CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MGT.

UNIT – IV

MANAGING CUSTOMER CONTACT STRATEGIES:

I. CALL CENTER:

A call center is one of the best asserts a customer driven organization can have becoz
maintaining a high level of customer support is critical to obtaining and retaining customers.
Contact centers also track customer call history along with problem resolution

. • WEB BASED SELF SERVICE – This service allow customers to use the web to find
answers to their questions or solutions to their problems. Example, FedEx courier service ,
Gas Booking System, E-Ticketing.

• CALL SCRIPTING – This system helps to assess organizational databases that track similar
issues or questions and automatically generate a details to the CSR (Customer Service
Representatives) who can then relay them to the customer. Example, Frequently Asked
Questions.

II. CALL CENTER MANAGEMENT

A call center is a place that encourages customers to make calls in order to facilitate their
easy usage of the product/service offered by the organization. All calls from customers
regarding their queries, problems, suggestions are entertained. It consists of a group of
personnel that are specifically trained in handling inbound and outbound customer calls thus
catering to customer service needs. A center is a place where a number of people handle the
incoming as well as outgoing telephone conversations of a varied nature with their customers.
Call centers are undergoing major development. Companies are becoming customer oriented
instead of product oriented and are investing in CRM. CRM (Customer Relationship
Management ) being the customer centred strategy of the decade and finding its roots in
customer satisfaction and customer focus, has started to play a very prominent role in the call
center sector. How has it achieved this?

Call centers are finding that implementing this strategy brings them vast benefits. For
example the high potential that call center CRM software has in collecting vital customer data
and storing it. This data is entirely essential to the call center and is utilized in its day to day
activities. It helps them possess a clearer view of the customer being handled and enables
them to give the right answers to customer queries, problems etc. Knowing the customer, his
preferences, his purchase history etc all contribute significantly to the better handling of the
customer. A few features available in this system.

1. Automatic call distribution

2. Interactive voice response ( IVR) – Cellular Service

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3. Predictive Dialing

CLASSIFICATION OF CALL CENTERS

1. Inbound / Outbound

2. International / Domestic

3. In-house / Out-Sourced

4.6.4 CALL CENTER DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Select a Location for the call center where there is an educated work force.

2. Select the underlying technology component.

3. Decide which channels to support on the call center.

( Mail, Chat, Web Forms, Text Chat, VOIP

4. Select the software solution,that meet requirements and will integrate with existing
systems.

5. Integrate system when feasible.

6. Determine service level agreement and business processes.

7. High and retain staff.

8. Finalize the budget

9. Establish measurement and performance processes.

10. Establish on – going policies for training and updating CSR.

4.7 ROLE OF CRM MANAGERS

Role of CRM manager in planning and implementation:

1 Developing CRM Programs

2 Direction

3 Listening

4 Conflict resolution

5 Positive image

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6 Follow through

7 Administrative duties

8 Coaching sessions

9 Customer interaction

10 Communication

11 Reporting to senior management

Responsibilities:

1. Measurable increase in customer satisfaction measures - Maintain or increase recurring

revenue from their customers - Develop/maintain referenceable customers - Decrease in
Executive level escalations from assigned customers.

2. Acts as Customer Advocate within the organization

- Develops in-depth knowledge of the customer's goals and strategy as it relates to the
product/service being used, assists the customer in reaching those goals, and communicates
those goals internally to help drive product/service decisions

. - A single contact/escalation point for cross product/cross functional issues

- Holds customer accountable for maintaining contracted levels of training/staffing/etc.

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT SITUATIONS:

Dealing with difficult customers is one of the hardest issues to handle in business. Sooner or
later, everyone has had to deal with a difficult customer. Whether they’re overly demanding,
never satisfied, or simply have a bad attitude, it can be hard to keep your cool with a difficult
customer.

It’s not always possible to help a customer in every situation, but these tips can help you next
time you’re faced with a customer who is hard to please.

1. Let them get it off their chest

Many times, when customers are being difficult, what they really want is to be heard. Listen
to their complaints and let them vent. Eye contact, an open stance, and acknowledging them
will all help a customer feel that you care and want to make it right.

