CRM Software: Tracking Complaints and Creating Great Customer Service

Many successful companies are changing the way they approach customer service. By using technology as a customer relationship management solution, they can keep track of every touch point with their customers and make it available throughout the organization. Beyond the traditional use of CRM software for sales and marketing, many companies are integrating their customer service processes to gain a competitive advantage. Customer needs are at the core of any business that wants to differentiate itself and increase revenue and profit. Satisfied customers have a level of credibility far beyond what your sales and marketing strategies can deliver. As such, it is not just the quality of the product or service initially purchased that influences them, it is the after-sales service with care and attention to detail that sets one apart from the other.

Even the best products and services have problems from time to time. How you handle those issues or complaints will determine whether your customer will continue to do business with you and how they will talk about your products and brand in your marketplace. Maintaining a repository of all your customer interactions, including sales, marketing, and customer service, will help your staff get a more complete historical picture of all the business you do with each customer.

Complaint tracking has been used for some time to improve quality. Companies with a good historical perspective on their products and services can make effective changes based on available data and trends. However, today speedy resolution of complaints is critical and having a track record of issues and resolution allows customer support staff to fix the issue immediately or pass it on to the appropriate people. At all times, the customer can be aware of the status, as well as the right people in their business.

The key areas to focus on doing the right thing are:

• Record each case

Customer contact history is important; they will remember it and you should be aware of it. History is the catalyst for change, whether in products or processes. To improve the quality of your offer, you’ll have the facts at hand to make a balanced judgment of what changes should be made, how quickly, and the cost of not doing so.

• Track/monitor complaints

Record each time your customer contacts you about each issue, as it is a true indication of the level of pain your customer is in if you can’t resolve it quickly. Your customer’s urgency may match the time and resources you need to resolve the issue.

• Escalate cases effectively

If a problem cannot be resolved immediately, escalation procedures must be put in place that quickly provide an answer or a path to resolution. In this case, your internal processes must be well defined and automated through the system. Situation monitoring and additional automatic escalation keep problem resolution in focus. Right where your customers want you to be.

• Provide resolutions quickly

Having a problem is an inconvenience to both you and your customer. However, the speed with which you solve a problem, your understanding of the effect this has can often influence the perception of your products and brand for each customer. They will talk about how quickly you respond and solve problems and this has a very positive effect.

Your customers’ increased use of technology can also affect you dramatically if you can’t make customer service work effectively. With the increasing use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and online review portals, your brand can quickly take a beating and be seen by anyone doing research on the internet. Customers will no longer write to you complaining about the lack of service, they will write to everyone electronically and it is almost impossible to stop them. At the same time, excellent customer service that is attentive to the needs of your customers and is accompanied by quick responses and quick resolution can have a positive impact on your business.

Using your CRM software, whether it’s an in-house or web-based CRM software solution, in a more versatile and flexible way can easily increase your ROI. More importantly, it gives your people and your organization a level of business intelligence that hasn’t been available in the past. Now CRM is not just the repository of your customer details and history, it not only gives you the ability to forecast sales, but also gives you a clear indication of the quality of your products and the value they have for your customers. .