More and more companies are realizing that helping a customer when they have a problem is not enough. Help Desks and Help Desk Software most maximize every customer interaction by using creative and innovative ways of getting, keeping, and growing the company’s customers.
Research has shown that customers value a good experience even more than a good price! What can your company do to give your customers the feeling of a good experience and a good ongoing relationship?
Geoffrey Moore, a marketing expert and author, wrote that “failure to innovate equals failure to differentiate equals failure to garner profits and revenues.” Most company executives would agree . . . and then start looking for product innovations. But innovation must also apply to how, when, and where your company interacts with present and potential customers.
For example, if you can predict a certain customer is a high-growth customer, you can route that person to interact with a highly knowledgeable service rep. Or, if you know a certain customer is a high-value customer who also likes a certain degree of “do it yourself service” (also known as browsing in some industries), you will know not to interfere with that while letting the person know of the availability of a service rep when needed.
What is the payoff for your company? The ROI can be well over 100% in terms of reduction in marketing, lower acquisition and retention costs, and lower costs of equipment and staffing.
Where do you start to get this advantage? Start with data. You already have much data, but you probably don’t use it to help you in predictive ways. Today’s helpdesk software can gather data by the truckload but if you don’t connect the layers of data by applying analytics (add-ons usually available from the help desk software company) to that data, it is valueless. Instead of collecting only the usual name, address, household income, product information, add the layers of behavioral or attitudinal data such as when, where, and with whom an interaction took place ans what was communicated. In many cases these pieces of data are not recorded because they don’t fit the categories or spaces of a spreadsheet, but today’s help desk software and CRM software can accommodate this information.
By understanding the underlying behavior and attitude, you can predict which questions from potential customers will lead to a purchase decision. You can also predict which questions you ask in return will be most helpful in moving them along in their decision process. This helps them feel that you understand them and truly want to help them.
Identifying which factors contribute to the defection of high-value customers will allow your company to act long before a win-back offer is needed. This is critical for keeping customers and growing customers. Taking it a step further, you can grow many customers by using your predictive analytics to anticipate their needs and ask relevant questions or make timely offers.
Instead of using your help desk and help desk software to be reactive in solving problems, start thinking of ways to use it to be proactive and predictive to help you get and grow customers.
Web based CRM, or hosted CRM, is one of the main types of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service). SaaS is any web based software, so SaaS can include various applications from web based meeting software to company-wide communication tools to customer relations management.
software is a way of knocking down all the walls in your office(s) – and those offices can be spread all over the world as well as throughout a single building. Today’s CRM software typically includes contact management software, knowledge bases, and integrated front and back office functionality.
