Handling Complaints of The Customers in The Computer Shop Compumax.
ABSTRAK
Tugas akhir ini ditulis untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat kelulusan
program D3 Bahasa Inggris Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen
Maranatha. Adapun tujuan saya menulis tugas akhir yaitu untuk
mengetahui secara detail mengenai permasalahan yang terjadi berkaitan
dengan keluhan pelanggan yang saya alami dalam pekerjaan saya
sebagai salah satu tenaga marketing selama magang di Compumax dan
mencari solusi untuk menyelesaikan masalah tersebut.
Compumax sendiri adalah merupakan salah satu toko komputer
yang terdapat di Kota Bandung yang menyediakan berbagai menjual
asesoris komputer.Oleh karena itu tenaga marketing yang bekerja di
Compumax diharapkan dapat melayani pelanggan dengan benar.
Permasalahan selama magang di Compumax adalah produk yang
tidak jalan atau rusak. Keluhan pelanggan bermacam-macam, seperti
memory card, hard disc, m-board tidak jalan atau rusak, dan kesalahan
dari tenaga marketing.
Pada tugas akhir yang berjudul “Handling Complaints of the
Customers in Computer Shop Compumax” ini, saya akan memaparkan
tiga solusi yang memungkinkan untuk mengatasi masalah yang
berhubungan dengan keluhan pelanggan. Pada akhirnya, solusi terbaik
yang dapat saya berikan diharapkan dapat membantu pelanggan dan toko
agar mencapai kesempurnaan.
i
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSRACT………………………………………………………...………………. i
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY………………………………..…………… ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………..…………… iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………..……………... iv
CHAPTER 1
: INTRODUCTION…………………………………..………….
A. Background of the Study………………………...............
B. Identification of the Problem…...........................……….
C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study……………..….....
D. Description of the Institution………………..…………….
E. Limitations of the Study……………………..…………….
F. Organization of the Term Paper…………………..……..
CHAPTER 2
: PROBLEM ANALYSIS………………………………..……... 7
CHAPTER 3
: POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS.......................................…....... 11
CHAPTER 4
: CONCLUSIONS……………………………………..……….. 14
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ii
Maranatha Christian University
1
1
2
3
4
5
5
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of Study
Handling complaints of the customers in the computer shop Compumax
is the topic that I choose for my term paper. The reason why I choose it as
my topic is because there are many customers who complain about
broken or unqualified products they buy from the computer shop
Compumax, the place of my apprenticeship. For example, the customers
buy memory card, hard disc, or something else, but after they take the
products home, they find that the products cannot work normally after
several days they buy them. Also sometimes customers complain about
marketing people who give wrong information to them. That is why so
many complaints arise from the customers.
Customers’ complaint is quite a serious thing for a computer shop. The
customers buy the product at the shop, and the shop has to pay attention
to the customers’ interest. Therefore, solving the problem of customers’
complaints becomes a very important thing for the marketing people in the
computer shop because there are many customers’ complaints that the
marketing people should handle. A good and professional marketing
1
Maranatha Christian University
person can solve the problem very well and make all the customers
satisfied.
To win the competition between Compumax and the other computer
shops, the computer shop Compumax should provide good service to
customers. To win customers, the computer shop Compumax should have
marketing people who have professional selling skills. In the computer
shop, the marketing people serve a key role, because the marketing
people are the soul of the shop, just like the CPU in a computer, without
which the computer cannot work. For marketing people, their task is not
only selling products, but also solving problems that their customers have.
In order to offer good service to the customers, they must be capable of
describing the list of products clearly so that the customers could
understand about the kinds of products that the shop has, and listening
carefully to what the customers really want. Furthermore, the marketing
people should have enough patience and confidence to be able to explain
and familiarize the functions of each product to customers.
B. Identification of the Problem
This paper will try to find the answers to the following questions:
1. How do the marketing people handle the customers’ complaints?
2. What are the causes of customers’ complaints in Compumax?
3. What are the effects of customers’ complaints in Compumax?
4. What are the potential solutions for the problem of customers’
complaints in Compumax?
