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Archive for customer service – Page 2

4 Ways to Sell More Merchandise During a Slump

By Steve · Comments (0)
Monday, November 9th, 2009

This recession is a real bad deal for those businesses that sell to consumers. Instead of refusing to acknowledge that we are in a recession and saying, “business will pick up soon,” you need to take action and learn how to find prospects and turn them into customers. Here are 4 ways to do that:

1. Interact with customers. Managers need to be on the sales floor or wherever there are customers. Be helpful. Ask questions. Don’t be afraid of the answers. Find out what they like about your business, what they don’t like, what they wish they could find, etc.

2. Create buzz by leveraging your present customers. Invite your present customers to give a testimonial to post on your web site. If you have a retail store, invite customers to act as pseudo-salespeople on a Saturday. Advertise it as a “talk to our customers day.”

3. Keep sales people selling and customer service people doing customer service. Sure, a customer service person can sell or upsell or cross-sell, but your best sales person is someone who loves to sell – all the time. Take advantage of those people.

4. Help all your employees to leverage their networks. Everyone knows someone who knows someone. Teach your employees to network. Ask them to tell 3-5 people they know about an upcoming sale and encourage them to ask those people to each tell 3-5 more people. If you only have 10 employees and each tells 5 people who each tell 5 people, that will be 250 people who get a personal invitation to your sale!

Using just these four strategies to change the way you do business will increase your business. At the same time, your present customers will love you and become more loyal. And, at the same time, they will become sales people for you wherever they go. The best advertisement is an excited customer!

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Categories : Customer Service Management Software
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3 Keys to Better Customer Service

By Steve · Comments (0)
Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Do you have good customer service? Do you feel simply changing customer service software could improve your customer service? In most cases, customer service can be improved. Here are three keys to better customer service:


1. Be Proactive rather than Reactive.
Sears has not achieved their success by doing the exact same thing for the last 30 years or by simply reacting when a customer complains. What does the front of the catalog emphasize? Customer service! How do you know that? Because the front of the catalog always says “We’re always open. Prices guaranteed until . . . Our phone number is . . . ” Customer service is in the forefront.

2. Listen to your customers.
Guessing what your customers need or want will not satisfy your customers. Only when you start asking them and actively listening to their responses will you begin to understand what they want and need. Then you will be better able to supply them with what they are looking for.

3. Know what makes your company different from your competitors.
Research your competitors. Understand what they offer. Learn what their customers like. Figure out what you do or have that is different . . . and better. Know why it is better and more desirable. Which points are simply features and which are truly benefits. For example, lower prices are not better customer service – they are simply better prices. However, calling a customer to see what problems or questions they have is better customer service if nobody in your industry except you does that.

And always use a software that offers the kinds of features and benefits that your company needs. Never pay for features that are of no use to your company. Realize true value for the money you pay and give your customers value for their time and effort.

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Categories : Customer Service Management Software, Customer Support Software
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Memorial Day: Remembering our Veterans – The Originators of Customer Service

By Steve
Monday, May 25th, 2009

Today is officially Memorial Day and I can’t think of a more fitting way to remember our veterans than that of thanking them for leading the way in true customer service. We often think of their service to their country, but what does that really mean? What is ‘their country’? It is the people of their country – their families and friends and those they didn’t know that lived at the time they served and it is all of those peoples’ descendants. In a sense we are the customers they served! Now that is the ultimate in customer service! We salute you, veterans!

This makes me think that they really understood customer service and customer relationships. Going back to World War II, we know that many of those who served left family businesses or community businesses. Those businesses often served people who lived within a few miles – people who personally knew everyone who worked for that business. They saw each other at the grocery store, the hardware store, and the gas station as well as at church and the restaurant. If someone was dissatisfied with service at one business or another, the whole community knew about it. Talk about satisfied customers!

Perhaps that’s why the saying ‘the customer is always right’ became a mantra in the world of small business. It was the only way to satisfy the customer, retain loyal customers, and advance your business.

Our ancestors would be appalled to think that we now have ‘call centers’ for customer service. And they certainly would not understand the standard recording: “Thank you for calling. We’re sorry, but all lines are currently busy. Your call is important to us. Please hold, and our next available representative will be with you shortly.” To them, someone would personally answer each and every call (which were few and far between) and assist the caller right then.

What if those same ancestors had not answered the call to defend our country and our freedoms immediately – leaving homes and families to serve overseas as long as it took to get the job done? What if they had said, “I’m sorry but I’m busy putting together my life plan/going to college/marrying my sweetheart/helping my dad in his business, but I’ll see what I can do to help out as soon as I’m not so busy.” I hate to think where we would be or how different our lives would be.

