Optimize Your Customer Service

We’ve written before on the importance of using customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to align marketing and sales, but what often gets left out of the equation is customer service. However, customer service has never played a more critical role in business success, and the trend isn’t slowing down. By 2020, it’s estimated that customer experience will surpass price and product as the key brand differentiator. Consumers are not only willing to pay more for a better experience but also likely to seek business elsewhere when customer service slips.

Fortunately, CRM systems include impressive features such as AI technology to empower a more responsive customer service strategy and align service with marking and sales initiatives. Below, we explain how businesses can take advantage of CRM to make sure sales, marketing and service departments are on the same page when it comes to delivering optimal customer experiences.

Collaborative Selling

Collaborative selling isn’t new, but it is more important in our competitive environment. Ultimately, the entire enterprise, not just sales, should put forth the effort to entice customers. 60% of sales professionals credit collaborative selling to a 25% increase in productivity. But including multiple departments in your sales process requires a CRM system that enforces visibility and streamlines the pipeline. CRM vendors such as Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 merge sales, marketing and service into their systems to empower this transparency. Salespeople, for example, can access service requests to understand customer needs and utilize the right marketing collateral to deliver a personalized experience.

This transparency also enables service representatives to provide consistent customer assistance, even in omni-channel environments. When departments are aligned in a collaborative selling model, service teams can keep track of consumer needs across multiple channels. CRM provides a single, comprehensive view of each client to improve customer experiences and service efficiency.

AI Technology

Though customer service tends to be an afterthought, CRM vendors recognize their role in driving sales. A business loses out on cross-sell, upsell and other opportunities when their customer service is lacking. In addition to a 360-degree view of customers, CRM vendors are also expanding their AI and machine learning technology to deliver better service.

At the forefront of service innovation is the chatbot. These virtual assistants enable call centers to run 24/7 so your company can assist customers on their time. Chatbots can begin conversations and resolve routine issues to give agents more time to handle complex requests. Additionally, machine learning tools can prioritize service tickets to speed up case resolution.

Wrap Up

Businesses can’t afford to lose sight of customer service when planning their CRM implementations. Without a CRM system that provides service agents complete insight and innovative technology, enterprises will experience lower customer satisfaction rates, tarnishing their image and resulting in lost business. Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Salesforce have both recently improved their customer service features with the releases of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Service and Service Cloud Essentials, respectfully. Both applications are geared towards small to midsize businesses to drive efficiency and optimize customer journeys. Fully integrated with their CRM platforms, these service applications enforce alignment between your sales, marketing and service departments.

As a certified partner of both Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365, Datix has insight into two of the top CRM vendors to help businesses determine which solution best serves their interests. Datix can also go beyond CRM implementations with Unity, our premier software integration solution. Unity has the power to connect Epicor ERP with a variety of robust systems, including CRM, to deliver even more visibility and efficiency to boost your enterprise.

To learn more about the CRM selection and implementation process, contact Datix’s expert CRM consultants today!

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