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A Summer Internship Project Report on Importance of Customer Feedback and Customer Retention from Employees Perspective

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Marketing) by

Vikramaditya Mishra
(Roll No 1012 C 32) Under the guidance of

Mr. Yogesh Baviskar

A Study Conducted for Larsen &Toubro Integrated Engineering Services

at Indira School of Business Studies, Tathawade, Pune 411033

(2010-12)

Acknowledgement
This special thank goes to my helpful supervisor, Mr. Rajnikant Sangani. The supervision and support that he gave truly helped the progression and smoothness of the internship program. The co-operation is much indeed appreciated. My grateful thanks also go to both Mr. Ronak Soni and Miss Priyanka Soni. The amount of patience and the deep insight provided by them made the internship worthwhile and very informative. All projects during the program would be nothing without the enthusiasm and imagination from both of you. Besides, this internship program made me realize the value of working together as a team and was a new experience in a working environment, which challenged me every minute. Not to forget, great amount of appreciation go to the rest of L&T staff which helped me from time to time during the project. The whole program really brought us together to appreciate the true value of friendship and respect of each other. I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of my college faculty and my mentor Mr. Yogesh Baviskar who was in constant touch with me and dispelled all my doubts regarding the project. Last but not least I would like to thank my friends especially those who work together as interns at L&T for all their help and out of the box ideas!

What is the Project?

The project is titled Importance of Customer Feedback and Customer Retention from Employees Perspective.

Definition and purpose of the project

The project may be defined as an attempt to find out as to how much importance employees actually attach to customer feedback and whether they feel that the feedback of the customer should be considered and acted upon or not. Do they feel it has any bearing whatsoever on the future relations with the organization? Is customer retention a priority for the employees? Do they find it profitable? Are they fully aware of the ramifications if a loyal customer ends all future ties with the company? And finally Are the employees personally motivated to retain and satisfy the customers? These questions summarize the purpose for which this particular project was taken up and answers them satisfactorily.

Scope of the Project

The scope of this particular project is highly advantageous to understanding the behavior of those who are in direct contact with the clients and the recognition of this behavior and attitude may be used as a yardstick to gauge and shape my own future performance in an organization. By revealing what is important from their own point of view, the employees of a successful organization have in their own way set the benchmarks of performance and attitude which should be adopted towards the clients.

The project also brings forth the current trends being followed by the employees in terms of their beliefs towards their work and give an in depth understanding of the functioning of the organization.

Executive Summary
As a part of my Summer Internship Project I conducted a survey on the employees of the organization in which I was interning i.e. L&T IES. The purpose of the survey was to seek out the significance of customer satisfaction and customer retention in the minds of the employees who are in direct contact with the clients. In this survey I mainly focussed on the reasons as to how dedicated the employees are towards the implementation of engineering services as per the specifications of the clients and if they are willing to take extra measures for their clients knowing that the competitors are close at their heels. Another important aspect of the project is whether the employees consider customer feedback, study it and implement it in their future transactions with them. To know this I primarily focussed on the employees from the domestic sales and distribution department and the business development team. The reason was that I had to only focus on those employees who were in direct contact with the clients since they were the only sample units who would be relevant to my survey. In order to conduct the survey the Sampling Methodology used by me was Snowball Sampling. This method essentially required me to ask the respondent of one questionnaire to recommend another employee who would have the same characteristics as the current respondent, i.e. be in direct contact with the customer. This was also done because of the sheer size of the organization and so it would be difficult to compile a list from any single source of the employees, so I decided to ask the employees themselves. The tool used for the survey was a simple questionnaire consisting of 14 questions and targeting the 35 employees. As a conclusion of the project it was revealed that the employees indeed are aware of the implications of client satisfaction and retention. They realize that customer feedback is

6 indeed important and should be studied to uncover patterns which should be used for future transactions with the clients.

Index
SN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Contents Industry / Company overview Review of Literature/ Theoretical Background Objectives Research Methodology Data Analysis , Results and Interpretation Conclusions Limitations of the project Contribution Pg No

Company Overview

L&T IES
L&T Integrated Engineering Services (L&T IES) is a Strategic Business Unit of Larsen & Toubro Limited, an 9.37 Billion USD engineering conglomerate from India. L&T IES provides end-to-end engineering services including Product Design, Engineering Analysis, Application Development, Asset Information Management, Plant Engineering and Engineering Process Support using cutting-edge CAD/CAM/CAE technology. Backed by seven decades of rich engineering pedigree, L&T IES engineers possess relevant domain expertise in various industry verticals. L&T IES operates from dedicated off-shore engineering centers at Vadodara, Mysore, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore in tandem with onsite teams to cater to engineering requirements of global clients, many of them Fortune 500 Companies. L&T IES quality and IT security management systems comply with various international standards, our various centers are certified for CMMI Level 5 and ISO 9001.

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Introduction
L&T Integrated Engineering Services (L&T IES) is the Strategic Business Unit of Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) that offers end-to-end design and engineering solutions to global manufacturers. Mission "To provide engineering solutions using cutting edge PLM technologies to help our customers achieve their objectives of innovation, cost reduction and faster time-tomarket." Our Roots The evolution of L&T into the country's largest engineering and construction organizations is among the most remarkable success stories in Indian industry. The company was founded in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1938 by two Danish engineers, Henning Holck-Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro - both of whom were strongly committed to creating L&T as a showcase of India's engineering talent and enabling it to meet the demands of industry. Beginning with the import of machinery from Europe, L&T rapidly took on engineering and construction assignments of increasing sophistication. Today, the company sets engineering benchmarks in terms of scale and complexity. Inheriting the engineering sapience of L&T group and preserving its tradition of harnessing the best engineering talent in the country, L&T IES has nurtured a vibrant multidisciplinary workforce of engineers who work with strong focus on quality to provide innovative solutions to a wide range of industries. L&T IES offers solutions ranging from engineering support across all phases of a Product Life Cycle to specialized engineering consultancy support for programmes like Costs Take Out or New Product Introduction in new geographical markets. L&T IES helps its clients to solve technical and operational problems by employing innovative engineering concepts. Clients benefit from the overall impact on their product

11 design, manufacturing costs and acceleration of efforts to get quality products to market before their competitors. Successful projects require more than just technical expertise and L&T IES possesses the experience of effectively planning and executing, complex, long term projects to conclusion within the limitations of real-life schedules and budgets of clients. L&T IES track record with working with clients around the world speaks of its technical, project management and people management strengths and commitment to consistently add value to clients businesses. Larsen & Toubro Limited is a multinational conglomerate with interests in Design & Manufacturing for Process, Defence, Aerospace and Ship Building Industries, Lumpsum Turnkey Projects on EPC basis for industries in the Process, Power, Cement and Mineral Sectors, Electrical and Electronics Products and Systems, Machinery and Industrial Products apart from its strong focus on the IT & Technology Services Sector. This breathtaking panorama of manufacturing and services offerings are made possible by the vast reserves of engineering talent that constitute Larsen & Toubro Limited. Thus it is this pedigree and core competence in all things that engineers at L&T IES can draw upon to deliver well researched engineering solutions each time.

