The process of managing customer relationships becomes easier as each point of contact is successfully negotiated and resolved. As this relationship develops and is effectively nurtured, for private organizations, it not only ensures continued customer satisfaction, but enhances opportunities for increased sales. Such close and effective customer relationships enable an organization to achieve its goals, whether they be profit-led in the private sector or service-led in the public sector.

• Organizations must establish clear processes for accessing and making available the information or resources that will enable customer queries to be resolved satisfactorily. Without this ability, organizations have no strong basis for creating, maintaining and improving the relationships that support stronger business or service

   

• Organizations need to ensure that their back office systems are linked through a common interface. If the initial point of contact at the organization cannot resolve the query, they need to be able to easily access the information from other sources or access other information holders who may be distributed throughout the organization

   

• Organizations need to make information available in the most convenient form to customers or citizens. Contact may have been established for as simple a reason as to find a postal address. This may have been made available on a website, making web self-help the most effective way of maintaining the relationship.

   

Should a private sector organization fail to form close relationships with its customers, it will limit its ability to provide an effective service, attract new customers and retain existing ones. A public sector organization must have similar relationships in place to ensure regulatory compliance and deliver effective services to the community.

2. Exceeding great expectations
“70 per cent of customer decision-making is based on how we interact with the company and only 30 per cent on the product itself," (Call Centre Focus, Sept 04).

Organizations invest huge resource in branding and marketing activity to create a positive reputation with which to attract and retain customers. If a customer’s interaction experience fails to live up to the expectations created through marketing, the organization is effectively wasting this investment and actually damaging its reputation.

Therefore, every point of contact into an organization is an opportunity to either delight or disappoint a customer. It is also an opportunity to maintain and build on the positive reputation developed through other activities.

• Organizations must provide personable and effective first impressions so that they can positively manage customer expectations. They must therefore ensure that they give customers access to the appropriate personnel. Technology has a key part to play since reliable communications networks will be instrumental in ensuring organizations deliver the levels of service their customers demand

   

• Organizations need to understand the scope of tools they use to communicate with customers. Every single one is as important as the next in terms of delivering consistency, convenience, resolution and satisfaction. Organizations need to identify a partner that will provide direction as to how to combine these tools to the best effect in meeting customer expectations.

   

Failure to meet the expectations of a customer quickly and accurately will rapidly damage the relationship and reputation that has been previously established. Clear processes and policies, as well as cohesive communication tools will enable every point of contact into an organization to be easily and professionally managed.

3. Presenting an efficient, unified and professional organization
“… many enterprise employees are disconnected from the company information systems for long periods of time. They cannot communicate business critical information promptly, or react to changing business priorities quickly” (Gartner, 2002).

“Terabytes of data course through organizations today, but not enough of it is actually being used to create, enhance, and sustain customer relationships and to create business value,” (Jeanne Harris, Accenture - Point of View, Turning customer transaction data into business results).

Organizations cannot afford to appear fragmented and disorganized to customers. The perception is that only unified, professional and competent organizations will deliver an effective service to both current and potential customers. Interaction with customers is no longer as simple as a call being fielded at reception or a call centre.

Silos of information exist within the knowledge workers employed by that organization. The challenge of presenting this unified, professional persona is now founded in the ability to make these knowledge workers available to customers, wherever they may be, but at a mutually convenient time.

• Organizations must route customers to the appropriate person first time. The integration of a presence capability into an organization’s network and applications provides a clear path to identifying the availability of the right resource to deal with each enquiry

   

• Organizations must provide customers with the relevant information they need. The integration of back office systems to a common interface used by those fielding customer queries is essential. This enables the necessary information to be at hand, wherever it is sited

   

• Organizations must take more responsibility for the experience their customers receive and continue to look for ways in which it can be improved. Technology is an enabler for delivering these improvements, but organizations need to partner with vendors that can take on this technology management. This enables the organization to continue to focus on its core capabilities - which is unlikely to be technology.

   

Fragmented and disorganized communications with customers will undoubtedly lead to frustration and dissatisfaction. Organizations must demonstrate that they have joined up their processes and policies, networks and applications to effectively manage every point of customer contact.

4. The need is for speed!
“… Customers want things yesterday. Modern technology has made it possible for them to buy products and services faster than ever before. And they're getting used to it.” (Gartner, 2003).

The speed with which an organization deals with customer contact is key, but not king. Customers want quick resolution to their queries, but more so accurate resolution. This need for speed touches on all of the elements already identified

• organizations must deliver a fast, personable service to its customers whether talking over the phone or providing the relevant information on the company website for customers to access

   

• Organizations must be flexible to their customers’ needs. They must be capable of reacting to any request, however unusual, and have the appropriate process in place to be able to deal with it quickly and effectively.

   

Organizations need to strive for speed, but not at the expense of comprehensively resolving customer queries or managing customer contact. The requirement ultimately is for convenience, accuracy and speed – a challenge that can be met by working with the right partner.

5. The human touch
Technology and processes contribute significantly to establishing an effective customer interaction strategy, but the personal element is often overlooked to the detriment of the organization!

• Organizations must ensure that key assets, contact centre staff, are motivated, enthused, and productive and can see a clear career development path. Failure to make this consideration will lead to a poor perception of the organization being portrayed by agents.

   

• Organizations need to ensure that skills levels are maintained and that variety is a key consideration for its agents. The delivery of effective communications and training plans engenders a supportive culture and ensures that agents realize their impact on the business.

   

Unless regular analysis of contact centre structure, transactions and call patterns is undertaken, as well as the encouragement of information exchange, an organization will fail to retain skilled agents in its business. A constant churn of staff in contact centers will inevitably result in a lessened quality of service and poor customer satisfaction.

6. Growing revenue, not overheads
Contact centers, in many instances, are viewed as a necessary overhead in the pursuit of customer satisfaction, rather than an opportunity to identify cross selling opportunities.

• Organizations must seek to maximize the investment they make in contact centers by ensuring that they are not simply used for fielding incoming queries. Revenue growth driven by opportunities to cross-sell at appropriate times, by informed and trained staff, is essential

   

• Organizations must work to develop their ability to predict customer behavior in order to drive profitable opportunities. Failure to embrace such a culture will result in a contact centre not fulfilling its real potential

   

• Organizations need to develop a holistic view of their business, and regularly communicate that view, to enable agents to improve profitable opportunities at each transaction. This requires systems and processes to be in place to ensure that agents have access to the product knowledge, or product experts, to create additional revenue.

   

A new outlook or approach to the use of contact centers, and new regularly updated skills for agents, can turn a cost centre into a profit centre. Organizations need to change how they look at their contact centers, to ensure that they create the ultimate experience for customer delight.