A Customer Service Course: Bringing Marketing and Logistics Together

Abstract

Business is becoming more aware of the importance of customer service in customer satisfaction and retention. Customer service must be positioned as something that ultimately depends on successful management of both organizational and final consumer relationships across the supply chain. Unfortunately, traditional marketing curriculums study the delivery of customer service as a static and isolated event rather than as a function of the total business enterprise. Following suggestions for more integrative curriculums, the authors develop a course that positions customer service as an outcome of the total system and uses concepts from various research streams to promote successful delivery of customer service. Specific suggestions for course content and pedagogy are presented.