The people at L&T IES are leaders in their areas of responsibility, sharply focused on fostering synergy with clients to deliver value not just to them but also to their endcustomers. L&T IES attracts and recruits the finest engineers in several disciplines to provide solutions in varied engineering domains ranging from Automotive to Plant Engineering and Aerospace to Ship Design as well as everything else in between. L&T IES takes onboard engineers straight out of college as also engineers with 2 to 5 years of work experience and builds on their strengths by rewarding and propelling them to leadership positions. L&T IES also welcomes domain specialists who have put in 15 years or more in core engineering functions to complement existing skill sets in design with the right blend of

12 manufacturing and technological know-why and know-how.

L&T IES engineers are driven by a passion to deliver, solutions that are just right as per client requirements. With this aim in mind, engineers at L&T IES value individualism while working in teams, think creatively while working to exacting international design standards and specifications, take on tough deadlines without compromising on stringent quality norms.

To cut a long story short, the people at L&T IES are highly motivated to make a difference to clients and through their products to the whole world. IES Quality Management System (QMS) IES Quality Management System is a repository of best practices adopted from various standards, applicable quality assurance models & learnings / best practices drawn from our own implementation experience over the years. QMS provides a robust framework for delivery considering different types of projects undertaken in various areas like Engineering solutions for CAD/CAM/CAE/PDM/AIM & other customizations in application Engineering services for design, consultancy, project engineering management in the areas of Architectural, Civil, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical, Automation & Instrumentation Embedded Systems & Software design / development, Maintenance, Porting & testing services including Firmware, Hardware, Product Engineering, Application Software, Independent testing & test automation, test systems development & other verification & validation services

Key Quality & Process practices

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QMS at IES ensures that all the activities necessary to design, develop and implement the product or service are done effectively & efficiently considering the overall scope of the activity. It assists the organization in continuously working towards Increased productivity Reduced rework Bringing greater visibility Reduced Cycle time Improved Employee satisfaction Improved Customer satisfaction To facilitate institutionalization, our QMS has been deployed on the intranet in the respective centers. The structure of the QMS is shown below:

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Some of the key practices followed in the projects are explained below: Well defined systems to guide the teams, right from Estimation / proposal making to delivery Integrated Project Management Quantitative risk management Reviews at intermediate stages to uncover internal defects closest to the stage in which they are injected Periodic measurements done in every project facilitating root cause analysis & continuous improvement Organizational metrics analysis by metrics teams with focus on defect prevention Knowledge management Capturing learnings & best practices and utilizing them for improvement Dedicated Quality team in each center driving the quality movement as a mentor, guide & facilitator Engineering process groups continuously working towards refining / redefining the practices for improvement in respective areas Formal introduction to processes & systems right from induction to all new joiners

15 Extensive usage of tools in various stages of the project

The Pillars of Quality Movement in IES Our people, who are the practitioners of process committed to delight the customer Visible support from Senior Management The Key factors which drive our Quality Movement Our aspirations to meet & surpass the expectations of our customers Our urge to continuously improve upon our performance Our focus on improvement through quantitative measurement & analysis Certifications IES centers located in Bangalore, Chennai, Vadodara & Mysore are certified to comply with ISO 9001:2008 requirements. Embedded Systems & Software activities of IES undertaken from its centers located in Mysore, Bangalore & Mumbai are assessed & benchmarked at CMMI Dev + IPPD, Ver 1.2 Maturity level 5. Awards & Accolades In recognition of the process improvement initiatives undertaken in Embedded centers of IES, We were awarded CSI & QAI National award for Process Excellence award in the Asia SEPG conference held in 2003.

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Automotive
The automotive industry is facing several challenges today intense competition, rising labor costs, pressures on profitability and declining customer loyalty. In addition, this consumer-focused industry faces the challenge of constant reductions in the time it takes to bring a new vehicle to market and the need to standardize while still maintaining a large portfolio to meet the customer expectations. Vehicle manufacturers and suppliers are component suppliers alike aim to have a global presence, expanding through acquisitions and partnerships in target countries. L&T IES understands that the automotive process requires rapid adaptability and concurrency of all phases of design. On account of L&T IESs proven inter-disciplinary engineering knowledge, expertise on emerging engineering tools and experience of large business engagements, we are strongly positioned to offer end-to-end design and engineering solutions to the Automotive OEMs and suppliers. L&T IESs strong financial standing and brand equity as an engineering leader enables us to constantly build new capabilities, attract and retain the best talent in the industry. At the concept and product planning stages, L&T helps its clients in styling and visualization. Our engineers also contribute manufacturing advice to designers, where

17 manufacturing might influence the aesthetics. At the product engineering stage, we collaborate with our clients to achieve optimum component and sub-systems design with respect to their functionalities. Further, into the process engineering stage, where manufacturing knowledge is paramount, we substantiate production processes by working closely with our clients and conforming to the most rigorous manufacturing standards. Our tool design and mold design services take the product a step closer to reality by substantiating the product features that can influence its final design and enable the improvement of designs developed further upstream in concept and product engineering stages.

Automotive Product Design

For any product manufacturer, the design of the product has significant bearing upon nearly every aspect of the company's business. Most crucially, for an Automobile manufacturer, the design of vehicle is invariably the single most important manifestation of its brand. At L&T IES, we believe that Innovation is a natural part of the design process and we help our clients strike the right balance between functionality and appearance while meeting twin challenges of cost and time. Our automotive group has expertise in various kinds of passenger and commercial vehicles as well as special purpose vehicles. Automotive Engineering Analysis In the highly competitive and fast driven automotive market, L&T IES works closely, with OEMs, Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies, in carrying out Engineering Analysis for various requirements. We aid customers in reducing product development cycle time by providing design and validation analyses which translate as building prototypes close to the final product. L&T IES depth of Design Analysis experience and knowledge of vehicular testing and standards in various markets help execute aggressive schedules in a timely fashion.

