You've heard it before and you'll hear it again – in business, customer satisfaction is key. Why then do so many companies struggle with keeping their patrons happy? A report by Accenture has found customer experience is costing Australian businesses $122 billion per year in missed revenue, while 55 per cent of consumers have switched providers due to poor service.
These statistics are all the more surprising considering technology has the potential to improve customer service dramatically – particularly when it comes to business management solutions.
How can technology boost customer satisfaction?
Enterprise planning solutions can boost satisfaction across all areas of the customer experience:
1) Sales
Business management solutions take care of the sales basics so you can focus on more important areas of customer relations.
Fully integrated systems means your warehouse and stock levels are updated automatically at point of sale, so you'll never run out of an item and have to disappoint consumers.
This technology can also take care of shipping and orders – an important aspect of sales considering one in three respondents to Ecommerce Nation will never use the same retailer again if dissatisfied with a delivery experience.
2) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solutions
Enterprise planning software such as Microsoft Dynamics often has CRM options. These allow you to more effectively manage your customer information and contact details, leading to improved satisfaction. For example, hold time is one of the biggest barriers to happy clientele. A survey by Velaro found that 60 per cent of consumers will hang up if they are put on hold for up to one minute.
However, hold times are often unavoidable when customer case information is spread across multiple locations. With a CRM, all information is in one place, leading to less hold time as phone operators search for relevant case details and answers.
The improved understanding of customer issues that CRM systems leads to means you can recommend other products and services that might be relevant to them, giving you a chance to upsell and increase profit.
3) Marketing
Enterprise planning and CRM software allows you to more effectively target your marketing to your intended audience. The data collected via these technologies gives you more insight into the consumers who are buying your products as well as new people who you might want to start targeting. Information gleaned from customer feedback allows you to better understand their individual needs, and ensure both your products and marketing is targeted at those needs.
4) Anticipate customer needs
Once you've been running your business management software for a while, you'll build up a lot of historical data which can be used to anticipate trends and plan accordingly. For example, you'll be able to predict seasonal spikes in sales and import more stock to account for this.
Eagle360 Consulting offers a range of CRM solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform. Solutions can be hosted in the cloud or on your premises, and are built for your individual business needs. Our experienced professionals are all certified by Microsoft, and will drive the whole implementation process, from collecting business requirements through to final delivery and continued support.
Contact the team today for more information on how we can help your business improve its customer satisfaction.