Difficulty in Handling A Filipino Customer Who Got Angry At P.T.Sinar Continental.

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Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Tugas Akhir ini membahas tentang masalah yang saya alami selama periode magang sebagai customer service mulai bulan Desember 2011 hingga Februari 2012 di P.T.Sinar Continental. Masalah tersebut adalah kesulitan saya sebagai customer service staff _{dalam menangani salah} satu pelanggan Filipina yang marah-marah karena beberapa masalah. Tujuan dari Tugas Akhir ini adalah menganalisis penyebab dan akibat dari kesulitan saya dalam menangani pelanggan Filipina ini, dan untuk

menemukan cara untuk menangani masalah tersebut.

Penyebab masalah ini adalah pertama, aksen bahasa Inggris

pelanggan yang berasal dari Filipina tersebut tidak cukup jelas bagi saya. Kedua, pelanggan Filipina ini tidak mau mengerti bahwa pembuatan kain membutuhkan waktu.Ketiga, saya tidak mengetahui karakter pelanggan Filipina tersebut.Dampak dari permasalahan ini membuat saya menjadi stress, tidak bisa mengerjakan pekerjaan lainnya, dan tidak dapat

menangani pelanggan lainnya. Ada tiga solusi yang saya tawarkan. Pertama, saya mencari tahu penyebab pelanggan Fillipina tersebut marah-marah. Kedua, saya mempelajari aksen orang Filipina ketika

berbicara dalam bahasa Inggris. Ketiga, saya memberikan pilihan kain lain untuk pelanggan Fillipina tersebut.

Dari ketiga pilihan solusi di atas, solusi terbaik adalah dengan

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DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby sincerely and truthfully declare that this term-paper contains no

parts that are taken from other people’s work, except those mentioned in

the quotations and in the bibliography, as is proper for a scientific

term-paper. Should I be guilty of conducting plagiarism, I realize that I must

accept a sanction as a consequence.

Bandung, August 27, 2012

Veronica

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Praise the Lord for all His blessings, so that I am able to write this

term-paper well. I would like to say thanks to all people who have helped

me and given me support that this term-paper can be finished well. These

people are:

1. Rusmiati M. Simbolon, S.S., M.A., as my supervisor.

2. All the staff of the DIII English Programme at Maranatha

Christian University.

3. The managers and the staffs of P.T.Sinar Continental.

Finally, I hope that this term-paper can give benefits for the readers

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FLOWCHART

Causes

1. The customer was from the Phillipines whose accent when speaking English was not clear for me.

2. This Filipino customer did not want to understand that the process of making fabrics needed some time.

3. I did not know the needs of this Filipino customer.

Problem

Difficulty in handling a Filipino customers who got angry at PT Sinar

Continental from

December 20th,2011 to February 15th, 2012.

1. There can be misunderstanding between me and the Filipino customer.

Potential Solution I

I find out the reasons why the Filipino customer gets angry.

Potential Positive Effects

1. I can give the best responses to him. 2. The customer is satisfied with the service that I give to him.

Potential Negative Effects

1. I only learn Filipino accent and I still do not understand other accents. 2. The other foreign customers may not purchase fabrics from the company. 3. The company will lose its customers.

Potential Solution II Filipino customer’s questions.

3. The Filipino customer feels happy with the service that I give to him.

Potential Negative Effect customer who gets angry.

Potential Positive Effect

The good relationship between the Filipino customer and the company can be mantained.

Chosen Solution

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A.

Background of the Study

Difficulty in handling a Filipino customer who got angry is the problem

that I found during my internship as a customer service staff and assistant

of Product Officer Division (POD) in P.T. Sinar Continental from 21

December 2011 to 14 Februari 2012. My responsibilities as a customer

service were answering the phone, writing sales contracts, writing notes of

purchase order to be inputted into the computer, writing data order to be

given to the head of the warehouse, sending samples of fabrics to the

customers, and following up customers’ needs. My responsibilities as a

Product Officer Division (POD) were writing order sheet to be given to the

production staff, checking the completion of the orders with the production

staff, and deciding priorities of orders to be fulfilled.

The problem began when a Filipino customer ordered some kinds of

fabrics from this company, and he requested them to be delivered in 30

days from the day he sent the purchase order. However, the company

could not promise that they could deliver the order in 30 days to this

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in a big amount. Then the company offfered to send the fabrics in 55

days, and the customer agreed. However, after several days, the same

customer called me that the fabrics must be delivered in 30 days because

he had to send the fabrics to his buyer in another country on time. If he

could not send it on time, he would got a penalty from his buyer. However,

I told him that the fabrics could only be delivered in 55 days, and the

company could not do it earlier. Thus, the Filipino customer got angry with

me, and I could not handle this customer.

The reasons I chose this topic is because I would like to know and

understand how to be a good customer service who can handle anykind of

customers and give the best service to them. Customer service is

“all about bringing customers back and about sending them away happy -

happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to

others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves

and in their turn become repeat customers” (Ward par. 2). Thus, the

customer service is an important part of a company to make customers

satisfied, to care for customers, and also to give the best service to the

customers. Furthermore, these Filipino customers are important for the

company because the company wants to develop its business with the

Filipinos, and wants to get new customers from the country. Based on the

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B. Identification of the Problem

The problem that I found when I worked as a customer service and

assistant of Product Officer Division (POD) in P.T. Sinar Continental, will

be analized to answer the following questions:

1. Why did I have difficulty in handling a Filipino customer who got angry

at P.T. Sinar Continental?

