Assessment of agribank’s customer service in ha tinh branch

Data collected on the level of customer satisfaction with customer service at Agribank Ha Tinh Branch...39... General assessment about the customer’s satisfaction with customerservice at

I hereby declare that the thesis is my own work and effort and that hasnot been submitted anywhere for any award Where other sources ofinformation have been used, they have been acknowledged.The content andfigures presented in the thesis reflected a fair and true situation of theinternship organization

Hanoi, May, 2016 Student

Le Thi Hao

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to MA Ngo Thi VietAnh, my supervisor who has given valuable guidance, advices, and commentsthroughout the whole period of this minor thesis Needless to say, without hissupport, the thesis would not be either inspired or finished

Secondly, I want to thank Ms Nguyen Thi Dien- Director of Agribank

Ha Tinh Branch; Mr Duong Dinh Luong- Head of Thach Ha transactionoffice and Tran Thi Huyen Trang-the credit officer for giving me thepermission to commence the thesis, to do the necessary research work and touse departmental data as well as supporting me during my study

Especially, I warmly thanks to my beloved parents, family members andclose friends for their support and encouragement not only during the period

of this minor thesis but also for my whole life

Finally, because of limitation of time and knowledge, mistakes areunavoidable, so I wish to have more opportunities I also wish to receive morecontributions and suggestions to make my thesis better

LIST OF ABRREVIATION

Agribank Ha Tinh: Ha Tinh Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.P: Perception

E: Expectation

BIDV: Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam

Vietinbank: Viet Nam Join Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Figure 1 Data collected on the level of customer satisfaction with customer service at Agribank Ha Tinh Branch 39

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ABTRACT ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii

LIST OF ABRREVIATION iv

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 3

1.1.Overview of customer service 3

1.1.1.Customer service 3

1.1.2.Good customer service 5

1.1.3.Customer expectation 8

1.1.4.Customer satisfaction 9

1.1.5.Customer loyalty 14

1.2.Overview of Agribank Ha Tinh branch 17

1.3.The importance of good customer service in banking sector 18

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 21

2.1.Research question 21

2.2.Methodology 21

2.3.Data 21

2.4.Analytical framework 22

2.5.Data analysis and discussion 23

2.5.1.Customer profile 24

2.5.2.Assessment of customer satisfaction with customer service at Agribank Ha Tinh Branch 26

2.5.3 General assessment about the customer’s satisfaction with customer

service at Agribank Ha Tinh Branch 35

CHAPTER 3: SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE AT AGRIBANK HA TINH BRANCH 38

3.1.Developing a system for handling customer’s complain 38

3.3.Establishing more suitable price for bank’s service 41

3.4 Improving the quality of bank’s services 42

3.5.Improving auto bank machine at Agribank Ha Tinh branch 43

3.6.Developing marketing activities for the bank 43

CONCLUSION 45

4.1 Major findings of the study 45

4.2 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study 45

REFRENCES 47

APPENDIX 51

a close look at the banks performance I decide to chose Assessment of Agribank’s customer service in Ha Tinh Branch as the topic for my thesis

with a view to examining the banks customer service and making somerecommendation to improve it I hope that the topic will contribute tohelpVietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to has orientationsand measures to develop electric banking service in the new period

2 Aims of study

The study is carried out to analyze the perception and expectation ofbank customers as regards to customer service of Agribank Ha Tinh branchfrom mid of March to mid of April, and make assessment of customer’ssatisfaction with customer service at this bank based on the SERVQUALmodel As a result, proposing some solutions in order to improve thecustomer service at Agribank Ha Tinh Branch

3 Scope of the study

The study is to analyze and assess customer’s satisfaction with customerservices at Agribank Ha Tinh Branch from mid of March to mid of April

4 Methods of the study

This study is presented and discussed based on methods such asstatistical methods, analytical methods and a combination of qualitative andquantitative methods

