Managing Quality

Blockbuster Video is all about customer service and making sure the customer gets treated with great respect so that they will come back many more times. When looking at Blockbuster quality design they meet the need of customers by provide a video rental service. Many people much prefer to rent videos and games before they go out and spend more money to buy them. Blockbuster saw the need and jumped on it. They offer a place where customer can not only rent these movies but if they do indeed like them they also can purchase them at Blockbuster, no need to go somewhere else to buy it.
Blockbuster prides themselves on there customer service skills. They expect every customer to leave each store happy even if the store doesn’t have what they where looking for. They train their employees on customer service, employees are expected to be able to answer most questions about movies and the products the stores carry. The more knowledgeable the employee the better they can service the customers. Not all stores meet the quality of design that corporate set up, if you have been to a Blockbuster you may notice that you don’t always get superb customer service. Sometimes the employees aren’t as knowledgeable as expected or as nice to you as expected. If the managers spent more time training employees and making the store environment more worker friendly then the employees would have better customer service skills. Employees get free rentals every week so they can rent movies and games and get familiar with them so they can discuss them with the customers. By making sure the employees are renting you can guarantee that the employees know the movies and can help the customers to pick out the right movie or game for them.
A big issue at any Blockbuster store is that the movies aren’t always available. Most stores don’t get enough copies of the most popular movies thus causing the customers to leave upset. If Blockbuster could stock more copies of these popular movies they can better serve their customers and make them leave satisfied. The DVD’s themselves don’t always work either, you do have customers who come in to complain that the DVD didn’t work because of scratches. I think Blockbuster should find a way to be able to check that the DVD’s don’t have scratches so that these movies won’t make it into the hands of a customer. You want everyone to be satisfied and by sending them home with movies and games that will actually work will make customers really happy because they won’t have to come back and try and get another copy of it. If customers do have any issues with something they rented or bought it is easily taken care of, customers can go to the store and pick up a different copy and all is well. The employees are always there if the customer has any issues. Blockbuster also has a service number that customers can call if they have any issues either with a product or with the store itself. Customers are encouraged to call this number if they have an issue that they feel cannot be fixed in store, they can also call the number to compliment the stores.
Blockbuster demands employees to treat all customers kindly and fairly. To make sure that their stores are treating customers the right way and following company standards they set up Mystery Shops. These Mystery Shops consist of an anonymous customer to come in and rate the service that they received; they then report it to corporate. Corporate will then review the report and send the results to each store to show where they are lacking in service and what needs to be worked on.

Technology

Blockbuster Video definitely uses technology in their stores. The main system they use called the Point of Sales System (POS) is used on all the main computers. This helps the store to keep track off accounts and it stores all the customer information. It also stores all the inventory numbers and helps employees to see what movies are carried and if they are only for rent or sale. The POS is an ERP system because it keeps track of what items are being sold and then these numbers are sent to the distribution center. With these numbers distribution can see what items need to be ordered because they are selling well in a specific store.
Blockbusters POS system is very old it hasn’t been update since 1991. The new CEO James Keys plans on updated these systems to get them up to the times. Blockbuster could really improve their in store system by using the internet in there POS system. Each store right now can only see what is carried in there inventories and cannot receive customers information from other stores if they have never been to that specific location. I think by integrating the internet it can connect the systems together and allow a much more convenient environment for the customers. It would help the stores to locate if another store has a movie that the customer wants. Currently the only way to locate a movie at another location is calling all the stores around you, this is very time consuming and sometimes not very efficient.
Blockbuster also has another system they use called Compass and the system does use the internet to connect managers and employees to corporate. It allows employees to clock in for their shifts and it allows managers to receive email from corporate about changes in store appearance and how the store is doing on sales. It is also a great way for district and regional managers to connect with the stores General Managers in there regions. Instead of having to call the stores to tell them the areas they are faltering in they can send an email that shows all the numbers and areas that need to be worked on. With this system all employees can partake in e-courses that help train employees to Blockbuster Standards. It helps new hires to learn all about policies and procedures and it helps potential promotional employees to learn about managerial procedures.
Blockbuster uses the internet also to connect their customers to the online program that they offer. Blockbuster is an e-retailer and e-service company. They have a website that customers can go on to purchase movies and games that they couldn’t find in the store/s that they visited. They also offer a service online which allows customers to order rentals to be delivered to them instead of having to leave there house. If they have any issues they have a number that they can contact for the online service.
Blockbuster can really integrate their stores by bringing in the internet into the stores main systems. This can make helping the customers so much better, possibly making more money for the company because the customers needs are being met better then before. It’s all about spending money to make money so if they could just take that next step and upgrade their POS system then they could better help everyone around them.