Do your business a favor and take a good look at your customer service and support.
Is ANYONE on your team committing these service sins?
1. Apathy - "It's not my problem." 
Your customers should never get the impression that anyone they come in contact with isn't concerned about their situation. If you are like me, I just hate it when this happens to me.
2. The Brush-off - "The problem will go away eventually."
Avoiding your customer's dilemma won't fix it. All it will do is turn your customer off. Look for unanswered email requests, postponed follow-up calls, and trouble tickets that never seem to close.
3. Coldness - impersonal responses.
No matter how many times the same customer calls, he/she deserves your attention and warmth. Even on the phone, a smile conveys welcome.
4. Condescension - treating customers like incompetent children.
More times than not, service calls are for rudimentary problems. Sure, they're obvious to you, but not to your customers. No matter how many times you answer the same questions, be patient and respectful.
5. Robotism - "Is that all- have a nice day- bye bye."
Great customer service is individualized. No one wants to be just another account. Offer your customers more than the bare minimum. And remember, people buy from people--don't be afraid to let them know you're a living, breathing human.
6. The Rule Book - inflexibility no matter what.
Rules are made to be broken - especially when today's reality has passed them by. Let customers know their business is worth breaking a rule now and then.
7. The Runaround - passing the buck.
Whether it's because of a complex voice-mail network or a cumbersome problem-solving process, customers will only tolerate so much bouncing around before they take their business elsewhere.
8. The False Friend - "I friended you on Facebook. What more do you want?"
By itself, quick 'friending' on social media sites does nothing for customer service excellence. Prove yourself a real friend by spending a bit of extra time, going to the next level and delivering service to make your mother proud.
Points to Consider in Gaining Success with CRM:
- Acquiring new customers can cost 5 times more than satisfying and retaining current customers
- A 2% increase in customer retention has the same effect on profits as cutting costs by 10%
- The average company loses 10% of its customers each year
- A 5% reduction in customer defection rate can increase profits by 25-125%, depending on the industry
- The customer profitability rate tends to increase over the life of a retained customer
Check out ways CRM can Improve the Customer Experience.
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Remember the 80:20 rule? Outstanding customer service aims to go even better than that. You may not get everything perfectly right, but getting most of it right will be much, much better than the majority of your competition.
Ten Tips for Outstanding Customer Service
1. Be Your Customer - Walk in their shoes, listen with their ears, see with their eyes...
Encounter your business the way your customers do and experience what they experience. Stand in line, call your support center, report a complaint, check on an order. Soak up feedback.
2. Give Memorable Service
Make everyone's (yes, everyone's) life's mission to focus on the customer - even team members seemingly out of the line of fire. Remember the last moments of a customer's interaction with your business leave the most lingering experience.
Remember the last minutes of the conservation will be what is remembered- make it memorable!
3. Listen Hard to Complaints 
Complaints are a wonderful gift - they're feedback of the highest order. Enjoy them and learn fast. A positive response to a complaint will be remembered and actually builds trust.
4. Enable Your People
Enable and encourage your people to give an immediate and generous customer experience. Allow them to directly solve an issue without lots of delay or paperwork.
5. React Fast
Make sure that you and your people work with pace and immediacy to solve customer issues. I'll bet you can remember the pain of a slow reaction from your dealings with other companies, right? Don't be like that - respond ASAP.
6. Have Product Available
Generally, you can't sell it if you haven't got it. Work your system hard and focus to get the product there on time. Check your other locations for stock.
7. Be Systems-Focused
Ask, "What would my customer think of this - would it give an impression of brilliant service?" If not, reshape the system fast!
8. Be Curious
Encourage everyone on your team to overhear, be politely nosy, ask questions and obtain feedback and information from your customers. Save it all in your CRM success system for others to learn from - grow that knowledgebase.
9. Research the Marketplace
Your experiences as a customer elsewhere can educate you about what to do, or not do, in your own business. Encourage your people to share what they learn this way as well, and implement the best into your business.