5 Organization of the study

There are five main parts in my thesis The first part is the introductiondealing with the rationale, aims, scope, methods, and organization of thestudy The second part is the chapter 1 that gives overall knowledge ofcustomer service, customer satisfaction and Agribank Ha Tinh Branch Thethird part is chapter 2 that is the most important part of the study Thefunction of part 2 is to assess the customer’s satisfaction with customerservice at Agribank Ha Tinh Branch The other part is chapter 3 presentingsome solutions and recommendations to improve customer service atAgribank Ha Tinh Branch The last part is the conclusion that refers majorfindings, limitations of the study and suggestion for further study

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW1.1 Overview of customer service

1.1.1 Customer service

1.1.1.1.The definition of customer service

Customer service is a pressing issue in this decade In the expanding market of today’s competitive industries, few topics have received

ever-as much attention, both in time and money, ever-as the need to have excellentservice personnel Providing customer service is a skill that will set acompany apart from its competitors

There are many definitions of customer service given different bydifferent authors

Zeithaml and Bitner (2003) defined customer service as a series ofactivities designed to enhance the level of customer’s satisfaction that is thefeeling that a product or service has met customer’s expectation Levy, Weitz( 2007, 599) chimed in by suggesting that customer service is all of retaileractivities that increase value received by consumer when shopping.According to this definition, customer service is an activity that increase thevalue Customer service is identifiable, but sometimes intangible, activitiesundertaken retailer in conjunction and service it sells (Berman, Evans, 2007;647) Intangibility, one of the main characteristics of services, is valid forcustomer service, too Customer service is viewed as service that support theprovision of the company’s core product (Pettigrew, 2008, 257)

The diversity of customer service definitions can be concluded thatcustomer service is the provision of services to customer before, during, after

a purchase It varies by product, industry and customer

1.1.1.2.The main feature of customer service

According to Rissanen (2005, 20-21), there are at least five features thatdescribe customer service They are:

a Intangibility

Service is not something you can store, service happens with thecustomer each time and each time it can be a different You can not returnservice like you can return tangible product Pricing a service can be difficult

or may be even impossible

b Coexistence

Producing a service often happens in an interactive process where boththe users and the service producer are in interaction This interactive processmight take just few second or it might last decades

c New product and new distribution channel

Service can happen through many channels, for example, via phone or

on the internet

d Heterogeneity and unique variation

Because service is intangible, unique and passing, product responsibility

or consumer protection is hard to apply on a service Monitoring quality andpricing is difficult

e Creativity

Each service situation is unique and it gives the service provider spacefor being creative

1.1.2 Good customer service

1.1.2.1.Definition of good customer service

According to Trappe T & Tullis (2005, 101) good customer servicemeans offering high quality products and services, answering quries, making

it easy for customer to order and pay for goods, and delivering on time.Companies also need to have a system for handling complains, so that if theymake a mistake or offer poor service, they can deal with the problem Inaddition, most companies need to train their customer service staff to dealpolitely with customer To get better service, staff are trained in the LEARNroutine- Listen, Empathise, Apologise, React, Notify to deal with complaints.Rissanen (2002,17) defined good customer service is seen as a desirablevalue Good customer service is created together with the customer in aservice situation Customer service is something that is done for the customer.These definitions pointed some characteristics of good customer service.Good customer service is about understanding the needs of diffrentcustomers, keeping promises and delivering consistenly high standard withthe content:

Organizational commitment to a customer service culture

Provision of clear, relevant and accessible information

Well trained, customer-focused staff

Good communication

Quick resolution of customer’s problems

Effective use of customer feedback to help resolve common problmes

1.1.2.2.The importance of good customer service

Knowing how to deliver high quality customer service is a majorchallenge facing organizations, whether in the private, public or voluntary

sectors Customers are much more demanding than they were even five yearsago; they are less likely to tolerate poor service and more likely to take theirmoney elsewhere if they get poor service Successful organizations in thefuture will be those which build and sustain a reputation for excellent service.

