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?