Improving Wal-Mart's Customer Service: A Strategic Approach

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Over the past years, Wal-Mart has been continuously accused of poor customer service. In 2013, USA Today rated Wal-Mart as the most hated retailer based on their low customer satisfaction score collected by American Customer Satisfaction Index. However, as years have passed, Wal-Mart continues to trend as the biggest retailer with bad customer service (The Huffington Post, 2015).

How can Wal-Mart re-build its image? To help Wal-Mart be named as best retailer, instead of the worst, the A Team has come up with solutions to address the issue at hand. We have researched the causes of poor customer satisfaction that all Wal-Mart customers face and come up with solutions to end this issue. For our research, three different criteria for good customer service were evaluated: knowledgeability, friendliness, and availability.

Purpose and Scope
However, Wal-Mart does not succeed in all aspects. Instead, it has been reported numerously for having uncaring and unprofessional customer service within its stores, which has decreased Wal-Mart’s reputations for being a proper designated shopping center for some customers. The purpose of our research is to decide whether or not Wal-Mart should integrate bi-monthly training programs for their employees, increase wages for existing employees, and if Wal-Mart should conduct electronic customer feedback surveys at each check-out counters within the two large Walmart retail stores located on S Duff Ave and Grand Ave in Ames, Iowa.

This report will cover several topics about Wal-Mart’s employee customer service, keeping in mind the most important features of knowledgeability, friendliness, and availability. The information from this report will not cover all Wal-Mart facilities in the United States, but will only pertain to the two stores located in Ames, Iowa.

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