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The usage of wide range of analysis softwares such as ANSYS, NASTRAN, ABAQUS, LS Dyna enable the delivery of results in the software of the customer's preference. An outline of the different areas in the automotive area are given below.

Closures - Front, Rear and Side Static stiffness load cases Sash Rigidity Analysis Optimization Opening and closing efforts Subsystem level crash analysis Slam durability Outer panel stiffness Quasi-static stiffness Powertrain Finite element modeling / Meshing Bore distortion Analysis Thermal Analysis Structural Analysis CFD Analysis for Intake and Exhaust systems Dynamic Analysis

Body Structures Body/Closure Interface stiffness Body Global stiffness Body-In-White modal analysis Fully trimmed body modal analysis Durability Roof crush - Quasi-static analysis Rollover Protection Devices

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Exterior/Interior Static stiffness Normal modes Gravity sag analysis Durability with G-loads from road inputs

Safety and Crash worthiness 90 degree Barrier Full Front Impact 30 degree Angle Barrier Front Impact Offset Barrier impact Side impact Side Pole test Roof Crush Analysis as per FMVSS Standards

Aerospace

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L&T Integrated Engineering Services Aerospace business group is specialist in offering Engineering Services to global Aerospace and Defence OEMs and their suppliers. With our ability to offer comprehensive service offering, we have evolved as a unique player in the Engineering Services space.

Our Engineering Service offering spans entire product life cycle right from Concept design, virtual testing, prototyping, Physical testing certification support and manufacturing.

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With our domain experts, experience & values, we have orchestrated the right value in our customers thereby enhancing our relationship to a strategic partnership.

Off-Highway Vehicles
The Off-Highway Vehicles group at L&T IES represents a major strength area. The group since its inception has been working with prestigious global customers on critical design and engineering projects. The group has designed not only individual components e.g. chassis, boom, bucket etc., but also successfully developed and integrated structural, mechanical, hydraulic, electrical and electronic systems, etc for complete vehicles. The array of off highway vehicles that we have experience in includes: Wheel Loaders Skid Steer Loaders Graders Dozers Backhoe Loaders Excavators Fork Lifts Tractors Cranes & TeleHandlers Scrapers Vibratory Soil Compactors Rigid, Articulated & Bottom Dumpers Material Handling Equipment Combine Harvesters Round & Square Balers Hay & Forage Equipment Sprayers & Spreaders Special Purpose Machines Mobile crushers & screening equipment

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Off-Highway Vechicles Product Design

L&T IES has been successfully supporting its clients in their New Product Innovation programs and helping them realise benefits like faster time to market and cost reduction. People at L&T IES are capable of designing integrated products in the Off-Highway Domain from back of the envelope sketches through manufacturing drawings and prototyping. L&T IES has capabilities in following equipment: Wheel Loaders Dozers Backhoe Loaders Excavators Vibratory soil Compacters Fork Lifts Rigid Articulate Dumpers Underground Mining Equipment Tractors Combine harvesters Round & Square Balers Hay & forage Equipments Sprayers & Spreaders Material Handling Equipments Special Purpose Machine Shovels Cranes & Tele-handlers Dumpers

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Industrial Products
The Industrial Products group of L&T IES supports manufacturers across the globe from diverse industries such as electrical & electronics equipment instruments, process plant

24 machinery, industrial machinery, rotating machinery, hydraulic equipment and consumer goods. It is adept at handling wide-range designing and engineering requirements right from concept development stage to prototype development. The team undertakes product design & development process, right from concept design, product layout/assembly planning, component design, to assembly design, assembly analysis and product / package designing. It has successfully executed large projects using top-down approach and relational assembly management. Well acquainted with UL, CE & FDA standards, the team ensures that designs fulfill the appropriate regulations. L&T IES specializes in the design of medical equipment, electrical equipment and accessories, food and other process plant machinery, industrial valves, regulators, actuators, pumps, generators, controllers, switch gear cabinet design and optimization of a range of industrial valves that conform to international standards such as NACE, API, ASME, BS, PED, ASTM, ISA, and AWWA.

Products Range Industrial valves Design

Conceptual Design for valves and pumps Re-design to accommodate material, stress and weight changes Design Optimization for better range, control and reliability Determination of Valve Characteristics Actuator Design Calculation (diaphragm, rotary, electrical and cylinder) Extreme Condition Design (Cryogenic, High Pressure and Nuclear Applications) Trim Design for anti-cavitations and low-noise Micro Flow Valve Design Valves Design for Engineering Offshore Application Complete range creation using calculation and modeling templates

Plant Engineering
Today's process & manufacturing industry, as a part of the Global Restructuring Initiative, is aggressively looking for Strategic Partners who can become a Single Point Solution for

25 all their Engineering Services needs. This phenomenal Initiative is being implemented to bring about cost, engineering and administrative efficiencies across the portfolio of the capital projects. L&T IES Plant Engineering Group has both the skill and experience to be the Strategic Engineering Partner that clients seek, with an ability to work as an integrated extension of client's internal engineering organization. We are a full service consulting firm offering end-to-end PLANT CHANGE MANAGEMENT SERVICES for our Clients facility from Process Change Management to Information Change Management to Product/Machine Change Management. We have long term engineering service partnership with major North American CPG companies for their global operations and provide to them the Plant Change Management Services on an annuity basis. Focus Industries Food & Beverages Dairy Pharmaceutical Home Care Personal Care Brewery Specialty & Agro Chemical Minerals, Metal & others

L&T-IES is engaged in providing Engineering Design services to a wide variety of overseas clients in the areas of Civil, Architectural and Building services (MEP) for general buildings like office complexes, multiuse buildings, commercial buildings, residential buildings, hospitals, institutional buildings, factories, etc.

