Your Silent Partner in Customer Service

By Josh Jordan, Senior Contributing Editor to Delight Customers!

How do you serve customers 24 X 7 and strengthen their relationship with your business?

Having the right workflow management tool in place (and understanding how it works) is one sure-fire way!

Solutions such as Avanti, Promail, Printstream, and even SAP are found throughout the marketing and service provider world. Advertising Agencies have their own version classified as Marketing Resource Management systems (Marketing Pilot, Marketing Central, Robohead to name a few).

They each share the same common goal of providing a 'one-stop-shop' for your operations - managing customer service information, job information, postal processes and in most cases billing.

While these tools and automated reporting are nothing new, many businesses still struggle to find the right mix of information to pull and deliver to customers. And while there are important decisions to make when it comes to sharing information, less is not more, and nothing is deadly.

Follow some simple guidelines to start leveraging your existing investment:

• Partner with IT: Don't leave Customer Service to your IT department, create a cross-functional team with Customer Service and Sales leading the charge
  
• Lead your customer: Don't wait for customers to ask, dig through the 'canned' reports your system offers and give your customer five to choose from
  
• Provide context: Explain the value of the information you are providing and how it will impact your customers business
  
• Automate the process: Providing reports consistently is key; create automated workflows in your system to ensure timely delivery - don't leave it chance
  
• Create a parking lot: As you begin to satisfy customers with your existing capabilities, create a parking lot of ideas to extend your system use and create DELIGHT

• Stick to the plan: Develop a schedule to release new reports, workflows and opportunities that customers can benefit from; use this as a way to stay in communication, differentiate and delight

Google has made it easy to find information an anything and everything you want to know. Turn your workflow management tool into an internal Google for your customers and their jobs and watch your relationship grow!

You can reach Josh with questions at: josh.d.jordan@gmail.com