Example Of Essay On Property Management Controversial Issue: The Customer Is Not Always Right

Argumentative Essay –

Customer service is a major aspect in the field of property management. The customer service executives have to deal with the grievances of the innumerable customers all day long. People who call the customer care number have problems of various sorts- all of which are considered to be an emergency by the people having the grievance. Since this realm of work deals with expectation of action with immediacy on the part of the people calling up, the interactive process of the executives becomes far more challenging and important. According to Fountain (2001), “The widespread use of customer service as a management tool and its resonance with the desire of public managers and officials to serve the public continues to call for examination of the concept.” (p.55)
There is a saying that the customer is always right. However, it is up to the customer care executive to decide the level of emergency of the caller. There might be certain scenarios that can be termed as an improper grievance or expectation on the part of the caller. Whatever be the scenario, dealing with residents and their complaints is one of the most complex jobs in the field of customer service.
The complaints from the residents require to be heard carefully no matter how petty the grievance is. This is the basic requirement of customer service. The customer or the resident in this case needs to feel that he or she is conversing with someone who is reliable, and can be banked upon. The executives have to ensure that the resident caller does not feel that the problem shared is being trivialized by the customer service staff on the other side of the telephone.
But, one cannot simply deny the fact that the customer is not always right. The series of complaints go on to range from small issues with other residents, to major complaints to do with the state of the property. As per the trends, the majority of the complaints recorded are to do with repairs or correcting something on the property. Thus, every complaint needs to be gauged properly by the customer service staff.
It has to be understood that all the complaints that are received need to be looked into without being ignored. The complaints that involve potential problems in structural aspects of the building need to be given optimum importance by the customer care staff. The residents require feeling that they are being heard with prime importance, and proper action is being taken by the staff to address their issues.
The definition of the word ‘emergency’ is something that should be clear to the customer care staff who deal with property management issues. Emergency maintenance is an essential thing in this field of work. An occurrence of bloodshed, fire, or flood can be correctly called an emergency situation. It needs to be understood that among all maintenance requests, the staff has to opt for the ones that call for immediate action.
It is quite understandable that all the grievances cannot be addressed on the very same day of the complaint. The residents of the state need to be realistic in this regard. The kind of issues that the staff comes across on a daily basis includes those of noise levels. There are quiet hours every day. But, some residents are more sensitive toward noise than the rest of the people. In the land of California, the walls of the houses are thin. Hence, one can hear every day noises like those of television sets, gatherings, conversations, walking around, and even the closing of the doors of other homes.
In cases like these, the residents should be careful enough while moving into a “building-like community.” People need to keep in mind the level of their tolerance to noise. Hence, they should choose either the top floor of the building to neutralize the sound of the footsteps, or go for the corner units so that they do not get to hear their neighbors. One can say that a little bit of planning on the part of the residents can minimize their problems to a large extent. Also, cases like these cannot be treated by the customer service staff as anything but trivial.
In cases where the customer or the resident is not correct in expecting immediate action or action at all, the customer service staff needs to be very careful and tactical during their conversation. According to Parasuraman, Berry, and Zeithaml (1991), “Companies may be able to extend customer’s zone of tolerance by making special efforts to demonstrate fair play.” (p.44)
Service quality of this domain of work means comprehending the resident’s needs, and thereby identifying ways in which the needs can be met or exceeded. According to Chan (2006), “It is equated with customer satisfaction, the degree to which customers’ perceptions of the service meet or exceed their expectations of the services transaction.” (p.8) One need to comprehend that there are two major components that comprise the service in this domain. These components are the “What” components that concern the services itself, and the “How” component that concerns the process of delivering the service.
However, there is a clear gap between the expectation of the residents and the perception of the service providers or the management. The gap that is created between the resident and management during the process of conversation needs to be minimized in this regard. Then, the customer dissatisfaction can be minimized. Handling the customer needs communication skills, patience, and the skill of justifying the action on the part of the management. The customer is not always right. But, at the same time, the customer service staff needs to keep in mind that the residents should not feel that their grievances are not heard with utmost importance.

References

Chan, Wai-kuen. (2006). Employees' perception of service quality as a major determinant
towards customer satisfaction of a property management company in Hong Kong. The
Fountain, Jane E. (2001) Paradoxes of Public Sector Customer Service. Governance: An
International Journal of Policy and Administration, Vol. 14 No. 1. Retrieved from
http://www.academia.edu/646776/Paradoxes_of_public_sector_customer_service
Parasuraman, A., Berry, Leonard L., Zeithaml, Valarie A. (1991). Understanding Customer
Expectations of Service. Sloan Management Review, 32 3. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Valarie_Zeithaml/publication/225084143_Understanding_customer_expectations_of_service/links/02e7e53cd16b876407000000.pdf