Yes, you can. In fact, armed with only just the customer-service weapon, and your business will be safe from harm.
Writing for ITWorld, Vincent Deschamps, chief executive officer and chairman of the board for Echopass Corp., shares his thoughts on CRM and how to use customer service as a strategic weapon.
He suggests:
- Align with the company’s vision.
- Focus on the customer experience.
- Segment the customers.
- Take care of the agents.
- Find the best partner.
- Inspect what you expect.
On the list, I think the most overlooked are numbers 1 and 6. Most companies don’t really view customer service as part of their strategic goal. They think that it is only a component of sales or marketing. In fact, other departments think that customer service skills are only for those in sales or marketing. A big misconception, indeed.
Also, for number 6, again, many companies miss out that from the beginning, they need to measure everything they do in relation to their goal. I agree that all companies must ask themselves these questions first: Do you want to improve customer retention? Increase revenues? Double business without increasing costs?
Deschamps is right in saying that “Regardless of the goal, include measurements. Set the bar high, and know what’s happening inside your customer service organization.”
Bron: Customer Relations: The New Competitive Advantage 4 Dec 2008
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