In the more and more competitive service industry, it is no longer enough to promise customer satisfaction. Today, customer “delight” is what companies are trying to achieve in order to keep and increase market share.
It is accepted in the marketing industry, and confirmed by a number of researches, that customers receiving good service will promote business by telling up to 12 other people; those treated badly will tell their tales of woe to up to 20 people. Interestingly, 80 percent of people who feel their complaints are handled fairly will stay loyal.
New challenges for customer care have come when people can obtain goods and services through telephone call centers and the Internet. For example, many companies now have to invest(投資)a lot of money in information technology and staff training in order to cope with the “phone rage”—caused by delays in answering calls, being cut off in mid-conversation or let waiting for long periods.
“Many people do not like talking to machines,” says Dr. Storey, Senior Lecturer in Marketing at City University Business School. “Banks, for example, encourage staff at call centers to use customer data to establish instant and good relationship with them. The aim is to make the customer feel they know you and that you can trust them —the sort of comfortable feelings people have during face-to-face chats with their local branch manager.”
Recommended ways of creating customer delight include: under-promising and over-delivering (saying that a repair will be carried out within five hours, but getting it done within two); replacing a faulty product immediately; throwing in a gift voucher(購(gòu)物禮券)as an unexpected “thank you” to regular customers; and always returning calls, even when they are complaints.
Aiming for customer delight is all very well, but if services do not reach the high level promised, disappointment or worse will be the result. This can be eased by offering an apology and an explanation of why the service did not meet usual standards with empathy (for example, “I know how you must feel”), and possible solutions (replacement, compensation or whatever fairness suggests best meets the case).
Airlines face some of the toughest challenges over customer care. Fierce competition has convinced them that delighting passengers in an important marketing tool, while there is great potential for customer anger over delays caused by weather, unclaimed luggage and technical problems.
For British Airways staff, a winning telephone style is considered vital in handling the large volume of calls about booking and flight times. They are trained to answer quickly, with their name, job title and a “we are here to help” attitude. The company has invested heavily in information technology to make sure that information is available instantly on screen.
British Airways also says its customer care policies are applied within the company and staff are taught to regard each other as customers requiring the highest standards of service.
Customer care is obviously here to stay and it would be a foolish company that used slogans such as “we do as we please.” On the other hand, the more customers are promised, the greater the risk of disappointment.
【小題1】We can learn from Paragraph 2 that__________.

A．complaining customers are hard to satisfy

B．unsatisfied customers receive better service

C．satisfied customers catch more attention

D．well-treated customers promote business

【小題2】The writer mentions “phone rage” (Paragraph 3)to show that__________.

A．customers often use phones to express their anger

B．people still prefer to buy goods online

C．customer care becomes more demanding

D．customers rely on their phones to obtain services

【小題3】What does the writer recommend to create customer delight?

A．Calling customers regularly

B．Giving a “thank you” note

C．Delivering a quicker service

D．Promising more gifts

【小題4】If a manager should show his empathy (Paragraph 6), what would he probably say?

A．“I know how upset you must be.”

B．“I appreciate your understanding.”

C．“I’m sorry for the delay.”

D．“I know it’s our fault.”

【小題5】Customer delight is important for airlines because__________.

A．their telephone style remains unchanged

B．they are more likely to meet with complaints

C．the services cost them a lot of money

D．the policies can be applied to their staff

【小題6】Which of the following is conveyed in this article?

A．Face-to-face service creates comfortable feelings among customers

B．Companies that promise more will naturally attract more customers

C．A company should promise less but do more in a competitive market

D．Customer delight is more important for airlines than for banks

——Excuse me, I want to have my watch fixed, but I can’t find a repair shop.

——I know          nearby. Come on, I’ll show you.

A. one          B. it           C. some         D. that

--Excuse me, I want to have my watch fixed, but I can't find a repair shop.

--I know___________ nearby. Come on, I'll show you.

A. one              B. it           C. some             D. that

It was _____ the old clock that the old man spent the whole morning at home.

A. repair B. repairing C. to repair D. in repair

Broken rubber bands and flat tires requiring replacement could soon be a thing of the past．

French researchers have developed a new kind of rubber that can repair itself when broken．The new rubber is made from widely available materials including vegetable oil and a common industrial chemical．All the materials are considered safe to the environment and can be easily reused．

The best part is that the new rubber can be repaired and used again and again without losing its strength or ability or stretch．When cut, the rubber can be made new again, simply by pressing the two broken ends back together．

The product can be repaired at room temperature, around twenty degrees Centigrade；other self-healing materials require higher temperatures for repair．

Traditionally, rubber substances are made from huge molecules（分子）connected by strong chemical links, or bonds．The new rubber is made of smaller molecules．The molecules are linked together using hydrogen bonds．When connected in this way, the molecules act like one long molecule, forming what is called supramolecular networks（超分子網(wǎng)）．When the rubber is cut, the molecules attempt to connect with whatever molecule is near them．When pressed together, the molecules are able to repair themselves at the molecular level, making the repaired rubber like new．

However, time is an important element in the process．If the broken ends are not brought together quickly, a repair is not possible．This is because molecules will form bonds with molecules on their own side．The inventors say the surfaces of the rubber can be repaired within a week of being separated．

The rubber is the creation of scientists at the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Education Institution in Paris．The organization is part of France's National Center for Scientific Research．The new material is described in greater detail in the research publication Nature．

1.According to the introduction, which of the following is NOT the advantage of the new rubber?

A．It can be made as easily as common rubber．

B．It is environmentally-friendly．

C．It can repair itself at room temperature．

D．It is made of smaller molecules．

2.What does the 5th paragraph mainly tell us?

A．Why the new rubber is unique．

B．Why the new rubber can repair itself．

C．The new rubber is made from huge molecules．

D．The new rubber is different from the common rubber．

3.If we want to know more about the technology of this kind of new rubber, where can we get the information?

A．In the researchers' diary．      B．In a guide book．

C．In a research magazine．       D．In a newspaper．