A key element of success will be the competence of those people employed incustomer-facing roles within organizations, good customer service

Good customer service is the better half of a real successful business.The importance of good customer service to business organizations are asfollows (Vivek Bindra, 2014, 10-11):

a Good publicity: Good customer service leads to good publicity from

customer If you offer good customer service to your clients they tend todiscuss with their friends or family that works as a very concept of worth ofmouth publicity for your products and service This tends to create not onlythe awareness of your brand but also boots the popularity of your productsand services provided by you

b Satisfied shareholder: Happy customer will lead to higher

profitability and higher profitability, happier will be the shareholder of yourorgnanization resulting in increased return on investment (ROI)

c Higher profit: Rendering good customer service will reinforce the

customers to buy more and more often Repeat puchase will boost the revenue

of the organization resulting in higher profits

d Increased motivation: When employee come to know that the

services rendered by their organization is liked by others very well, then itgives them a feeling of pride and motivation to continue their best service

e Increase confidence: Having a good reputation in the market on the

basis of your exellence customer service will inculcate the feeling ofconfidence among the customers Gaining trust and confidence is the basis

objective of any organization So, if you want to increase your customer base

on you ought to win their trust and confidence

f Improved accountability: The feeling of the pride and motivation

resulting from superior customer service futher let the employees to share greaterresponsibility than before and makes them more accountable for their work

g Decrease in absenteeism: pride and motivation, because of the

quality of customer service, will also reduce absenteeism of the staff Thiswill enable the company to save their money as a result of increasedemployees retention which will result as winning situation for all

h Enhance efficiency: the overall work efficiency of the organization

will also improve tremendously That will result in more effective andefficient execution of the plans , procedures and policies resulting incontinuous business growth

1.1.2.3.Factors affecting good customer service

From the results of the extensive research on behavior and evaluation ofcustomers, American scholars: Mr Zeitham VA, A Parasuraman and Berry(1985) have given firm foundation to study the characteristics of customerservice And they gave 10 decisive factors of good customer serviceaccording to opinions of customers as follows:

a Reliability:The consistency in operation and reliability, implement

functions rightly from the beginning, make the right and accurate promises

b Responsiveness: Ready to provide services timely.

c Competence: The necessary skills and knowledge to perform

services

d Access: Easy to access, waiting time, opening time.

e Courtesy: The courtesy, respect, concern and friendliness of staff.

f Communication:Communicate with customers in their words, listen

to customer’s adjust the way to communicate with different groups ofcustomers, explain the process of the service, the cost and what problems ithelps solve

g Credibility: Honest, reliability, prestige of company, a personal style

of server

h Security: No danger, risk or doubt, safe material, safe financial,

confidentiality of clients

i.Understanding the customers: Efforts to understand customer’s

needs, keep in mind the specific requirements of each person, create attention

to each individual, recognize regular and loyal customers of the company

j.Tangibles:Physical evidence of service, service facilities and

equipment the external form of staff, tool for service , the material symbol ofservices

1.1.3 Customer expectation

1.1.3.1.The definition of customer expectation

According to Zeithaml, Bitner and Gramler (2006), customerexpectations are “beliefs about a service delivery that serve as standardagainst which performance is done” Davidow and Uttal(1989) stated thatcustomer expectation is formed by many uncontrollable factors, whichinclude previous experience with other companies and their advertising,customers’ psychological condition at the time of service delivery, customerbackground and values and the images of the purchased product

From these definitions, some basic characteristics of customerexpectation can be pointed out Customer’s satisfaction is what the customer

wish to receive from the service Different customers have differentexpectation based on the customers’ knowledge of a product or service

