There is no doubt that the CRM executives need to be responsive, reliable and respectful to help provide customer satisfaction. This according to the Harvard Business Review leads to retention, related sales and referrals for the company. To get to these benefits the company needs to train the CRM staff in specific areas.

Interpersonal Skills

Ability to deal with people politely and empathy towards them are traits desirable in all human beings, but in the case of Customer Relationship Management executives this could well be the gospel truth. If your staff is unable to establish good interpersonal relationships with your customers you are not going to get their business.

Communication

While most of the duties of a customer care executive can be conducted through automated software there are other undertakings which cannot be. For these activities the customer may use the phone or walk in physically to the company premises. If the customer has taken so much trouble to come in to the company he will have a sizable problem to solve. That is where communication skills of the CRM staff will be put to the test.

Handling Stress

No one likes to deal with rude people who want to bite your head off but customer relationship can often involve just that. It can be highly stressful trying to calm down irate customers on a daily basis. There is no excuse for rude behavior on the part of the company staff even if the customer is being discourteous.

Active Listening

One of the reasons why customers don’t feel comfortable dealing with the company on the phone is the number of recorded messages that they need to filter through. When you have a problem to report you do not want to spend five minutes shuttling through different voice recorded menus. That is why it is important for the CRM staff to listen to the customer and respond intelligently to the problem that they hear.

Team Work

This one should be obvious but sometimes a single link in the chain kept out of the loop can cause more damage than imagined. If you are dealing with a customer, have all his relevant details at hand and fed into a centralized system. This will ensure that the customer is never left in the lurch just because you forgot to brief a team mate about what needs to be done.

Problem Solving and Complaints Handling

This is quite literally the crux of the matter. All the chatter that the customer generates is related to his problem. The way the CRM staff functions to solve the problem right from the time the first complaint is registered with them can make a huge difference to the reputation of the company.

Product and Organization Knowledge

A CRM executive cannot solve the problems of the customers who come to him unless he has an innate understanding of the product that the company is selling and a general know-how of the organization. For this reason proper training of the executive in terms of what the company sells and how is essential to his productivity.

About the Author: Sarika Periwal writes for karmacrm.com, a CRM for small businesses and individuals. It is a web based CRM software that can help you streamline all your sales leads and contact data and thus increase customer retention and repeat sales.

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Recently the management consulting firm Accenture performed a global study that focused on shifts in consumer and brand relationships around the world based on the perception of customer service. What can service providers glean from these assessments and how can they move the customer experience in a positive direction?

Ditching Brands Because of Their Terrible Service

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Infographic: Bad Service Blues: A Global Perspective

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As growing businesses make the transition from small to medium-sized, many are finding that hiring a virtual receptionist service not only helps free up time for other projects, but it adds a whole new level of professionalism and customer service. A virtual receptionist is an off-site company that fields all of your phone calls and directs them to the appropriate channel.

Depending on the virtual receptionist service you choose, your call answering may be highly customizable. Some virtual receptionist services are even able to sound like they are in your office, just like an in-house receptionist. To get the most bang for your buck, consider these five preferences when setting up service:

1. Start with a great greeting

Typically, you’re able to personalize what your virtual receptionists will say when greeting callers. Try beginning with “Thank you for calling” or “Good Morning/Afternoon” and follow with your company name. Sprinkle in a “How may I help you?” or “How may I direct your call?” for good measure. The whole greeting should set a welcoming tone for the call: “Thank you for calling ABC Company. How may I help you?”

Bonus: If “Good Morning” sounds good to you, confirm with your service that no matter what time zone the virtual receptionists are in, they will answer with your time zone in mind.

2. Request helpful information from callers

Virtual receptionists can often gather certain information when taking a message or before transferring a call to you. Would knowing what company someone’s calling from or what the call is regarding make your life easier?

3. Pick your messaging preference

Each individual in the company may also be able to customize his or her own messaging procedure. Would you prefer written messages or voicemails? Or would you like the virtual receptionist to offer a choice between the two?

For example, salespeople may prefer to have the receptionist take down a short intake form from their callers (first and last name, how they heard about you, an email address, what services they’re interested in, etc.). That way, they’re able to make an informed return call, and the potential client has a chance to engage with the company.