2
Maranatha Christian University
5. What are the potential positive and negative effects of the
potential solutions?
6. What is the best solution for the problem of customers’ complaint
in Compumax?
C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
The objective of this study is to find out the best solution to solve the
problem of customers’ complaints that I faced during my apprenticeship at
Compumax. The solutions play a significant role for the business of
Compumax. Without satisfactory solutions, the shop cannot make
progress quickly and effectively. On the contrary, the unsolved problems
will surely become a big obstacle in Compumax’s business.
In my opinion, there are lots of benefits from this study, not only for me,
but also for Compumax and the readers. For me, the benefit is that I can
know the best solution for solving the problem of customers’ complaints.
The plan I set for myself in the future is that one day I can have my own
computer shop. Through this study, I learn that dealing with customers’
complaints satisfactorily is quite a difficult and significant thing for a
computer shop, because it can greatly influence the customers’ decision
about where they should go and choose the products.
For Compumax, the benefit is to realize how important the professional
selling skills are for their marketing people and their service quality. What
is more, they can discover the weaknesses and the strengths of their
marketing people, so that they can keep the strengths and minimalize or
3
Maranatha Christian University
try to avoid the weaknesses.
For the readers who have strong interest and desire to have their own
computer shop, the benefit from this study is to know that professional
skills of handling customers’ complaints are very important for the
marketing people in the computer shop. As to the other readers, the
benefit is to know more about the computer shop, which, to some degree,
could help them to protect their benefit.
D. Description of the Institution
Compumax is one of the computer shops in Bandung . At the
beginning, the shop was opened at Jl. Wastukencana in 2000. Three
years later, Compumax moved to Bandung Electronic Center (BEC). BEC
is located at Jl. Purnawarman no. 13-15 Bandung. Now Compumax is at
Lt. 2 Blok B-01 in BEC.
Compumax’s business is mainly on selling various kinds of hardware
and software of computers. Besides, they also have a lot of accessories
for computers, such as key board, mouse, printer, scanner and flash disk.
From year to year, Compumax keeps developing and becoming more and
more popular. Now, it has been well known by many people in Bandung
who are interested in computers. The service of the Compumax is good
and the shop is well appointed and well equipped. Therefore more and
more customers choose to come to Compumax to buy the products they
need.
Compumax has assembled computers if the customers want different
4
Maranatha Christian University
brands of different components. Compumax also sells laptops, whose
brands range from domestic ones to foreign ones, such as Axioo, Acer,
Toshiba, and others.
There are five marketing people and two technicians in Compumax.
The tasks of the marketing people are selling the products to the
customers, and dealing with the customers’ complaints. The tasks of the
technicians are assembling, repairing, and trouble shooting computers.
E. Limitations of the Study
The problem stated in this term paper is taken from a real working
situation at Compumax. The study will deal with the problem I faced when
I did my apprenticeship in Compumax for twenty days. It will also propose
the corresponding solutions to the problem. Moreover, I did some library
research and Internet browsing to find theories that are related to
customer service, also made full use of my 20 days’ apprenticeship journal
as the source of data that I use to make a precise, applicable and
acceptable study in the end.
F. Organization of the Term Paper
In my term paper, there are four chapters. In Chapter I, the Introduction
part provides the readers with the information about the main problem
existing in the computer shop’ s business, the general background the
study is based on, the goal of the study, and the benefits that I as the
writer, the readers, and the computer shop Compumax get from the study.
5
Maranatha Christian University
In Chapter II, the analysis of problem is stated in detail, discussing the
causes and the effects of the problem one by one. Chapter III describes
the potential solutions that can solve the problem which is focused on
customers’ complaints about the products, and the potential positive and
negative effects of these potential solutions respectively. Chapter IV is the
conclusion, which contains the best solution to solve the problem. This
solution is proposed based on the analysis from the previous chapters. In
the last part, I present the Bibliography.
