This study investigates relationship marketing by estate agencies in the residential property market of South Africa. In determining the residential estate agency's knowledge of relation­ ship marketing, an extensive literature study was undertaken on the marketing environment and broader market, marketing concept, market segmentation and target marketing, the marketing mix and expansion thereof, as well as customer service and internal marketing. An empirical study was conducted to determine the residential estate agency's present knowledge and practices of the basic components of relationship marketing. In the study a structured questionnaire was mailed to all residential estate agencies which are members of the Estate Agency Affairs Board. The most significant findings are that: the majority of respondents do not have mission statements and do not know what a mission statement is; they set marketing objectives which are communicated to the agents; when appointing new agents they consider the agent's service orientation and ability to work with clients, but qualifications and previous experience are not viewed as important; they train estate agents themselves and emphasise after-sales contact and building of long-term relationships, but do not stress customer behaviour influences; a large percentage do not conduct competitor analyses and view marketing research as unimportant, but are of the opinion that they have superior market knowledge and offer the best service quality; they regard the principles of the marketing concept as important; they engage in a large number of after-sales services, although few realise that contact after occupation is important; they regard the buyer's financial means as important and engage in activities to ensure customer service, but do not have formalised feedback systems to test customer satisfaction; they engage in internal marketing activities, strive to create a positive corporate culture and try to retain good agents. In conclusion it can be said that there is evidence that the principles of relationship marketing are followed by residential estate agencies in South Africa. There are, however, concerns about the long-term commitment of estate agencies towards their clients because of the lack of feedback systems and the lack of in-depth knowledge of the market. / Business Management / D. Comm (Business Management)

Gehaltediens lei tot effektiwiteit in enige organisasie. Die meting hiervan behoort 'n prioriteit te wees, maar geskikte, gevalideerde, wetenskaplike meetinstrumente hiervoor bestaan nie. Die algemene doel van die navorsing was die validering van 'n gerekenariseerde simulasietegniek ("Business Principles Orientation") vir die meting van klientediensvaardighede. In die literatuuroorsig is klientediens gedefinieer en vyf dimensies van gehaltediens gei:dentifiseer. Deur empiriese navorsing is die gerekenariseerde simulasietegniek ("Business Principles Orientation") se meting van klientediensvaardighede bepaal, deur dit afte neem op 'n steekproef van 28 kassiere in 'n supermark. Hierdie instrument is gekorreleer met die Servqual-vraelys. Die resultate dui op 'n swak verband tussen die veranderlikes van die Servqual-vraelys en gerekenariseerde simulasietegniek. Hiervolgens is die gerekenariseerde simulasietegniek en die ontwikkelingsverslag wat dit verskaf, nie geldig in die meting van klientdiensvaardighede nie. Aanbevelings ten opsigte van die instrument se verdere verfyning en navorsing word geformuleer. / Quality service leads to effectiveness in any organisation. The measurement of effectiveness should be a priority, but suitable, valid and scientific measurement instruments for this purpose does not exist. The general aim of the research was the validation of a computerized simulation technique ("Business Principles Orientation") for the measurement of client service skills. In the literature survey, quality service was defined and five dimensions of quality service identified. In the empirical research the measurement of client service skills through the use of the computerized technique ("Business Priciples Orientation"), was determined by testing it on a sample of 28 cashiers from a supermarket. This instrument was correlated with the Servqual-questionaire. The results show little correlation between the variables of the Servqual questionaire and computerized simulation technique. In terms hereof the computerized simulation technique and development report that it provides, is not valid in the measurement of client care skills. Recommendations for further refinement and research pertaining to this instrument is formulated. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Bedryfsielkunde)