4. Distinguish between types of calls

Just as you can set specifications for what information to collect before a call is transferred or when a message is taken, virtual receptionist services can also personalize call instructions based on the type of call. For instance, the virtual receptionist may only try your desk line for current clients but try your cell as well for new clients.

5. Ask about FYI messages

Your virtual receptionist service may be able to send you an email every time a caller is connected to voicemail or declines to leave a message. That way, you’ll know that they called whether or not a message is taken, and you can impress clients with a proactive offer of help!

With advanced software and savvy virtual receptionists on your side, there are lots of different ways to set up your phone answering. By customizing your call answering, you’ll be able to enhance your business’s image while increasing your productivity. There’s a great big virtual receptionist world out there – don’t be afraid to ask for what you want!

About the Author: Elizabeth Robinson writes for Ruby Receptionists, a live virtual receptionist service that provides call answering for businesses nationwide.

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It was the first leg on a recent return home flight from Kansas City to San Diego that my ears perked up while sitting in seat 19B on a well-known airline.

A mother sitting in front of me with her young son had asked the flight attendant (I’m old enough to remember when it was cool to call them a stewardess) for a blanket for her son.

In turn, the flight attendant responded that this particular airline did not have any blankets available and it was probably a good thing. As we all know, flights can run cool or hot, so a blanket did not seem like an unusual request.

Well, much to my surprise and I will say to a degree my delight, the flight attendant told the woman that you really would not want an airline blanket given some of the “leftovers” that can end up on them. While I did not ask for a more descriptive response, I can only imagine some of the things passengers would end up leaving on an airline blanket.

The veteran flight attendant went on to note that things with her employer had changed the last few years, and to note her remarks, not for the better.

No more snacks unless you wanted to cough up a loan, no blankets or pillows to keep you warm and comfy, and a number of other amenities that would probably be too long to list.

What got me thinking heading down the runway was the refreshing honesty with which this flight attendant informed the customer about how her airline was not improving but potentially worsening its relations with the flying public.

What if you as a business owner had one or more of your employees telling customers here and there that you couldn’t provide this or that for them any longer if you did, it would cost them more money? How many of these customers could you potentially lose?

While no employee would be smart to go around bragging to customers about how their business is doing less for customers today than they did yesterday, it is actually refreshing to hear some honesty from employees.

We all know the airline industry is not what it used to be pre-9/11 and likely never will be again.

Even though we appreciate the added emphasis on safety, how many of us complain when we have to get to arrive earlier at the airport a half hour, hour or more now to make it through security on time?

The days of free snacks, pillows, blankets, etc. seem like a thing of decades ago. Heck, can it be too far down the road when airlines start charging you for the “complimentary”  drinks they still serve?

That gets me back to my original point…. Would you as this flight attendant’s employer wanted to hear her telling a customer that things were getting worse and not better on this particular airline?

While I’m guessing the answer nine or even 10 times out of 10 is no, would you discipline that same employee for being truthful and telling us what we already likely know?

Customer service is what companies make of it.

The businesses who provide the best customer service are likely the ones who will end up buying those others who did not.

If you’re a business owner, you don’t even have to know how to fly a plane to figure that out.

About the Author: Dave Thomas is an expert writer on items like postage meters and is based in San Diego, California.  He writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs at Resource Nation.

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There are a number of free online CRM packages available in the market today. If you are looking forward to taking your business to the next level it will make sense to invest some time and effort into a business contact management software. That does not mean that free software will solve all your problems.

It might, but more importantly it will show you just what you need for your company. When you eventually decide to get a customized or advanced package, you will know just what specifications and features best suited to your business needs. So it is well worth experimenting with the free CRM software that is so easily available online.

What tasks will you be assigning to your CRM software?

There are some common tasks that a CRM software package can help you with. These include Sales Force Automation, Marketing Automation, Customer Support and Project Management. That is why you need to know what your goals for the CRM software are. So here you need to determine what your business needs in terms of CRM are. What do you need to know, do you need to know about sales lead generation or conversion rate or do you needs to monitor the effectiveness of your call center? Do you need more information about your potential customers or do you need to profile your existing customers to show you when sales opportunities occur?

The Business Need will Determine the CRM Software Specifications

While it can be a time consuming, boring and somewhat confusing thing to do, make sure that you do not skip this step. The successful implementation of your CRM package will depend on it, so be comprehensive here.  Make a list of all the CRM activities that your company indulges in. Now make another list of what all information you need and check back to see if you are getting it or collecting it. If you are, then it is easy to automate the CRM systems. However in most cases you will need to add to the first list and then integrate it into the CRM software that you are getting installed for your business. Providing good customer data is essential to the success of your CRM plan.

