CRM - May 2008 - (Page I-12)

12 May 2008 Sponsored Content PUTTING THE RELATIONSHIP BACK IN CRM THE PROMISE OF STABLE, PROFITABLE, LOYAL CUSTOMERS is appealing for every organization. Strong customer relationships are the foundation of sustainable revenue and profits, but many firms have not aligned their investment and resource priorities with the goal of deepening and improving those relationships. Fortunately, every organization can become a leader in customer relationship maximization. It begins with understanding the five key process elements to creating a delivery center environment driven to maximize customer relationship value. CUSTOMERS, NOT PROSPECTS: UNDERSTANDING THE CUSTOMER FOR LIFE the message that the organization is interested in developing a relationship with each customer. CONVERSATIONS THAT WORK: CREATING COMPELLING DIALOGUE monitor a customer’s interaction history, look for potential issues, and ‘listen longitudinally’ – over the entire course of the customer lifecycle. BULLETPROOFING THE RELATIONSHIP: BUILDING ADVOCACY If your customers only hear scripted up-selling and cross-selling offers or weary problem resolution efforts, the relationship becomes nothing more than a series of requests and transactions. If your customers hear better ideas, valuable information, and offers that enhance their lives when they interact with your organization, the relationship becomes much deeper – and more permanent. Involving customers in compelling conversations makes them feel valued in every phase of the interaction. SELLING WHEN THE SUN IS OUT: CONTEXT-SENSITIVE INTERACTION Building strong revenue streams is an obvious first order of business in customer interaction, but building strong advocates among your customer base pays off significantly in the long run. Advocates tell your story for you; they are a priceless source of credible advertising, as well as being a powerful pipeline for desirable referral customers. But advocacy is won, not given. Customers need to see the promise delivered in order to feel comfortable speaking on your behalf. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Good customer management professionals know to sell when customers are happy and work to build satisfaction and trust when they are not. Customer management specialists who are equipped with the proper training can steer every interaction to the best possible outcome, whether that is a new sale, a cross-sale of a complementary product, or simply retention of the account in a ‘save’ role. Overall, customer satisfaction and sales conversion rates improve – as does delivery center efficiency. LONGITUDINAL LISTENING: IDENTIFYING ISSUES BEFORE THEY BECOME ISSUES Most organizations expend tremendous effort in understanding prospects. However, once a prospect becomes a customer, the focus often turns back to attracting more customers – instead of taking the time to develop processes and systems that understand customers for life. Continuing to invest in customer understanding sends Listening is an important part of every customer interaction – but all too often, customer management specialists are trained to listen only to the customer’s issue today. Moreover, their focus is so closely centered on that issue that they may fail to hear systemic problems emerging with the account. World-class customer service organizations enable their specialists to These five customer interaction guidelines sound logical, straightforward – even easy. Why, then, are the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) scores for industries like insurance, retailing, cable television, utilities, and airlines lower than their benchmarks from more than a decade ago? A key factor is the mismatch between organizational metrics for measuring delivery center efficiency and the nature of the customer relationship. Customer relationships are built over the long term. Trust, loyalty, and advocacy are not concepts that are won with short-term delivery center metric improvement initiatives. They are won with a commitment to continuous improvement in both service quality and efficiency. For successful organizations, that process is initiated by engaging a customer experience consultancy that can assess an existing customer interaction process, identify actionable improvement points, and work with employees and management to put these five relationship-building tools in place.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - May 2008

CRM - May 2008 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Is CRM Too Hard for Microsoft Vendors Go Virtual For Feedback Sense-sational Marketing How UGC Can Benefit CRM DestinationCRM Dashboard Price Check, Aisle 5 Required Reading The Moving Target The Excellence Myth Seven Steps to SOA Success And They're Off! Are You Ready to Party? Skin in the Game The Right Numbers Secret of My Success Re: Tooling Connect Pint of View

CRM - May 2008

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