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Remember to really listen to what your customer is telling you, and try to understand the
situation from their perspective. Acknowledge that you understand by repeating back key
parts of what they said.

2. Identify Any Obstacles You Have to Helping Them

Difficult customers all want immediate help and attention in resolving their issue. It’s
important to tell them about any limitations you might have in trying to help them… followed
by what you are able to do for them.

3. Act Quickly
Whatever your customer is upset about, address it as quickly as possible. This will help keep
the customer from becoming even more upset than they were before. Tempting though it may
be, don’t put off angry customers. Instead, do whatever you can to help them right away, or
you could end up making the situation first.

4. Make it a learning experience

Difficult customers are never fun to deal with. But the upside is that they can offer your
business valuable lessons. Are many customers upset about similar things? What is the root
cause of their problems? Difficult customers can help you identify what – or who – is
contributing to customer dissatisfaction in your business.

In Conclusion…
Conflict and frustration is a part of life, and therefore, also a part of business. Learn to use
these instances as learning experiences and ways to make your business stronger and better
than ever before.

IMPARTING BAD NEWS:

Delivering bad news is tough. It’s even harder when you don’t agree with the message or
decision you’re communicating. Maybe you have to tell your star performer that HR turned
down her request for a raise or to inform your team that the company doesn’t want them
working from home any longer. Should you toe the line and act like you agree with the
decision or new policy? Or should you break ranks and explain how upset you are too?

1. Pick the right time and place. While you don’t want to intentionally delay giving
the boss bad news, you also don’t want to blurt it out as she’s running for an elevator
or showing some clients around the office. Schedule some time one-on-one when you

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 won’t be interrupted and stress that it’s not something that can be put off. This also
will help to let your boss know the topic is serious and you’re taking it seriously.
2. Do your homework. If the problem is that a big mistake was made in a report to
investors, then the boss is going to want to know why. Glickman suggests collecting
information on where things went wrong as quickly as you can, or letting the boss
know when all the information on the problem will be available.
3. Be specific and concise. The boss is going to want to know the exact problem and
the impact. If a competitor beating your product to market is going to hurt overseas
sales by 25%, say so. Avoid blaming a specific person, which can sound petty. Focus
on the problem and don’t let yourself get angry or upset. That only adds to the boss’s
stress, not something you want to be doing at this point.
4. Offer a response. Don’t just dump the problem on the boss and sit back to watch the
fallout. Be prepared to say something like, “This is what I’ve already done” and then
offer some other potential solutions. Explain how you think each one might be
helpful, how long it would take to implement, etc.
5. Smooth things over. Glickman explains that sometimes people balk at apologizing
because accepting blame will only make the situation worse. Or, “I look like a jerk if I
don’t apologize,” she says. If you do decide to apologize, keep it short and quickly
move forward to focusing on the solution, she advises.

CLOSING ACCOUNTS:

EXIT STRATEGIES:

An exit strategy is a planned approach to terminating a situation in a way that will maximize
benefit and/or minimize damage.

The idea of having a strategic approach can be applied to exiting any type of situation but the
term is most often used in a business context in reference to partnerships, investments or jobs.

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Here are seven exit strategies :

1) Liquidation

This is the close up shop and sell all the assets exit strategy. For small businesses, especially
those that are dependent on the performance of a single individual, liquidation is sometimes
the only option as there's really nothing else to sell. If you're in this position, you may want to
spend some time retooling your business so that it could be operated by someone else –
making it a business someone might want to buy.

Advantages

 Simplicity;
 The business can be wound up very quickly (depending on the sale of assets).

Disadvantages

 Liquidation has the lowest return on investment to the owner(s) - the only money
from a liquidation sale is from the disposal of assets, such as land, equipment,
or inventory - any goodwill value from client lists or other business relationships
(which may be substantial) is lost.
 Second hand business asset values for items such as machinery and equipment can be
very low, even in a non-depressed market.

 Creditors (if any) have first claim on funds from asset sales.

2) Liquidation over time

In this scenario the owner(s) extracts most or all of the profits out of the business over time
(before eventually selling or closing the business), rather than reinvesting them in the
company for expansion. This is typically done by taking out large salary draws or
dividends over a number of years before eventually winding up the business, and is suitable
for owner(s) who wish to maximize their current lifestyle rather than aggressively expand
their business.