Do you need to Customize or can you make do with what is Available?

One mistake that many small business owners make is thinking that a customized CRM package is better than the free web based ones. This is not always true. There is any number of comprehensive CRM solutions available today which has all that your business may need. So you do not have to necessarily buy a customized package for it to be useful. That is why it is important for you to try out some of the free stuff available before you finally decide to invest in any of them. Very often all you need to do is make a few tweaks to the free software and you are ready to run with it.

Author Bio: Sarika represents KarmaCRM.com, a web based CRM that could be an answer to all your CRM needs. It is especially suitable for small businesses and individuals. Signup and give it a try.

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Providing quality customer service should be a top priority for any business or service provider. Through open communication with staff members and by introducing and adopting a well designed training program, business owners or company managers will be in an ideal position to achieve this outcome.

Develop Customer Relationships

Nowadays, many business owners are aware that developing good customer relationships encourages customer loyalty and return business and is therefore a valuable attribute for enhancing the name, brand and reputation of their business. In simple terms, excellent customer service can be routinely applied by employees in any business or company if they are courteous, respectful, considerate, pleasant, helpful, reliable, efficient, friendly, responsive and punctual to name just a few. After all, one of the main objectives of most businesses and service providers is to deliver quality customer service, so if a customer leaves a business satisfied with the level of service provided, then the overall objective has been achieved.

Workplace Culture

Delivering customer service is a daily occurrence for many big and small enterprises, however to ensure consistency, a high standard of providing good customer service needs to be maintained and in time become second nature for employees during their interactions with customers or clients. It is also recognized that new employees who begin work in a workplace that has a culture of providing friendly helpful service will generally make an effort to maintain the same high standard. By maintaining a high standard of providing quality customer service is therefore the key because the reputation and overall success of a business can be tarnished very quickly by employees who either develop or have an overall poor customer service mindset.

Staff Training Program

Introducing a staff training program with professionally developed workplace modules that are designed to educate and train new employees (and if required current employees) is a scheme that could be introduced into any work environment. Such a strategy would then ensure all employees have the skills and know-how to effectively provide quality customer service. However, because service providers and many workplaces have different routines, functions and requirements when dealing with customers, such a program would need to be carefully designed and structured to suit the designated work environment.

About the Author: Brandon Walker is the creator of customer service skills, a website designed to provide helpful, informative advice to small and large business owners on how they can deliver exceptional customer service to their clients. You can read more of his customer service articles at his website: http://customerserviceskills.org.uk

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The call center can be the nerve center of a customer service program. It is involved in handling all customer calls including complaints, orders and other communication from the customer to the business.

It is of the utmost importance that every due diligence is taken to make sure that the client is left feeling satisfied with the experience of communicating with your customer service department. In most cases, this will start with having the right call center software.

The secret to a good inbound call center is making sure that all calls are connected smoothly and to the right people. This can be accomplished by having the right software for your business. In order to make sure that you are getting the software that you need for your business, it is important to go through a few steps. You will have to first determine what your needs are. Next you will need to look at the different kinds of software and what they have to offer you. Last you will have to worry about implementation of the software into your business. If done correctly, the new software will mean an increase in guest satisfaction with every call.

Analyzing Your Needs

Before you can do anything with call center software, you will have to analyze exactly what it is your call center needs. Take a look at how many agents you have working in your telephone answering service. You will also need to pay attention to the manner in which your company is contacted. Even the volume of connections being made each day will weigh heavily in making a decision about which software is right for your company. Make sure to choose the one which will make it easy for all of your agents to make the right connections with your customers.

Considering the Software

Any time you use call center software, the idea is to make it possible to route calls to agents faster and to make sure that your phone systems are able to be integrated into the system. While most software these days is made to be used with a VoIP service, it is important to make sure that the software you are considering will integrate with your system. You should also consider whether you want for the software to be in your location or if you would rather have your call center routed from a hosted location to avoid the hassle of computer crashes or server mishaps.

