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Top 6 ways to Net customer satisfaction
By Pat Curry Bankrate.com
Chances are, you've heard the term Customer
Relationship Management -- CRM for short. What it means is that
you run your company so that everything is focused on keeping your
customers happy.
CRM can save a company significant amounts of
money because it costs less to sell to existing customers than to
new ones -- and they become your best advertising. AMR Research,
a major research and analysis firm, talks about CRM as a tool that
has to be "woven into the fabric of a company's business strategy,
not bolted onto it."
Big companies can spend more than $1 million
a year on CRM consultants and technology. That makes this critical
business function sound complex and expensive -- but it doesn't
have to be.
The heart of CRM is people and strategy, so
it's not surprising that many of the most valuable tools are policies
and procedures and common technology you use every day. Just like
any tools, they can be extraordinarily useful or gather dust in
the box, depending on how well the user understands their purpose.
We combed the Web, read the research and talked
to experts to create a Top 5 list of CRM tools for small business.
Wait a second. On second thought, in the spirit
of keeping our customers happy, we'll add one more as a bonus and
make it a Top 6:
- E-mail: This
topped every expert's list, with some very strong caveats. Internet
pioneer Leland Harden says, "E-mail is like a tactical nuclear
weapon. In the wrong hands, it can be catastrophic." With the
tool comes an expectation from customers that you'll respond quickly,
and the current standard is a response within two to three hours.
That doesn't mean you have to find the answer to the customer's
question or resolve his complaint in that amount of time; it's
just a simple acknowledgment that his message was received and
you're working on getting an answer. For a great discussion of
how to make e-mail work for you, read Chris McLean's excellent
article, 'Use
E-Mail as a Tool to Build Customer Loyalty.'
- A cross-channel database
to track customer behavior, preferences and value over time:
You can't build a relationship with your customers if you don't
know who they are. Every time a customer makes contact with your
company (it's called a touch point), there should be a record
of it. That builds a history to help you serve him better -- and
helps you see who your most valuable customers are. For instance,
a customer calls with a complaint and he's seething. You can instantly
see that he's called three times about the same situation, and
you can see that he's made several purchases from you in the past
and has a big order ready to ship. This is critical information
to help you resolve his complaint and offer him something extra,
like free shipping on that pending order and a discount on the
next one to retain his business. Some of the most commonly used
software suites for small and mid-sized companies are ACT!, SalesLogix,
Goldmine, Upshot.com, Firstwave and Salesforce.com. For an extensive
list, visit Softscout.com
and go to CRM products.
- A strong privacy policy:
The more you know about your customers, the better you can serve
them. Most customers will share personal information if it will
make their life easier. For example, they'll tell you the names
and birthdays of their family members and friends to get advance
reminders to send them cards or gifts. But customers won't tell
you anything just so you can make more money off them. Whether
your business is a pure-play Internet company or a bricks-and-mortar
business with just an e-mail address, your customer information
should be protected like the crown jewels. "We talk about personalization
in terms of the technology; there's a lot more attached to it,"
says Rob Roberts, president and CEO of Vacation Coach, a vacation
planning site that asks its users for very detailed information
about their vacation likes and dislikes. "There is a trust issue
between consumers and business. It really kind of catches fire
when you start talking about wanting their age." His advice --
only ask for information you need to better serve your customers
and don't even think about selling it to someone else.
- Error logs/site navigation
analysis tools: If you're doing business in the Internet,
your Web site is your store. Customers who can't find what they're
looking for will leave. You need to know why. Any ISP will provide
you with error logs. They hold a wealth of information in helping
you understand where your customers had problems. Use them to
fix problems on the site. Site navigation analysis tools can show
you how customers are using the site, so you can see which pages
are most popular and which ones aren't. Free services such as
Web
Garage will crawl around your site and find broken links that
may be costing you sales and customer satisfaction.
- Alternate methods of
contact: One of the early lessons learned by traditional
businesses trying to expand into cyberspace was that you need
to communicate with customers in the ways they prefer. If you
want to drive your customers nuts, give them one way to get in
touch with you. Make them hunt your Web site for your address
and phone number, or better yet, leave those items off the site
completely. Remember, not every question is answered in an FAQ
and sometimes an answer can't wait for an e-mail response. Maybe
they don't want to use a credit card and they need to send you
a check. You don't have to invest in expensive options such as
live chat customer service; a toll-free number is enough to make
most folks happy. Give your customers options to contact you in
whatever way is most agreeable to them.
- BONUS
Surveys: Would you like to
know what your customers think of your company, and how you can
serve them better? Ask them. E-mail and on-site surveys are easy,
cost-effective tools for finding out how well you're doing of
meeting your customers needs and expectations. Make sure they're
designed for action and results and thank your customers graciously
for taking the time to help you out. Consider offering incentives,
such as gift certificates or access to the survey results. Some
easy-to-use survey tools include SurveySolutions,
Insight
Expressand Remark
Web Survey. For more information on surveys, take a look at
Surveying
101 and Seven
Steps to a Successful Web Survey.
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