How not to automate
I came across yet another rant against poor customer service. There is too often a direct link made between technology, specifically sales automation or CRM software, and poor customer service. I would take the blame up a level and look at the decisions that were made during the early stages of the CRM project. Was there an existing process in place that needed to be automated? Were decisions based on assumptions about what employees should be doing, as opposed to what actually happens? Were there any meaningful metrics in place to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty?
People almost expect poor service, so when a company does provide a great customer experience, the brand is rewarded with a loyal following. If management is smart, this loyalty is turned into more revenue and profits. Certainly smart businesses are using technology to maintain a relationship with their customers, but the technology is secondary. It can only support what is already in place. Even the slickest, best implemented CRM or BI system will not help a company that is not committed to measuring and improving how the staff interacts with customers.
Minutes later, I came across a similar story by marketing guru Seth Godin. There are countless posts like this all over the blogosphere. Is technology really to blame?
I believe that technology can enable and enhance customer service, perhaps even bringing good service into the exceptional category by leveraging people’s time and making knowledge about your customers more accessible. But if customer service is broken at the top, then technology will be a waste of money at best, and at worst, it will accelerate the side effects of treating customers poorly.