Implementing the New Software

Once you have chosen your new software, it is time to use it. Perhaps it is a good idea to have a few of your top agents use the software before you purchase it. Most companies will offer a free live demo or a trial period for your call center. If you intend on using either one of these, ask ahead. While many companies do offer them, you do not want to find out too late that the software you are considering does not allow you to test it out first.

About the Author: Resource Nation provides free tools, tips, and purchasing advice for business owners and entrepreneurs in over 100 business categories ranging from inbound call centers to credit card processing. Whether it’s connecting businesses with local and national pre-screened vendors, or offering easy service comparisons on a telephone answering service, Resource Nation empowers business decision makers by providing the information they need to make smart choices.

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Security is a big issue no matter what kind of business you are in. Whether it means keeping out thieves or keeping employees honest, it always seems as if someone needs to be keeping an eye on things.

The problem is it is not always possible to have a manager watching over the business. Often the time when you need the security the most is at night when everyone is gone. Without enough money to hire a security guard, many businesses owners feel their hands are tied.

The good news is the new technology offered in video surveillance offers businesses the ability to watch over their property at all times. The new technology which is being used includes the use of a Wi-Fi camera. The camera itself hooks up through the wireless internet service in the office to allow remote access either by the business owner at home or in an office within the business. It is possible to do both.

When choosing to install these cameras as a part of surveillance systems, there are a few things to keep in mind. Paying attention to these things will help you to create a system which will offer superior security.

Lighting Capabilities

Many of the new Wi-Fi surveillance cameras available are not very good at providing good pictures in bright or low light. In bright light, the picture can tend to be washed out while in dark light, the screen can be almost completely black. As a result, the majority of people currently using these kinds of surveillance cameras have been using them indoors. Pay attention to the lighting capabilities of the camera before making a decision as to where you will put it.

Directional and Zooming

There are cameras on the market which offer the ability to move positions as well as the ability to zoom in. Before making a purchase, keep in mind how important it is to you to be able to do such things as zoom in and have multiple camera angles. The Toshiba IK-WB11A has the ability to regularly patrol up to ten different positions and zoom in up to five times the standard position.

Motion Sensor

Even with the capability to record and view at all times, you might not want to use that much power. This is why many prefer to have a camera with motion sensor capabilities. The system can be set up to include everything from sending the captured pictures through email or through FTP. The camera is activated when motion in the building is detected. After viewing the pictures taken by the camera, it is possible to decide whether you need to look at the direct feed or not.

Paying attention to the needs you have as a business will allow you to offer better protection for your business and your facility. Having the best cameras will make it possible to pay attention to your business without having to be on hand at all hours of the day. This way you can have a business and a life too.

About the Author: Resource Nation provides free tools, tips, and purchasing advice for business owners and entrepreneurs in over 100 business categories ranging from video surveillance to credit card processing. Whether it’s connecting businesses with local and national pre-screened vendors, or offering easy service comparisons on surveillance systems, Resource Nation empowers business decision makers by providing the information they need to make smart choices.

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Some leaders are born; others assume responsibility and take to it like a duck to water when it is thrust upon them; and yet others work towards earning leadership through their efforts.

Large corporate organizations are built around leadership – they thrive under the vision and able guidance of one or more leaders. However, when it comes to a small business, there’s not much structure or clear definition to the roles that its employees play.

 Very often, one person is in complete charge, and all employees work across the company doing whatever needs to be done. So in such a situation, how does leadership come into play?

Autonomous Control

Some small businesses are autonomies – the owner is in complete control and any decision has to be taken only after explicit approval from its single-entity owner. In such organizations, success or failure depends on how effective the leadership is – if the leader has a clear vision and if he/she treats their employees well and is able to gain their trust and loyalty, then the business does well.  

Family Owned

An offshoot of this is the family-owned business where there are a few partners who have equal rights – however, only one person emerges as the leader and it is he/she who actually calls the shots.

Success here depends on how well the partners get together and how minimal the strife between them is. If there are internal wars between them, then the leadership is not effective and employees start taking sides based on the partner they favor.

In such situations, unless one person is able to emerge the clear leader and assume control, the company suffers terribly.

Clear Hierarchy

Small businesses that have structure and a clear hierarchy as far as the pecking order is concerned do the best in terms of sustaining existing operations and building new ones that generate profit. Each person’s role is clearly defined, and even though it’s a small business with a single or small group of owners and a small band of employees, responsibilities are clearly crafted out and understood by those who are supposed to carry them out.