Advantages

 Lifestyle - maximizing cash withdrawal on an ongoing basis for personal use (rather
than waiting for an eventual windfall from selling the company).

Disadvantages

 Extracting the profits reduces the growth potential and eventual sale value of the
business.
 Other shareholders (if any) are likely to object unless they are similarly compensated.
 Salary is taxed as personal income, whereas profits remaining in the company
increase the value of the business and will taxed as capital gains when the business is
sold.

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3) Keep your business in the family

The dream of many small business owners, keeping your business in the family ensures that
your legacy lives on and provides a living for your heirs.

Advantages

 Can make for a smooth transition by grooming a family successor.

 May allow for you to keep a hand in the business in an advisory (or other) capacity.

Disadvantages

 Developing a family succession plan can be enormously difficult and lead to

infighting among family members over ownership and/or participation in the
business.
 Family members may not have the skills (or interest) to take over the business.
 Clients may not approve of new management or changes in company direction.

For more on these issues and tips for successfully passing your business on to family,
see Family Business Succession Planning.

4) Sell your business to managers and/or employees

Current employees and/or managers may be interested in buying your business.

Advantages

 The business can thrive as employees will get an established business that they are
familiar with and are enthusiastic about.
 Arranging a long-term buyout by employees can increase loyalty and greatly motivate
staff to work hard to make the business succeed.
 May allow for you to keep a share of the business and stay on in an advisory (or
other) capacity.

Disadvantages

 Employees may not be suitably qualified to take over the business.

 Clients may not approve of new management or changes in company direction.

One way of setting up this exit strategy is through an Employee Share Ownership Plan
(ESOP), a stock equity plan for employees that lets them acquire ownership in a company.

However, an employee buyout doesn't have to involve a stock equity plan - it might be as
simple as having one of your current employees take over the business with a straight
purchase.

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5) Sell the business in the open market

This is the most popular option for small businesses. At a certain point in time, often when he
or she is ready to retire, the small business owner puts the business up for sale for a certain
price - and hopefully walks away with the amount of money she wanted to get for it.

Advantages

 A profitable business should be attractive to buyers and sell quickly.

 Assets and goodwill can be incorporated when valuing the business for sale,
maximizing the return to the owner(s).

Disadvantages

 A marginally profitable business can be very difficult to sell - according

to BizBuySell, only 20% of all businesses listed for sale actually sell. Finding a buyer
on the open market can be a long process.
 Businesses can be difficult to value and the selling price may be much lower than
expected.

If this is your exit strategy, you should spend some time grooming your business for sale,
making it as attractive as possible to potential buyers. See 5 Tips for Selling a
Business and Top 7 Ways to Maximize Your Exit Strategy for Maximum Profit for more
details.

6) Sell to another business

Positioning your small business to be a desirable acquisition can be very profitable.

Businesses buy other businesses for all kinds of reasons, such as using a new acquisition as a
quick path to expansion, realizing synergies from complementary business activities, or
simply buying out (and getting rid of) the competition.

Advantages

 For the above reasons, a competing business may be highly motivated to purchase
your business, making for a quick sale and maximum profit.

Disadvantages

 If the purchaser's only motivation is to reduce the competition, they may fold your
business after purchase. Any existing employees may lose their jobs.
 A competitor may only pretend to be interested in purchasing your business in order
to get access to your customer list and financial information.

The trick to success with this exit strategy is to target your potential acquirer(s) in advance
and position your company accordingly. And of course, convincing your acquirer that your
small business is worth what you want for it.

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7) The IPO (Initial Public Offering)

While not suitable for all small businesses, the IPO can be a viable exit strategy.

Advantages

 Taking your company public can be extremely profitable.

Disadvantages

 Becoming a public company is a long, costly process.

 Depending on how the IPO is structured, you may or may not be able to withdraw any
of your capital at the time as new shareholders may want to see all the money raised
by the IPO be used to expand the business.
 Public companies have much higher compliance and reporting standards. As an owner
you may be personally liable or subject to prosecution for any prior accounting
"irregularities" or failures in disclosure.

