Posts Tagged ‘ self service ’

Challenge to say no

Here I am at the lunch restaurant and for the first time I realise what has been bothering me when I pay. It's that question: "would you like to have a receipt?". Why does that question bother me? It is perfectly normal and fits in the context. My take on this is that I am one of those many consumers who in our fast moving world simply cannot take on another thing to make a decision about. That combined with the fear of losing out on something and our not being in the mood for more confrontation makes me stare at the person at the till in strange confusion. I mumble: "errr yes... uh o no, that's OK". So I think it through while I am having lunch, and come to the conclusion that there is more to this. We are simply overloaded with decisions to make just because we have the opportunity to say yes or no. The possibility to have or have not, the right to choose. Now consumers some 50 years ago had the challenge to be able to say "yes". Money and availability had to be forthcoming to say "yes" to something and make a purchase or take receipt of anything, really. In today's developed world, many of us have plenty of access to money and products or services are available in an abundance. That's the challenge. We can have it all. Cheaply. Right now. And then, when we get bored, we can replace it. Cheaper and better. The challenge is not to say 'yes' anymore. The challenge is to say 'no', the challenge is to be selective and focus on the important things available to us consumers. Many of us spend time considering these alternatives. New car, change of phone, what about that satnav? I need a new mp3 player. Where to get it? Who offers the best price? Shall I wait until I can get cheaper and better but later? We have become customers with so many choices and we are at risk of becoming bothered customers who forget to enjoy the ride. A good friend of mine once deliberately moved country and cut all ties to start up a new life elsewhere. I, bewildered at his strength and, in my view, madness, wanted to know why he would deliberately limit his choices so rigorously. His reply was simple and very provoking especially in a world which drives to expand our possibilities and our accessibility to anything our customer hearts may desire. "Choice is choice" he said. Draw your own conclusions[ READ MORE ]

Predicting the next step in Customer Management

So what happens once all the companies where customers matter have implemented their state of the art CRM platforms? All interfaced, 360 degree customer view, complete control over structured, transparent customer data.... what a beautiful position to be in. What's next? Where lies the the next challenge then? Of course, companies will still have to innovate in terms of products and remaining competitive. But the next real challenge lies in reverse customer management. It's enabling the customer to manage the relationship with its supplier. Self service is part of that - often that afterthought in projects, almost a necessary evil from a company's perspective: 'Oh yes, we have to enable the customer to do this and that himself too'... Reverse Customer Management goes further than that. In years to come, customers will want complete control over their suppliers, preferably in one interface, in their own CRM system. Whereas companies create 'customer accounts', customers will want to create 'supplier' accounts and keep control over their supplier relations. The customer will manage the relationship. Combine this with Gardner's predictions about the future power of social networks in evaluating products, services, organisations and the power balance will experience a major shift from push to pull. We are really just at the start of the customer revolution. [ READ MORE ]

Social networks or cyberspace anonymity: those who do and those who don’t

The world of social media seems to be dividing up into two groups: Those who do and those who don’t. Those who do are happy to be out there, presenting themselves, promoting themselves, adding this new medium to their portfolio of communication. They leverage perceived risk with opportunity. Those who don’t prefer to remain cyberspace-anonymous, worry about misrepresenting themselves, prefer traditional means of communication, resist with all their might. Perhaps they even resist against better judgement. Perhaps[ READ MORE ]

Salesforce, Oracle Siebel, SAP CRM, Salesforce, it doesn’t matter

Countless CRM projects have completely missed their mark, and continue to do so. Organisations decide it's time to see over the way they deal with their customer and jump straight into software selection. They involve consultancy firms who claim to have built an understanding of 'CRM Industry best practise', and they start configuring right away. No CRM software can deliver benefit to the organisation or the customer if you do not first very clearly decide what you want. Do you want the smooth phone/CRM integration for managing customer interactions that Avaya/Siebel Oracle can provide you? Is integration with Outlook and other Microsoft products important for you and do you want an easy setup that Microsoft CRM Dynamics can give you? Are you after quick wins with SalesForce? What is the business case for your CRM investment? Can you afford on Premise, on Demand, customised or not? What does your business process in Marketing, Sales, Delivery and Service look like? Where does it work well, where does it not? What will you automate and what will remain manual? [ READ MORE ]

Self-service or ‘Shelf-service’? Get it right first time.

Self-service is one of the major areas where organisations are going to score major CRM points if they get it right. If they don't, they can do more damage than they could ever imagine. Get it right, first time as it is incredibly powerful in creating a personal customer experience and will shape customer opinion for a long time to come[ READ MORE ]

CRM is not a fashion accessory, it’s elementary clothing.

CRM is not a fashion accessory, it’s elementary clothing. Don’t get caught naked on the high street shopping for a scarf is my advice to you. [ READ MORE ]

The issue of being not-boring

Is the danger of becoming or being boring a problem for your organisation? Sooner or later when the company's core business processes are in order what do you do. Do you roll over and become boring or do you entice your customer with ravishing new ideas to support the customer life cycle[ READ MORE ]

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