9. Offshoring is usually done when the call center needs to be
open 24/7 and can be done more expediently offshore due to the
time zone. Many times in the “off hours” late at night, this part
of the day is offshored. However, if the business is complex or
expertise is needed or needs protection from the competition, it
may be a mistake to offer customer service this way.
Outsourcing is done by U.S. companies for instance to
independent call center businesses in the U.S. who specialize in
their industry areas and that can address their needs in a cost
effective manner. However, there is often some difficulty in
ensuring that the outsourced supplier of the customer service
demonstrates that the company’s customers are valued as much
as the home company might be able to communicate (Price &
Jaffe, 2015).
Recent self-service research (Scherer, Wünderlich, &
Wangenheim, 2015) suggests that self-service customer service
only works if the customer is very familiar with the online
website, it is easy to use, and they have been a customer online
for some time. Otherwise the online self-service option can
cause customer defections, especially at the beginning of the
relationship. More importantly the research findings suggest
that one means of customer contact is not enough. Customers
were found to remain more loyal to those companies providing
multiple means of contact versus only one.
Reference
Price, B. & Jaffe, D. (2015). Your customer rules! Delivering
the me2b experiences that today’s customers want. San
Francisco, CA: Josse-Bass.
Scherer, A., Wünderlich, N. V., & von Wangenheim, F. (2015,
March). The value of self-service: Long-term effects of
technology-based self-service usage on customer retention. MIS

10. Quarterly [Special issue: Service Innovation in the Digital Age],
39(1), 177–200. Retrieved from Business Source Complete.