Their customer service was immediate and effective. They clearly understood the problem and they acted to effectively solve it as quickly as possible. That is the essence of customer service.

They knew the expectations of their customers and they proved reliable in meeting those expectations. Fixing the problems in the US – or living their lives right now – simply weren’t as important as fixing the problems threatening the US – and their futures. I wonder if seeing customer service in this way would help us focus our corporate attention better. I know it would make our companies customer-centric.

If we thought that having any business next week depended on how we solve our customer’s problems today, would we be more attentive? What would we say differently? How much harder would we try to do the right thing right now?

Did our parents and grandparents see the cost of equipping and sending the soldiers to fight for our freedoms as a cost too great to bear? No, they saw it as a necessary investment. Which says something about how we should see the technology investments we make to support our customer service call centers. If we do not give our agents and managers the right equipment to handle the call volume and find answers quickly, they have a right to be dissatisfied. The right technology improves both efficiency and effectiveness.

The examples our parents and grandparents set for us really deserve our spending the day contemplating. And, yes, they should make us also contemplate how we can re-form our customer service to truly serve our customers which will in turn make our companies stronger for a longer period of time.

Arlington Cemetery

Categories : Customer Support Software, IT Help Desk
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Web Based CRM Solutions Hold the Key

By Steve
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

A customer’s experience with customer service and helpdesk contact centers shapes his view of the entire organization. Immediate communication through a web based CRM solution is the key to improve service levels and impact the company’s bottom line.

Communication among customer service agents and their managers must be immediate, targeted and real-time. For example, contact center managers can reduce wait times and help their call center handle higher call volumes when they know wait times and can see overloaded queues. When scheduling appointments, the system needs to be able to alert agents of cancellations – especially same day and same week – so that customers can be scheduled at the earliest time possible.

A web-based CRM solution allows all users to be up-to-the-minute on parts of the enterprise computer system that are slow or down and when the expected resolution time is. It equips agents to handle customer questions by accessing an extensive online knowledge base.

Real-time awareness requires a simple and direct line of communication across disparate branches of the contact center. A web-based CRM solution delivers this type of communication.

Restructuring, combining with other companies or rapid growth present new challenges to companies. Multiple technology systems often do not communicate well. Employees do not know who or what department now handles particular questions or functions. However, a web-based CRM solution can easily serve the employees as well as the customers.

Often a single helpdesk or call center services both employees and customers, but through a jumble of technology. The web-based CRM solution solves this jumble and makes quick, direct connections at the time they are needed.

Service levels and customer satisfaction are greatly increased by using a web based CRM solution. The potential for growth is greatly expanded. Internal communication is drastically improved. Customer service reps are seen as competent and helpful. And the company is perceived as trustworthy.

  • Is your call center ready to take a leap forward?
  • Is your CRM solution working for you?
  • Are you ready for a web based CRM solution? Why or why not?
Categories : CRM, Help Desk, help desk software
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Customer Relationships Across Multiple Channels of desk help software

By Steve · Comments (0)
Monday, April 20th, 2009

It struck me recently how much more difficult it is to handle customer relations than it used to be. This is mainly because there are so many more ways that customers want to use to contact a business. Let me give you some examples. If I purchase a new gizmo and it quits working, then I  go to the company’s web site and look for a “fix” or attempt to order the replacement for the defective part. If that does not work, then I look for the “contact us” page which I hope will give a way to e-mail a technician for help or talk to a technician on a live chat. However, I have a friend who immediately picks up the phone and calls the company’s 800 number, expecting to get instant help she understands. Another friend prefers to just pack up his gizmo and take it back to the store where he expects to have the store replace it with a brand-new one. These are just some of the different customer relations scenarios or customer service channels.

No matter what business you are in, you are expected to provide several channels by which your customers can contact you and find solutions to their problems and answers to their questions. That’s great until you start adding up the cost of maintaining all those channels. Then there is the training of people who work those various channels. And the management of the channels themselves. And that’s if you only have one product to support.

However, your ability to provide multiple channels of desk help software and deliver a consistent, positive customer experience across all the channels will set your company apart and give you the competitive edge. What you have to understand in the process is what the customers want and what each customer is capable of understanding and doing himself. Each customer interaction – face-to-face, online, online chat, phone, or e-mail – is an opportunity to add customer value, improve customer service, or, ultimately to sell more goods or services.  Using a CRM customer call desk to this will give you great rewards in the future.