10. Have Fun 
Have fun with customers - a pleasing personality goes a LONG way. Smile while on the phone with customers and it will come through. This builds relationships - you are in a relationship business, right?
There you have it: 10 tips for success, in an easy to use framework.
Will you take up the challenge to deliver outstanding customer service?
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In Part I our conversation centered on delivering excellence everyday, noting a perception gap of 46% - 50% between the employee's perception and the recipient's (customer's) perception.
Now it's time to GET REAL:
Take the following Excellence Aptitude test. Rank each comment on a 1 - 5 scale where 1 = "Strongly Disagree" and 5 = "Strongly Agree."
1. My workplace strategy is competitive and successful.
2. My boss is competent and a respected leader.
3. I work with people who support my pursuit of excellence.
4. I live up to my excellence potential.
5. I get many compliments for the quality of my work.
6. I can see the results of my work.
7. My work impacts others in a significant way.
8. I am fully responsible for the results of my work.
9. My work is personal and not just business.
10. I have the tools and authority to do my job.
11. In my organization, technology is secondary to people.
12. I always strive to do more for my customers.
13. Decisions are not controlled by senior management.
14. I always do what is right for the customer.
15. My values and the organization's value are fully aligned.
16. I am excited by the results of my work.
17. Everyone can be as great as the top achievers of our century.
18. I can recognize excellence in my daily work.
19. Excellence is not a once-in-a-lifetime achievement.
20. I will take risks to do the right thing.
Scoring: Take the total from above.
20 - 49: You are a captive of The Excellence Myth, clinging to all the possible excuses for why you cannot deliver excellence. You believe that your destiny, and therefore your performance, is controlled by outside forces that stop you from living up to your excellence potential.
50 - 79: You try to deliver excellence, but somehow fail to do so. The good news is that you see your potential. The bad news is that your excellence performance is misguided. You need to rethink your definition of excellence and re-evaluate the severity of some of the perceived obstacles.
80 - 100: You refuse to take no for an answer. Despite the challenges, you are
the potential of your efforts and strive to perform in a superior manner. You are proud of the impact you have on others and draw personal fulfillment and satisfaction from delivering excellence. You are on the right path. Continue to raise the bar and reach new heights of excellence.
Never miss an opportunity for excellence, which is measured one customer at a time. Excellence must be judged by the recipient- not the giver.
Refer back to Part I. Excellence Everyday - Not Really. Perception Gaps between what the employee thought they were delivering and what the customer perceived they received ranged from 46 - 50% OFF.
Footnote: These two related posts are adapted from Lior Arussy's book, Excellence Every Day and his inspiration for the need to focus on the customer's experience.
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"Excellence is the ability to exceed expectations.
In terms of CRM, excellence is simply the ability to suprise customers," states Lior Arussy, author of 'Excellence Every Day'.
Excellence is the art of going beyong the expectations of your customers, your managers, and even yourself. When you go beyond expectations, you create something unique for your recipient. You add a personal touch and take responsiblity. You contribute from the reservoirr of your humanity. You suprise your customers (and sometimes yourself) with the creation of the new.
"Good Enough" simply doesn't cut it anymore.
Today and even more in the future, competition has presented us with a simple challenge: Excellence or nothing. "Good enough" simple doesn't cut it anymore. New competitors have demonstrated an ambitious spirit and drive to succeed. It is clear that the pursuit of excellence has to be an all-out effort.
Organizations are either committed to excellence and the continual improvement of products and services, or they're not. Make sure these aren't just buzz words andnice ideas. Active excellence can serve as a competitive differentiator and strategic advantage.
Ask ourselves:
- Why are we losing ground to others?
- Are we really willing and ready to compete?
- Are we pursuing excellence with everything we have?
- Do we have a fully committed organization, with employees who are dedicated to delivering excellence -- and to winning the customer's heart in the process?