The goal of customer support is to help clients achieve maximum value in their services and products. Customer support is the public face of a company, which means that it is important to give the customer a positive experience and live up to customer expectations. Efficient customer support has become more important and studies show that customers who leave a company do so because of poor service. Customers' growing demands for higher quality and easier access to services means that companies must recognize the need to satisfy each customer. It is important that each customer receives the attention required and that customer needs are met quickly and flawlessly. The primary objective for an efficient customer support is to provide quick answers and solutions to achieve customer satisfaction. This master thesis aims to examine how the support and case management process can be improved for smaller software companies with customer support. The thesis deals with four issues: how should the support process be designed in smaller software companies, which important aspects must be considered in the support-handling process, how can a case management system contribute to a better customer support and what is the customer role in the management process. Case company for this thesis has been Medius in Linköping, which is a provider of process-related IT support. Interviews have been conducted with both employees at Medius and customers to Medius. The thesis has resulted in a framework and a recommendation for how efficient customer support should be handled in a small software company. To obtain an efficient customer support it is important that the client knows how the customer support should be contacted and what information is required. It should be possible for the customer to contact the customer support through multiple communication channels. The customer support has to work efficiently internally. It is important to prioritize, escalate and document tasks. Between the customer support and the customer, it is beneficial to have a satisfactory communication with regular feedback. Ultimately, it is also important to regularly measure and evaluate the customer support service in order to maintain efficient customer support. A case management system that supports the business is required for the customer support. The case management system is needed to solve problems faster and to provide the support with an overview of the business. A case management system also acts as a knowledge database with relevant information. This thesis work has combined existing frameworks and theories about customer support. This has been supplemented with interviews in order to adapt the framework to smaller software companies. An efficient customer support is achieved by using the authors' framework and recommendations. / Målet med kundsupport är att hjälpa sina kunder uppnå maximalt värde i deras tjänster och produkter. Kundsupporten är ett företags ansikte utåt, vilket innebär att det är viktigt att ge kunden en positiv upplevelse och leva upp till kundens förväntningar. Effektiv kundsupport har blivit allt viktigare och studier visar att de kunder som lämnar företag gör det på grund av dålig service. Kundernas ökade krav på högre kvalité och enklare tillgång till service har lett till att företag måste inse vikten av att tillfredställa varje enskild kund. Det är viktigt att varje enskild kund erhåller den uppmärksamhet som krävs och att kundens behov tillgodoses snabbt och felfritt. Det primära för en effektiv kundsupport är att ge snabba svar och lösningar för att uppnå kundnöjdhet. Det här examensarbetet syftar till att undersöka hur support- och ärendehanteringsprocessen kan förbättras för mindre mjukvaruföretag med kundsupport. Examensarbetet behandlar fyra frågeställningar: hur bör supportprocessen utformas i ett mindre mjukvaruföretag, vilka viktiga aspekter ska beaktas i supporthanteringsprocessen, betydelsen av ett ärendehanteringssystem samt kundens roll i supporthanteringsprocessen.   Fallföretaget för det här examensarbetet har varit Medius i Linköping som är en leverantör av processrelaterat IT-stöd. Intervjuer har genomförts med såväl anställda på Medius som kunder till Medius. Examensarbetet har resulterat i ett ramverk samt en rekommendation för hur effektiv kundsupport ska hanteras i ett mindre mjukvaruföretag. För att kundsupporten i ett mindre mjukvaruföretag ska fungera effektivt krävs att kunden vet hur kundsupporten ska kontaktas och vilken information som ska tillhandahållas. Det ska vara möjligt för kunden att kontakta kundsupporten via flera olika kommunikationskanaler. Kundsupporten ska i sin tur fungera effektivt internt. Det är viktigt att prioritera, eskalera och dokumentera ärenden på ett korrekt sätt. Mellan kundsupporten och kunden ska det finnas en tillfredställande kommunikation med regelbunden återkoppling. I slutändan är det viktigt att regelbundet mäta och utvärdera kundsupportens servicenivåer för att kunna upprätthålla en effektiv kundsupport. För att kundsupporten ska kunna fungera effektiv internt krävs ett ärendehanteringssystem som stödjer verksamheten. Ett ärendehanteringssystems behövs för att kunna lösa problem snabbare och för att ge supporten en överblick över verksamheten. Ärendehanteringssystemet fungerar också som en kunskapsdatabas med relevant information. Det här examensarbetet har kombinerat befintliga ramverk och teorier kring kundsupport. Detta har kompletterats med intervjuer för att anpassa ramverket till det mindre mjukvaruföretaget. Genom att använda författarnas ramverk och rekommendationer kommer en effektiv kundsupport att erhållas.