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POWAI WORKS (385,000 sq.m )

COIMBATORE WORKS

RANOLI WORKS (Special Equipment)

HAZIRA WORKS (900,000 sq.m )

Strategic System Complex Talegaon

Sohar, Oman

Industrial Structures

27 L&T IES has a long and established history in the design and delivery of industrial structures like: Automobile Manufacturing Facilities Balance of Plant for Petrochemical Plants Cement Plants Fertilizer Plants Glass Plants Power Plants Water Supply & Treatment Plants

Utility Systems
L&T IES provides a comprehensive range of solutions for the following systems : HVAC Fire Protection Systems Plumbing Building Electricals Building Automation

Infrastructure
L&T applies its multidisciplinary approach to provide the best solutions for a range of projects: Bridges & Roads Ports & Marine Projects Airports & Hangars Substations

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Review of Literature/ Theoretical Background

Customer Retention
Customer Retention is the activity that a selling organisation undertakes in order to reduce customer defections. Successful customer retention starts with the first contact an organisation has with a customer and continues throughout the entire lifetime of a relationship. A companys ability to attract and retain new customers, is not only related to

29 its product or services, but strongly related to the way it services its existing customers and the reputation it creates within and across the marketplace. Customer retention is more than giving the customer what they expect, its about exceeding their expectations so that they become loyal advocates for your brand. Creating customer loyalty puts customer value rather than maximizing profits and shareholder value at the center of business strategy. The key differentiator in a competitive environment is more often than not the delivery of a consistently high standard of customer service. Customer retention has a direct impact on profitability. Research by John Fleming and Jim Asplund indicates that engaged customers generate 1.7 times more revenue than normal customers, while having engaged employees and engaged customers returns a revenue gain of 3.4 times the norm. Customer retention is not only a cost effective and profitable strategy, but in today's business world it's necessary. This is especially true when you remember that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customer and clients. With these statistics I am wondering why most marketing and sales campaigns are designed for the new customer. Sophisticated technology and database equipment has made it possible for specialized firms to make attempts at customer retention through database marketing programs. Establishing a detailed client database will allow these companies to keep track of personal information and individual preferences of all their customers. CUSTOMER RETENTION TACTICS

Monitor the service delivery process Properly install products and train customers Be there when you are needed the most Provide discretionary effort

TYPES OF SERVICE GUARANTEES

Implicit Guarantees

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o

An unwritten, unspoken guarantee that establishes an understanding between the firm and its customer

Specific Result Guarantees

o

Guarantees that apply only to specific steps or outputs in the service delivery process

Unconditional Guarantee
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A guarantee that promises complete customer satisfaction

THE BENEFITS OF GUARANTEES

Customer-directed Benefits:
o o o o o o

customers perceive a better value perceived risk is lower the firm is perceived as more reliable helps consumers decide among alternatives helps consumers overcome resistance helps to overcome negative word-of-mouth

THE BENEFITS OF GUARANTEES

Organization-directed Benefits:
o o

forces the firm to focus on the customers definition of good service the guarantee states a goal that is communicated to employees and customers invoked guarantees provides a measurable means of performance

There are many reasons a customer or client may leave you, but the ones you will hear most often are:

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They felt your pricing was too high or unfair. They had an unresolved complaint. They took a competitors offer. They left because they felt you didn't care.

When you consider that the last two make up the majority of why a client or customer will no longer use your service or buy your products - it can be a hard pill to swallow. After all it means they are an inactive client because they felt you didn't care about them and your competitor did. This makes sense when you consider that customers often purchase your service or product because they have developed a relationship with you, they owned another product or yours, or they were referred to you by a friend or associate. Before you spend your time and money going after new customers and clients you do not currently have a relationship with consider the following statistics:

Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers. Referrals among repeat customers are 107% greater than non-customers. It costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than to sell that same thing to a customer

Top 5 Customer Retention Marketing Tactics

1. Regular Communication with Customized Content and Special Offers This is the cornerstone of any good customer retention program and careful attention should be paid here. Most companies have some sort of newsletter to communicate with existing customers but fewer are actively making offers to their current install base that are customized according to what is already known about the customer. This can be as simple as offering an upgrade at a special price to tiered discounts or preferred access to support or other resources. 2. Customer service Poor customer service accounts for 70% of customer loss. Marketing should take that number very seriously and work with the support team

32 to deliver content that can help service folks do their job. In my experience many thorny customer service issues stem from a mismatch between the offering functionality and customer expectations. Marketing can create content that can set customer expectations for functionality and performance to make sure there is a good match between the product and what the customer is trying to do. 3. Listen (and then talk) The overwhelming majority of unhappy customers will never communicate their dissatisfaction with you. Regularly checking in on customers will help you to see signs of an impending departure while theres still time to fix problems. Regular customer contact through customer advisory boards or other less structured customer calls will often alert you to bigger problems before theyre reflected in your metrics. You can learn a lot by eavesdropping on customers on blogs, Twitter and forums. Just remember that if you are going to engage with customers in this way you need to be prepared to act on the issues they are complaining about 4. Loyalty programs, appreciation awards and customer referral rewards rewarding customers for referring you new business or for repeat buys is always a good idea. Even in markets where that isnt appropriate (Ive never seen a rewards program for enterprise infrastructure software for example) you can still give customers an award to recognize them (and give them something to brag about). 5. Bring Your Customers Together at the larger companies I worked at our annual user conference was one of the most successful marketing tactics we did. Companies with smaller user bases and budgets are doing similar things by creating online spaces (in the form of forums, custom social networks, facebook or LinkedIn groups, etc) where customers can connect, share their experiences and learn from each other.
Product and services meeting customer expectations and product promise

This is the core- There are two parts in there:

Product Promise- This includes not only what you said in your brochures, and advertisements, but also what your sales person told the customer. It is evident that

33 sales people can over play the good qualities of the product or may mis-sell the product. Therefore, companies not only have to focus on creating authentic published sales pitch, but also ensure that their products are sold but not mis-sold.

Customer Expectations: One needs to manage customer expectations, as misplaced customer expectations lead to dissatisfaction even if you are meeting your product promise. As a customer behavior, in this sales driven world, consumer, do give a little tolerance to your performance short-falls, but its minor. The methods to manage customer expectations can be:
o

Try to address the key expectation gap areas (as you learn by your experience), and clarify it to the customer. You can be factual about the key areas which can lead to customer expectations mis-match. For example, for a life insurance company, one can clarify to the customer the sales illustrations (which provides the estimate of the asset value of your policy till maturity), are a guess and not a promise. You don't have to go around telling everything what your product cannot do. Focus on key areas, where customers may have wrong expectations. As long as you are positioning it in a factual and positive language, it should do the trick. One other way is to submit detailed technical and functional specifications in a user friendly manner. The product comparison charts with your other products also helps.