- Do our employees have the freedom to shortcut or otherwise adapt controlling processes by making the types of personal choices that will let them rise to the challenge of excellent customer service?
Everyone Listens to Customers -- Not Really.... 
To identify the differences between employee and customer definitions of excellence, Lior designed the Experience Gap Analysis (EGA) study. The study examined 23,088 responses from customers and the employees who served them to measure the customer experience on four dimensions:
Capabilities - the extend to which the employee possesses the necessary tools and authority to deliver performance excellence (e.g. access to customer information).
Knowledge- the extent to which the employee understands the customer's business, lifestyle, challenges and aspirations (a customer-centric view).
Willingness - the extent to which the employee is motivated to deliver the performance and excellence (e.g. to go above and beyond the call of duty).
Attitude - the extend to which the employee's connection with the customer is affected by his personal communication style (e.g. arrogance, sense of privilege to serve).
The Gap Tells the Story:
The EGA study results revealed a significant disconnect between employee and customer perception.
79% of employees said they often go "above and beyond" and exceed customer expectations, yet only 29% of customers agree. Perception gap = 50%.
75% of employees said their work makes a difference in their customer's lives but only 29% of customers agreed. Perception gap = 46%.
88% of employees said they use common sense and discretion in the way they interact with customers, yet only 40% of customer agreed. Perception gap = 48%.
Never miss an opportunity for excellence, which is measured one customer at a time. These perception gaps indicate why excellence must be judged by the recipient!
In Part II - we'll cover the Excellence Aptitude test.
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Delivering Compelling Value to Your Prospects and Customers
Ok folks, we're not talking value here - we are talking about undeniable, influential and sustainable value!
Compelling value changes the customer experience or the results the customer gets from that experience.
To deliver that kind of value, all you need is:
Real market opportunity
The ability to understand your customer better than anyone else does, and
An understanding of where the market and the customers' needs are going.
To identify, manage and even exceed your customers' expectations is the core success philosophy. This customer-centric strategy involves the use of CRM - Customer Relationship Management.
Use the following to combat the perception gaps between what the employee perceived as given and the customer perceives are value received.
Delivering Compelling Value - The 7 Step Framework 
1. Be different in a way that really matters to the customers you choose to serve.
Verify what really matters to them - interview, poll, survey. Just ASK! Then record it in your CRM system.
2. Understand customers better than anyone else and craft the best solution.
What do they desire to accomplish? Know what their needs are now, regularly check in with them, and anticipate their upcoming needs.
3. Deliver real value throughout the entire customer experience.
From the initial inquiry about your business - be it through a web site, first contact with a sales person or your receptionist - through the delivery of the product/service and any continuing support and service, pay attention.
4. Deliver value with a clear focus and consistent framework.
Have a plan and work it.
5. Deliver the right combination of tangible and intangible value.
Tangible results aren't everything. People buy from people, so relationships are just as important.
6. Build an organization filled with people whose passion is the value you
offer, then give them the tools to make a difference.
Select the right people, provide clear expectations and give them the support needed to succeed.
7. Commit to continually raising the bar.
Change or become irrelevant.
Compelling value lifts you above the marketplace crowd, and that's just what you want, right? Make this more than just a current year goal.
Is your business battle cry about "Delivering Compelling Value"?
Follow this framework to get started now and trim back perception gaps.
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The Need for Persistence in Sales and Delivering Value to your Customer
The following was a presentation by the Michiana BNI Education Coordinator, Marty Werling, President of Sights and Sounds, Inc.
In sales, we all know you have to be persistent to succeed. I'm sure you have heard of the rule of 7, it takes 7 calls on average to close a sale. Well, now because of all the information people are flooded with from all our modern media, that number has increased dramatically, it's more like 10 to 12.
Some new numbers for you to digest with your breakfast are:
2% of sales are made on the 1st contact.
3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact.
5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact.
10% of sales are made on the 4th contact.
80% of sales are made on the 5th - 12 contact.
And if that doesn't get you...
87% of all leads are never pursued.