The leadership is so good that employees work with the minimal supervision, they know what to do when things go wrong, and they feel a kinship to the company rather than thinking of it as just a place where they work. This is the kind of leadership all small businesses must aspire for, whether they have a single owner or a small group of owners. If they can achieve such a setup, then there’s nothing to worry about. 

About the Author: This guest post is contributed by Carrie Oakley, who writes on the topic of online colleges . Carrie welcomes your comments at her email id: carrie.oakley1983(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

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If you are running some business, which is aimed at provision of different services and involves direct communication between you or your staff and your customers, you need to do all your best in order to look the most polite, the most friendly and the most professional service provider in the niche.

Some things described there may sound familiar to you, but I believe that many will find this article and the tips below useful. Here they are:

Separate the Departments

I bet you would be confused if a serious company had only one mailbox in order to sort out all the queries. Believe me they would be confused as well. Thus, instead of providing just a common info@yourdomain.com mailbox, it is always advisable to share several email addresses of different departments, let’s say sales@ billing@ and support@yourdomain.com. This will let you filter all support requests, while your customers will feel confident about the staff they are addressing to.

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If you also provide online support – via chats or phone, you should distinguish the departments, too. Of course, the customers can be put through some live coordinator, which may resolve some issues personally or transfer the call/chat to the correspondent representative, but I don’t think that “Thank you for you call (Welcome to our chat support), please hold” is the right start of the conversation. Especially when the customer is experiencing an urgent issue. Many people do find it irritating, when their conversations are being constantly transferred or put on hold. Thus, it is recommended to create several extensions under your VOIP server and configure your online chatting software with department selection option.

Limit the Support Options

The company representative should know all the rules and regulations of support terms, they provide. Especially if there are a lot of staff members with different training level. This is very important since some may help with a wider range of issues which are not actually supported, while some fail, causing the customers’ frustration like “Wait, I remember a different guy helping me out the other day! How come you don’t support it?” Such situations should be escaped. Thus, the first rule about this is “Nothing personal – just business.” This may be your favorite customer and it’s alright, but if your company doesn’t support let’s say step-by-step phone co-ordination of router installation and adjustment – then you should politely ask this customer to consult the manual supplied along with the device.

Keep Your Emotions

When talking about customers’ frustration, we can’t hide the fact we may get irritated, too. We are all human and it is natural. However, you should never let your emotions go. First of all, you are the professional, who should stay calm in any situation. Secondly, you are a representative of the company and your attitude does not have anything to do with the others and shouldn’t spoil the good name of the company. Finally, when the customer blames you or the company – do not ever take anything personally – and do not forget that you have a right to quit the conversation in case the customer uses bad language. This is very important since communication policies are required to be introduced. Such policies do not only save your nerves, but also protect the company in case illegal charges from the customer’s end emerge.

Drive Your Support to Social Media

Good customer service is the service which can be exposed to the public with no blushing. Apart from using social media on promotion purposes, the company can also use its social network profiles to discuss the quality of support and the peculiarities of service. Testimonials, suggestion boxes and polls are the very points to address to when escalating some conflicts that may grow from chat conversation or correspondence with management to flaming on forums and in social networks.

Thus, using social media you will get active support. If the fault was not on the company’s end. Such manner works well for both services improvement and promotion. On one hand your current customers will be able to share their views and ideas, while on the other hand those of your followers, who do not yet have any service with you will get a more complete clear picture of what is happening behind the screens.

To Summarize

Being competitive is not only providing the best service or product, it is also providing the best support. Many think that when the client meets the seller their relations begin and end as soon as the purchase is made. Well, if it is not a square market – it is wrong. The business-to-client relations start only when the product or service is purchased, since once a person becomes someone’s customer, the vendor takes the responsibility for the offered product or service. Thus, those relations need to exist in a friendly non-conflict way.  Sure, all this requires mutual understanding, which may sometimes lack on any side, but if we take a few steps to get ourselves better organized – we will see that we can be faster and avoid many unpleasant phenomena.

Author’s Bio: Arkadij “Archie” Shkolnik, PR Manager of SiteValley.com web hosting company, the provider of affordable and reliable Linux hosting for personal and small business web sites. Current administrator and author of the corporate blog – svhostingblog.com. Follow Archie on Twitter: @archiescol

Photo Credit: Tim Green aka atoach

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