Trust relationship with the customer

This is a soft factor, which provides long-term sustainability to your customer base and loyalty. It provides strong foundation to your brand perception and value. This factor mainly emerges from the corporate culture and value systems. The trust-factor with the customer is built in following representations:

Veracity of the statements in the sales material. Authenticity of the sales statements and scripts The product recalls, in case of product issue

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Product promise match with the actual product features No fine-prints

Customer service and support

The quality, promptness and friendliness (in that order of priority) of your customer service and support will determine the level of your CSR. Customer service and support is a big subject in it-self. Here are some key areas of Customer Service, which drives the customer satisfaction:

Knowledge of the product and domain- A customer loose confidence, if the person who picks up the phone does not understand the products or processes of the organization. The following training and support of the front-line staff can help:
o o

Product features and organization process Top 500 questions, a customer can ask about the product and the organization, and their answer. Create an online FAQ data bank and also the searchable product and process data-base Create train the trainers, which are on the shop-floor to handle any complex query.

Identity of the customer and customer interaction history

This is a norm in large organization. All interactions with the customer should be noted in detail. This should include:

The customer issue. What did we respond on? What did we promise to do? Was that issue linked to a previous issue?

A single view of the customer in terms of all his relationships and transactions is key to creating the customer identity. A good operational business intelligence platform or an operational data store can help.

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Customer relationship and constant touch

A customer likes to be contacted without the context of any issue. The customer touch can be achieved on the following counts:

Checking with the customer on if the product is working well? Checking with the customer on his level of satisfaction after a repair or service call. Sending a mail or a gift token on important customer dates like birthdays and anniversary. Contacting customer with new offerings Sending regular newsletter, industry developments, and tips on 'how to make the best out of our product' etc.

Level of customer satisfaction index

One can say that customer satisfaction index is inversely proportional to the customer attrition. This is not 100% true, due to following reasons:

An unsatisfied customer may not attrite, because the exit costs are too high. A satisfied customer may attrite, due to aggressive competition campaigns or you may not have the product, which the customer wants.

Customer sales experience

Customer sales experience can leave a kind of good or bad taste. This after taste does contribute to customer retention or attrition. For example a great sales experience may retain a customer, even after some post sales issues. However, if a customer had an inadequate sales experience, it catalyzes attrition.

Customer post-sale experience

The post-sales experience can help reinforce the long term retention. The post-sale experience includes:

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Order Delivery Product-installation and demo Product kit and user manuals Introductory call with the relationship manager or account manager etc...

Customer loyalty
Customer loyalty is all about attracting the right customer, getting them to buy, buy often, buy in higher quantities and bring you even more customers. However, that focus is not how you build customer loyalty. You build loyalty by

keeping touch with customers using email marketing , thank you cards and more. treating your team well so they treat your customers well. showing that you care and remembering what they like and dont like. You build it by rewarding them for choosing you over your competitors. You build it by truly giving a damn about them and figuring out how to make them more success, happy and joyful.

Long-term client and customer loyalty is a long-term challenge that you must strive for every day and with every transaction no matter how big or small. Lack of communication is the biggest problem that plagues most doomed relationships whether they are personal or professional. Identifying when a lack of communication is occurring can save problems from escalating. The bottom line is that one of the key components in marketing and business growth is to spend the majority of your time and effort nurturing customer relationships, so that you get business from existing clients and customers. This is a strategy that will move you forward in increasing your sales by 50% without increasing your budget.

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Frequency Marketing - definition

ICLP the global loyalty marketing agency is an expert in developing and managing frequency marketing programs (programmes). Frequency Marketing is a term that relates to marketing programs that aim to maintain or increase the frequency of visits, purchases, orders etc. of customers in order to maximise their profit contribution over-time. Such programs, more often termed as loyalty programs (or loyalty programmes), recognise and reward customers based on purchasing behaviour. A frequency marketing program is a means to an end; it is the means in which companies are able to identify its best customers and once identified, enables companies to recognise

38 and reward those customers in order to keep them loyal. A frequency marketing programme also enables companies to identify potential best customers and market to them. Customer recognition and reward then come into play accordingly. Frequency marketing programmes need to be innovative and motivating enough for customers to want to join while volunteering information about themselves, such as name and address, therefore enabling companies to identify and communicate with selected customers. The most basic identifying information could simply be a name and an accompanying email address. Rich information, provided on an application for a loyalty card for instance, will give an address, an age demographic, previous purchase information and a whole range of other specific information, such as consumption of media, frequency of holidays, even income bracket. Every time a frequency marketing (or loyalty) card is used, this identifies the customer, and links relevant transactions to their record. Companies then analyse this data and turn it into knowledge (either on a non-aggregate or aggregate level) and use this accumulated insight to reward customers with the objective of retaining or growing their profit contribution. Frequency marketing has been around long before the Internet. A prime example of frequency marketing are the many "frequent-flyer" programs. Many airlines offer free air miles if you travel on their planes. This is their method of building brand loyalty. Should you implement frequency marketing in your marketing efforts? Frequency marketing is a long-term strategy that requires commitment. Unlike promotions that may last only weeks, frequency marketing programs could last for several years. If you cannot make this type of commitment, then it will be tough to develop a successful frequency marketing strategy. The rewards that you offer should be of value. Here are a few more examples of frequency marketing:

39 Credit Card Contests - Some credit card companies are offering you a chance to win prizes. Everytime you use your credit card, you are entered into the contest. Stamp or Points - Companies will give you stamps or points that can be redeemed for brand merchandise. (e.g. Pepsi Points) Contest and Games; Companies provide games or contests which require the player to make repeat purchases. (e.g. McDonalds Monopoly) You do not necessarily have to offer a tangible reward. Studies indicate that rewards such as special treatment or recognition provide a stronger bonding impact. Be genuine about your rewards. How many times have you received a "preferred member" plastic card with a toll-free number on the back? Where is the value? Don't promise the world. If you cannot deliver on your promise, you could seriously damage you reputation and credibility. When conversing with your customers, you should do it genuinely and not generically. Sending a letter that starts off with "Dear Valued Reader," will not be as effective as "Dear Jim,". Remember you are trying to develop a relationship. Frequency marketing communication is one-to-one, not one-to-a million. The most important aspect of a successful frequency marketing program is to add "real" value to your customers. You have to look at your product or service and decide whether it warrants a repeat purchase. If you do not offer a high quality product or service, your frequency marketing strategy will fail miserably. Frequency marketing is not for all businesses. They usually apply to business that have a high need for repeat business. You should also be in a business where it is hard to distinguish between you and your competitors to effectively use a frequency marketing strategy. If you have a monopoly in your business, it does not make sense to implement a frequency marketing strategy. Everyone has to purchase from you no matter what.