6
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I want to discuss about the conclusion. In Chapter III, I
analyze three potential solutions which can be used to handle the problem
of customers’ complaints. All of them are quite good solutions. However, I
believe that the best solution for the marketing people to deal with the
problem of customers’ complaints are solution one and solution three,
which is the marketing people of Compumax should replace the old
product with new ones for the customers if the products that the customers
buy are still in a guarantee period and apologizing to the customers and
gives a discount or the giveaway.
Solution one can make the customers have faith and confidence in
service of the computer shop. Compared with solution two, solution one
can better solves the problem of the customers’ complaints. Solution two
takes more time than solution one. Solution three will build good
relationship with customers. If the customers have problems of any kind,
they always want to have satisfying solution. Solution one can solve the
problem of the customers’ complaints faster and can show the customers
that the marketing people are professional. This is what the customers
14
Maranatha Christian University
want.
With these solutions, there is a benefit for the customers. The
customers can have their problem solved. The customers’ rights are
guaranteed by the shop. Therefore, they will have strong desire to buy
products in the shop again. There is no need for them to worry about the
quality of service by the shop. However, Compumax will lose some of
profit because of these solutions. The shop will loss some profit of solution
one because they have to be responsible for the broken products’
guarantee, because the factory is not responsible for the broken products’
guarantee. I suggest that the shop should have some communication with
the factory that protects the benefit of the shop owner by making the
guarantee time longer. Therefore, the shop will not lose its profit. For the
solution three, the shop gives the discount and giveaway will decrease its
profit.
15
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Printed Sources
Lucas, Robert. Customer Service. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2005.
Stanton, W.J. Prinsif Pemasaran. terjemahan Drs. Yohanes Lamarto.
MBA., MSM. Edisi Ketujuh. Jakarta : Erlangga, 1991.
Electronic Sources
Cara, Henry. “Hardware Store Customer Service Representative”.
Customer affairs. 17 May 2008
Edrich, Alyice. “Handling Customer Complaints”. Business Resources
Center. 15 Sept. 2005. 06 May 2008
Jordan Troverso. “Customer-Service”. Guide created: 05 Jan. 2006.
17 May 2008. Ebay.
Maranatha Christian University
Tugas akhir ini ditulis untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat kelulusan
program D3 Bahasa Inggris Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen
Maranatha. Adapun tujuan saya menulis tugas akhir yaitu untuk
mengetahui secara detail mengenai permasalahan yang terjadi berkaitan
dengan keluhan pelanggan yang saya alami dalam pekerjaan saya
sebagai salah satu tenaga marketing selama magang di Compumax dan
mencari solusi untuk menyelesaikan masalah tersebut.
Compumax sendiri adalah merupakan salah satu toko komputer
yang terdapat di Kota Bandung yang menyediakan berbagai menjual
asesoris komputer.Oleh karena itu tenaga marketing yang bekerja di
Compumax diharapkan dapat melayani pelanggan dengan benar.
Permasalahan selama magang di Compumax adalah produk yang
tidak jalan atau rusak. Keluhan pelanggan bermacam-macam, seperti
memory card, hard disc, m-board tidak jalan atau rusak, dan kesalahan
dari tenaga marketing.
Pada tugas akhir yang berjudul “Handling Complaints of the
Customers in Computer Shop Compumax” ini, saya akan memaparkan
tiga solusi yang memungkinkan untuk mengatasi masalah yang
berhubungan dengan keluhan pelanggan. Pada akhirnya, solusi terbaik
yang dapat saya berikan diharapkan dapat membantu pelanggan dan toko
agar mencapai kesempurnaan.
i
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSRACT………………………………………………………...………………. i
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY………………………………..…………… ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………..…………… iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………..……………... iv
CHAPTER 1
: INTRODUCTION…………………………………..………….
A. Background of the Study………………………...............
B. Identification of the Problem…...........................……….
C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study……………..….....