In this dissertation a method for the classification of emotion in speech recordings made in a customer service call centre of a large business is presented. The problem addressed here is that customer service analysts at large businesses have to listen to large numbers of call centre recordings in order to discover customer service-related issues. Since recordings where the customer exhibits emotion are more likely to contain useful information for service improvement than “neutral” ones, being able to identify those recordings should save a lot of time for the customer service analyst. MTN South Africa agreed to provide assistance for this project. The system that has been developed for this project can interface with MTN’s call centre database, download recordings, classify them according to their emotional content, and provide feedback to the user. The system faces the additional challenge that it is required to classify emotion notwith- standing the fact that the caller may have one of several South African accents. It should also be able to function with recordings made at telephone quality sample rates. The project identifies several speech features that can be used to classify a speech recording according to its emotional content. The project uses these features to research the general methods by which the problem of emotion classification in speech can be approached. The project examines both a K-Nearest Neighbours Approach and an Artificial Neural Network- Based Approach to classify the emotion of the speaker. Research is also done with regard to classifying a recording according to the gender of the speaker using a neural network approach. The reason for this classification is that the gender of a speaker may be useful input into an emotional classifier. The project furthermore examines the problem of identifying smaller segments of speech in a recording. In the typical call centre conversation, a recording may start with the agent greeting the customer, the customer stating his or her problem, the agent performing an action, during which time no speech occurs, the agent reporting back to the user and the call being terminated. The approach taken by this project allows the program to isolate these different segments of speech in a recording and discard segments of the recording where no speech occurs. This project suggests and implements a practical approach to the creation of a classifier in a commercial environment through its use of a scripting language interpreter that can train a classifier in one script and use the trained classifier in another script to classify unknown recordings. The project also examines the practical issues involved in implementing an emotional clas- sifier. It addresses the downloading of recordings from the call centre, classifying the recording and presenting the results to the customer service analyst. AFRIKAANS : n Metode vir die klassifisering van emosie in spraakopnames in die oproepsentrum van ’n groot sake-onderneming word in hierdie verhandeling aangebied. Die probleem wat hierdeur aangespreek word, is dat kli¨entediens ontleders in ondernemings na groot hoeveelhede oproepsentrum opnames moet luister ten einde kli¨entediens aangeleenthede te identifiseer. Aangesien opnames waarin die kli¨ent emosie toon, heel waarskynlik nuttige inligting bevat oor diensverbetering, behoort die vermo¨e om daardie opnames te identifiseer vir die analis baie tyd te spaar. MTN Suid-Afrika het ingestem om bystand vir die projek te verleen. Die stelsel wat ontwikkel is kan opnames vanuit MTN se oproepsentrum databasis verkry, klassifiseer volgens emosionele inhoud en terugvoering aan die gebruiker verskaf. Die stelsel moet die verdere uitdaging kan oorkom om emosie te kan klassifiseer nieteenstaande die feit dat die spreker een van verskeie Suid-Afrikaanse aksente het. Dit moet ook in staat wees om opnames wat gemaak is teen telefoon gehalte tempos te analiseer. Die projek identifiseer verskeie spraak eienskappe wat gebruik kan word om ’n opname volgens emosionele inhoud te klassifiseer. Die projek gebruik hierdie eienskappe om die algemene metodes waarmee die probleem van emosie klassifisering in spraak benader kan word, na te vors. Die projek gebruik ’n K-Naaste Bure en ’n Neurale Netwerk benadering om die emosie van die spreker te klassifiseer. Navorsing is voorts gedoen met betrekking tot die klassifisering van die geslag van die spreker deur ’n neurale netwerk. Die rede vir hierdie klassifisering is dat die geslag van die spreker ’n nuttige inset vir ’n emosie klassifiseerder mag wees. Die projek ondersoek ook die probleem van identifisering van spraakgedeeltes in ’n opname. In ’n tipiese oproepsentrum gesprek mag die opname begin met die agent wat die kli¨ent groet, die kli¨ent wat sy of haar probleem stel, die agent wat ’n aksie uitvoer sonder spraak, die agent wat terugrapporteer aan die gebruiker en die oproep wat be¨eindig word. Die benadering van hierdie projek laat die program toe om hierdie verskillende gedeeltes te isoleer uit die opname en om gedeeltes waar daar geen spraak plaasvind nie, uit te sny. Die projek stel ’n praktiese benadering vir die ontwikkeling van ’n klassifiseerder in ’n kommersi¨ele omgewing voor en implementeer dit deur gebruik te maak van ’n programeer taal interpreteerder wat ’n klassifiseerder kan oplei in een program en die opgeleide klassifiseerder gebruik om ’n onbekende opname te klassifiseer met behulp van ’n ander program. Die projek ondersoek ook die praktiese aspekte van die implementering van ’n emosionele klassifiseerder. Dit spreek die aflaai van opnames uit die oproep sentrum, die klassifisering daarvan, en die aanbieding van die resultate aan die kli¨entediens analis, aan. Copyright / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