40 The downside to frequency marketing is that once all your competitors realize how successful it is, they will jump on the same bandwagon. Pretty soon, the whole strategy becomes meaningless if everyone else is doing it. That is why a frequency marketing strategy needs to be well thought out and constantly reapplied or revamped. Frequency marketing is still in its infancy on the Internet. There are many programs evolving at this moment. There will be a lot of companies implementing this long-term strategy into their marketing efforts.

The Importance of Customer Feedback

Consumer is the king in todays market. Excessive competition among the manufacturers has given an extra advantage to the consumers .Their opinion and views are important for every organization who wants to succeed and capture the market share.

41 Especially, in case of new entrants who want to establish themselves, feedback plays a vital role in helping them to make a niche for themselves from struggling stage to a successful stage. Todays consumers are always updated and alert on the various changes in different brands of products and services. They are more informed and hence have in-depth knowledge on all the products and its competitors.So, the marketers; in order to be in line with the exciting market trend has to know about its customers needs and requirements from time to time and act accordingly on the same. Thus, a feedback helps the manufacturers to bring about the changes as per their consumers need and desires on its products or services and thus serve them better. This in return, helps the manufacturers to retain their customers and convert them into loyal customers. Its believed that the cost incurred to create new customers is comparatively lesser than the cost involved retaining the old customers. They feel their opinion is valuable and hence feedback develops the special feeling about the organisation in its consumers mind. In order to succed ,organization needs to move with time. They need to understand their customers and move hand in hand with them. If they do not tune in with their customers requirements, they will give their customers an opportunity to exploit and try out competitors new products present in the market.So, its entirely manufacturers decision to either look forward to their consumers feedback and act accordingly or be ignorant and allow its consumers to try out other brands present in the market. The choice is entirely theirs.

The key to making the most of customer feedback is looking for patterns and common challenges. You might look through several suggestions and notice a lot of feedback about communication preferences. If you looked at them one-by-one, then it might just look like some isolated situations. But once you pull them together you discover a pattern around the need to manage both online and offline communication preferences. Developing

42 functionality that can use Solicit Codes from The Raiser's Edge not only helps provide a solution, but the native integration is already in place to make it work at no additional cost. Connecting the dots between suggestions and other forms of feedback really helps drive more meaningful improvements. This also means that you can help provide solutions to both existing and new customers that are valuable. That's a win-win scenario.

Get Honest Opinions

o

Customer feedback is a vital way to get honest opinions on your services or products from people who are familiar with them. These opinions can make it easier to get into the minds of the most important critics.

Improve Relations
o

When customers feel that a business truly cares about them and what they think, they may be more likely to be loyal customers. When a business makes changes according to feedback, it shows that they truly listen and respect those opinions.

Inexpensive Business Advice

o

Some businesses pay thousands of dollars for someone to come in and tell them what improvements need to be made to the business to get more customers. Customer feedback is essentially inexpensive business advice directly from the source.

More Customers
o

When a business is willing to receive feedback and listen to it, word spreads and more customers may be willing to give you a shot based on your commitment to excellent customer service.

43

Positive Changes
o

A business does not like to brag about the negative aspects of their operation; they want to have mostly positive things to say. Customer feedback can mean positive changes according to their comments, which could mean a better reputation and more money for the business.

Customer feedback consists of communication that a customer provides to a company on the performance of its products and services. The feedback can come through the form of surveys, comment cards or simply through a customer's comment while already speaking with a company representative.

Improvements
o

Customer feedback loops inform the company of how the products or services can be improved. When a customer expresses frustration with a product or service, this is an opportunity for the company to explore deeper and remove the barriers to efficient customer service.

New Products
o

Customers use a product or service often. They have insight into which products or service would work well with a current product or service offering. For example, a company that sells olive oil would benefit by also offering a cookbook featuring recipes that require olive oil.

Revenue
o

If customers complain, this is an opportunity to prevent the customer from seeking their product or service from a competitor. A loss of business leads to less revenue.

44

Objectives:

1. To find out the importance of customer satisfaction in the minds of the employees. 2. To find out if the employees are aware of the benefits of customer feedback and satisfaction.

45

Research Methodology

46

Research was done to know the importance of client retention and their feedback in the minds of the employees of L&T IES. The analysis can do well only on Methodology on which it is done. The Up-to-mark methodology improves the validity and Quality of findings. The area Studied: The Study was carried out in L&T Knowledge City, Vadodara. Research design: Research design is the specification of method and procedure for acquiring information needed. As per my research design I went through the path as follows: Decided the Objective of Research. Determined the most liked way of Method. Specified the source of data collection. Defined the most appropriate sample design and sample size. Conducted the survey of data collection. Process and Analyze data.

47

Method of data collection: There are several methods of collecting data. Mine was primary data collection. Primary Data collection, it is method of collecting data in which marketers collect data very first time and that collected data is called fresh or first-handed data.

PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION

Collection Methods 1) OBSERVATION a) Natural setting b) Field experiment Advantage Disadvantage minimizes response bias limited to measuring behavior time consuming subject to investigator bias 2) COMMUNICATION a) Personal interview Advantage permits detailed & in-depth questions & responses minimizes non-response

48

Disadvantage

costly interviewer bias investigator bias interviewer cheating

b) Telephone Interview Advantage convenient saves time relatively inexpensive less interviewer & investigator bias than personal interview Disadvantage non-coverage limited length & depth of questions and responses c) Self-administered Questionnaire Advantage cost effective for large areas minimizes interviewer bias promotes accurate answers Disadvantage low response rates unanswered questions

49

Question Formats 1) OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS: Respondents are given complete freedom to answer in their own words. Advantage a) b) Disadvantage a) eliminates "forced choice" bias unlimited response varieties

promotes investigator bias b) responses difficult to code and analyze small scale exploration establishing rapport as final question to collect facts: e.g., age

Best Use

a) b) c) d)

2) CLOSED-ENDED QUESTIONS:

50

A)

Yes No Questions: Respondents are limited to a positive or negative position.

Advantage

a) b) c)

minimizes investigator bias responses obtained quickly coding is simple and inexpensive

Disadvantage a)

simplistic / limits range of commitment b) wording can cause biases telephone interview self-administered questionnaire when topic permits

Best Use

a) b)

B)

Multiple Choice Questions: Respondents are limited to choice of more than two positions.