45% - 63% of all leads eventually buy the product or service from someone.
48% of all sales leads that are pursued are dropped after the first call/meeting.
80% of all sales close after the fifth contact/meeting (see above).
73% of sales people do not have a growth plan for their top five accounts.
I know you are going to make the extra phone call today, but when you do, you need to remember to add value to your persistence. Persistence without value is empty. How many of us are guilty of calling up our prospects just to see if check is ready?
Here's some tips of adding value when you are making that follow-up call:
1. Perhaps you could give your prospect a sales lead. Wouldn't that get their attention.
2. Give them an idea how to serve their customers better, maybe Google their industry and see if you can send them an article that can help them provide better customer service.
3. Give them 10 things to improve morale, productivity, or profit.
4. If you can give your customers some free publicity or media exposure, add them to a direct mail campaign of yours or put them up on your Facebook page.
5. Set up a Google Alert on your prospect or their industry and give them some spanking new information you've gotten.
This will set you apart from the other guy that is just calling and asking for a check. You need to add Persistent Value, not just Persistence.
Marabel Morgan said "Persistence is the twin sister of excellence"
I'm sure today you will achieve excellence in your persistence.
Thanks Marty,
"I strongly support BNI - Business Networking International - and the referral process" - Dick
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Intangible benefits are those benefits measured using "soft" criteria. Management may prefer the hard numbers, but these top level executives can appreciate "soft" criteria benefits as well.
Intangible Benefits - Results Gained with CRM:
1. Overall smoother functioning within your company 
To determine this benefit, consider measuring the time spent looking for needed information versus time spent utilizing information and getting on with your job. It can be shocking to learn how much time is spent by sales personnel on unnecessary administrative matters, or the amount of time a new sales person spends getting up to speed in a new territory!
2. Increased employee motivation and satisfaction
While this may be difficult to measure, consider measuring feedback from those employees who use CRM. An alternative measurement is employee turnover rate for those personnel who use the CRM system.
3. Better trained and more skillful sales, marketing and customer service personnel
CRM can provide an excellent training ground for personnel to quietly spend time learning facts and figures about your products and services. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the ability of sales personnel to quickly access needed facts and figures, including the implementation of required sales and business procedures.
4. Improved use of mobile access devices
This benefit is important given that each of us have a different technology assimilation learning curve that impacts our future use of equipment and technology. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the comfort level over time of field personnel who use the mobile devices.
5. More up-to-date information and easy access to this information
Up-to-date information and easy access are subjective measurements made by end-users. To determine this benefit, therefore, consider measuring the timeliness of needed information and the ease of accessing this information based on end-use standards.
6. Improved responsiveness to customer and prospect requests
Link a go-to person (manager, sales representative or customer service representative) to each customer request and work until the request gets resolved. To determine this benefit, which may be tied in with customer service, consider measuring the time it takes to respond completely to a customer or a prospect request.
Are you delivering what your customer expects - everytime?
7. Improved image of your company
Automation can play a leading role in building your company's image in the eyes of your customers. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the reaction of existing and future buyers to your sales and marketing professionalism.
8. The ability to differentiate your company from the competition
It should be noted that many studies have tried or are trying to measure the competitive advantage resulting from CRM. Consider measuring the increased customer loyalty as well as customer perception of your company versus the competition.
9. Support for organizational change(s) with your firm
To determine this benefit, consider measuring the time lost training new sales and marketing personnel. Determine the lost knowledge if a sales person leaves your company- are the relationship details part of your CRM system?
10. Improved understanding and better control over expenses
CRM can assist in this effort, assuming sales, marketing and customer care expenses are tagged to individual sales personnel and /or accounts. To determine this benefit, consider measuring expense per sales and marketing personnel and/or per account.
Based on this extensive list of tangible and intangible benefits, it would be appropriate to conclude that the rewards from CRM to improve and grow your business are great.
