Question

Explain the different views of customer service
What is the customer segmentation matrix, and why do businesses use this model?

Explain OTC vs Replenishment Cycle. What flows are included in OTC?

Answer 1

Now a days as we all know that the customer is the king to any market and the whole market roams around the customers need and demands. The customer service plays a vital role in the growth of the organisation where the best experiences may lead to the positive word of mouth and the name may become the brand and vise a versa. Every organisation have their individual paradigm to look the customer service and some of them are as follows:

a) Emotional Connection: For the long term players in the market they focus to connect with their customers emotionally and tries to make an emotional connection which will leads to the Increased loyality of the consumers towards a brand.

b)Preventing future issues: In several studies of the behavioural science it is found that the good customer services may lead to less cognitive dissonance and ultimately the loyality helps to ignor little mishappenings.

c)Upselling & Cross selling: Many organisations increased their sales by giving the good customer support their customers and they tries to upsell or even cross the related things along with the main product.

d) Voice of the customer: In this competetive world the organisation focuses on good customer support as it helps them to know the customer needs and requirements and to better understand thier perspective towards a product. Ultimately it helps to innovate the product and take the advantage of the Blue ocean.

All these views are backuped by some measures taken by the organisations which includes; Quick Responses, fixing mistakes by giving compnesations, going extra mile by proving extrovert services.

The organisation are now a days adopting the stratergies to better their customers by using segmentation matrix, this segmentation matrix is used by companies. The stratergies divided into Four quadrants to segment the potential customers:

a) Behaviour (Ocassion, Usage Rate, Benifits Sought)

b) Demographic (Age, Gender, Income, Ethnicity)

c) Psychographic (Value, Beleif, Interest)

d) Geographic (Location, Language, Climate)

This matrix is used by businesses to differentiate amoung the customer and help them to identify which segment needs the more consideration. It also helps in implementing new stratergies to competite in the market and tap a major clintele.Managers use this data according to their knowledge and the suitable decisions are taken in best favor of the comapany.

OTC stands for order to cash, this cycle includes all the activites that occur from the time of ordering a product till the receiving of the product; whereas Replanishment cycle reffers to the process by which stocks are resupplied from some central loation.OTC cycle is in case of client dealing and the replenishment is for self fulfillment of stocks.OTC cycle inclues the receiving of payment and replenishment related to the enduring payment. OTC is for forward process and replenishment cycle is for backward processes. Replenishment cycle is the term used in inventory management and OTC the the whole process of customer order management.

Flows included in OTC:

a) Customer Places an Order -----> b) Order fulfillment and distribution -----> c) Order shipment and generation of invoice -----> d) Customer Payment -----> e) Recording the transaction in Ledgers