There are many factors that influence your customers’ decisions to make their first purchases from your company. When it comes to repeat business, however, customer service is the single biggest driver. Big business has figured that out. Large-scale corporations are investing heavily in customer experience programs to ‘monetize relationships’. Loosely translated, that means treating customers well so that they continue to buy and endorse their products. One key area of focus is problem resolution.
When a customer has a problem, response time is everything. That’s why many companies carefully monitor first call resolution (FCR) rates. Essentially, it’s the percentage of calls where the customer’s concern is fully addressed, without requiring a follow-up. Studies show that FCR rates have a tremendous impact on overall customer satisfaction.
You need answers - fast
To illustrate that point, let’s say that Tom, a relatively new but very important customer, calls with a question about an order. He wants to know if it’s shipped because, if possible, he needs to add more items. Cindy, an office employee far-removed from the production and shipping areas, simply enters the provided order number in the CRM software and advises that it has not left the warehouse. She then confirms availability for the additional items, provides pricing based on Tom’s preferred customer status, and updates the order. In this scenario, Tom is a happy customer who is very likely to make future purchases and even recommend your company.
But how would that scenario play out if Cindy didn’t have the information she needed to answer even the initial shipping question? Likely, it would involve multiple, time-consuming follow-ups while she cobbled together information from various departments. In the meantime, Tom could have simply ordered the additional items from a competitor, with less hassle.
Of course, today’s customer service involves channels other than telephone. Customers may contact you via email, web, mail, and social media – which is why it’s increasingly important to have a 360-degree view of your customer interactions. It’s the basis for meaningful and personalized connections between your customers and your sales and service employees.
Takeaway – investing in CRM pays dividends in sales and productivity
You need to fully leverage your customer relationships to differentiate your small or midsize business. It’s a competitive advantage that you can’t ignore. The key to providing stellar customer service is equipping employees with real-time, accurate data that enables them to quickly resolve problems and keep customers coming back. Investing in an integrated CRM system will pay dividends in the form of increased sales and productivity.
Relevant links:
- Product briefs – CRM and service management with SAP Business One
- CRM demo – see it in action
- Quote request – call 877.975.5140 or email info@zantek-it.com
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