Integrating Customer Service with Technology

Technologically based companies need to look a hard look at the products and services offered to customers.  Innovation needs to go hand-in-hand with customers’ desires and benefits of product use. Customers do not buy products or services, they buy solutions to their problems. 

There is a customer revolution going on today.  Customers are insisting on getting what they paid for in a solution.  Businesses are challenged to meet today’s customer fully prepared to provide the highest standards of service.  Trying to compete solely on the basis of product or price is insufficient.  The key is service – by providing attention to the customer, an organization’s performance is the competitive edge.

The customer plays a crucial role when a product is designed.  Adequate requirements must be conducted before the design and coding begin on any project.  Once a prototype is established, Usability Testing is critical in product development.  When Usability Testing captures customer input, it is possible to design a product that meets customer needs.  Comments from customers included in product design make the customer felt heard and the product is developed according to what the customer will buy.  Without customers, the company you are building won’t exist for long.

Internal Support for those on the front lines

While many companies say that they desire customer satisfaction, few deliver because of the way they treat the people who hold the frontline service jobs.  Many companies treat those who fill the customer services roles with the following attitudes:

These assumptions are simply wrong.  Those in customer service are the heroes of business by ensuring customer satisfaction.  How can these people do their best work to improve customer relations when they are not valued inside the company?  When the Customer Services Department raises issues, they need supportive management who are not threatened by figuring out solutions to customer needs and who support the employees for uncovering issues which can be used to improve client relations.

As Gordon Bethune of Continental Airlines put it, “You don’t have to beat the horse to run faster.  Sometimes he actually accelerates if you stop whipping him.  We quit whipping the horse and things improved.”

Here are some steps to improve relations internally:

So, what do you need to look for in hiring Customer Service representatives?  Writing a careful, well thought out job description will help identify and locate the best employees.  Knowledge, skills, abilities and experience are included in the job description.  Problem solving abilities, high energy level, detail focused attitudes and a strong work ethic should be the areas the employee excels in when dealing with customers.  Usually Customer Services employees are motivated, have high standards and a customer-focused attitude when backed by the company.

What the company provides to them is a customer orientation, knowledge of the product,  how to resolve the issues and who to contact for help when the customer is asking for assistance beyond the scope of what can be provided through the Customer Service Department. The Human Resources department should have in place elements which address:  compensation, selection, orientation, induction, training, establishing a standard of performance, setting goals and objectives, performance coaching, progress reviews, performance appraisals, employee development, planned advancement and job postings.

In evaluating the performance of customer services reps, the organization must have clear customer goals and these goals need to be communicated to the reps.  All the assistance they need from other areas of the company must support them in carrying out the company mission.  It never hurts to ask employees what they need in order to make them successful.  In that way, all areas of the company can rally behind the customer service team to give them what they need to fulfill customer needs. 

External Support to keep the customer satisfied

Trust is the fundamental requirement for building long-term relationships with customers.  The company must trust the customer first, in order to have the customer trust the company. Customer trust develops when they can talk with a Customer Services Representatives who listens and acknowledges their issues and then takes responsibility to resolve their concerns. You must treat the customer as if they will buy from you for a lifetime.  If they are satisfied with the product and the service they receive, there will be no reason for them to purchase elsewhere.

To ensure that customers are treated in the right way from the start, ensure that you do the following:

Think about adding extra value in the delivery of service.  This means going the extra mile for your customer.  This does not mean delivering the product on time and feeling good about accepting complaints and returns for products.  It means providing an unconditional service guarantee and if time falls short in the process, figuring out what to do to keep the customer satisfied.

Some of the most successful companies use this service driven strategy.  Companies such as Nordstrom, American Express, L.L. Bean and McDonalds are examples of organizations that devote time and attention to customer service.  In contrast, have you ever had questions on a Microsoft product?  After going through voice mail menu trees or communicating via email, the response is often delayed and impersonal.  The customer does not feel valued.  No matter how good the product is, when the customer is not listened to, frustration and irritation develop. Microsoft is an example of technology driven strategy that is not backed up with customer service.

A customer-driven strategy incorporates quality and service .  Customers are brought into every area of the company so that they are heard and their comments acted upon in service delivery.  How many customers has your organization heard from in the past year to better design products?  Are the internal processes within your organization designed to coordinate sales, accounting, development, implementation and roll out to the customer so that they are satisfied with your solution?  Leading companies have seen the correlations between worker satisfaction and customer satisfaction.

Quality does not just imply that the Quality Assurance and Testing Departments adequately test the product.  It means defining the cycle of quality and how to implement it within the organization.  Quality allows a way for you to differentiate from your competitors in the marketing of your product.  Quality allows for productivity gains, which translates into pricing.  The customer will buy based on value.  The value is equal to quality and price perception.  Quality is based on all attributes unrelated to price such as the product solution and customer service. 

One way to determine whether your Customer Service Department is functioning correctly is to examine the type of communications. As Don Fites of Catepillar put its, 

“First of all, you have to get the right organization in place.  You can have a wonderful culture, and you can pay people very well, but if you have an organization that by its very nature generates a lot of internal – as opposed to external – activity, if you find yourself writing a lot of letters to people in the company, there’s something wrong.  You ought to be focused outwardly.”

In summary