Original post: Results Gained with CRM
2nd post: Tangible Results gained with CRM
Customer-Centric view of your most Important Asset
Let us now what rewards gained with CRM, have occurred in your business... we'd like to hear from you!
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Now folks, I'm pushing this 59-year-old frame down the road of life, and I've heard this same "I'm too old" theme every time something new comes out. These days I hear it about social media.
LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are tools, like a computer or a cell phone, to be used in the best ways possible to extend the reach of your business. Besides, your brain really is a type of "muscle' that must be used or it begins to atrophy.
Each generation has newer and usually more advanced technology available to it. People who practice using specific tools get really good at using those tools. I still remember the first time I was in front of a manual typewriter in high school. With practice I got better at using the tool, just like you probably have with new tools.
Social media is just another set of tools to communicate and build relationships. It is the trend that will continue to grow in our hustle-bustle world of time-starved individuals.
The common myths are demolished in the "Are you Too Old for Social Media" post on Hubspot's blog.
Some myths that may resonate with you:
#2 "I prefer talking to actual people, not websites. I'm more of a 'people person."
As a person you can build a profile on Twitter or Facebook. You are looking to make connections, build relationships, help others, and grow your business.
That's exactly the kind of person behind almost every single username, avatar, and profile on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn -- A real, living, breathing person, sitting at a desk somewhere with fingers lightly poised on a keyboard.
Just like you. So social media is really tailor-made for a "people person" like you.
#3 "My customers are all baby boomers, like me. They aren't using Twitter or Facebook."
Fact: The largest, fastest growing group of users on Facebook today is men and women over 55.
Your prospects and customers are using social websites and applications in ever increasing numbers to find products, buy services, answer their questions and solve their problems. Social CRM systems are now integrating this information into your customer knowledge-base.
Shouldn't you be there to provide answers and solutions when prospects need them?
Wouldn't that be the mature, responsible thing to do?
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Tangible benefits as those that can be measured in hard numbers.
Hard Number Results:
1. Increase in time spend by sales personnel with existing customers, per 
day - To determine this benefit, consider measuring the number of service calls made per day by sales personnel or the number of hours spent by sales personnel in face-to-face contact with existing customers.
2. Increase in the number of new customer prospects pursued by sales representative - Remember that most representatives prefer to call on existing customers, with whom they have an ongoing relationship. But new customers spearhead future growth. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the number of new prospects versus existing customer contacted by the sales representative per day, per week, per month or per quarter.
3. Increase the time spent by sales managers in contacting customers and working with sales representative on customer issues - "Coaching" sales personnel is critical, and managers never seem to have enough time for this. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the number of hours per day that sales managers spend in contact with customer and prospects, and with sales representatives discussing customer issues.
4. Increase the customer service efficiency - Customer service may well be the key differentiator between those companies that lead and those companies that wonder what happened! To determine this benefit, consider measuring the turnaround time for customer service issues, as well as the number of customer service errors made as a result of misinformation.
5. Increase in timeliness of follow-up correspondence to prospects and customers - To determine this benefit, consider measuring the number of days between the date the customer/prospect was contacted and the date that the customer/prospect follow-up information was sent.
6. Increase in revenue per month per sales representative - This is an important benefit of CRM. Careful management is required to ensure that time saved as a result of automation is used productively to deliver more sales. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the increase in base revenue generated per month per sales representative.
7. Increase in overall business results - For example, have the sales manager setup a competition between sales personnel based on their use of the CRM system. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the percent of dollar increase over budget for the entire sales team per month.
8. Increase in frequency that your company's name is in front of your customers and prospect - The "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" syndrome can be quite harmful to your sales efforts. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the number of pieces of correspondence sent to customers and prospects by sales and marketing personnel.
9. Increase in customer satisfaction - To determine this benefit, consider using 
a customer satisfaction survey rating and hanging these ratings in a location for all personnel to review.
