Key tips: leverage CRM to enhance customer service

In previous posts, we have discussed the many ways in which Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can benefit sales executives by helping to track customers and managing the pipeline easier.

While CRM is a great tool for sales management your customer service team could find the system the same beneficial. Recent research* has shown that ninety-seven percent of companies experienced benefits from customer service automation. Businesses report increased service agent productivity and reduced administrative overhead as the primary benefits from customer service automation while the secondary benefits included increased sales productivity and decreased customer churn.

Below are some ideas for utilizing your CRM software to build better customer experience:

• It is important to identify your best customers. But first, you need to decide what your definition of “best” is. Is it the customers you think will stay with you the longest, the customers spending the most money today, the ones who will make the most referrals, or is it simply the largest company you work with? Once you know what “best” means to you, you can develop a strategy for strengthening those relationships.
• Leverage CRM capabilities to automate routine, time consuming tasks and free the time of your customer service team for the actual work with clients. When key procedures are automated, your team will not even have to think about what steps to make next.
• Use CRM and in-build workflow management tools to streamline internal communications. The usage of automated processes will ensure that all departments are coordinated, help and complement one another, thus maximizing service delivery speed.
• Educate your employees and change their focus. It’s important for everyone in your company to be on board with the use of the CRM software and understand your company is going to prioritize taking care of customers above the daily sale of products and services, and that doing so will increase business in the long run.

When combined with the strengths of your employees, the use of CRM software will ultimately make your customers feel valued and increase their loyalty to your company.

*According to 2013 CRM Benchmark Report by Nucleus Research.