Advantage

a) b) c) d)

minimizes investigator bias responses obtained quickly coding is simple and inexpensive permits greater range of commitment than yes-no questions

Disadvantage a)

good questions are difficult to write b) wording can cause biases personal interview self-administered questionnaire telephone interview if item is not too complicated

Best Use

a) b) c)

51 C) EXCELLENT 5 EG.1 EG.2 NEVER 1 EG.3 STRONGLY AGREE 5 Rating Scales: Respondent rates an attribute using the provided scale. VERY GOOD 4 Evaluation Frequency SOMETIMES 2 Intensity: the Likert Scale AGREE NEUTRAL 4 3 a) b) c) personal interview self-administered questionnaire telephone interview ALWAYS 3 AVERAGE 3 FAIR 2 POOR 1

DISAGREE 2

STRONGLY DISAGREE 1

Best Use

D) Semantic Differentials: Respondent's evaluation ranges between opposites. VERY IMPORTANT VERY INTERESTED VERY RELIGIOUS NEGATIVE IMPRESSION 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 -1 0 1 NOT IMPORTANT NOT INTERESTED NOT RELIGIOUS POSITIVE IMPRESSION

Best Use

a) b) c)

personal interview self-administered questionnaire telephone interview if item is not too complicated

Questionnaire Design

52

Preliminary Concerns
1. Consider the data collection method. 2. Consider the measurement scale and statistical analysis to be used.

Wording
1. Use correct grammar and sentence structure. Avoid slang and colloquialisms. 2. Wording should be as simple as possible without being condescending to

respondent.
3. Use a conversational tone. Wording should be as closely as possible to the

manner in which people would talk to each other.

4. Wording should be neutral and clearly communicate the intent of question.

Instructions
1. Instructions on how to answer should be communicated to the respondent as part of the question. 2. Special instructions to the interviewer should be clear and located on the questionnaire.
3. Clearly distinguish the instructions to the interviewer questions and responses by

always putting the instructions to the interviewer CAPS, Italics, etc.

Content
1. Write brief questions.

2. Have a specific goal for each question. 3. Make efforts to write questions that are valid measures of the studys variables. 4. Be careful not to assume behavior or knowledge on the part of any respondent. 5. If a question contains facts, make sure they are accurate.
6. Carefully choose wording so that accurate information is collected.

53

Be precise and specific in the use of concepts (for example, Be precise and specific regarding time, either as a period of recall or as a Avoid "loaded" questions that suggest to respondents that one answer is Avoid double questions where two or more issues are mentioned. Avoid all-inclusive terms such as "never" or "always." Avoid the use of technical terms and abbreviations that can be Avoid the use of inflammatory words such as "racist" or "exploitation."

government--is it city, county, or federal?). time limit to a certain behavior. preferable to another.

misconstrued. 7. Be sure all questions are relevant to the research goal.

8. Be certain all important questions are asked.

Response Categories
1. Response categories must match the attributes mentioned in question. 2. Response categories to closed-ended items must be: sufficiently exhaustive. mutually exclusive. the categories respondents would naturally use to classify the item or

themselves. 3. Questions may contain a response category of "don't know" or "no answer/refusal."

Order
1. Treat all questions as part of a whole, not isolated or separate from other items.

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2. Remember that each question is perceived by the respondent to be in a context of questions. Thus, answers to one question can be affected by responses to others in the same group. 3. Questions should be grouped according to topic.
4. Within a topic it is usually best to arrange questions so they move from general to

specific. 5. The question order should permit the interviewer to keep the interview moving at a conversational, yet purposeful pace. To achieve this:

Order questions using a logic that will make sense to the respondent. Use transitional statements freely so that the questions "flow" easily

one to another.
6. The first questions should be relatively easy-to-answer questions that are

related to the research topic that was expressed in the introductory message or cover letter. 7. Place important/sensitive questions in the middle of the questionnaire.
8. Place easy-to-answer questions, such as demographic items, at the end of the

questionnaire.

Format
1. Clearly distinguish questions from response categories.

2. Vary response patterns and group topics as often as is practical to prevent fatigue. 3. Avoid breaking a question between pages of the questionnaire. 4. Splitting complex issues into two or more simple questions in order to eliminate respondent confusion and error. 5. Avoid questions that duplicate earlier items or appear to the respondent to be redundant.
6.

Precode the questionnaire. Include the response codes on the questionnaire.

55

Sample Universe:
L&T IES Employees

Sample Size, Technique & Time Period:

Sample size was 35 Technique used for it was Non - Random sampling and Time Period was 7 Days.

56

Data Analysis and Interpretation

57

Sample Size 35 Sample Unit L&T Employees (Domestic Sales and Distribution and Marketing). Sample Tool Questionnaire.

58

Importance of Customer Feedback and Customer Retention from Employees Perspective

1. Customer satisfaction is my primary objective. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 57.14286 37.14286 5.714286 0 0

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

This question seeks to find out just how important the employees feel customer satisfaction really is. The result was that almost the entire lot of employees sampled believed that satisfying the customers through their services is their primary objective. Only about 5% people were unsure about it, whereas no one disagreed with the statement. This clearly shows the commitment of the employees towards their clients.

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2. Customer satisfaction always leads to customer retention. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 57.14286 34.28571 2.857143 8.571429 0

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

This statement was to test what the employees really believe. Do they feel that customer satisfaction will always prohibit their customers from switching over to their competitors? Or will the clients still shift over to the competitors even when they are satisfied?

60

Again a majority of the employees felt that if the client is satisfied he/she will continue to do business with the organization. However again 8% of the respondents felt that its not compulsory that a client will always stick with the company even if he/she is satisfied.

3. Which of the following is less expensive? Retaining an old/loyal customer. Attracting a new customer. Cant say. 77.14286 5.714286 17.14286

Retaining Old Customers Attracting New Customers Cant Say

This question was to see if the employees were actually aware of the importance of the expenses involved in acquiring a new client in comparison to the miniscule amount of time and resources which are spent in simply retaining a client.

61

As expected an overwhelming percentage of respondents were well aware that retaining an old client was less expensive than attracting new ones. However about 23% were still not sure.

4. Does giving guarantees of your service encourage customer loyalty? Yes No Cant Say Yes. No. Cant say. 62.85714 14.28571 22.85714

62

This question sought to find out whether giving guarantees of the products performance will encourage repeat business. Again a majority felt that it would, however about one fifth of the respondents were still not sure of the same.

This shows that nowadays clients are looking for more than just guarantees.

5. Apart from company policies, have you taken any individual initiative at encouraging positive customer relationship? Yes No Yes. No. 77.14286 22.85714

63

The objective of this question was to ascertain whether the employees take any personal initiative in making their offering better. If they go beyond the required protocols in order to provide better service it shows commitment of the employee not just towards the client but the organization as well.

