Small Web Based Businesses – Why Outlook Fails?

Small businesses that do not boast about a large profit margin often make stingy mistakes. One such mistake is the decision to use ‘free’ Outlook rather than graduating to a good eCRM application like RightNow or a cost effective eGain. There are many more to choose from.

A few employees answering customer queries through Outlook is a perfect recipe for disaster. While you can begin with Outlook for the first few days of your business, you must immediately look out for smarter ways of handling customer queries posed through email. When you have a web based service, providing ‘contact us’ links or email address to write is a must and when you do that, customers will write to you and before you know, you will be flooded with emails.

When the flow rises, Outlook won't solve the purpose. Usage of Outlook should be restricted only for personal use. Period. On the other hand, customer inquiries should be treated as a source to learn more about them and this can be done by useful history/past interactions that are saved in a good email based eCRM application.

RightNow, uses the concept of keywords to help customers find answers themselves before they are allowed to post the question they type. Also, when a reply is sent, the reply includes hyperlinks to words/phrases that may be new or unknown by the customer. That's smart.

Choice is yours! Would you like to be penny-wise and pound-foolish?

Why Customer Service fails to deliver?

Million dollar company > Visionary CEO > Intelligent Top Management > Smart Executives <> But Unhappy Customers. Not many companies would deny this and yet, they continue to focus the same way. The vicious circle remains. This has to change.

Until sometime ago, a dissatisfied customer would still stick to the same service because s/he had not many options to choose. But the fact is it is more important to retain a customer rather than acquiring a new one.

The reason why most companies have many unhappy customers is not because of a bad product but because of customer care representatives who are not as passionate as the CEO. While the CEO thinks about the next big win in the corporate world, his/her customer care officers are more focused on their immediate personal goals. This mismatch is causing havoc to small and medium based businesses who cannot afford to lose customers. How often have you been disappointed over a poorly handled call/email or chat? According to one survey, customers are more concerned about the way they are treated than the actual solution that they were expecting to their situation. A good customer care representative thinks like the CEO of the company. Such representatives drive the value through them and deliver quality service. Care should be taken by the HR and management team to identify and groom them well.

It is very easy to find customer care representatives who will do the basic job well but that alone will not help you survive. The grass root level interaction is what makes the difference. If a representative was not good, the customer would feel that the company wasn't good. Intellect and customer focus always pays rich dividends, especially if they are available at the grass root level.