customer relationship management | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 3

Address the Expectations that Were Set - 8/26/25


Before the caller ever got to Marco – the customer service representative, the customer had been working with the company for months.  They had read the marketing brochures, had a conversation with a sales rep, reviewed the new customer information on the website, and read all the information e-mailed Read more

When Technology Fails the Customer - 8/19/25


Technology is a wonderful thing…until it isn’t.  The website is down, the mobile app won’t work, the system keeps kicking them out of their account, or they received a spoofing phone call supposedly from your department. If you’ve ever been manning the phones or managing the department inbox, you know Read more

The Misunderstood Physician - 8/12/25


I was speaking with one of my personal physicians years ago, and when we were talking about my work – particularly customer satisfaction research - he started talking about online physician ratings.  He lamented that a few low ratings were dinging his overall score.  Then he shared that the Read more

Uncover Silent Concerns - 8/5/25


One of the customer service statistics we have quoted many times over the years is:  For every complaint you do hear, there could be 26 other customer issues that you don’t hear. And when we bring up that statistic, we bring it up because we want to make sure companies Read more

Talk Yourself Up to Take Down Their Anxiety - 7/29/25


I believe that most customer service people are pretty humble, so I’m not asking you to lose your humility.  But I do have one ask of you… When that customer is anxious or nervous, when they fear the future because the future is unknown or it could be laced with Read more

Use Little Acts to Make a Big Impact - 7/22/25


A WOW Experience is not always one instance, one act that blows away the customer.  It’s not always an over-the-top-the-employee-saved-the-day act of brilliance.  Sometimes a WOW is the sum total of a series of little things that others don’t do – those actions that differentiate you from others.  The Read more

Avoid Some Stress by Addressing Issues Quickly - 7/15/25


It’s good customer service to resolve issues quickly.  The customer sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  They more quickly bring their anxiety and stress, their negative emotions down.  And they more quickly get to a solution. But this tip is not about them.  This tip is about Read more

Better Customer Service through Better Teamwork - 7/8/25


We spend so much time talking about what great customer service looks like in those 1-on-1 Moments of Truth, that we often neglect to discuss what goes on inside the company that leads to those great moments.  We’ve talked about customer handoffs within an organization, but what does a Read more

Highlight the Hidden Value - 7/1/25


Marketing campaigns often highlight a particular product and ALL the features and extras that the customer will receive… “For 3 low, low payments of only $39.99, you not only get these world-renowned chef knives, but you can also get this free laser-etched spatula!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  We will also Read more

Don’t Harp on the Customer’s Mistake - 6/24/25


Seth’s daughter, Sarah, had missed some swim classes, and Seth remembered that the aquatics center had several make-up classes available late in the summer.  So Seth pulled up the class schedule on his phone, found one that worked on his and Sarah’s schedules, and planned to attend a session 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/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


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