Again in this case more than three fourth of the respondents responded positively thereby showing their commitment.

6. In the past, if the company has lost any clientele, what was the plausible reason?

64 Customer Client wanted to stop the outsourcing. Lack of required attention to the client. Inability to solve the clients problem. Lower prices of range of services by the competitor. Unrealistic demands of the client. Cant say. wanted to Stop 28.88889 22.22222 8.888889 17.77778 8.888889 13.33333

Outsourcing Lack of Attention to the Client Inability to solve client's problem Low Prices of Competitors Unreal Demands Cant Say

The purpose of this question was to find out the various reasons as to why the clients may have decided to discontinue business with the organization.

65 A large number of options were provided to the respondents for this purpose. As a there were a mixed number of opinions. Although the largest number of responses pointed out to the reason that the client wanted to top the outsourcing, the employees also admitted that sometimes there was a lack of attention from their side which made the client go away. This was the second most important reason as seen in the survey. Low prices of the competitors was also a factor which could not be ignored and showed that apart from client satisfaction, low prices are also important.

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7. Do you offer any special schemes or discounts or services to your most frequent clients? Yes No Yes. No. 82.85714 17.14286

67

8. Does frequency marketing lead to customer satisfaction and good word of mouth? Yes No Cant Say Yes. No. Cant say. 57.14286 5.714286 37.14286

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Frequency marketing refers to tactics like loyalty programs or offering considerably lower prices to repeat business giving clients. These tactics are also a smart and efficient way of retaining the customers and encouraging their loyalty and faith in the company.

In this case most employees replied positively, still more than one third respondents were not sure whether these schemes actually made any difference or not.

9. Are you in constant communication with the client while your product or service is being installed on the clients premises? Yes No Yes. No. 94.28571 5.714286

69

This question shows another parameter related which is closely related to customer satisfaction. By staying in constant touch with the client the service provider re assures the client that utmost attention and due care is being provided to the project. Failure to do so may make the client feel insecure and may cast an impression that the project is not being done with the due attention it deserves. Also by staying in constant touch, if any changes are to be made from the clients or service providers side, it can be done with total transparency. The respondents are bang on target as they understand the relevance of the parameter and 94% have responded in favour of it.

10. How important would you rate the client feedback in your business? (1 being highest and 5 being lowest). 1 2 3 4 5

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71 11. What is the practical importance of customer feedback? Source of new product ideas. Discovering weakness in our product/service. Identifying area of skill set.

Source of Ideas Discover weakness in our product Identify area of skill development

29.03226 43.54839 27.41935

This question seeks to find the perception of the employees towards the feedback they receive from the clients. Is it of any value to them? If so then what improvement, if any, is brought about using that particular feedback? Nearly half the respondents felt that feedback was responsible for bringing to the front weaknesses in their product/service and was hence very important to them, since they could improve it for future projects.

72 While other respondents were split almost equally on the opinion that it is a good source of ideas for new and innovative projects or services and helps them to identify the area of skill development.

12. Have you ever noticed and studied the patterns in customer feedback? Yes No Cant Say Yes. No. Cant say. 71.42857 20 8.571429

73 The importance of studying customer feedback is highly underrated even by those who value customer feedback. By studying patterns or common responses an organization can ascertain where it is going wrong and can help to reduce the frequency of inadequacy in their services. Thankfully in this case, most of the employees were well aware of the importance of studying the patterns of feedback, with only one third of the respondents saying that it was not important.

13. Does you after sales service reflect the feedback of your client? Yes. No.

Yes No

91.42857 8.571429

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14. Importance of after sales service: Individual attention to client. Leaves a lasting strong image of the company. Leads to client satisfaction.

75 Leads to client retention. 18.18182 the 27.27273 31.81818 22.72727

Individual attention to client Lasting Strong Image of Company Client Satisfaction Client Retention

Conclusion
When it comes to client satisfaction and its priorities in the minds of the respondents i.e. employees, it is highly important to them. The first 2 questions clearly delve into finding out the no of employees who feel that client satisfaction is of paramount importance and it

76 is answered quite vividly by way of the survey results which demonstrate that an overwhelming majority of the employees are in favour of it. However it was also found through the survey that some of the employees were not precisely clear whether it was more advantageous to attract new clients or to focus on retaining the existing ones. This is slightly disturbing as one would expect the employees of an engineering conglomerate to be clear about this matter. It also shows that the employees perhaps need to be coached about this issue. It was also a little disappointing to see that not all employees were taking any personal initiatives apart from the company specified one in order to encourage positive relationship with the client. In todays competitive scenario even small personal gestures go a long way in differentiating the services and that has a large bearing on who the client will eventually endorse. When the plausible reasons for losing clientele were investigated an important reason was that enough attention was not given to clients. This is a very appalling reason as in a service industry; it is an unsaid rule that one must always give the required amount of attention to the clients. If one fails to do so, that means that there are some misconceptions at the fundamental/core level. Frequency marketing was another topic which has gained importance in recent times but was not on the agenda for most employees. The awareness level regarding this particular topic was low and the employees were not sure about its importance. Perhaps the employees are not very abreast of these marketing topics and this should be definitely changed by educating the employees in this regard. Thankfully customer feedback is given a lot of importance which provides a positive insight in the working of the organization. The importance of feedback should never be undermined and this was proven by the respondents. They have used feedback for various

77 reasons like improving their services and have also studied the patterns of feedback which helped them to improve upon the certain deficiencies.

Limitations
One of the biggest and most evident limitations of the project is that the employees refused to be identified while doing the survey as they were concerned that it may have negative

78 implications on their employment. As a result none of the respondents have mentioned their names or designations on the questionnaires. Although one might question the authenticity of the survey in such a situation, it should also be pointed out that had the anonymity of the respondents not been maintained, there would be a possibility of receiving very few responses. Also the responses that would be received would be biased, in fear of future implications. For ex, if the respondents were not anonymous most of them would not have replied in the 7th question that they did not pay much attention to the clients. As a result in order to get frank and honest opinions the respondents have not been named. Another limitation can be that the sample size is relatively small i.e. 35. The reason for this was the unique requirement for the survey. The requirement was that the employees who are surveyed must be in direct contact with the clients. Finding such clients in the whole organization was a difficult task in itself only 35 such employees could be contacted. A final limitation was that some of the employees may not have understood the language of the questionnaire, even though the grammar was relatively simple. However doe to this reason some questions may have been answered incorrectly.