|
Friday, May 23, 2003
YOUR BUSINESS: Gail C. Darling
Now's the time to build world-class customer service
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||
 |
Also on this page: ABOUT THE AUTHOR | |||||
Business must continually change in order to compete globally, but change is difficult when people are swamped with taking and fulfilling customer orders. As those orders slow down, staff has more time to analyze how to improve processes and products. One of the best ways to improve the bottom line is to improve customer communications. Customers have more choices than they used to. On the Internet, they can compare products and prices easily. And studies show that it costs eight to 10 times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. That's why smart companies are looking at new ways to build customer loyalty. Business people can use a slowdown to improve the way they interact with customers and prospects. These business-process changes and supporting computer-based tools are known as Customer Relationship Management. Together, these techniques can increase the bottom line, even in a down economy. And when business picks up, the company will be ready to handle increased volume more productively. Here are some concrete actions to keep customers coming back: Know who's calling before they tell you. Modern phone systems can connect to customer management software and display the caller's information on the representative's computer screen. That information speeds up the call-handling process. See customer history at a glance. Even without phone-system integration, a worker answering a call can look up the customer's information quickly, including whether the customer has called before about this problem. With centralized information about customer contacts, a business representative can see immediately where the problem stands. Handle every customer interaction in one phone call. When a customer or prospect calls with a request for information, make sure customer service representatives have the information they need at their fingertips. Put price lists, product specifications, material safety data sheets and any other information the representative needs in a quickly accessible knowledge base. Assure customers that problems have been fixed. For example, if a customer returned a pair of cutting shears for a warranty repair, automatically schedule a letter to him thanking him for his patience while the item was being repaired and letting him know that this model has been re-engineered to prevent similar problems in the future. Remind customers about expiration dates or recurring services. Is the warranty expiring on the copy machine she bought last year? Does his car need an inspection sticker? A post card or e-mail can be sent out automatically to remind customers of the services provided, or customer-management software can schedule a phone call for the sales department. Offer a firm's best customers a great deal. With computer-based customer history, a business can identify those customers who are most profitable and that it would hate to lose. Then, the system could automatically send a letter or coupon to those select customers and offer them a deal. Follow up on customers who haven't purchased recently. Let customer-management software automatically schedule a call for the appropriate sales representative when a customer hasn't purchased from the business recently. A business can look at past buying patterns to decide whether to follow up in three months, six months or longer. Reward customers who refer the business to other clients. With a customer-relationship-management system, a business can easily keep track of customers who give referrals. Then, when the deal closes, the firm won't forget to call or send a thank-you card. Customer referrals are one of the most potent sources of new business, especially in a down economy. Provide customer information to field representatives. Whether representatives have laptop computers or palm-held devices, they can stay synchronized with the office and up-to-date. These ideas aren't rocket science. But they do require a company to rethink how it wants to do business. The companies which take advantage of an economic slowdown to improve their processes with customer-management tools will emerge stronger when the economy finally turns around. This is the time to build a world-class customer-service organization.
|
||||||