  • Customers want convenience, consistency, and reliability.
  • Customers want to interact with the company once and have the problem solved.
  • Customers want the service technician to know the same information they already found on the web site or typed into the service request form.
  • Customers expect to receive answers that make sense and work.

The key to better customer service becomes integration of the channels. All employees or contracted people who work to help your customer must have access to the same information and must have the same or similar training. They must all know the online sources of information and help. They must be able to access any previous communication the customer has had with the company. They must all have a step-by-step plan for solving problems that follows the same set of steps, so that a technician does not say to the customer, “oh, that guy didn’t know what he was talking about.” Both training and the company’s knowledge-base of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and their answers must be constantly evolving to be up-to-date and at each person’s fingertips.

When customers encounter freindly, knowledgeable people who have the ability to access the same information the customer can access, customers are more likely to trust their advice. Customers who use online or e-mail services have high expectations of those services that either end with the problem being solved or with actual contact with a person who can solve the problem quickly. When these are provided, customers recommend a company or service to their friends and are more likely to become repeat customers.

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Categories : CRM, Help Desk
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Customer Service was Easier Then . . . Or Was It

By Steve · Comments (0)
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

Remember when all you had to know about customer service was ‘The customer is always right? Give the customer what he wants.’ A friend and I were talking about our childhood recently. He related how he had saved his paper route money to purchase a watch he’d been admiring at the drugstore. He was so proud of that watch because he had worked hard to earn and save the money for it. However, he had only had it a couple of weeks when it stopped working. He took it back and the store owner (who knew him and his family) expressed great sympathy, taking the watch back and letting him pick out a new one. He was really impressed and never forgot the storeowner’s ‘generosity.’ In looking back, he realizes that generosity like that was what was expected then.

Now when we purchase something and it quits working in two weeks, we have to make sure we purchased a warranty or extended warranty with it. Then we have to find the box or boxes and all the packaging the item(s) came in and try to make them fit back in – no small feat in itself! Then we have to figure out where to send it, what to say in the letter, who to address the letter to, etc. Then there is the trip to the post office or UPS and the shock that the postage will cost us almost as much as just purchasing a new item. And just because we spent the time, effort, and money does not guarantee that we will get another item in return. Sometimes you still have to make several phone calls simply to find out that the warranty did not cover the part that broke. And how many times have you received a ‘refurbished’ item in return or been told that that particular model is no longer available?

The worst part is that somehow in filling out all the paperwork you gave them your e-mail address and now you get daily advertising e-mails from a company that you are furious at and they want you to fill out the online survey about how great their customer service is! Have you ever said, “Bah! Humbug! Nobody ever looks at those surveys anyway.”?

That drugstore owner back in the 1960s did not need a customer service survey to know that he had done the right thing. Everyone in town knew he backed his merchandise and would do right by you. How did they know? Neighbors told neighbors, friends told friends, and family told family – it was word of mouth. What was the result? Loyalty to the drugstore and its owner.

What is the purpose of today’s customer service? The purpose is still the same – satisfied customers who tell others of their good experience.

How does good customer service happen? There are lots of ways for customer service to take place in today’s environment. They all have to leave the customer with a positive feeling. And they have to fit together so that the customer feels known and cared about. That’s what makes it more difficult than it was 40 years ago.

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Categories : CRM
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More Around the Bend…

By Steve · Comments (0)
Friday, March 27th, 2009

We often hop on our motorcycle or in the car “just to see what is around the next bend.” Whatever is there can be interesting, intriguing, challenging, frustrating or a nonevent. The same is true of our businesses. It is often difficult to know “what is around the next bend” in a business environment, but whatever it is will be interesting, intriguing, challenging, frustrating, or a nonevent. . . . and we must be prepared.

What is the best way to be prepared for an unknown future? In any industry, customer care is paramount to future business. When your customer calls or e-mails with a problem, you must have processes for responding. Your response must be quick and it must address the actual problem in a way that is acceptable to you and your customer.

Let me give you an example from real life. A friend’s daughter who is in college had a problem with her computer. The friend filed a help desk ticket with the company that made the computer and with whom they had an extended warranty which called for on-site service within 24 hours. The ticket clearly said that the computer was located at a specific address in another city and gave the daughter’s cell phone number. After two more filings and a phone call during the next week, the mother finally got a phone call from a service tech to say he’d be at her home in an hour to fix the computer. When the mother explained that the computer was with the daughter, the tech agreed that he could see that if he scrolled down on his request for service. He also reported that the delay in service had been due to the company’s sending the parts to the wrong city twice already that week and now the company would have to re-send the parts again – to the college city’s technician. Three days later a technician called the daughter and arrived to work on her computer the following day. However, when he arrived, he said he thought from the mother’s description the computer might need a new video card which the company had not sent him. Instead, he had been sent a new motherboard and LCD screen to install. Sure enough, those did nothing for the problem. He then spent more than hour on the phone to the company to talk them into sending the video card. It is now three weeks since the problem was reported and the computer still cannot be used due to the screen flashing like a strobe light.