D. Description of the Institution………………..…………….
E. Limitations of the Study……………………..…………….
F. Organization of the Term Paper…………………..……..
CHAPTER 2
: PROBLEM ANALYSIS………………………………..……... 7
CHAPTER 3
: POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS.......................................…....... 11
CHAPTER 4
: CONCLUSIONS……………………………………..……….. 14
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ii
Maranatha Christian University
1
1
2
3
4
5
5
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of Study
Handling complaints of the customers in the computer shop Compumax
is the topic that I choose for my term paper. The reason why I choose it as
my topic is because there are many customers who complain about
broken or unqualified products they buy from the computer shop
Compumax, the place of my apprenticeship. For example, the customers
buy memory card, hard disc, or something else, but after they take the
products home, they find that the products cannot work normally after
several days they buy them. Also sometimes customers complain about
marketing people who give wrong information to them. That is why so
many complaints arise from the customers.
Customers’ complaint is quite a serious thing for a computer shop. The
customers buy the product at the shop, and the shop has to pay attention
to the customers’ interest. Therefore, solving the problem of customers’
complaints becomes a very important thing for the marketing people in the
computer shop because there are many customers’ complaints that the
marketing people should handle. A good and professional marketing
1
Maranatha Christian University
person can solve the problem very well and make all the customers
satisfied.
To win the competition between Compumax and the other computer
shops, the computer shop Compumax should provide good service to
customers. To win customers, the computer shop Compumax should have
marketing people who have professional selling skills. In the computer
shop, the marketing people serve a key role, because the marketing
people are the soul of the shop, just like the CPU in a computer, without
which the computer cannot work. For marketing people, their task is not
only selling products, but also solving problems that their customers have.
In order to offer good service to the customers, they must be capable of
describing the list of products clearly so that the customers could
understand about the kinds of products that the shop has, and listening
carefully to what the customers really want. Furthermore, the marketing
people should have enough patience and confidence to be able to explain
and familiarize the functions of each product to customers.
B. Identification of the Problem
This paper will try to find the answers to the following questions:
1. How do the marketing people handle the customers’ complaints?
2. What are the causes of customers’ complaints in Compumax?
3. What are the effects of customers’ complaints in Compumax?
4. What are the potential solutions for the problem of customers’
complaints in Compumax?
2
Maranatha Christian University
5. What are the potential positive and negative effects of the
potential solutions?
6. What is the best solution for the problem of customers’ complaint
in Compumax?
C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study
The objective of this study is to find out the best solution to solve the
problem of customers’ complaints that I faced during my apprenticeship at
Compumax. The solutions play a significant role for the business of
Compumax. Without satisfactory solutions, the shop cannot make
progress quickly and effectively. On the contrary, the unsolved problems
will surely become a big obstacle in Compumax’s business.
In my opinion, there are lots of benefits from this study, not only for me,
but also for Compumax and the readers. For me, the benefit is that I can
know the best solution for solving the problem of customers’ complaints.
The plan I set for myself in the future is that one day I can have my own
computer shop. Through this study, I learn that dealing with customers’
complaints satisfactorily is quite a difficult and significant thing for a
computer shop, because it can greatly influence the customers’ decision
about where they should go and choose the products.
For Compumax, the benefit is to realize how important the professional
selling skills are for their marketing people and their service quality. What
is more, they can discover the weaknesses and the strengths of their
marketing people, so that they can keep the strengths and minimalize or
3
Maranatha Christian University
try to avoid the weaknesses.
For the readers who have strong interest and desire to have their own
computer shop, the benefit from this study is to know that professional
skills of handling customers’ complaints are very important for the
marketing people in the computer shop. As to the other readers, the
benefit is to know more about the computer shop, which, to some degree,
could help them to protect their benefit.
D. Description of the Institution
Compumax is one of the computer shops in Bandung . At the
beginning, the shop was opened at Jl. Wastukencana in 2000. Three
years later, Compumax moved to Bandung Electronic Center (BEC). BEC
is located at Jl. Purnawarman no. 13-15 Bandung. Now Compumax is at
Lt. 2 Blok B-01 in BEC.
Compumax’s business is mainly on selling various kinds of hardware
and software of computers. Besides, they also have a lot of accessories
for computers, such as key board, mouse, printer, scanner and flash disk.
