Verified Document

DVD Rental Improving Customer Service At Vista Case Study

DVD Rental Improving Customer Service at Vista DVD Rentals

The Vista DVD Rentals store is at a crossroads. After a number of years in operation, the store is facing a critical turning point that could dictate future survival or the suspension of any further business. The transformation must revolve on vastly improved customer service. As is the case for most businesses in New Zealand, customer service has come to play an increasingly important role in Vista's relevance. Consumers have come to expect a certain level of accommodation on the part of a retail or rental operation and this imposes a high level of importance on the decisions that companies make with respect to the customer experience. Essentially, customer service can be defined as the set of standards, practices and procedures that shape the customer's experience through the course of a business transaction. This denotes two primary aspects of customer service: that which relates to the experience within the context of a single transaction and that which relates to the long-term experience of the customer in the context of an ongoing business relationship. As the discussion hereafter will demonstrate, these two aspects are directly entwined. Provided that the former is characterized by convenience, flexibility and consistency, the latter is likely to become a long and fruitful relationship for both sides.

Convenience:

First and foremost for Vista is the need to improve the convenience of its operation. As more and more customers determine to make their rentals through online measures, Vista must take efforts to ensure that its service model achieves a higher level of accommodation. Among the reasons that Vista has struggled...

These impediments to customer convenience are likely to turn many customers toward the more convenient online modes of DVD rental.
Still, there is evidence that many customers still prefer a personal and social interactiveness during this process. As Doolin (2005) notes in its research online retail models, one such "model was tested using a survey of some 700 New Zealand Internet users. Both the perceived risk and perceived benefits of Internet shopping were found to be significantly associated with the amount and frequency of online purchases made. Loss of social interaction in Internet shopping was associated with reduced online spending." (Doolin et al., p. 66) This denotes an opportunity for personalized businesses such as Vista. By taking such efforts at improved convenience as extending the store's hours to midnight, ensuring that the store is no longer subject to unplanned closings and removing late fees for DVDs that are returned before sunrise of the next day, Vista might help to keep some of its customers that might otherwise move to the web for their rental services.

Flexibility:

Establishing flexibility is also tremendously important for Vista. At present, the company suffers from the many of the limitations of a small, family owned business. This includes a shortage of personnel and limitations of payment methodology. It is time for Vista to begin viewing its family orientation as a benefit rather than a limitation. As Lyman (2004)…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited:

Blodgett, J.G.; Wakefield, K.L. & Barnes, J.H. (1995). The Effects of Customer Service on Consumer Complaining Behavior. Journal of Services Marketing, 9(4), 31-42.

Doolin, B.; Dillon, S.; Thompson, F. & Corner, J.L. (2005). Perceived Risk, the Internet Shopping Experience and Online Purchasing Behavior: A New Zealand Perspective. Journal of Global Information Management, 13(2), 66-88.

Ennew, C.T. & Binks, M.R. (2005). The Impact of Service Quality and Service Characteristics on Customer Retention: Small Businesses and their Banks in the UK. British Journal of Management, 7(3), 219-230.

Lyman, A.R. (2004). Customer Service: Does Family Ownership Make a Difference? Family Business Review, 4(3), 303-324.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Customer Service
Words: 1317 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Customer Service Effectiveness of Employee Training Programs in Customer/Employee Satisfaction and Increased Profitability Customer service is an important part of keeping a business profitable. However, in a changing business and cultural environment, it is difficult to ascertain exactly what values or features will accomplish that mission. This research attempts to identify the new aspects of the customer service-profitability equation and describe a model for effective use of employee training in creating both

Customer Service Management
Words: 2471 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

Customer Management Description of the Business I am going to work with a chain of sandwich shops specializing in banh mi. The concept is simple -- banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich on a baguette. They are usually quite affordable, often coming in a price point lower than the big sandwich chains. The name of the chain is going to be Uncle Ho's Banh Mi, with a tongue-in-cheek Uncle Ho as the

Customer Service Is a Fundamental Service That
Words: 1015 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Customer service is a fundamental service that a business should provide in order to increase sales and have a returning clientele. Customer service thus becomes a very important facet of a good business and of growing profits. In this paper various questions will be analyzed, such as what good customer service actually means, and what defines such service. A company will further be selected, and will be analyzed from the

Customer Service, Ethical Marketing Customer
Words: 1157 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

While this approach has been implemented by most of the economic agents, British retailer Marks and Spencer argues that the economic crisis is no excuse for the business institutions to postpone their green initiatives. They as such invested £200 million in their own ethical campaign, and they now implement it, while in the same time, criticizing other companies for having renounced their initiatives in the wake of the economic crisis.

Customer Service Website Marketing Plan
Words: 6464 Length: 18 Document Type: Term Paper

From a performance analysis perspective, costs of alternative support channels are first evaluated, followed by the key performance indicators (KPIs) typically used in financial services organizations to measure the performance of their online initiatives, most notably, websites. Following this discussion of performance analysis there is an analysis of resource availability and allocation of resources. Performance Analysis From a cost-per-incident analysis, the following table presents findings from Forrester Research specifically in measuring

Customer Service It Was During
Words: 4220 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

(Setting and Measuring Service Standards) The store then appointed supervisors to ensure that all employees were following the procedures properly and even used 'mystery shoppers 'to find out if all the measures were being implemented, and the reports showed that they were indeed being followed, about 90% of the time. Subsequently, the management of the Revco Drug Store measured the number of complaints, to find out whether there had been

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now