Customer Service Management Basics

You have always heard 'customer is king' and all management gurus and customer relationship experts will agree to it and if it weren't for the customer, we would be living in a monopolistic world. This brings us to customer service.

Every company has a relationship manager and a team to take care of it. This is so that the customer has a direct person to speak to in case of queries and complaints.

The relationship manager, or the executive is the liaison between the customer and the company. The realization that this service and its management is important, is hitting many companies.

You will find that these days all the organizations whether big or small, private or public, have liaison officers, who manage the relationship of an organization with its customers. Organizations need to follow some basics in this process. These basics are explained below in detail.

It is as simple as consumer demographics or it could be the buying habits of customers. The simple idea behind getting the demographics or understanding the buying habits of the public is to target the customers properly and effectively.

It is an important step, as it would involve the elimination of all kinds of telemarketing calls to customers, which can be annoying. It does not take a lot of effort in implementing either. Simple steps like discount card or store credit cards can help understand buying habits which can in turn aid in targeted marketing.

More and more companies are now realizing the benefits of call centers to take care of their customers. It makes the management process simpler. No longer the customers have to physically come to the office of the company for inquiry or complaints, a simple phone call will suffice.

Most call centers have automated systems and according to research, an easily navigated and customer friendly automated service retains its customers. A customer is also going to be more loyal to a company if the team resolves the complaint effectively.

For any company to have effective customer service, it needs to have a suitable software. There are hundreds of vendors selling this software and the most popular ones are Siebel, Salesforce.com, and also Microsoft. However, it is not just sufficient to have the most expensive software or a call center.

What matters is your customers are satisfied and this is possible only when all your executives are efficient and effective in handling queries and grievances. This would require adequate training to be conducted by the company.

However, the most vital things is to have a goal. The goal quite simply can be to retain and increase customers. If you think about it, it is a cycle of management, good customer service, and the retaining of customers.

Every organization needs to understand the customers, their needs and also has to build a relationship with them. That is the crux of management: a relationship between the company and its customers.