What went wrong? This company appears to have a problem with their help desk ticketing system. However, it is hard to tell if it is the software system or the human users of the system. Obviously, both have to work. If nobody is going to read the section that says “physical location of the computer” then it should not be a part of the ticket. However, to do on-site service, it would appear that the physical location of the computer would be important to know. If the company sub-contracts their service, then they need to understand the geography (using zip codes or GPS or names of the cities) so that the technician is somewhat close to the location of the computer. They also need to trust that technician’s assessment of the problem. No technician should have to argue for over an hour – in front of the customer – in order to get the necessary parts!

Is this company ready for what’s around the bend? Not so much! What should have been a slight bend in the road that took 2-3 days to get fixed has now become a series of hairpin turns on an insurmountable mountain of over three weeks. I think this computer company may be down an embankment!

The real question becomes: Is your company ready for what is around the bend? Does your ticketing system work? Are there processes in place to make it more effective? What about response time? Your company is only as good as its customer care. Not only is the “customer always right,” but the “customer needs help now” in today’s world!

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Categories : Help Desk
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Making The Most of Customer Service

By Steve · Comments (0)
Friday, March 20th, 2009

Making The Most Of Customer Service
By Jonathon Farrington
Customer care has become one of the most important issues facing businesses in every market. Customer care programs come under a number of titles – customer services, customer satisfaction, customer focus, customer orientated etc.

Their common theme is meeting the customer’s requirements and ensuring that all aspects of the business contribute to customer satisfaction. The intention is to build repeat business if customers are satisfied with the product and the standards of service they receive, they will return again and again.

Inconsistent Customer Care

Inconsistent customer care performance can have a negative effect on customer perceptions. Petrol companies for example, know that every time a customer walks into one of their outlets, wherever they are in the country, they should expect to receive the same standards of service. Nation-wide consistency is essential when customers are likely to visit multiple outlets – one poor performance can threaten the customer’s perception of the entire operation.

What Is Customer Care?

Customer care is about addressing three sets of requirements:

Customer
Staff
Organization
These requirements are interrelated, i.e. it is more difficult to deliver consistently high standards in customer care if the needs of both the organisation and the staff are not taken into account

Customer Requirements

Excellent personal service – feels valued, listened to, treated as an individual
Products that meet expectations
Encouragement to express views and give feedback
Effective relationship with the organisation
Problems and complaints are handled effectively
Staff Requirements

Effective management style
Suitable working environment – pay and conditions / tools for the job
Relevant training to develop skills
Career potential
Clarity of role / job description
Performance standards and appraisal systems
Sense of involvement / value
Open communication
Teamwork
Rewards / Recognition
Organizational Requirements

Mission statement
Corporate structure
Feedback and communication systems
Profit
Human and technical resources
Demonstrated commitment
Who Are Your Customers?

If you are not serving the customer, you should be serving someone who is. Harmonious relationships with customers and colleagues are essential to service success, because providing outstanding customer service is primarily a team effort. For excellent customer service to exist it has to be practiced on an internal basis

The What And The How

The “What” is the material and the “How” is the personal element. To be outstanding, organizations must deliver excellence in both material and personal service. Customer service is no longer just a question of interpersonal skills

The difference between you and your competitors is achieved when expectations are exceeded. Doing the unexpected, going the extra mile, moves us from meeting expectations to exceeding expectations

How To Delight Customers:

Be enthusiastic enthusiasm is the driving force of quality service.Customers do not just want products they want products plus enthusiasm
Be professional the word professional does not go with the job it goes with the person
Be The Best

Someone, somewhere has to be the best at this job – why not me?
Decide to be outstanding
How To Be The Best

Use positive self talk – e.g. tell yourself ‘Everyday in every way, i get better and better’
Don’t be ordinary
Develop a ‘How can I do it better?’ mind set
Today Everyone Sells

In a successful company the number of sales people equals the number of employees

Everyone sells something – either products, services or the image of the company
And Finally: How To Help Yourself Sell

Pay attention – give people the benefit of your attention
Customers like to give their business to those who show they want it

The moral right of the author, Jonathan Farrington, has been asserted.

All rights reserved.

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