MAINTAIN CUSTOMER
RELATIONSHIP
CUSTOMER CARE REPRESENTATIVE
JANUARY 2023
MAINTAIN RECORDS OF CUSTOMER
INTERACTION
1.1 Customer’s information is checked and updated.
1.2 Records of customer’s interaction are kept up to date.
1.3 Records of customer’s interaction are maintained in accordance with organizational
procedures and relevant legislation.
CUSTOMER RELATIONS
Customer relations is the company-wide process of nurturing positive
relationships with your customers.
Customer relationship management is a process in which a business or other
organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data
analysis to study large amounts of information.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KEEP CUSTOMER RECORDS IN YOUR BUSINESS?
Keeping business records is so vital to your business. Customer records are some of the
records any serious business should have. You’re in business to make money. And to make
money, you have to be with customers. It’s your customers that keep you in business. It’s
therefore vital to keep track of them.
WHAT ARE CUSTOMER RECORDS?
These are simply records that contain essential information about your business relationship
with your customers. These records may contain and not limited to your customers’ full
name, company name, address, telephone, email, fax and website. They may also include
birthday, spending patterns, work history and any other business information you may deem
necessary.
HOW DO YOU STORE YOUR CUSTOMER RECORDS?
There are two challenging tasks in keeping customer records. The first one is setting up a
CUSTOMER DATABASE that suits your needs. The second one is maintaining the
discipline of capturing and updating your customers’ details.
To store your customer records, you can either set up your customer database. you can
design your database that captures all the critical customer information that suits your needs.
Alternatively, you can store your customer records using a Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) system. You can find online many on the market today, which will
enable you to store, access and manage your customer information. For instance, Zoho is
one of the best paid online CRM that also backs up your data.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP CUSTOMER RECORDS
You should know that your customers are your business. Without them, you are not in
business at all. Your customers provide you with a foundation for your business growth. The
future lies in your prospective customers. The only proven way of building trusting
relationships with these people is to communicate with them.
You cannot communicate with them effectively without a system that can capture their
information. You can design one by yourself, or you can source for the paid services of
CRM. By having full and detailed customer records, you find it easier to understand your
business better. You can analyse their spending patterns and see the trends. This information
will be helpful to you with your future business decisions and marketing activities.
TIPS ON HOW TO GET THE DETAILS OF YOUR
CUSTOMERS
When you get new customers, they expect you to ask for their details. Because they have decided to buy from
you, they also feel connected to you. Because of that, you need to show them the value of being kept informed and
in touch with you. You do it by doing the following:
• First, ask for customer details at the time of the sale.
• Secondly, create a system that works well with your customers so that you don’t much of their time.
• Thirdly, get into the habit of doing it.
• Fourthly, make sure you give them a good reason for taking their details.
• Fifthly, call your customers at least once a year and update their details.
• Lastly, make sure there is someone responsible for keeping customers records up to date. It’s easier to do it day
after day than leaving it to build up because you risk losing information.
PROVIDE ONGOING SALES SERVICE
2.1 Previous interactions with customers are reviewed.
2.2 Steps are taken to determine the customer’s satisfaction with the product and/or
service provided within 48 hours.
2.3 Problems are resolved or referred to relevant personnel.
2.4 Areas where problems occur are recorded and information provided to management.
2.5 Customer is kept up-to-date on new products/services and current promotions
AFTER-SALES SERVICE
After-sales service is any support provided to a customer after the product or service has
already been purchased. Companies use after-sales support as a business strategy as it
typically leads to higher customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and even word-of-mouthmarketing.
After-sales service is the support and help you give your customers after they've purchased
your product. It might include advice on how to use your product or service, being available
to answer questions, and checking in to see if they're satisfied with their purchase.
TYPES OF AFTER-SALES SERVICE
• Thank you notes
• Onboarding guides
• Excellent, and available, customer service
• Product training
• Check-ins to ensure customers are doing well
• Listening to customer feedback
• Returns and exchanges
WHY IS AFTER-SALES SERVICE IMPORTANT?
While investing in pre-sales service is important to converting browsers into buyers, aftersales service is critical for the longevity of your business for three reasons: ensuring repeat
customers, fostering word-of-mouth referrals, and maintaining a positive brand image.
