InternetServices

Reduce operational cost

Operational cost has been one of the major drivers for CRM. Measured in call center volumes, Web-based interaction, e-mail processing, and face to face interactions, expenses are always huge. CRM solution providers have identified many defect categories, including errors, increased phone time, more paper processing, bad mail delivery and shifting authority to the customer service line staff.

Through revised business processes, specialized hardware and powerful software tools, these key problems can be addressed, yielding tremendous savings. Advance means of communication – routing request traffic (e.g.,voice , e-mail, etc.) intelligently to the person best suited to respond – reduces both time and cost. Defining key performance indicators, their real-time monitoring the cost of delivery. All transactions can never be accommodated in a single interaction. So the use of intelligent workflow to manage the request across departments/teams, while monitoring service levels and providing guided assistance, can often go a long way to control the higher costs of managing complex transaction requests.

Enhance the service

You can do this by managing the time to respond to a request, and by promoting this capability to customers so that they aren’t forced to submit several requests for the same information or don’t have to constantly check to see where a request is in the process flow. All customers aren’t equal so they shouldn’t be treated equally. Extra features and value – added services need to carry additional charge without compromising on the quality of service. When the same service philosophy is communicated across all contact points, confusion is eliminated and redundant inquiries are minimized. Customers should be able to access information in an automated (and perhaps live) method as and when they wish to receive it. This improves customer confidence and satisfaction. Customers should also be able to access general knowledge and customer- specific data via multiple automated channels that let them to make their own service inquiries. They would interact with live agents only if they need clarifications. Simple use of this information in these interactions will help enhance the overall customer experience.

Sell more services in the same package

You must know when a product or services reaches a level of maturity or decline. Any organization can leverage its knowledge by selling the next model/version at the precise time when the customer’s need for the existing product reaches saturation. Tools tracking and modeling product ownership patterns can greatly enhance such revenue opportunities. If a product inquire is received via one channel (say,a Website) and the customer subsequently phones into the call center on an unrelated topic, the customer services executive should be prepared to raise, the issue of the product inquiry and try to close the deal. As a company, you should always have specific knowledge of any recent sales efforts, current service problems or pending customer complaints. Trying to sell something new under such circumstances makes an organization look uniformed at best and rude at worst.

Empower the customer

All the interaction methods with the customer should be simple and user- friendly. Always keep in mind that all the customers aren’t frequent users – so they can have a really painful experience handling complicated stuff. Too many Websites and IVR (Integrated Voice Response) applications can be very confusing. Even with the proliferation of Web users, customers still prefer other options. Your deployment plans must allow for key data to be available via phone, fax or even postal delivery. When dealing with the premise of moving information closer to the customers, many types of privacy, jurisdiction, taxation and other legal issues need to be reviewed by experienced professionals. Design and deployment issues Once the strategy to use CRM is ready, operational issues come on the fore. CRM projects can encompass a full enterprise approach or they can be focused on a particular subset of customers, channels or lines of business. There are some issues which if not taken into consideration, can damage the whole project. These must be addressed during the development of an operational CRM plan.