In today’s increasingly uncertain business world, nothing is more valuable than a strong foundation of satisfied and reliable customers.
Even though these clients, subscribers, and buyers believe in your products and services, their loyalty isn’t necessarily unconditional. In exchange for their business, they expect a high level of customer support. When they need help with something they bought from your company, they expect it to be treated as a top priority.
While these customers deserve an exceptional customer support experience, it isn’t always easy to achieve—particularly at scale. So how can a growing business with tens of thousands of customers consistently deliver a great one-on-one customer support experience? The answer may surprise you.
Delivering a great experience is really a matter of managing the customer relationship. And customer relationship management (CRM) software was designed to handle that job.
Let’s look at three ways CRM technology can create a powerful customer support experience:
-
CRM as a customer service platform
A surprising number of managers and executives don’t realize that CRM technology has applications outside of sales. They never realize the same CRM almost certainly powers their customer service operations. This capability gives customer support CRMs a powerful advantage, as they have access to a wealth of efficiency-boosting integrations.
-
Fully integrated customer support
Many large B2B companies have both a dedicated CRM platform for sales and customer service and a standalone enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform for needs like inventory and accounting. When your customers have questions they need answered or problems they need solved, they don’t care which system you have to access. They want help right now, and every moment they wait burns away a little of their loyalty to your company.
By connecting those systems together, it’s much easier to quickly answer even the trickiest customer questions. All you need is a CRM-based integration tool that can pull data from an ERP—or other database-driven system—and display it on the customer service rep’s screen. These connections can even be two-way, which allow service reps to update customer data as needed.
Want to learn more? Check out our Bridge for Sugar® product page.
-
Great customer communication on every channel
Chances are that your customers hate making phone calls just as much as you do. They may not want to wait on hold for 15 minutes to ask a simple question, especially when they can just write a quick email—or even send a text—to your support staff. So they definitely won’t want to wait hours for a reply. To keep these customers engaged, satisfied, and loyal, your customer support staff needs to have the ability to quickly respond across every available channel.
There’s no reason you can’t accommodate a customer who wants to contact support via SMS, Slack, or another platform. On a technical level, connecting your CRM to almost any communication application programming interface (API) is relatively straightforward. You can even give customers direct access to their own data (e.g., purchase history, contracts, and support status) through a dedicated web portal. You have limitless options.
This next-level customer support is hard to beat, and it can become a major selling point for new clients.
Conclusion
It’s hard to remember a more uncertain time in the business world. In today’s unpredictable economy, every customer counts.
Of course, keeping your current customers satisfied has always been a high priority. But as you navigate the stormy months ahead, it will become an increasingly essential part of your company’s survival strategy. Remember, delivering outstanding customer support is a key component of an exceptional customer experience, and it will empower your business to keep thriving.
To learn more about the ways Faye can help your company build a strong customer experience, contact us today for a free consultation.
SugarCRM is one of the most powerful customer relationship management platforms available. To get the best performance, the way companies Read more
Today’s CRMs offer far more than contact storage. An optimized CRM can help you understand customer behavior in real time, Read more
Some companies deliver projects. We build partnerships and relationships. At Faye, we've discovered something that separates the good from the Read more
Business professionals working together in a diverse coworking office. They are focused on their laptops, collaborating and demonstrating teamwork. A Read more