10. Improved communications within the company - As more and more personnel spend time in the field with customers and prospects, there is a growing need to secure effective communications between personnel. To determine this benefit, consider measuring the time spent giving and getting information between the field and regional or headquarters offices.
11. Increase the "close" rates - such as the percentage of business orders closed.
12. Reduction in the "close" time - such as the speed of bringing new business orders to a close.
First blog post: Rewards Gained with Customer Relationship Management
Continued: Intangible Rewards Gained with Customer Relationship Management
Success with CRM allows the business to build an appreciating Asset
What rewards gained with CRM have occurred in your business? We'd like to hear from you!
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"Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business approach that integrates people, process and technology to maximize relationships with customers" - Barton Goldberg, ISM, CRM Strategic Advisors.
Most companies that apply CRM successfully understand that an effective mix of people (60%), process (30%) and technology (10%) are the key drivers behind a successful CRM implementation.
Key CRM Benefits:
The most compelling benefits of a successful CRM implementation include:
Better Sales/Marketing Information 
For example, customer names, customer background, customer needs, related interests, competitive positioning, etc. is just some of the information that is collected as a result of implementing a CRM system.
Improved Productivity 
For example, effective target market identification, reduction in the number of cold leads, and the ability to provide accurate and on-the stop quotations, look up inventory availability quickly, enter orders directly from the field, etc. all of which help to shorten the sales cycle.
Enhanced Customer Care
For example, more time to spend with customers due to a reduction in the sales administrative workload, an ability to monitor customer service levels, and ability to highlight existing or potential customer service problems and to react more quickly to customer needs, etc.
An increasingly important objective, and an area that is related to the aforementioned benefits, is improved customer retention/loyalty. Corporations in the U.S. lose approximately half of their customers within 5 years.
If a CRM system really focuses on the customer and the above benefits are realized, a company can expect to retain more customers over time. It has been shown that the longer a customer is retained, the greater the profitability will be for the retained customer.
Hard Numbers:
For those who prefer hard numbers, studies by ISM and by Insight Technology Group concerning CRM systems confirm that the following level of benefit can be achieved:
1. A minimum 10% per annum increase in gross sales revenue per sales representative during the first three years of the system. This gain occurs because field personnel improve both their efficiency (e.g., more batting time to call on customers and implement strategy) and their effectiveness (e.g., improved quality of their sales call in the field because personnel are more knowledgeable about their customers).
2. A minimum 5% decrease in the general and administrative cost of sales during the first three years of the system. This takes place because field personnel (and the company) no longer need to send out costly literature and information in a shotgun approach to all existing and potential customers; rather, field personnel (and the company) can decrease their cost of sales by being selective in terms of which customers receive specific promotional materials.
3. A minimum of 5% increase in win rates for forecasted sales during the first three years of the system. This gain results because field personnel select their opportunities more carefully, drop out of potentially bad opportunities earlier on, and concentrate on those opportunities with a high likelihood of closure.
4. A minimum 1% margin improvement in the value of a deal over the lifetime of the system. This gain occurs since field personnel are working closely with a carefully selected group of customers who place as much emphasis on value selling as they do on discounts, and field personnel thus tend to discount less often.
5. A minimum 5% improvement in the quality rating provided by customers. This gain results from happier customers who get the information that they need more quickly, who receive better service, and who enjoy building on the relationship marketing approach that field personnel are now able to offer.
Prior to deciding whether CRM is best for your organization, it is recommended that you review all potential benefits of CRM in detail. Senior management wants to see a list of detailed measurable benefits by which they can justify what may grow into a large capital investment, plus the investment in time, resources and staff.
The good news is that there are a growing number of detailed, tangible and intangible benefits associated with CRM, and there are specific ways to measure those benefits.
Blog Post: Tangible Benefits from Customer Relationship Management
Blog Post: Intangible Benefits from Customer Relationship Management
Having a CRM strategy with engaged peple enabled by a technology system can builds an appreciating asset for any business.
Let us now what rewards gained with CRM that have occurred in your business... we'd like to hear from you!
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