1.1.3.2.The importance of customer expectation

Customer expectations affect repurchase decisions and customer loyalty

If you did not deliver a service that was expected, they would not come backand buy from your product again On the other hand, if you deliver a servicethat exceeds customer expectations, you can bet they will come back to buyagain and tell all their friends about the experience When measuringcustomer satisfaction, companies generally ask customer whether theirproduct or service has met or exceeds expectation This is an importantquestion to ask and is a key factor behind satisfaction Here are the fourbenefits you can get from meeting customer expectations Firstly, it lets youknow what service levels are expected to keep customers happy and achievehigh customer satisfaction Secondly, it enables employees to focus onfulfilling customer’s expectation Thirdly, it gives you the opportunity toexceed expectations and create raving advocates And finally, it can help youresolve customer complains Since complains are result of falling to meetingexpectation, you have the ability to quickly fix the problems and retain thebusiness

1.1.4 Customer satisfaction

1.1.4.1.The definition of customer satisfaction

Business general believe that customers are the aim behind their servicesand hence their activities depend on customer This is why business are moreconcerned with customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and their retention.Customers who are satisfied are also loyal and this ensures a consistent cash-flow for the business in the future In addition, satisfied customers are often

characterized as less-price sensitive and they are more partial to spend more

on the products they have tried and test before Substantial research has beendone in the field of customer satisfaction Various researches have definedcustomer satisfaction in different ways

According to Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1991), customersatisfaction express the degree of overlap between perceived quality andexpected quality; any deviations (gaps) express non-quality.Tse andWilton( 1988)define that satisfaction is the consumer’s response to andevaluation of the perceived discrepancy between prior expectation and theactual performance of the product as perceived after itsconsumption.Customer satisfaction is referred to as the feeling or attitude ofthe customer toward s a certain product or service after using such product orservice It is the major result of marketing activity and it serves as aconnection between different phases of customer buying behavior, forexample, when customer are satisfied with a specific service following its use,they are more likely to repeat their repurchase and attempt at trying out theservice line extensions( East,1997)

It is evident from the above definitions of customer satisfaction, we canconclude that customer’s satisfaction means a person’s feeling of pleasure ordisappointment that result from comparing a product’s perceived performance

to their expectation In order to measure satisfaction, it is necessary tomeasure both expectations at the time of purchase and reaction at at sometime after purchase If actual consequences equal or exceed expectedconsequences, the customer is satisfied but if actual consequences fall short ofexpected consequences, the customer is dissatisfied

1.1.4.2.The importance of customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction has attracted very much attention in all areas ofmanufacturing In an increasingly competitive and dynamic environment,greater attention, continues to paid on customer relationships and satisfiedcustomer For companies, customer satisfaction is an effective way todifferentiate themselves from the competitors as well as one of the key issues

in their efforts towards improving quality

Customer satisfaction is mainly derived from the physiological responsewith the perceptual difference gap between expectation before consumptionand practical experience after consumption of services or products It implies

an accumulated temporary and sensory response Anderson and Snivasan(2003) assessed customer satisfaction categorized into five dimensions ofoverall satisfaction, customer favorite, customer loyalty, customerrecommendation and priority option Understanding customer satisfactionwill facilitate companies to maintain customer satisfaction to products orservices As such, inferior products or services can be improved to allowcustomer with wonderful impression

According to the marketing concept an oganization should try to satisfythe needs of customers or client through a corrdinated set of activities that, at

a same time, allows the organization to achieve its goals Customersatisfaction is the aim of the marketing concept (William Price andO.C.Ferrell, 1983)

