Question

In the more and more competitive service industry , it is no longer enough to promise customer satisfaction. Today , customer “delight” is what companies are trying to achieve in  order to keep and increase market share.

It is accepted in the marketing industry , and confirmed by a number of researches, that customers receiving good service will promote business by telling up to 12 other people : those treated badly will tell their tales of woe to up to 20 people, 80 percent of people who feel their complaints are handled fairly will stay loyal

New challenges for customer care have come when people can obtain  goods and services through  telephone call centers and the Internet. For example , many companies now have to invest(投资)a lot of money in information technology and staff training in order to cope with the “phone rage”—caused by delays in answering calls ,being cut off in mid-conversation or left waiting for long periods.

“Many people do not like talking to machines ,”says Dr . Storey Senior Lecturer in Marketing at City University Business School. “Banks, for example, encourage staff at call centers to use customer data to establish instant and good relationship with them .The aim is to make the customer feel they know you and that you can trust— the sort of comfortable feelings people have during face-to-face chats with their local branch manager.”

Recommended ways of creating customer delight include: under-promising and over-delivering  (saying that a repair will be carried out within five hours ,but getting it done within two );replacing a faulty product immediately : throwing in a gift voucher(购物礼卷)as an unexpected “thank you” to regular customers ;and always returning calls ,even when they are complaints.

Aiming for customer delight is all very well , but if services do not reach the high level promised , disappointment or worse will be the result . This can be eased by offering an apology and an explanation of why the service did not meet usual standards with empathy (for example, “I know how you must feel”) , and possible solutions (replacement , compensation or whatever fairness suggests best meets the case).

Airlines face some of the toughest challenges over customer care . Fierce competition has convinced them that delighting passengers is an important marketing tool, while there is great potential for customer anger over delays caused by weather , unclaimed luggage and technical problems .

For British Airways staff , a winning telephone style is considered vital in handling the large volume of calls about bookings and flight times. They are trained to answer quickly , with their name , job title and a “we are here to help” attitude. The company has invested heavily in information technology to make sure that information is available instantly on screen.

British Airways also says its customer care policies are applied within the company and staff  are taught to regard each other as customers requiring the highest standards of service.

Customer care is obviously here to stay and it would be a foolish company that used slogans such as "we do as we please”. On the other hand , the more customers are promised, the greater the risk of  disappointment.

1.We can learn from Paragraph 2 that       .

A．complaining customers are hard to satisfy

B．unsatisfied customers receive better service

C．Satisfied customers catch more attention

D．well-treated customers promote business

2.The writer mentions “phone rage”(Paragraph 3) to show that       .

A．customers often use phones to express their anger

B．people still prefer to buy goods online

C．customer care becomes more demanding.

D．customers rely on their phones to obtain services

3.If a manager should show his empathy (Paragraph6), what would he probably say?

A．“I know how upset you must be.”

B．“I appreciate your understanding.”

C．“I’m sorry for the delay.”

D．“I know it’s our fault.”

4. Customer delight is important for airlines because      .

A．their telephone style remains unchanged

B．they are more likely to meet with complaints

C．the services cost them a lot of money

D．the policies can be applied to their staff

5.Which of the following is conveyed in this article?

A．Face-to-face service creates comfortable feelings among customers.

B．Companies that promise more will naturally attract more customers.

C．A company should promise less but do more in a competitive market.

D．Customer delight is more important for airlines than for banks.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.D

2.C

3.A

4.B

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：

1.D 段落大意题。根据第二段customers receiving good service will promote business by telling up to 12 other people 和80 percent of people who feel their complaints are handled fairly will stay loyal都说明受到良好服务的顾客能促进生意的发展，故D正确。

2.C 推理题。根据第三段前两行New challenges for customer care have come when people can obtain  goods and services through  telephone call centers and the Internet.说明现在的顾客希望等到更好的服务，更便捷的服务，对于服务行业来说有了新的挑战。故C正确。

3.A 推理题。根据第六段This can be eased by offering an apology and an explanation of why the service did not meet usual standards with empathy (for example, “I know how you must feel”) 说明如果没有让顾客满意，可以用道歉的方式表达自己的歉意。如“I know how you must feel”选项中的A项与之相似。故A正确。

4.B 细节题。根据文章倒数第四段while there is great potential for customer anger over delays caused by weather , unclaimed luggage and technical problems .说明航空公司遇见乘客的抱怨的可能性是最大的，故B正确。

5.C 推理题。根据第五段内容  Recommended ways of creating customer delight include: under-promising and over-delivering 等可知要想让顾客满意，要少做承诺，多提供服务。如答应5分钟内完成，实际上在2分钟之内就完成了等。故C正确。

考点：考查知识类短文阅读

点评：文章介绍了现在的服务行业中让顾客高兴是他们最大的挑战，并给出了一些解决方法。本文的难点在于文章篇幅太长，信息量太大，需要考生仔细筛选信息。一推理题的考查为主，解推断题最主要的方法是根据词义关系推断具体细节。