Your team makes or breaks your customer service quality

The ultimate goal of a CRM strategy is in the delivery of exceptional customer service. Good is no longer good enough and to set ourselves apart from the competition we must go further than great products at realistic prices. Our customers will remain loyal to us if the entire experience of buying from us is seamless.

An organisation can spend much time and effort in defining their customer service strategy, ensuring that the technology is in place to enable them to achieve these goals, and creating a blueprint for their customers’ journey - but if the employees of that organisation are not 100% behind the strategy then that strategy will never deliver exceptional customer service.

In most organisations it is fair to say that the most junior, least well paid and probably lowest on the org chart are often those people that first come into contact with our potential and existing customers: they answer the phones, manage the sales administration, email enquiries and are responsible for sending out the marketing materials to prospective customers. And yet they often aren't included in any of the planning and thought processes in putting a strategy together.

In my experience, taking the time to explain the CRM strategy in practical terms to ALL members of your team is just the first step in gaining their enthusiasm and motivation to make it happen. If a person is told to do something, they will probably do it. But explain to them WHY they are doing it, how it helps both them personally and their employer as a whole, and they gain belief in the value of doing it.

Give them an opportunity to contribute their thoughts and ideas on how to do those tasks more efficiently, effectively, or quickly - during the planning stages - not only shows that the organisation values their experience and ideas, but also gives them a personal stake in the success of the strategy - a responsibility to ensure it delivers.

Customer service enquiries are just one aspect of how your team can make the difference. This is a great example of ‘going the extra mile’ which I saw in an article from BusinessInsider.com

A customer asked a few simple questions to the customer service folks at online retailer Wayfair: “Do I really need both a blender and a food processor, what is the difference? Can I put everything in a blender?”

If only everyone on the other side of the customer service line was like the guy who responded to him:

Thanks for contacting Wayfair. I’d be happy to help you with your question about blenders and food processors.

What’s the difference between a blender and food processor or are they the same type of appliance? Can you use a blender the same as you would use a food processor?

Answer: While they do have some similarities and there are combination blender/processor units on the market, a blender and food processor are two distinct counter appliances. A blender’s main function is to blend or mix soft foods and liquids, while a food processor’s is to chop, shred, grate, slice or mix either soft or hard foods. The narrow shape of the blender and the design of the blade make it more suitable for blending soft foods and liquids. But, depending on the blade and power, there are some blenders that can crush or shave ice to blend it into frozen drinks. A food processor has a wider work bowl and very sharp blade designed more for chopping foods, and can usually perform various other processing tasks depending on the types of accessories (slicing/shredding disks) that are included with the unit. However, there are some blenders that are designed with a unique blade for both blending and chopping, and there are immersion-type stick blenders that have convenient chopper attachments.

To make a long story short, it depends on what you are using it for. Sometimes a blender works fine for everything you want. See the many selections we have at:

Blenders and Food processors.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns! You can reach me by responding directly to this e-mail. Thank you for shopping with Wayfair.

Cheers,
Roger S.

It doesn't get more detailed than that. This rep devoted a few minutes to a simple question, and delivered a well thought out near-academic lecture on the topic.

Refreshing, for once. And a lesson to us all!