Customer satisfaction is imperative for the long- term success of anyorganization More the competition, higher is the necessity to keep thecustomers satisfied According to some, customer satisfaction is moreimportant in the current marketplace than ever before In the past, business

relied on technology and product innovation competitive advantage Withglobal competition, relentless technology advances and over-consolidated,standardized chains, companies now battle for differentiation throughcustomer service Today, market- oriented industries and organization liveand die with the satisfaction of their customer and thus view customersatisfaction as their life live and die with the satisfaction of their customer andthus view customer satisfaction as their life line In these industries, extensiveefforts are made to gauge customer expectations and reactions to service in acontinuous effort to improve, build and expand market share If theircustomers are unhappy, industries know they are unlikely to survive If theircustomers are happy, the use of their products and services and the likelihood

of greater profits increase

1.1.4.3.Factors affecting customer satisfaction

The counterparts of satisfaction are always expectations and experiences.Level of customer expectation will create a basic and comparison base forexperiences For example, if you have two hotels, one a five star and the otherjust a two star hotel, of course your expectations for the five star hotel aremuch higher than for the other one If the service level in both is equal, when

a customer has high expectation like with the five star hotel he might feeldisappointed and with the two star hotel with which the customer had lowerexpectations he would be positively surprised In customer satisfactionleadership when creating satisfaction it is important that you can affect bothexpectations and experiences According to Rope Timo and Pollanen Jouni(1994,29-39), there are 2 factors which affect customer satisfaction

First factor is expectations In reality, there are several kinds ofexpectation and one of the most functional classifications is tripartition ofexpectations: Ideal expectation, Pre-expectation and Minimum expectations Ideal expectations tell about person’s own values and hopes for thethe action that she/he expects from a product or a service Ideal expectation,for example, of a bank’s service can be included: cheap prices, friendlypersonal service, perfect assortments and selection, high quality product,close location, so on.

Pre-expectations mean the level of expectations the person on a certaincompany or its product and its different features Pre-expectation mean quitethe same things as the company or product image This way the customersatisfaction leadership is connected to mental image marketing There areseveral factors affecting pre-expectation, such as experiences, mouth-to-mouth communication, brand, business idea, basic elements of marketing,marketing communication and publicity All these factors are connected toeach other

Minimum expectations describe the minimum level that customer setforhim/herself, what he/she requires from the company or from the product.There are four different factors affecting the minimum expectations Thereare: situation factor (e.g buying situation, surrounding situation); customer’sbackground factor (e.g values, income level, personality); branch factors (e.g.competition situation); company factors (e.g business idea, marketing)

Second factor is experiences Expectations are proportioned toexperiences and this creates reaction in the scale of satisfied-dissatisfied Thissatisfaction scale is devided in three basic categories:

a Under expectation = positive experience

b Balance situation = match to the expectations

c Over expectation = negative experience

In the under expectations situation the service or the product isexperienced in a positive way, but when once positively surprise case theperson is often eager to tell his/her friend about a good service If thecompany keeps up the good service, there is a chance that a new customerrelationship is born When the customer get a negatives experience and thecompany’s image lowers, it is more possible that the customer relationshipwill break Disappointed customers are bad advertisement for the companybecause they tend to tell their friend and family about the negative experience

1.1.5 Customer loyalty

1.1.5.1.The definition of customer loyalty

Customer loyalty is the forefront area of international research ofmarketing theory, especially in the mid-1990s of the 20th century, the research

on customer loyalty becomes another hot point after customer satisfaction

As suggested by several researchers (Kumar and Shah,2004; Blak andParks, 2003; Bell et al, 2005and Dean, 2007) there are two types of loyalty;behavioral and attitudinal loyalty The behavioral aspect of the customerloyalty were characterized in terms of repurchase intentions, word-of-mouthcommunication, and recommendations of the organization (Nadiri, et al2008) Liu- Thompkins, et al (2010) defined attitudinal loyalty as a favorableevaluation that is held with sufficient strength and stability to promote arepeatedly favorable response towards a product/ brand or store

Oliver (1999) defined customer loyalty as“a deeply held commitment torebuy or repatronize a preferred product/service consistently in the future,thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand –set purchasing, despitesituational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to causeswitching behavior” This definition captures not only the spirit of globalcustomer loyalty but also emphasizes the attitudinal as well as the behavioralcomponents of customer loyalty.Several customer loyalty experts describeloyalty as a state of mind and a set of beliefs Among the main elements ofloyalty are the information exchange and the relation between the state ofmind and behavior For instance, loyalty customers often provide information

to service providers because of their sense of trust in them and they expect theservice providers to utilize provided information to their advantage

