Building Customer Relationships through Effective Service

Definition of CRM: Providing employees with

the information and

processes necessary to

know their customers,

understand their needs

and effectively build

relationships between the

company, its customer

base and distribution

partners.

Customer relationships in the UK A recent research report, commissioned by Oracle, which questioned 1,500 consumers and 250 contact centre managers, revealed a startling difference between what customer expectations are and the way businesses in the UK (and Europe) are dealing with them. On top of this, it also revealed that out of the whole of Europe, British consumers are the most critical of customer service operations. The main areas customers complained about were:

• Enduring long call queues (88%)

• Having to repeat query each time they spoke to another representative (87%)

• Being passed between too many departments (70%)

• Agents not understanding their employer’s business (53%)

• Receiving inconsistent answers each time (62%) What makes these results even more worrying is the fact that 57% of contact centre respondents admitted that customers may have to repeat queries, which goes to show there is work to be done for companies to get to where they need to be in order to deliver an efficient service.

So, are the British public just being too critical? Or are British contact centres worse than their European counterparts? Interestingly enough, the latter seems to be the truth in the matter. Based on this research, contact centre managers in the UK were the most likely to acknowledge the measures they needed to implement to improve the level of service they provide.

Can this be overcome? The quick answer is YES, it can be. With the right people, attitude and approach, all of the concerns listed above can be minimised and controlled. To do this, certain systems and procedures need to be in place that will ensure you not only meet, but exceed your customer’s expectations. Stringent training and development policies will mean your service will provide clients with knowledgeable, experienced staff who will be immersed in their brand and able to take each query and/or concern and see it through from start to finish. Whether the case is open for two minutes or two weeks, there should be only one point of contact for the customer throughout that period. This gives the customer someone to ask for whenever they call who will know the history of their case and make it their own mission to ensure it is resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. Ensuring things like returning a call when promised and finding out all the information required are measures that can (and will) enhance the customer relationship and contribute heavily towards customer satisfaction/retention. Having a courtesy call as part of the process is also an excellent way of keeping in touch with the customer, making sure they are happy with the service they received and gauging whether or not they are likely use it again. This also builds trust and gives the customer faith in the customer services agent and the company, which in turn, will provide invaluable word of mouth marketing which nowadays, is one of the most popular means of building a business.

5 ways to build effective customer relationships: 1, Knowledgeable staff.

2, One point of contact.

3, Accurate and speedy

case resolution.

4, Do as you say you will.

5, Courtesy call after case

closed.

Customer Comment:

How nice to speak to a call centre that doesn’t feel like one, in the UK with a real person to get back to

- Quite rare now!!

Percepta is a global customer contact specialist talking to over 10 million people across the world on behalf of organisations

such as Jaguar, Land Rover, AGA Rangemaster, Automotive Associations, Helm, Volvo, Ford and Mazda. We partner with

you to build trust in your brand, through the contact we have with your customers, at every stage of the customer journey.

For further information on how we can support your contact centres call Greg Middleton on:

Office: +44 (0) 141 571 3400 or email: greg.middleton@percepta.com

What is the customer journey?

The customer journey consists of 5 stages: Awareness, Consideration, Acquisition, Usage and Retention. Each stage has

their own specific aim but to really improve loyalty to a brand, they must be managed consistently and collectively to make

sure the customer receives the same coherent messages from all parties involved.

To become an expert in the customer journey, processes and procedures need to be in place to successfully take the

customer through from Awareness to Retention. With all of the previously mentioned measures, the following deliverables

will become 2nd nature:

• effective marketing campaigns

• lead management programmes

• concern resolution initiatives

• information services

There are many more services that can be delivered for various industry sectors and by doing this, trust will be built in a

client’s brand with their customers satisfaction scores steadily increasing. In short, by achieving high satisfaction scores,

value will be added to the client’s brand and significant contributions to sales and profitability will be made.

Telephone Accessibility

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb MarActual Target

A team of Workforce Planning Administrators (WPA) also

needs to work behind the scenes, ensuring that enough

agents are available to customers throughout the working

day. Scheduling breaks, tracking call times, allowing after

call work to be completed and monitoring call volumes are

all actions that result in call queues decreasing dramatically

– which gets the customer experience off to a good start.

A crucial element of WPA is the scheduling of call backs.

Agents need to understand the very real link between

customer satisfaction and making the call back as promised.

By closely monitoring the historical call volumes, average

handling times, and accurately forecasting future volumes,

you can allow for this time in your headcount modelling. This

allows you to build a model allowing for a proportion of

agents being unavailable at any one time.

Can this be overcome (cont)?

The above comment is just an example of the type of impact you can have on a customer when conducting business in the

correct manner. It can be truly influential on their decision making when looking at re-purchasing and in some cases, you

could end up with a customer who doesn’t leave you in decades.

This all feeds into the customer journey, and whether or not they are a new or repeat customer should not determine the

way they are treated by an organisation i.e. their business should mean the same as anyone else’s.

Data collected from this work also allows for analysis of team/individual performances and assists in finding measures for

continuous improvement, keeping the role challenging for the agent and the customer happy with the service.