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Business Customer Service Good Customer Service Starts With A CRM Strategy
Business Customer Service Good Customer Service Starts With A CRM Strategy
| Good Customer Service Starts With A CRM Strategy |
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| Written by Mike Boysen |
| Friday, 06 March 2009 08:39 |
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Have you looked at your business from your customer's point of view? We all know what good customer service can do for us, so why is it so hard to find? Every client I've had certainly had a windowless room of cubicles full of chattering bodies. Some had been there for years, while others had just started their careers. Are they following a plan? Is customer service part of your overall CRM strategy? Planning your CRM initiative is an important first step before you dive into the realignment of work flows. A great source of information about your customers is your customer service staff. If they are providing good service, better information will flow to them, which will help you tweak your plan as you move forward. There aren't really four corners of CRM, but if there were, good customer service would be one of them. These are the folks that may have their finger on the pulse of your customer base. They deal with the good, the bad and the ugly of the customer experience. Make sure you get the manager of this group and couple of key customer service reps on the core CRM planning team. You'll be glad you did. Key Customer Service Points When frustration sets in, many companies begin offering discounts. That tends create short term satisfaction, but not long term customer loyalty. It's a one time shot. That simply trains them to look for the next best deal; whether it's from you or a competitor. Strong sales people believe in the brute force approach. They just love to work hard for a sale. As a business owner, you should really want happy, loyal customers who keep coming back because of the relationship. You want them to recommend you to friends as well. There are varying opinions on the key factors that go into good customer service. These are only a few. You can make your own list, or use this as a starting point for your CRM planning. * Be Truthful - No matter the scenario, it never profits to lie. If you make a practice of it, you'll get caught and the repercussions could be vast. If you can't deliver something, don't say you can. * Go the extra mile - Again, thinking long term instead of short term will pay off in your customer relationships, which makes your relationships, and your business, more valuable. * Be Ready, Willing and Able - Make sure you are there when they need you. Respond to emails quickly. Pick up the phone when they call. Don't make your valuable customers wait or they won't be your customers for long. * Listen To Them - The relationship doesn't profit from what you say. It ultimately profits by listening to what the customer says and using that information to improve the relationship. * An upset customer needs to vent - Listen even more closely when they are upset. Don't talk over them. They will calm themselves down by talking or screaming. It's easier to ask them how you can help once they've calmed down. CRM is about building customer loyalty, and a key element in your success is good customer service. About the Author: Mike Boysen is the founder of Effective CRM Consulting, a website/blog dedicated to uncovering the true meaning of Customer Relationship Management. Good customer service is just one component of CRM Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service Kindly provided by MoneyHunter.org You are welcome to use this article on your own website, if you include the link just before this text. |
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