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Blitz
Ezine # 217 June 30, 2003
Automating Your Customer Service
Note:
This is an archived issue. Some links and/or content
may be outdated
The Blitz-Promotions News Letter.
Issue no. 217, June 30, 2003
************
In This Issue **************
Comments
Food for thought
Articles
The Classifieds
Next Issues
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Food for thought
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Know
what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do
every day what should be done, and every sunset will
see you that much nearer the goal.
Author: Elbert Hubbard
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Links you can use -
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Ever
wonder how to put in symbols - like a copyright symbol,
the Yen, cents, etc. Check out the link below.
http://freespace.virgin.net/sizzling.jalfrezi/chars.htm
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5 Tips for Automating your Customer Service by Nick
Temple
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We
all know that superior customer service is the best
way to retain customers and increase profits. Happy
customers mean more business. But the question is, how
do you provide great customer service on a limited budget?
Here are a few tips to help out.
1) Provide a search engine for your web site
Often,
the information the customer is looking for is already
on your web site, especially if you have built a F.A.Q.
system. Adding a simple search functionality to your
web site allows your customers to self help themselves.
2) Create a list of Frequently Asked Questions for your
site
Most
people would rather find the answers themselves, rather
than wait for a response. This information should be
easily found, and organized logically. A simple F.A.Q
page is a good place to start.
3)
Create an "expert" help system
Even
better is an automated system that allows you to create
a series of questions and answers, which when laid out
properly, allow your customers to find the exact solutions
they need for tech support or product questions. This
is exactly the same technique Ebay and other large sites
use.
4) Have a web help desk system
A
tracking and ticketing system for handling customer
support issues is critical. It should support both email
and web based questions. Any system you implement should
understand the concept of "tickets" and should keep
all correspondence related to a specific "ticket number"
together, both incoming and outgoing, so you can track
the status of each request.
5) Make sure you have the answers
Once your customer contacts you, you need to provide
answers to their questions quickly and efficiently.
Your customer database is your most powerful asset.
If you can keep all your information in one searchable
database, you will then be able quickly to find the
information required. Has this customer had a similar
problem before? Do they have additional issues that
need to be resolved? What is their account status? All
this information should be immediately available to
your staff.
There
is nothing more frustrating to a customer than having
their questions or concerns fall through the cracks.
By building even one of the tips above, you can reduce
support costs and increase customer satisfaction. Your
customer then becomes your best service representative
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Nick
Temple is a free-lance software developer who was recently
given the rare distinction as a Certified Developer
for the Mark Joyner Farewell Package. If you're not
familiar with the package, it includes source code to
automate every item mentioned in this article and much
more. It's only available to the first 2,000 people
who respond, so be sure to get your copy today:
http://tgl.net/mjs
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