Always exceed customer expectations Max Effgen, April 1, 2009 One of the biggest challenges for sales and service is customer expectations. The needs, wants, and preconceived ideas that a customer has for your product can skew the service experience. These days a disappointed customer can put a poor service experience out to the world instantaneously. Customer expectations start with… Continue Reading
Ten Service Myths Max Effgen, April 1, 2009 Another useful post from Destination CRM Blog. 10 Service Myths 1. Always exceed customer expectations. 2. If you answer the phone the quickest, that alone is the key to success. 3. People always prefer talking to people. 4. The customer is always right. 5. If complaints are down, customer service… Continue Reading
Keep It Simple… Max Effgen, March 29, 2009 Sales usage and/ or compliance of a CRM system can vary widely for many reasons. Some sales talent believe that they personally own the account contacts and are a conduit to the relationship. Some posture and pontificate on compliance and then do not lead by example. Some just don’t like… Continue Reading
Sales Pipeline process changes… Max Effgen, March 22, 2009 In my experience, pipeline/forecast is one area of a CRM system that seems to change frequently. I have seen this both from the consulting side and as a user. Not going to comment on whether it is right or wrong, just that it happens, often, as a matter of fact… Continue Reading
It is not about the technology… Max Effgen, March 20, 2009 Customers Want Productivity, Not Products Solid article by Jessica Tsai detailing the recent Microsoft Convergence conference. I have always has success tying productivity solutions to technology, so that customers are now vocalizing this need does not come as a surprise. Continue Reading
Integration requirements for CRM, CTI Max Effgen, March 16, 2009 CTI integration with CRM systems is typically limited to Sales and Support offerings. Since phone systems change less often than other pieces of technology, these integrations have been “set and forget” when properly scoped. I have clients that have not touched the CTI integrations of deployments ever. These integrations are… Continue Reading
Doing more with less Max Effgen, March 12, 2009 Increases in customers means increases in customer support. An effective tactic when starting a self-service initiative is to reassure Customer Support that the organization has to do more with less. Not less people, more support with the same number of people. During the bubble, it was because businesses would not… Continue Reading
More on Self-Service Max Effgen, March 11, 2009 If there is one constant driver for customer service, it is contact reduction. Every customer service group wants less contacts. Rarely is the solution obvious and customer service representatives (CSR) in good times and bad always seem fearful of their jobs. The idea or notion of self-service to improve the… Continue Reading
Self-Service Success? Max Effgen, March 11, 2009 Many years ago, a client had recently deployed a self-service initiative that was hearlded as a great success. The project that I was working on was going to be held to that standard. I decided that I need to talk to a few CSRs at the client to understand what… Continue Reading
Self-Serivce Max Effgen, March 9, 2009 Growth Through Self-Service Online self-service portals can become high-performance growth engines amid challenging economic times. This post on self-service in CRM has me reflecting on my past experiences with self-service. Too much for a single post, so this week will be dedicated to CRM self-service opportunities and challenges. Continue Reading