Browsing by Subject "customer service"
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(2011)The operation environment in the roundwood trade in Finland in the 1990’s include several changes. They are changes in the structure of non-industrial private forest (NIPF) ownership, forest taxation, in forest legislation, in price recommendation agreement, diminishing resources of forestry extension services, etc. At the same time, the roundwood demand has been rising. All these developments cause uncertainty in wood procurement organisations, and call for research to find out how to adapt into the changing environment. The objective of this study is to produce information for roundwood purchasing planning and cus-tomer satisfaction management to be used by Stora Enso Metsä Customer Service, Helsinki. For this pur-pose, data needs to be gathered about the urban NIPFs and their forest estates, behaviour related to forestry and timber-selling, customer satisfaction in their latest timber selling transaction, and their opinions about Enso’s new customer service office and its service concept. To fulfil the objective of the study, a NIPF -owner -survey (N=1064, response rate 39,7%) was con-ducted in October 1998-January 1999. The sample was made on the basis of the marketing database of Stora Enso Oyj Forest Customer Service in Helsinki. In planning the frame of reference of the empirical study, the model of service quality by Grönroos was applied. The following aspects were included in the 7-page questionnaire: demographic, sosio-economic and forest estate background, relation to the forest service supply, behaviour related to forestry, timber-selling motives and behaviour, last contact organisation and its image in forestry business, expectations and percep-tions in the latest timber-selling transactions, and behavioural intentions. The results revealed that the share of women, pensioners and academically educated people among forest owners was quite high. The majority of the forest estates of the metropolitan forest owners were situ-ated in the provinces of South Finland and East Finland. The average forest estate area was considerably smaller than in a previous study. Economic and recreational objectives were most important in the use of forests. Forest Associations were involved in half of the roundwood sales transactions of the respondents in the metropolitan area. The wood quantity of transactions was considerably higher than the average in the whole country. Bank-organised forest-related activities, taxation infos and trips to the forest were the most popular activities. Among the services, silvicultural advices were needed mostly and stub treatment least. Brochure material related to stumpage timber sales and taxation were considered most important compared to material related to delivery sales. The service expectations were at highest for women and they were less satisfied with the service than men. 2nd and 3rd generation residents of the metropolitan area thought about the new customer service concept more positively than the 1st generation residents. Internet users under 60 years thought more positively about new satellite picture-based woodlot search concept. Cross-tabulation of factor scores against background variables indicated that women with relatively low education level a greater need to sell roundwood than entrepreneurs, white-collar workers and directors, and Internet users. Suspiciousness towards timber procurement organisations was relatively strong among women and those whose forest income share of the total income was either null or over 20 %. The average customer satisfaction score was negative in all nine questions. Statistical differences be-tween different companies did not exist in the average satisfaction scores. Stora Enso’s Helsinki forest cus-tomer service could choose the ability to purchase all timber grades as its competitive advantage. Out of nine service dimension included in the questionnaire, in this particular service dimension, Enso’s Helsinki forest customer service’s score exceeded most all organisations’ average customer satisfaction score. On the basis of importance – performance matrix, advice and quidance could have been provided more to the forest owners in their latest timber–selling transaction.
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(2018)This thesis examines what kinds of comments customer servants receive as well as discusses how they react to them. The comment types have been divided into positive, negative or uncomfortable ones and they are either work, persona or appearance-related. The focus in on the differences gender might cause. The theoretical approaches to this thesis are multifaceted: pivotal theories from the fields of sociology, linguistics and gender studies are used. Customer workers must balance emotional labor, performativity of gender and facework in their work life, and these phenomena shape their experiences as customer workers. The data for the study was collected by a questionnaire. The questionnaire asked questions about language use, workplace circumstances and policies and customer interaction. There were all in all 35 questions. Some were closed, some open and some multiple choice questions. The requirement for answering was to have worked in customer service. Most of the 458 respondents identified as women. The gathered data was analyzed mainly quantitatively. However, the open answers enabled the responses to be analyzed qualitatively as well, which gave more insights to the experiences of the customer workers. The results indicated that customer servants receive gendered comments and also respond to them according to gender norms. Female service workers receive more appearance-related comments than male service workers. The feminization of the customer service industry limits the ways to react, which results in submissive behavior. First and foremost, the customer worker needs to protect the customer’s face, because the customer has more power in the encounter. Besides gender, also the workplace affected the comments the workers receive. Workers in grocery stores receive more uncomfortable and negative comments than their colleagues in other workplaces. The workplace affects the way the workers react to the comments, too. However, the reasons for these differences between workplaces need further research. While gender and workplace have effects on the comments and the reactions, experience level impacts the feelings of the workers. The more experienced workers feel they are good at their jobs and they feel more respected by the customers than their less experienced colleagues.
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