2. How did my difficulty in handling him affect my job as a customer

service and assistant of Product Officer Division (POD)?

3. How should I handle this Filipino customer who got angry?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

The objectives of the study are to analyze the reasons of my difficulty

in handling a Filipino customer who got angry at P.T. Sinar Continental, to

find the effects of the problem, and to find the ways to handle the Filipino

customer well.

The first benefit of the study is for the institution. This study can help

the customer service staff at P.T. Sinar Continental to know how to handle

the Filipino customer and any other customers who get angry, so that the

customer service staff can give the best service to the customers. The

second benefit is for the readers. The readers can get knowledge of

handling Filipino customers, they can handle the customers better. The

last benefit is for the writer. I as the writer can understand the problem in

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D. Description of the Institution

As stated in Sinar Group Company Profile, “Sinar Group is one of the

leading interior fabric manufacturers in Indonesia” (5). The profile explains

that Sinar Group has two factories. The first is P.T. Sinar Austral, which

was established in 1980, and is located at Jalan Cibaligo No. 369,

Cimahi. The second is P.T. Sinar Continental, which was established in

1989, and is located at Jalan Industri II No.20, Cimahi. Sinar Group has

good quality products, which make them receive awards from both

national and international markets.

The vision of P.T. Sinar Continental is, as stated in the company’s

profile, “to become a leading interior fabric, industrial textile and textile

manufacturer both national and global market” (2). The mission is “to gain

trust and increase market share with high quality products and services,

with the support from competent human resources, latest technologies,

standardized operation procedures, and efficient team work” (2).

In the profile, it is described that P.T. Sinar Continental produces air

texturizing, dyeing, embossing, flat printing, fisinishing knitting, mouquette,

syntetic leather, weaving dobby and weaving jaquard (11). The fabrics is

used in home furnishing, office chair, seat cover, public transportation,

rattan cushion, apparel, shoes and bags, helmet, and contract project (9).

The market is both national and international, but the dominant customers

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E. Method of the Study

This research is a problem solving analysis. The data used in this

term-paper are taken from my internship journal, and library research. The

journal records my observation of my interaction with customers during my

internship in P.T. Sinar Continental from 21 December 2011 to 14

February 2012. Library research is done to get theories that support my

analysis on the problem.

F. Limitation of the Study

The research focuses on a Filipino customers at P.T. Sinar

Continental, Cimahi. The problem is taken from a real problem that I

experienced when I did an internship in P.T. Sinar Continental that was

done from 21 December 2011 to 14 Februari 2012. The study focuses on

my difficulty in handling this particular Filipino customer who got angry.

G. Organization of the Term-paper

The term-paper starts with the Abstract which explains the summary of

this term-paper in Indonesian, the Declaration of Originality and Table of

Contents which present the structure of this term-paper.

This term-paper is divided into four chapters. Chapter One is the

Introduction. This chapter presents Background of the Study, Identification

of the Problem, Objectives and Benefits of Study, Description of the

Institution, Method of the Study, Limitation of the Study, and Organization

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discusses the causes and the effects of the problem. Chapter Three is

Potential Solutions. In this chapter, the possible solutions with their

potential positive effects and potential negative effects are analyzed

systematically. Chapter Four is the Conclusion. This chapter provides the

best solutions in handling the Filipino customers.

After the last chapter, there is Bibliography, which contains all the

references that are used in this term-paper. The last part is Appendix,

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

Before discussing the chosen solutions of the problem, I would like to

summarize the previous chapters. The problem is my difficulty in handling

a Filipino customer who got angry at P.T. Sinar Continental from

December 20th,2011 to February 15th, 2012. There are three causes of

the problem. First, the customer was from the Phillipines whose accent

when speaking English was not clear for me. Second, this Filipino

customer did not want to understand that the process of making fabrics

needed time. Third, I did not know the needs of this Filipino customer. The

effects of this problem are I felt stressed, I could not do other tasks, and I

could not handle the other customers. Then, there are several potential

solutions to solve the problem at P.T. Sinar Continental. First, I find out the

reasons why the Filipino customer gets angry. Second, I learn more about

the Filipinos’ accent when speaking English. Third, I give other fabrics

choices for this Filipino customer who gets angry.

Based on the analysis in the previous chapters, the best solution to

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potential solutions. From the three potential solutions, the one that has to

be done first is I should learn more about the Filipinos’ accent when

speaking English. It can help me to understand what the Filipino customer

says better, to be able to give an explanation that the Filipino customer

needs; thus, he will feel happy with the service that I give to him. The next

solution to do is I find out the reasons why the Filipino customer gets

angry. This solution can help me to better understand him, give the best

response to him, and then he will be satisfied with the service that I give to

him. After that, I give other fabrics choices for the needs of this Filipino

customer. This solution is important to keep the good relationship between

the Filipino customer and the company.

These three potential solutions are chosen because combining the

three solustions is better than doing only one of the potential solutions. It is

because if I only learn more about the Filipinos’ accent when speaking

English, without finding out the reasons why the Filipino customer gets

angry, I will not understand how to handle him and I will not understand

what he needs. If I try to find out the reasons of his anger without learning

the accent, I actully will not be able to understand him. The last solution,

which is giving him other fabric choices, will also be difficult for me to do

without learning his accent.

The three chosen potential solutions, that are explained in the

previous paragraphs, when they are done together are the best solutions.

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customer who gets angry and also help customer service staff to serve the

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