2. 外语
  3. •Read the following extract from an article about customer relations and the questions that follow. •For each Question 15-20, ma

•Read the following extract from an article about customer relations and the questions that follow. •For each Question 15-20, ma

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问题 •Read the following extract from an article about customer relations and the questions that follow.
•For each Question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
      Customer relations describes the resources of a company—be it a store, manufacturer, or service industry—that are devoted to discerning and then serving the needs of customers. In earlier times, this was known as the complaint department, the part of the operation that dealt with negative customer comments, returns, and other concerns. Renaming this function customer relations is more than a word game. It reflects the proactive nature of the department in modern industry and retailing. Customer service extends beyond sales and advertising to ensure that the company understands its customer base and what its customers really want. Customer relations works within the business to direct the quality of the product or service, its delivery, and advertising strategy to meet that need. This part of a business operation responds to customer inquiries and complaints and resolves problems so as not to lose customers; at the same time, customer relations works with the marketing department to attract new customers.
       The short answer to why so much attention should be paid to customer needs and dissatisfied customers is that such attention has been found to support long-term success. Some of the earliest such endeavors began with concern over product reputation—as far back as the early days of the Industrial Revolution in the 1890s. Placing one’s name on a product was considered to be a bond of tie between the customer and the merchant and/or the manufacturers.
       Over the years, many firms developed a policy of "the customer is always right," finding that it was more profitable to take a small loss and keep a customer than to argue with customers about alleged defective products or problems that occurred with staff.  Firms developed complaint departments to deal with customers who had bad experiences with products or services.
     As consumer consciousness grew in the late twentieth century the focus of the industry shifted from dealing with dissatisfied customers as they complained, to a more active approach of reaching out to discover why the complaint was made, to ensure that the dissatisfied customers remain customers, and to study each case and improve the product or service and the way in which it was delivered to customers. In the 1960s the complaint department began to be known as the customer relations department. Customer relations departments still take on complaints. The advent of toll-free numbers makes it easier for people to register complaints—and praise. Customers who phone in praise for or complaints about a product are often offered free coupons and recipes for that product.
Studies of the customer relations movement show that the shift to an aggressive policy of customer study is more than "nice", it is profitable for business. Resources expended in the customer service area are more than offset by savings from customers not lost. Goodwill toward all customers reaps tangible rewards in the form of increased profits for business.
     In a study of service industries, Ron Zemke cited two studies by Technical Assistance Research Institute (TARP) in Washington D. C. , on consumer complaints. TARP found that one in four customers was upset enough about a product or service or both to seek an alternative business for that product or service. Of those unhappy customers, however, only five percent had bothered to complain. The other 95 percent just voted with their cash by switching. To reduce the loss of customers in the future, customer relations tries to analyze the five percent who complained in order to understand the ninety-five percent who did not complain yet were unhappy. Customer relations must anticipate the needs of each individual customer, up and down the social scale, across the racial and cultural lines that make up the American melting pot.
    Zemke and others offer many strategies for building a good customer relations department. The best strategies involve learning as much as possible about the customer base and training staff well as to what the customers want and the way they want it. Zemke and others show that a company with excellent service toward customers is one that understands the tie between employee relations and customer relations. A well-trained satisfied employee is better able to satisfy the needs of the customer.  
According to the passage, the complaint department was renamed the customer relations department ______ .
选项 A、in the 1960s
B、in the 1990s
C、in the 1890s
D、in the 1970s
答案A
解析
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