From these definitions, we can conclude that customer’s loyalty meanscustomer’s deep commitment to buying products or services they intenselywant on a continuous basis A loyal customer intensely wants to buy a certainproducts or services and does not quality any other options, no matterhowever cheap they are

1.1.5.2.The importance of customer loyalty

It is generally known that there is a positive relationship betweencustomer and profitability Reichheld and Sasser (1990) found that when acompany retain just five percent more of its customers, profits increase by 25percent to 125 percent Merely satisfying customers, who have the freedom tomake choices is not enough to make them loyal Jones and Sasser (1995)observed in their own analysis of the Xerox study that the only truly loyalcustomers are totally satisfied customers Loyalty of customers is considered

to be a functions of satisfaction (Fecikova,2004) and loyal customers

contribute to company’s profitability by spending more on company’sproducts and services, via repeat purchasing, and by recommending theorganization to other consumers.

1.1.5.3.Factors affecting customer loyalty

Factors which influence customer loyalty include intrinsic value,customer satisfaction, consumer experience and corporate image These arenot only coming from the company itself, but also from its competitors,customers and social environment In general, the factors can be divided intothree categories

First category is Corporate Brand and awareness Brand is used toidentify a certain product or service with the others It usually consist ofwords, mark, symbol, picture and color Brand represents the commitment ofthe enterprise and the characteristic of product A recognized brand is theproof of good quality So the brand is very helpful for the selling For thecustomers, brand is easily to identify and recognized According to Deng(2015), recognized brand has great attention on its commitment for thecustomers Therefore, corporate brand can influence customer loyalty

Next category is service quality Service quality has more directlyinfluences on customer loyalty It is one of the key elements which mayinfluence customer’s behavior Service quality decides whether the customer

is loyal or not (Deng 2015) Therefore, improving service quality can increasecustomer loyalty

Final category is customer satisfaction Wilton (1988) defines customersatisfaction as a judgment for the difference between the quality of theproduct or service and customer’s own expectation The customer loyalty will

be increased with the increasing of customer satisfaction This is also thebasic to improve customer loyalty.

1.1.5.4.The relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty

The relationship between satisfaction and loyalty has been observed inseveral studies For example, satisfaction and loyalty are not surrogates foreach other (Shankar ad Army, 2002; Bloemer and Kasper 1995; Oliver 1999)

It is possible for a customer to be a loyal without being highly satisfied (e.g.,when there are few other choices) and to be highly satisfied and yet not beloyal( e.g., when many alternatives and available) (Shankar ad Amy, 2002).The result of Bowen, and Chen (2001) study verified the nonlinear andasymmetric relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.When satisfaction increased above a threshold, purchase loyalty went uprapidly and when satisfaction dropped below a threshold level, purchaseloyalty decreased equally rapidly According to Mittal et al (1999) therelationship between satisfaction and loyalty changes over time However, therelationship between satisfaction and loyalty is expected to be dependence onthe quality of the products and services

1.2.Overview of Agribank Ha Tinh branch

On August 24th, 1991 Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment- Ha Tinh branch that was originally a transaction office ofAgribank Nghe Tinh, was found under the Decision 115/NH-QD The branchhad head office located at 01 Phan Dinh Phung street, Ha Tinh city, Ha Tinhprovince with main activities: capital mobilization, lending and providingpayment services in local province At the time, this bank is known as thelargest commercial bank in Ha Tinh in term of asset, capital, branch networks,

staff and customer base As well as being the commercial bank mostlyinvested to agri-sector and mainly in rural development.

