Modelling improved customer responses in web-enabled support networks

Customer support is assuming strategic importance in emerging markets. An authorised service centre offers field support in a sales territory. Employing 'web-enabled' support services (remote services) helps in hassle-free field support. However, restricted working hours and volatile intraday service demand hamper customer response in field support. A manufacturer has to address the 'cost-related decisions' in field support under these conditions. The study uses the stochastic principle to relate the cost of customer support and customer response in a territory. The study determines daily demand for support services and analyses this relation with real-time data satisfying the conditions. The outcome of the analysis reveals the following findings: • At a constant daily demand, there exists an 'optimal staffing point' in remote services (research implication). • When a company improves its response times, the system demands high staffing rates for further improvement of customer response (practical implication).