ASSESSMENT OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN SERVICES BASED BUSINESS: CASE STUDY HPS INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING YAOUNDE, CAMEROON

Abstract

Services are becoming driving forces to most economies. This has currently resulted to much attention on innovation for new services offered by firms to satisfy customer needs. Customer satisfaction and their behavioral intention play a critical role in firm’s performance and have been investigated carefully in both business and academic practices. This study examines customer satisfaction in services based business, case study HPS international consulting Yaoundé, Cameroon. The source of data collection was mainly primary and 50 questionnaires were administered users of HPS services in Cameroon. This was done to get feedback from customers on how they perceive customer satisfaction. It was a quantitative study, so the researcher adopted descriptive statistics. It was observed that most of the customers were satisfied with the services provided by the HPS. They expressed some satisfaction with the quality of their services although some were not. Majority of the customers were not able to access the services of HPS at any time, but some were able to do so and as such were really satisfied. Most respondents reported that HPS offers a variety of services which kept increasing on daily bases. Some customers were for the fact that the cost the products and services were affordable, and that HPS also offered attractive promotional packages. These have greatly improved customer services but however, they reported that customers’ expectations are not being met. As a recommendation, HPS should improve on its service so that some remote areas and subdivision could have access to their services. Most areas already have access to these services but the customer service is not satisfactory

INTRODUCTION

Customer service is vital in all businesses, and for a business to succeed they need to provide quality customer services to the customers who buy the goods and services. Thus, if these customers are not satisfied the business will not be able to sell its products or services, and eventually not able to make profit which is their major objective. Customer satisfaction relies on good customer service, and this service is a service the customer receives before and after purchasing or consuming a product/service. And if customers receive a good quality service, they will be more likely to return, which will then lead to increased sales and profit and this means the customers will not take the business to competitors.

A customer is defined by Crocker and West (2003:58) as anyone whom is supplied a good or service. According to Harris (2007), customers’ service is anything that we do for the customer on order to enhance his/her experience. This may vary from one customer to another and therefore depends on service providers to first of all know their customers in order to provide them with excellent services that will enhance their customer satisfaction. Harris (2007) is of the view that excellent customer service is one of the least expensive as well as the most effective way of marketing any particular business. To emphasis this point, Kotler (1997;47) added that the ‘cost of keeping a new customer is estimated five times the cost of keeping a customer happy’. Customer service is all of the retailer activities hat increase the value received by consumers when shopping.

Customer satisfaction is a result of the comparison process expectations and perceived service performance. Customer satisfaction is measured by “disconfirmation theory”. Disconfirmation theory is the comparison of the performance level after using the product or service with the expectation level before using the product or service as better or worse.

Customer satisfaction is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. Customer satisfaction is an asset that should be monitored and managed just like any physical asset.

The main aim of any business or firm is to maximize profit while minimizing cost, and this usually is achieved by customer satisfaction/retention, increased volume of sales which all generate the firm’s income. Quality service rendering has been a major facet in most companies, not knowing how much impact it has on its business growth and survival. According to Ishikawa (1985) the quality must be built into each design and process, because quality cannot be created through inspections. Poor service quality usually, will create losses of sales in a competitive market and rather increase the costs of production through re-manufacturing and customer complaints. In terms of quality however, we refer to either the product or service quality (Bergman B. et al. 2003). Since our main area of study is a service-based industry such as the case company-HPS International, the focus will be more of their services they render to their customers, rather than their products they offer.

HPS International Consulting is the first Pan-African firm providing investment and strategic communication services to African governments, multinational institutions and global investors

Aim of the research: The aim of the study is to assess customer satisfaction in services based business

Research objectives:

1. To investigate how quality affects customer satisfaction at HPS International Consulting

2. Investigate how perceived value affects customer satisfaction

3. Assess the impact of customer service on customer satisfaction.

4. Investigate how service innovation affects customer satisfaction

Research Questions

1. To what extent does service quality affect customer satisfaction?
2. What is the effect of perceived value on customer satisfaction?
3. What is the effect of customer services on customer satisfaction?
4. How has service innovation affected customer satisfaction and loyalty?

TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT PROJECT TOPICS WITH MATERIALS