For many years, companies have attempted to maximize the total business value of their customer relationships through the use of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions and technology. The underlying principle behind this trend was that the collection and analysis of data about the customer would result in smarter business decisions. In some cases, customer relationship management system investments paid off. In many others, the payoffs fell significantly short of expectations—and ongoing IT costs were much greater than anticipated.
There are several reasons, however, why conventional CRM by itself is insufficient for business success. One problem is that customers don't really want you to manage your relationships with them. They want to be in the driver's seat—as well they should. Companies that treat their customers like exploitable commodities will fail in today's market. Companies that are able to listen to and respond to their customers, on the other hand, will succeed.
Another flaw in the CRM world view is that the battle for the hearts and minds of customers can be won in the back office. It can't. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are won one interaction at a time. So it's the frontline marketers, salespeople and customer service representatives who need to be empowered with the right information at the right time—not just back-office strategists.
So, while it is obviously important for companies to have good CRM systems in place, it is equally critical for them to take steps to optimize the day-to-day frontline customer experience. This is how the loyalty and long-term retention of customers is ultimately won. Every experience a customer has with your company - whether they're listening to a sales pitch or trying to find an answer to their question on your self-service customer care web site - should be a positive one. That quality of experience is as important to the long-term success of your company as your visibility into the buying habits of a specific demographic or your ability to forecast next month's revenue figures.
Quality of experience, in turn, is largely contingent on your ability to deliver knowledge at the point of action. A salesperson needs to know if the account they're about to call on is in the midst of sorting out a problem with the last order they placed. The service rep in your offshore contact center has to be able to tell the customer on the phone whether or not their replacement part has been shipped. And if that service rep discovers during the call that the customer is interested in some of your company's other products, he or she needs to be able to capture that knowledge and the appropriate salesperson needs to have access to it immediately.
Where Is Your Company Going?
Does your company provide customers with a consistently superior experience across all departments and all communication channels? Can your customers quickly and easily get answers to their questions, whether they call you, email you or search your web site for self-service customer care options? Do you have mechanisms such as customer satisfaction survey software in place for continuously measuring and improving your customer experience?
If not - or if you're ready to do an even better job than you're doing now - then you're ready to contact us. We'll help you deliver a competitively superior customer experience across the board - and reap the significant bottom-line benefits that result when your customers are happy and loyal.
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