Once established, the branch has faced many difficulties such as poorcapital resources, limited investment environment, inexperienced staff.However with the union and continuing efforts, the branch has overcamethese challenges, gradually developed and met the requirements of economicand social development in the province On March 20th, 2013 this bank wasawarded second-class Labor Medal by the president.2014 was the thirdconsecutive year this bank was honored “Outstanding Enterprise” in Ha Tinh.Through the implementation of synchronous and effectives measures in themanagement of the bank, particularly with high synergy run by collectiveeffort from the Board of Management and nearly 550 employees at more than

40 branches and transaction offices in the province, by the end 2015Agribank’s total customer reached more than 330 million, total fund resourcesVND 12.000 billion Agribank Ha Tinh has continued pioneering indevelopment of major credit policies, credit for agriculture and ruraldevelopment, confirmed its position of a major bank, a bank of nationalstature In 2015, Agribank continues implementing various social welfareprograms with a stronger focus on the areas of education, health, buildingsolidarity houses, disaster relief, New Year gift to the poor, etc

1.3.The importance of good customer service in banking sector

Good customer service and customer satisfaction are very important forall industries, but especially so for banking sector.Today competition betweenbanks is growing all the time and that is why good customer service isbecoming more and more important

It is a well known fact that no business can exist without customer, theimportant strategy is focused on providing good customer service forcustomers Therefore, good customer service has been one of the main

concerns of banks of late This has been necessitated by the stiff competition

in the banking sector Banks are striving hard to offer quality services andproduct in a bid to maintain the existing customers and woo new ones as well.Customers on the other hand, want the best value for their money so they arealways combining around to get the best service Reichheld(2003) stated that

“How excellent service to bank’s customer affect their satisfaction and theirchoice of banking For bank to thrive, both product and service delivery must

be adequately aligned with customer expectation: achieving customersatisfaction and loyalty is essential for long-term survival.”

It is evidence that good customer service has a positive impact oncustomer satisfaction, customer loyalty and the bank’s result When a bankmanages to serve its customer well enough and make them happy, the bankcan create long-term customer relationship and possible get free marketing atthe same time when satisfied customer tell about good customer service theygot Satisfaction from customers means increased sales, which ultimatelyleads to increased satisfaction of shareholders Customers tend to use moreservices in your bank, which can dramatically improve the ROI of your bank.Providing good customer service means that customers have fewercomplaints Dealing with complaints can be costly So, again, by providinggood customer service, the bank can reduce the costs of resolving customerproblems In addition, a good customer service contributes to build a strongbrand and enhance public image for the bank

Increasing competition is forcing banks to pay much more attention tosatisfy customer, including by providing strong customer service Bovée andThill (1992) stated that quality and customer services present strong barrieragainst the competition, ensure customer loyalty, differentiate product,decrease marketing costs and company profit Also Mathieu (2001) pointedthat service is becoming a smart strategy, because it provides a strong

competitive advantage through differentiation opportunities even with thecommodities market

Customer service, like any aspect of bank, is a practiced art that takestime and effort to master All you need to do achieve this is to stop and switchroles with the customer Customer services are everything, what bank does forsatisfaction of its customer Today banks have a wide variety of competitorfor business For example, many department stores and grocery stores offerfinancial service such as cashing checks and selling money orders Because ofthe amount of competition, good customer service in the banking industry isknown as an outstanding advantage In a market where customers have moreinformation and options than ever before, proving good customer service setsone bank apart from another Bank who puts their customer’s need first andmake them a priorityare miles a head of theircompetitions In age wherecustomers can easily provide feedback online and via social medi, goodcustomer service is more critical than ever before

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

2.1.Research question

Every research aims to answer some questions of the writer And withthe thesis, the writer will find the answers to two questions as following: 1) Is customer service at Agribank Ha Tinh branch good?

2) How to improve customer service at Agribank Ha Tinh branch?