From year to year, Compumax keeps developing and becoming more and
more popular. Now, it has been well known by many people in Bandung
who are interested in computers. The service of the Compumax is good
and the shop is well appointed and well equipped. Therefore more and
more customers choose to come to Compumax to buy the products they
need.
Compumax has assembled computers if the customers want different
4
Maranatha Christian University
brands of different components. Compumax also sells laptops, whose
brands range from domestic ones to foreign ones, such as Axioo, Acer,
Toshiba, and others.
There are five marketing people and two technicians in Compumax.
The tasks of the marketing people are selling the products to the
customers, and dealing with the customers’ complaints. The tasks of the
technicians are assembling, repairing, and trouble shooting computers.
E. Limitations of the Study
The problem stated in this term paper is taken from a real working
situation at Compumax. The study will deal with the problem I faced when
I did my apprenticeship in Compumax for twenty days. It will also propose
the corresponding solutions to the problem. Moreover, I did some library
research and Internet browsing to find theories that are related to
customer service, also made full use of my 20 days’ apprenticeship journal
as the source of data that I use to make a precise, applicable and
acceptable study in the end.
F. Organization of the Term Paper
In my term paper, there are four chapters. In Chapter I, the Introduction
part provides the readers with the information about the main problem
existing in the computer shop’ s business, the general background the
study is based on, the goal of the study, and the benefits that I as the
writer, the readers, and the computer shop Compumax get from the study.
5
Maranatha Christian University
In Chapter II, the analysis of problem is stated in detail, discussing the
causes and the effects of the problem one by one. Chapter III describes
the potential solutions that can solve the problem which is focused on
customers’ complaints about the products, and the potential positive and
negative effects of these potential solutions respectively. Chapter IV is the
conclusion, which contains the best solution to solve the problem. This
solution is proposed based on the analysis from the previous chapters. In
the last part, I present the Bibliography.
6
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I want to discuss about the conclusion. In Chapter III, I
analyze three potential solutions which can be used to handle the problem
of customers’ complaints. All of them are quite good solutions. However, I
believe that the best solution for the marketing people to deal with the
problem of customers’ complaints are solution one and solution three,
which is the marketing people of Compumax should replace the old
product with new ones for the customers if the products that the customers
buy are still in a guarantee period and apologizing to the customers and
gives a discount or the giveaway.
Solution one can make the customers have faith and confidence in
service of the computer shop. Compared with solution two, solution one
can better solves the problem of the customers’ complaints. Solution two
takes more time than solution one. Solution three will build good
relationship with customers. If the customers have problems of any kind,
they always want to have satisfying solution. Solution one can solve the
problem of the customers’ complaints faster and can show the customers
that the marketing people are professional. This is what the customers
14
Maranatha Christian University
want.
With these solutions, there is a benefit for the customers. The
customers can have their problem solved. The customers’ rights are
guaranteed by the shop. Therefore, they will have strong desire to buy
products in the shop again. There is no need for them to worry about the
quality of service by the shop. However, Compumax will lose some of
profit because of these solutions. The shop will loss some profit of solution
one because they have to be responsible for the broken products’
guarantee, because the factory is not responsible for the broken products’
guarantee. I suggest that the shop should have some communication with
the factory that protects the benefit of the shop owner by making the
guarantee time longer. Therefore, the shop will not lose its profit. For the
solution three, the shop gives the discount and giveaway will decrease its
profit.
15
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Printed Sources
Lucas, Robert. Customer Service. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2005.
Stanton, W.J. Prinsif Pemasaran. terjemahan Drs. Yohanes Lamarto.
MBA., MSM. Edisi Ketujuh. Jakarta : Erlangga, 1991.
Electronic Sources
Cara, Henry. “Hardware Store Customer Service Representative”.
Customer affairs. 17 May 2008
Edrich, Alyice. “Handling Customer Complaints”. Business Resources
Center. 15 Sept. 2005. 06 May 2008
Jordan Troverso. “Customer-Service”. Guide created: 05 Jan. 2006.
17 May 2008. Ebay.
Maranatha Christian University