FSE Assignment - Raving Fans
Kyle Tofflemire
Ken Blanchard’s "Raving Fans" is a book that details an interesting business approach. The protagonist, who is called “The Area Manager” is new to his job and doesn’t know where to start. Luckily, he’s visited by a person (or being) known only as “Charlie”. Charlie’s purpose is to show The Area Manager the three "magic secrets" to make what he calls raving fans, the ultimate in customer service. Charlie emphasizes that satisfying customers isn’t good enough nowadays, and that the best way to be a successful is to create raving fans. Be different, be better. Throughout the book, Charlie teaches The Area Manager about the mysterious "three secrets" by taking him to different businesses that use
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This makes it an important skill to be able to see what they really mean. For example, if a customer is silent, it is important you recognize it and start to ask more sincere questions so that the customer opens up, and informs you what they want. The third and final secret to creating raving fans is learned from Andrew, the manager of a chain of gas stations. The secret is “discover what the customer wants – deliver plus one”. This means that it's important to always deliver, no matter what. Consistency is the key. The "plus one" part refers to slowly improving your service so that it’s easy to stay consistent. There's no point in trying to deliver a service that is too big to consistently be there. If you improve by one percent per week, it will make a huge difference after only a year. Customers will become a raving fan if they know they can come back and count on the same great service. A concept we learned about in Business Leadership that relates to the main point in this book is control systems. We looked at the importance of control in management and learned about various different systems. In this book, systems are shown to greatly help customer service. Systems are predetermined ways to get a specific result and still ensure consistency. Andrew, the plant manager said “Systems give you a floor, not a ceiling”. Thus, a system is the sort of thing you build on, a starting point. An external control measure, for example, involves
Through sustaining the customer relationships, leaders of the company have realized that “becoming nearer to the consumer” is vital for the progression.
The Organizations have evolved over the years and from the Concept of people management they slowly have moved towards the concept of System managements and this is how an organizations needs to aim to grow and to succeed in growing complex market environment.
Ahrens and Chapman go on to introduce their article by giving a background knowledge of modern perceptions of management control systems through their mention of related literature. Some key points discuss pertain to the author’s
Overall Strength: in general, the article provides structure to a concept that is very intangible by: (a) describing the nature and the functions of control; (b) segregating the MCS into categories: core control system, organizational structure, and organizational culture; (c) illustrating how to apply the control model (satisfied my approach) (d) provides a basis for designing and evaluating the system. The manner, in which the model is presented, with its use of figures, further emphasizes the structure of the model. See below on further emphasis on parts (a) -(c).
The second aspect of management used to investigate the issue is Controlling. Control is a concern that is facing every manager in every organisation today. Many businesses continually look to improve relationships between all levels of staff in order for a healthy working environment. To effectively control a business the organisation requires information about
I chose to read and review was Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles. Raving Fans begins with a recently promoted Area Manager familiarizing himself with his new office while his mind races with his thoughts of the recent conversation he has just had with the president of his corporation. As the new Area Manager he is struggling to wrap his mind around the concept of customer satisfaction. As he is steadily thinking his fairy Godmother, Charlie shows up. The recently promoted Area Manager and Charlie leave the office and Charlie makes the suggestion to go play golf. After the round of golf, Charlie takes the newly promoted Area Manager to meet Leo and Leo reveals the first secret
First, it illustrates a control system that is dominated by action and personnel controls, rather
The purpose of this paper is to analyze a case study related to issue of control and how organizations can utilize different approaches of control in order to improve quality and performance in all arenas, domestic and global. The focus of this case revolves around Lincoln Electric, an Ohio based company that has set the bar for how to develop and implement a successful management system. This paper will use the Lincoln Electric case analysis to present recommendations on how managers can use control methods to enhance employee performance, increase employee participation and empowerment, and improve organizational quality in
Customer loyalty is much harder to obtain that customer service satisfaction. The most important first step is to satisfy the customer by meeting their expectations. Customers only give a company one chance and if they aren’t satisfied they will not do business with that company again, as well as tell others of their experience. The next step would be to exceed the customer’s expectations. If a business goes above and beyond to assist the customer they begin to build loyalty. The next step is to truly surprise the customer. In order to dominate the marketplace the company must find a way to make them selves stand out with their product or service, accompanied with phenomenal customer service. Once this has been done customer satisfaction and loyalty will be gained. “Acquiring a new customer can cost four or five times more than keeping a current customer” (Bestmark, 2013). So it’s essential to keep the current customer’s happy and coming back for more.
Today’s organizations fail to realize the value of their customers when it comes to the success of their business. Without customer loyalty the success of your business will always be uncertain. Organizations must sensitively tailor the designs of a successful firm to the particular challenges of understanding, attracting, and keeping valuable customers. “Having satisfied customers just aren’t good enough”. Kenneth Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, co-authors of Raving Fans, believe this concept is needed to have a successful business. I agree with this concept of customers being the focal point of any business. I would want more than just a satisfied customer; I want a “Raving Fan”.
It is imperative to satisfy customers and give them an amazing experience at the company. While it cost less to sell to existing customers and companies can increase profit by selling to the same customers; if customers are satisfied, there is more chance they will come back for more services or products. Satisfied customers are a free marketing for the company. However, it is the opposite if customers are dissatisfied. Dissatisfied customer will tell 8 to 10 people about his or her experience (O’Brien, A & Marakas, G. 2004). If by any reason, representatives see that the customer is not satisfy, they should act fast and fix the problem. Furthermore, there is more chance for sale representatives to sell to an existing customer that to a new customer. A good strategy for customer retention is to reward good customers. Companies can easily do
Management Control Systems are systems that are put into place within organisations to help ensure that managers within organisation’s act
A good control system provides timely information to the manager which is very much useful for taking various decisions. Control simplifies supervision by pointing out the significant deviations from the standards of performance. It keeps the subordinates under check and brings discipline among them.
One of the control systems in Wal-Mart is the financial control system that provided managers with day-to-day feedback about the business performance; where the financial performance of each store and even each department within each store can be tracked and monitored through a sophisticated companywide satellite system. This control system helps sharing profitability information and inventory turnover rate among associates; which as a result gives them an in depth insight into the retailing business and work on improving it.
The purpose of this case study is to describe and analyse the features of the management control system (MCS) of University of Southern California (USC). Before commencing the analysis a brief background of USC is provided.