crm | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 2

Narrow Your Focus to Seek Excellence - 4/1/25


You’ve probably heard companies use phrases such as: “We want to go from being good to great.”  Maybe they’ve said: “We strive for perfection, and although we’ll never reach perfection, maybe we can achieve excellence along the way.” These organizations find some kind of a catch phrase or slogan, but Read more

Avoid the Unfriendly Ghost - 3/25/25


Last week we talked about the qualities of “PERKI Customer Service,” essentially what attitudes and actions are characteristics of those who provide great customer service.  This week, let’s take the opposite approach.  What are some of the mistakes that people make?  Maybe these are mistakes of omission or commission; Read more

PERKI Customer Service - 3/18/25


After having worked on hundreds of projects over the years with thousands of thousands of individuals, some things become pretty clear. There are certain traits held by people who are great in customer service.  Look at this list, and do a self-assessment.  Which apply to you? Positive and Patient Do you Read more

It Helps to Downshift - 3/11/25


One of the first tips I heard when I was learning how to drive related to what to do when the brakes fail - downshift.  Shifting into a lower gear can slow down a moving vehicle.  I would explain this in technical terms to you, but considering I’m not Read more

Patience is… - 3/4/25


Patience is a…pain in the neck.  Why is it so hard to be patient?  Those of us who work in customer service know that we constantly have to show patience with our customers.  We’re ready to move to the next step or the solution because we’ve heard this issue Read more

Everybody Doesn’t - 2/25/25


Joey received the compliment, but he was confused.  Paula, his boss, and Joey had their monthly one-on-one meeting, and Paula noted that, although he was new, Joey was already doing a great job!  While there were learning curves on some of the organizational policies and the technology that he Read more

A Simple Phrase to Transform Your Customer Feedback Approach - 2/18/25


I went to a restaurant called Big Ed’s (no relation) in Raleigh, NC recently.  It’s basically country cooking with fantastic breakfast options!  On the menu there was a quote that said: If you enjoyed your meal, tell a friend.  If not, please tell us. That was an excellent statement that embodies Read more

What Phones and Football Have in Common - 2/11/25


Congratulations!  You made it through weeks/months of hype for football’s Super Bowl!  You made it through hundreds of pregame shows and podcasts, endless debates on things endlessly inconsequential, 10 hours of pre-game shows on Sunday, what seems like 100 commercials designed specifically for the “Big Game,” and the longest Read more

Create Awareness of Alternatives - 2/4/25


Sandy was hungry, and she was on the move.  Driving between meetings, she saw the restaurant sign and pulled in.  The fast-food restaurant had two drive-thru lanes.  One was for any customer who wanted to place an order on the spot. The other was for mobile orders only.  The Read more

Listen with Your Eyes - 1/28/25


Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw the customer enter the lobby.  The customer was carrying a large shoulder bag with several papers in her hand.  The customer was shuffling the papers and looking down; then she stopped, looked up, and saw the staff navigator sitting at Read more

Customer Relationship Mismanagement

Posted on in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

A company was selling advertising space for a publication to be distributed to law firms across the region. Christine, the publisher’s sales representative, had left a message on my voice mail stating that she would e-mail details on pricing and distribution.

Later that day, I received an e-mail (from a generic e-mail address) with all the information that Christine had mentioned. Since our company has no law firms as clients and does not target that industry, we had no interest in buying ad space. So, I pleasantly responded to the e-mail that I was not interested.

About one week later, Christine called to remind me of the e-mail that her company had sent and to say that if I wanted to buy, I had to do it by the end of the day. My opinion of her company immediately plummeted. Why?

The concept of Customer Relationship Management has two core characteristics. The first is that any marketing or service contact to a client is customized based on that client’s unique interests and characteristics. The second is that multiple typically disparate functions (such as call centers, customer databases, e-mail applications, web sites, etc.) are all integrated so as to share access to this client information.

This company failed on both counts. First, they had no qualification of our interest in advertising. We’ve never worked with a lawyer or attempted to work with legal firms as clients. Second, their e-mail marketing system obviously didn’t feed information to their sales representatives since our response declining their offer never reached Christine.

This mismanagement of communications wasted my time in responding to two calls and one e-mail and wasted their time in first marketing to and then unnecessarily following up with a disinterested prospect. They lost credibility and created more work for themselves.

Think about how you manage communications and relationships with your customers FROM YOUR CUSTOMER’S PERSPECTIVE. Target and coordinate communications to reduce your workload and maintain corporate credibility.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

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