By these methods, the reader will have a general picture of customer service

of the bank This thesis will mainly use the quantitative approach but somequalitative data is used to support the analysis process

2.3.Data

There are both primary data and second data used in this thesis Primarydata will be mainly obtained through the survey of 100 customers using theservice of Agribank Ha Tinh branch from mid of March to mid of April,

2016 Secondary data will be accessed from the report of Agribank Ha Tinhbranch in banking reports, banking magazine to have better understanding thecustomer service of this bank

2.4.Analytical framework

In this thesis, SERVQUAL MODEL will be used to access the customersatisfaction with customer service at Agribank Ha Tinh branch This is oneservice quality measurement model which was developed by Parasureman et

al (1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994; Zeithaml et al., 1990) SERVQUAL

is the most often used approach for measuring customer satisfaction has been

to compare customer expectation before a service encounter and theirperception of the actual service delivered

SERVQUAL MODEL

It has five generic dimensions or factors and are stated as follows:

1) Tangibility: Physical facilities, equipment and appearance of personal 2) Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide promptservice

quality

3) Assurance: (including competence, courtesy, credibility and security)Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust andconfidence

4) Reliability: Ability to perform the promised service dependably andaccurately

5) Empathy: (including access, communication, understanding thecustomer) Caring and individualized attention that the firm provides to itscustomers

These dimensions are captured in the SERVQUAL instrument whichconsists of total of 16 scale items Each item is measured on the basics ofresponses of two statements: the first, measures customer expectationsconcerning a service (E) and the second, is the perception of the actual servicedelivered by the bank within that service sector (P) The gap for each item iscalculated as the perceptions score minus the expectations score (P - E) Theresults of computation were as followed:

 A positive gap score implied that expectations have been met orexceeded, customer service is perceived to be satisfied

 A negative positive implied that expectations have not being met,customer service to perceived to be unsatisfied

2.5 Data analysis and discussion

In this chapter, based on the result of survey and in-depth interview, theassessment of customer service at Agribank Ha Tinh Branch will bepresented Firstly, there is an overview of customers who participated in thesurvey

The demographic profiles provide an overall view of characteristics of thecustomers of Agribank Ha Tinh Branch Overall, it can be seen that the customer

of this bank was working age and they used the most service on loan

According to data given in the table, females made up the largest group

in the survey Males were 40% while females were 60% slightly higher thanmales It indicates females customers are concern about the improvement ofcustomer service at this bank more than males customers

It can be seen clearly that the highest number of the respondents fell inage group 31 to 50 years and most of them were employee The most ofcustomers were mainly 30 to 50 years old, accounted 61% The customers age

under 30 old contributed to 21% The lowest proportion is 18% of therespondents over 50 years old Concerning occupation, a majority ofcustomers were employee forming 46%, followed by housekeeper, 25%, 16%retired, 3% free and university student make 4% of sample This result may

be due to the fact that in Ha Tinh, the number of people in labor age accountsfor 52.6% of population and most of them need to use service in the bank formany purposes

In term of type of service, it is clear that customers used more service onloan and credit card than other service The highest number of customers(38%) claimed that they used loan in this bank, followed by credit card(28%) The amount of customers used for saving service was 21 %, whereascustomer used only about 7% on international settlement and 6% on othertype services This situation is completely suitable with the characteristic ofthe study areas and the function of this bank Because Ha Tinh is among thepoorest province of Viet Nam with mainly agriculture production Theproperty can attributed to the harsh natural condition with severe coldness inwinter and extreme heart in summer, floods and storms every autumn Thatmakes people in Ha Tinh face many difficulties and they need loans to expandproduction and enhance their living standard In addition, credit card is usedmore in this bank The result can be explained by that most of customers arepaid salary via bank every month Therefore, it is necessary for you to usecredit card and Aribank Ha Tinh Branch is one of their choices to make card

In conclusion, the customers of the bank are relatively diversified.However, the target customer group who the bank aims at is the age group of

30 to 50 years

2.5.2 Assessment of customer satisfaction with customer service at Agribank Ha Tinh Branch