TIME MANAGEMENT AND CRM;

Priorities are so clearly part of rational project management. But they also fall victim to
emotional and political pressures, so priorities jump around all too often. This is particularly
true with CRM projects, thanks to the right-brained types in sales and marketing, and the
frequent reorgs and marketplace shifts that really do change what's important. While the
rapid, incremental deliveries from Agile's scrum teams certainly help accommodate rapid
change, it's a good idea to have some tools to make the priority list more stable in the first
place. Given that the No. 1 cause of scope creep is a weak or erratic prioritization
mechanism, getting this process right will pay dividends throughout all phases of your CRM
implementation.

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UNIT - V

MEASURING PERFORMANCE OF CRM: CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION
When we have a great food experience at a new restaurant, we usually want to go back.
Positive evaluations result in greater customer satisfaction, which leads to customer loyalty
and product repurchase.

Mission accomplished.

But how do we effectively measure customer satisfaction?

Many strategies exist, but overlooking the fundaments of how to measure customer
satisfaction can be detrimental to your business. Here are 4 key customer satisfaction
measurements that are critical to your business success

1. Overall Satisfaction Measure (Emotional)

Example question: Overall, how satisfied are you with “La Jolla Grove restaurant”?

This question reflects the overall opinion of a consumer’s satisfaction experience with a
product he or she has used.

The single greatest predictors of customer satisfaction are the customer experiences that
result in attributions of quality.

Perceived quality is often measured in one of three contexts:

1. Overall quality
2. Perceived reliability
3. Extent of customer’s needs fulfilled

It is commonly believed that dissatisfaction is synonymous with purchase regret while

satisfaction is linked to positive ideas such as “it was a good choice” or “I am glad that I
bought it.”

2. Loyalty Measurement (Affective, Behavioral)

Example question: Would you recommend “La Jolla Grove restaurant” to your family and
friends?

This single question measure is the core NPS (Net Promoter Score) measure.

Customer loyalty reflects the likelihood of repurchasing products or services. Customer

satisfaction is a major predictor of repurchase but is strongly influenced by explicit
performance evaluations of product performance, quality, and value.

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Loyalty is often measured as a combination of measures including overall satisfaction,
likelihood of repurchase, and likelihood of recommending the brand to a friend.

A common measure of loyalty might be the sum of scores for the following three questions:

 Overall, how satisfied are you with [brand]?

 How likely are you to continue to choose/repurchase [brand]?
 How likely are you to recommend [brand] to a friend or family member?

3. A Series of Attribute Satisfaction Measurements (Affective and Cognitive)

Example question: How satisfied are you with the “taste” of your entre at La Jolla Grove?

Example question: How important is “taste” in your decision to select La Jolla Grove
restaurant?

Affect (liking/disliking) is best measured in the context of product attributes or benefits.

Customer satisfaction is influenced by perceived quality of product and service attributes, and
is moderated by expectations of the product or service. The researcher must define and
develop measures for each attribute that is important for customer satisfaction.

Consumer attitudes toward a product develop as a result of product information or any

experience with the product, whether perceived or real.

Again, it may be meaningful to measure attitudes towards a product or service that a

consumer has never used, but it is not meaningful to measure satisfaction when a product or
service has not been used.

Cognition refers to judgment: the product was useful (or not useful); fit the situation (or did
not fit); exceeded the requirements of the problem/situation (or did not exceed); or was an
important part of the product experience (or was unimportant).

Judgments are often specific to the intended use application and use occasion for which the
product is purchased, regardless if that use is correct or incorrect.

Affect and satisfaction are closely related concepts. The distinction is that satisfaction is “post
experience” and represents the emotional affect produced by the product’s quality or value.

4. Intentions to Repurchase Measurements (Behavioral Measures)

Example question: Do you intend to return to the La Jolla Grove restaurant in the next 30
days?

When wording questions about future or hypothetical behavior, consumers often indicate that
“purchasing this product would be a good choice” or “I would be glad to purchase this
product.” Behavioral measures also reflect the consumer’s past experience with customer
service representatives.

Satisfaction can influence other post-purchase/post-experience actions like communicating to

others through word of mouth and social networks.

