Your favourite coffee vendor gently places a steaming cup of freshly brewed, double-strength cappuccino in your hands the moment you walk up to the counter.
The hotel you check into at the end of a busy day places you in a quiet, non-smoking room away from the elevator. Just what you asked for last time.
Your neighbourhood print company calls you to check that you have everything you need for a conference you’re holding next month because they remember producing some promotional material for it three months ago.
These are all examples of great customer service. But how do you do this consistently and reliably? Especially when you have to cope with the challenges of sickness, holidays, different employees interacting with your customer, and employee churn?
The answer is two-fold.
- Capture relevant information about your customers in order to provide a more personal and engaging service.
- Create a system with defined processes to manage this information and take consistent actions to build engagement and loyalty.
I highlight the term relevant because you don’t want to waste time capturing information that’s irrelevant to your business. Attempting to do this raises the risk that your customer (or prospect) will feel that you’re unnecessarily harvesting.
Data capture isn’t simply having a long list of questions to ask when a person is first interested in your service. It’s about gathering intelligence over a period of time. The deeper the relationship the customer has with your business, the more personal you can make their experience – even given the challenges.
Creating systems and processes might seem like a daunting task. The chances are, though, that you already have at least the bare bones, otherwise you wouldn’t be in business at all. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, at its simplest level, is a repository for the information that you have.
Fast-forward a month or two after deployment. You’ll see how the benefits of automating some of your business processes, and ensuring that the right people see the right information at the right time, will start to reap benefits to your bottom line.
Benefits…
- Spotting untapped opportunities will increase your revenue per customer.
- Ensuring that your customers feel loved, even when they’re not making an immediate purchase from you, will reduce your churn.
- Ensuring that when customers do purchase from you that they get a consistent experience will build loyalty
You may have tried CRM systems in the past, or have one installed right now that you feel isn’t quite working for you. It’s easy to get caught up in your day-to-day business and not give CRM the attention it deserves. Whether you run a small, medium or large business, CRM could make an immediate, positive difference to your profitability by giving your customers consistent, reliable, personal and professional service.
“For a chat about how CRM could work for your business, give us a call today on 01279-882290. Lines are open 24/7. Or you can email or tweet us. We’re happy to help.”
[email protected] or tweet @CRMSuperStars
