Improve customer satisfaction by streamlining support practices
Updated: June 22, 2006
One way you can increase profitability is to grow your base of satisfied, repeat customers. The faster and more effective your customer service is, the happier your customers will be. A customer service solution can help consumer-driven businesses increase customer satisfaction by:
| • | Resolving customer questions and complaints faster. |
| • | Tracking customer support incidents until they are resolved. |
| • | Improving employee access to customer order histories and personal data. |
| • | Providing self-support options to customers. |
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The challenge
Midsize companies today must give their employees speedy and reliable access to customer information. That way, sales departments can keep better track of customer orders, and customer support representatives can resolve consumer complaints more quickly and effectively. However, in too many companies, sales orders and customer support requests are dropped because of inefficient tracking methods. Such oversights can result in dissatisfied customers and lost sales. To grow profits, businesses need an integrated software solution that streamlines customer care, makes customer account information readily accessible to customer service employees, and provides customers with self-support options.
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Business scenario | Tailspin Toys introduced a line of popular stunt kites three years ago, and business has flourished. To meet customer demands, the company tripled its sales force and customer service staff. When the company was smaller, it was easy to track the status of orders and handle customer inquiries. But now that the company has grown, employees must spend much more time locating and re-entering data in several unrelated databases that the sales and support departments maintain. As a result, sales orders are lost, customer questions and complaints take too long to resolve, and customers are frustrated with the poor service they receive. Tailspin Toys needs a technology solution that will make product information and customer account data immediately available to all employees who need it. The company must establish a standard for reliably tracking customer information, from initial contact through ordering, fulfillment, and after-sale support. In addition, Tailspin Toys wants to enable customers to check the status of their orders and to find answers to their product questions by using the company Web site. |
The solution
A solution based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM and integrated with Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server, and Microsoft SQL Server makes isolated customer information available to your entire organization.
Using Microsoft Dynamics CRM, your support team can find answers to customer questions faster, manage and track customer service requests until they are resolved, and automatically route service requests to the appropriate representative for action. Employees also can access Microsoft CRM from within familiar programs such as the Microsoft Outlook messaging and collaboration client and Microsoft Excel spreadsheet software. And Microsoft SQL Server enables managers to easily analyze customer support trends and develop better strategies for responding to customer needs in the future.
In addition, Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server enables your organization to store knowledge base articles about your products or sales policies in one location. Administrators then can grant employees in sales and customer support roles access to this company intranet. Using such a knowledge base, employees easily can search for the information they need to answer customer questions during support calls. Furthermore, you can use Microsoft SharePoint to create an external Web portal that your customers can access. Customers can use this Web site to check on the status of their order, verify that their payment has been received, and answer product questions through a searchable knowledge base.
An integrated customer service solution can provide your company with the following benefits:
| • | More responsive customer service. Give your support staff instant access to the product and customer information they need to efficiently resolve customer issues and complaints. |
| • | Streamlined customer support processes. Route service requests to the appropriate customer representative more quickly, simplify follow-up with customers who make support requests, and automate responses to customer e-mail as appropriate. |
| • | Customer self-help resources. Create an extranet that lets your customers access information about their account, find answers to frequently asked questions, and give feedback to your company. |
Next steps: Set up an integrated CRM solution
