Imagine you are throwing a ball at a large target about ten feet away. Odds are pretty good that you’re going to hit the target, right? Now imagine that the target keeps changing shape and zips around at speeds from ten to 100 miles per hour. A little bit more difficult, isn’t it? That’s what it can feel like trying to meet changing customer expectations without the use of effective customer service software solutions.
Yamaha, the manufacturer of professional audio equipment and musical instruments, knows first-hand how a customer service solution can help to run its business more efficiently. Yamaha uses applications that run in the cloud—over the Internet—to facilitate communication and everyday work processes. In addition to deploying email campaigns, advertising and surveys, Yamaha lets its nationwide network of sales professionals, dealers and partners work smarter by providing easy access to customer information, shipment updates and more. The cloud-based applications make it easy for users to manage interactions with hundreds of customers, resulting in increased sales. Sales managers get a real-time picture of what’s happening out in the field, can route leads with ease, and relay information to the marketing team that will help them develop new initiatives or retool those that aren’t working.
Yamaha also tracks the frequency of mailings to certain customer groups using automated cloud-based applications. Since the company hosts several events for VIP customers, it can customize a workflow that sorts customers according to loyalty and purchasing history, and thereby alert event organizers to those customers they should reward with more event tickets.
One industry where customer expectations are constantly changing is wireless communications. What started out as a good idea—freeing customers from cords and landlines—has boomed into a multi-million dollar industry with features that early cell phone technology companies could never have anticipated. Now, cell phone consumers have come to expect their cell phones not only to make and receive calls, but send and receive text messages, take pictures and video, browse the internet, and have working navigation systems. Sprint Nextel and other wireless giants have to be able to respond to customer expectations, but also to proactively reach out to customers and counteract competitors’ promotions. They do all these and more with customer service apps that run in the cloud, on a comprehensive customer relationship management platform.
No longer can a business survive by resting on their laurels. Businesses must try to stay ahead of the curve, to find out how customers might be using their products and services and to develop new ones in response.
To hit the moving target of customer expectations, you need a framework that will grow with your company. The ideal solution is to use a cloud-based system for CRM, which will also incorporate contact management, sales force automation, and call center software. These solutions are user-friendly, scalable, accessible from any mobile device—allowing employees to travel or telecommute and still stay in the loop—and can integrate a myriad of different information systems and databases, to ensure a consistent and comprehensive view of that target—no matter where it moves.
