GETTING BETTER IN BEING THE BEST - : Increasing Service Awareness among the Russian Customers of a Case Company

Abstract

Ever since Russian customers have gradually found their way in growing numbers to Alko Inc. specialized shops especially in South East and Southern Finland, an interest has risen about their real customer potential, thus leading to curiosity about what kind of customer service they might appreciate and whether the current service and product quality is enough to satisfy their needs.

The company management had already been active in answering the growing demand of practical tools for the help of its personnel by launching a series of lectures around the country about the Russian customs and traditions. The main purpose of this research work was to open the whole phenomenon in an attempt to understand who the Russian customers are and why they choose to buy from Alko and to recognize the possibilities to improve customer service in a way that lead to pleasant shopping experience for all the participants.

This thesis is a qualitative research and in order to produce information for the purposes of theoretical research, case study methods were used for data collection and analysis. The main conclusion is that there is still untapped potential among Russian tourists for Alko and therefore new ideas for developing customer service have been introduced as a consequence.