Managing existing customer relationship more effectively

Customer Service can make all the difference

In these tough times, a joined-up approach to customer service can make all the difference to a growing business.

The slippery customer
We’ve all experienced companies whose left hand seems blissfully unaware of what the right hand is doing – like the bank that badgers us to open an online account when we already have one, or the mail order firm that pitches a new product even though our last order never turned up.

New technology has created many more channels for businesses to reach their customers, but ironically this has added to the management problem. “While offering a range of channels may be seen as positive, if they remain siloed and not fully coordinated, they can have a negative impact on customer experience and ultimately on the organisation itself,” says Datamonitor analyst Amit Shah in a report on attracting and retaining customers in financial services.

It makes a business look amateurish, and today’s savvy consumers simply won’t stand for it. A couple of pub
conversations, five minutes on a comparison website, and hey presto: the careless operator has lost a valued
customer and alienated many others.

As well as the valued customer, what about the alternative: the customer who isn’t as valuable as the salesperson believes? What if his payments are six months in arrears and his credit suspended? Sales calls in these circumstances are at best a waste of time, at worst a risk of incurring bad debt. Lacking a joined-up picture of customers has knock-on effects for the good management and fiscal probity of any business.