With the advent of e-commerce, companies are creating faster, easier methods of conducting business, with fewer overheads. However, with technology advances, customer service is instrumental in forging relationships with clients and ensuring that they do not change focus to competitors. Workflow, an element that is key to the process of customer relationship management, is the basis for creating instant information at one`s fingertips - the crux of customer service.
This is the word from Staffware managing director, Mark Ehmke, who says that Web portals, call centres and customer relationship strategies are employed to improve service levels, yet if front-end systems are not linked to the back-office, they are rendered ineffective.
"A seamless interface is required between a company`s delivery channels and other areas of the system architecture, which will allow customer service representatives access to business intelligence. Together with automatically routing tasks to the relevant person, a higher level of customer service can be achieved. This is what workflow software should strive to attain," says Ehmke.
There are a number of issues that customers require their suppliers to address, which impact on workflow solutions.
A single point of contact - when a customer contacts a company, they want to be able to address all of their immediate needs through a single point of contact.
Knowledgeable - intimate knowledge of the client is required, including existing transactions, preferences, their needs and those that the client may not be aware of.
Convenience - to be able to contact a product or service provider any time, any place, anywhere, regardless of how and when they choose.
Track progress- all requests to be quickly and effectively managed, tracked and fulfilled from end to end. Customers expect their supplier to be proactive, not reactive.
All of these concerns are relevant to companies when choosing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution.
"Faced with the choice of CRM solutions in the market, many companies do not realise that only 7% of all CRM applications installed are integrated to the back office into the web site and ordering systems," says Ehmke.
"Often the cost of customisation to these systems cannot be justified and according to a survey conducted by Ernst and Young, up to 80% could not be warranted on the business benefits. This is directly linked to the absence of workflow capabilities in CRM solutions.
"When customers` queries and requests are dealt with efficiently, and service levels improved, the chances are that they will stick with one supplier. Workflow ensures that customers are not lost to competitors and a consistent customer experience is provided."
Share
Editorial contacts