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Additional post-experience actions might reflect heightened levels of product involvement
that in turn result in increased search for the product or information, reduced trial of
alternative products, and even changes in preferences for shopping locations and choice
behavior.

MEASURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION BY CRM

PERFORMANCE :
14 Key Performance Indicators

How do you know if your customer service is living up to customer expectations? The
answer is in KPIs, or key performance indicators.
There are plenty of different KPIs you can use to measure customer service and the success
of your business’s customer service strategy. Different ones will make more sense for
different types of businesses. Below is a list of different KPIs your business might consider
using to measure customer service.
Overall Satisfaction
By performing regular customer satisfaction surveys, you can gauge how many of
your customers would rate their level of satisfaction as very or extremely satisfied. The
more customers who rate their experiences highly, the better your customer service.
Satisfaction Improvement
One way to measure customer service is to track changes in customer satisfaction over time.
If, for example, satisfaction has gone down over the last couple of years, then you’ll know a
change is likely in order. But if it’s improving, or if you’ve already achieved high levels of
customer satisfaction and they’re staying constant, then you’ll know you’re on the right track.
Customer Retention
Customers who are happy with the service you provide are likely to stick around and do
more business with you. So if you’re bringing back a fair amount of customers regularly,
that’s a pretty good indication that you’re providing good customer service.
Net Promoter Score
And customers who are very happy with your customer service are likely to even go a
step further and recommend your company to others. So your company’s Net Promoter
Score, or rate of people who would recommend your business to others, can be a good
indication of where your customer service stands and another way to measure customer
service.
Conversion Rate
After someone from your customer service team interacts with a customer, how likely are
they to make a purchase or take some other kind of action? If your customer service is good,
this number should be fairly high.

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Compared to Competitors
Even customers who like your brand might not choose you over your competitors for
every single interaction or purchase. So while general satisfaction and customer retention are
good metrics to measure service, it’s still important to see how your company stacks up
against competitors.
Average Resolution Time
Part of providing great customer service is resolving issues in a timely manner. If you
can respond to customers and get them answers quickly, they’re more likely to be pleased
with the experience. So, if you’re able to keep that resolution time relatively low, that could
be an indication of good customer service and yet another way to measure customer service.
Active Issues
If you are able to resolve most issues fairly quickly, then you shouldn’t have too many
issues to deal with at any one time. And if you do, then it could indicate that your customers
have a higher-than-usual volume of complaints.
Resolved Issues
You can also look at all of the issues that your customer service team has resolved to get
an idea of your customer service. No matter how great your company, there are bound to
be issues and complaints. But if you’re able to solve them quickly and in a way that makes
your customers happy, that’s an indication of good service.
Employee Productivity
Different types of businesses use different methods to measure employee productivity. But
it’s an important factor when it comes to customer service. If you want customer issues to
be resolved in a timely manner, employees need to do their jobs effectively.
Employee Retention/Employee Turnover
When your employees are happy, they tend to stick around. And when you are able to
keep employees around for long periods of time, they’re more likely to feel comfortable
and empowered in their jobs. This means they’re also likely to provide service that lives up to
your standards.
Brand Attributes
How do customers view your company overall? What words would they use to describe
your brand? And how do their opinions line up with your expectations? By obtaining this sort
of feedback from customers, you can measure customer service and get a pretty good
indication of where you stand in your customers’ eyes. And you’ll know what qualities you
might need to work on to get customers to see your brand in that particular light.
Complaint Escalation Rate
No matter how great your service is, you’re going to get complaints at some point. But if
you reach a point where you’re receiving an unusually large number of complaints, or
your complaints have been steadily increasing without overall customer growth, there could
be a problem. Keep an eye on how those numbers change over time. This could also tie in to
the number of resolved issues, if you’re tracking that, as well.

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Cash Flow
Cash flow can be a great performance indicator for many different business factors.
Customer service is such an important factor that it can have a really big impact on your
bottom line. If your service is bad, it could drive customers away, decrease referrals and
cause potential customers not to complete purchases. But if it’s good, customers are likely to
come back, tell their friends and have a big impact on your company’s overall profits.

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