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Customers to the Core: Tactics for Successful Service (2 of 5)

Overcoming CRM Myths

With strong financial and logical evidence, it would seem that businesses are well on their way toward developing customer service strategies. Certainly, it's clear that the investment in an eCRM solution or live chat software would be recovered over time, right? Surprisingly, that hasn't been the case.

The first big myth of CRM is that it's just not worth it. Unfortunately, the ROI calculations that resulted in such conclusions often focus on cost savings rather than on customer satisfaction. Instead of taking a long-term view of the customer relationship, the decisions are driven by 90-day Wall Street reporting cycles. In fact, many companies have calculated-often with great precision-the lowest level of service their customers will tolerate before switching brands. Yet, it has been widely reported that companies focusing on customer satisfaction over cost savings reach profitability earlier. Still these companies have few options since they're responsible to shareholders who have yet to embrace large investments in customer service over short-term gains.

Redundant spending also weakens the recovery of investment on eCRM and other customer service software. In other words, disparate corporate goals and separate business units have led companies to invest in technology solutions that have failed to deliver a unified customer experience. For instance, how often have you contacted a customer service department via telephone and dialed-in your account number, only to be routed to a representative who asks you to provide the information again? Redundant spending, notes Jupiter, will cost Global 2000 companies between three and four billion dollars over the next two years.

Putting the financials aside for a moment, perhaps the greatest misconception is that a live support chat, email trouble ticket system, or eCRM technology is enough to successfully serve and retain customers. In reality, CRM solutions can only be truly effective if they are implemented across all channels, not just the Internet.

There are three components at the core of a solid customer service strategy. In addition to technology and infrastructure, a customer-centered business must also make use of all their collected information and feedback to refine their products and services to meet the customers' needs. Likewise, successful businesses must make changes internally in order to build an organizational structure where the focus is the customer experience.

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