Application of supply chain management is still relatively recent practice, but it's importance is growing over time. Today, in the era of customer centricity, in order to become competitive firms shouldn't avoid collaboration with it's supply chain partners. Purpose of my thesis was to find out how supply chain management can contribute to building relationship with customers, who are the basis of any existing company. First part summarizes knowledge about supply chain, compeptitive strategies, customers, types of supply chains and customer relationship management. Particular part is dedicated to customer service and how supply chain management can contribute to it's improving. It describes also what meaning has customer service for future competitiveness. In second part, I presented the case of Zappos.com. E-retailer, which aligning entire functional strategies and whole supply chain to common strategic purpose managed to build excellent relationship with it's customers.

This diploma work deals with marketing utilization in service sektor, concrete in legal profession. The objective was to make analysis of marketing assertion in legal office. On the basis of suitable methods was followed and evaluated actual posture of marketing literacy in legal office. Result of practical analyses was definition of barriers, handicaps, reserves and opportunities at marketing utilization in legal office. Theoretical part features information about marketing in service sektor, shows in legal profession domain and gets acquainted with used methods. Practical part analyses contemporary state in legal office. By means of suitable methods is drafted the measure, how to eliminate barriers, handicaps and reserves and to take advantage of opportunities.

The purpose of the research was to determine whether measures of ability, personality and behaviour would significantly predict job performance of customer service agents in a South African commercial airline company. The Verbal Interpretation Test (VCC1), Numerical Reasoning Test (NP6.1), Basic Checking Test (CP7.1C), Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ32) and a competency based interview were completed by job applicants. Customer Contact Competency (CCC) scores and a Person Job Match (PJM) score were derived from the OPQ32 and ability measures to ensure job relevance during selection assessment. Job performance statistics in the form of training scores and supervisor ratings (from performance appraisals and criterion questionnaires) were obtained for the sample as criterion data. Correlations revealed statistically significant small to moderate correlations between the predictors and the criterion data / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Com. (Industrial & Organisational Psychology)

Effective and satisfactory security service is critical to private security officers (PSOs) working in the private, state-owned and public sectors as it plays a pivotal role in improving organisational productivity and helps to promote good working relationships. When PSOs project poor attitudes, clients are seriously affected by such negative behaviour and the level of service rendered will eventually deteriorate. This study sought to understand and explore the factors that contributed to unsatisfactory services rendered by PSOs at GPW in Tshwane. The researcher utilised a nonexperimental quantitative research approach and a self-administered questionnaire survey was used to collect data. Data collected was analysed and interpreted using quantitative methods and procedures. The findings emanating from the research revealed that the levels of service rendered by PSOs at GPW in Tshwane was ineffective and unsatisfactory and various factors contributed to ineffective service delivery. Several recommendations are proposed to improve the level of service rendered by PSOs. / Criminology and Security Science / M. Tech. (Security Management)