ESCALATION
Escalating an issue in the workplace is the process of bypassing those involved by contacting upper
management. It involves raising awareness of the context to the right people in order to resolve a challenging
situation.
five best practices your customer success team should use during customer escalations.
1. Listen to the Customer.
2. Put Yourself in the Customer's Shoes.
3. Understand a Customer's Value to Your Business.
4. Route Customers to the Right Person From the Start.
5. Close Each Escalation Within 30 Days.
MAINTAIN REGULAR COMMUNICATION WITH
CUSTOMERS
3.1 Communication is based on information about customers needs.
3.2 Effective, regular communication is established with customers.
3.3 Appropriate communication strategy used to satisfy customer's needs.
Customers are core to any business. If you develop strong interpersonal skills, you can
maintain good communication with your customers and build lasting relationships.
Happy customers will become advocates for your business. They promote and recommend
your business. But, they are also more forgiving when things don’t go to plan.
COMMUNICATE WELL WITH CUSTOMERS
1.
Build a relationship - Take the time to be professional and personable with your
customers. Get to know them and take note of what they’re telling you.
2.
Listen to customers - Active listening is a skill like any other, and you need to practice it.
Stay involved in the conversation and make sure to ask clarifying questions if you’re
not sure you understand something. It can also help to rephrase what your customers
tell you and repeat it back to them to clarify. This can make a good impression and
ensures that you understand what your customer is saying to you.
3. Use analogies - Analogies are great to explain complex or technical issues or descriptions. If
you’ve built a good relationship with a customer, pick examples they’ll connect with. You’ll be able to
explain your product or service in a way they immediately understand.
4. Develop customer service standards - Internal customer service policies,
standards and benchmarks ensure that your employees communicate with
your customers in a consistent way. This gives you peace of mind that your
staff provide the same good customer service each time customers interact
with your business.
5. Resolve disputes quickly – customer complaint will occur, but if you can handle them
professionally and quickly, you will build strong customer relationships.
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
1.
Make a phone call - If you’re a service-based business, touching base can be
a great way to keep your business at the front of your customers’ minds.
You don’t have to try and sell your customers anything, you can use this
opportunity to build a strong relationship.
2.
Engage on social media - you can use social media to post special offers, information
about new products or services and general announcements. Keep in mind that social
media works best when you use it to build connections, relationships and rapport with
your customers.
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY (CONTINUE)
3. Send a newsletter - Newsletters are a great way to let your customers know about any
promotions or success stories. You can also share personal milestones or
experiences, which help you build rapport with your customers. Make sure you
have your customer’s permission before sharing success stories.
Spam Laws
• There are rules when sending electronic commercial messages to your customers. Before
sending your messages, you must make sure that:
• you have permission from your customers to send them commercial electronic messages
• you include a way for your customers to unsubscribe or opt-out
ASK FOR FEEDBACK
Surveys allow you to ask your clients for feedback on the products and services you offer. You can find out
their thoughts on your products and services, and what you could improve on or add to your offerings.
You could offer an incentive to encourage survey responses, such as:
• free movie tickets
• product discounts
• free one-on-one session with you
Make sure you ask open ended questions to give your customers a chance to have their say. These questions
can provide you with feedback you can action on. Most importantly, follow up on the information you
receive and do something with it.
INCENTIVES THAT YOU CAN OFFER WITH
YOUR PRODUCT TO UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS.
1.
Offer Extra Reward Points/Cash. Let's say you have a reward system for your product.
2.
Offer Bonus Upgrade On Trial Basis.
3.
Offer Discount On Next Purchase.
4.
Offer Free Product.
5.
Offer Additional Samples.
6.
Offer to Pay for the Related Product.
OFFER ADDITIONAL BENEFITS TO CUSTOMERS
4.1 Additional benefits are offered to customers based on analysis of customer records.
4.2 Opportunities for relationship marketing, cross product marketing or additional
product marketing are communicated.
4.3 Responses to customer's requests are designed to maximise customer retention.
EXPLOIT OPPORTUNITY FOR SALES
UP-SELLING
Upselling - is a sales technique where a seller induces the customer to purchase more
expensive items, upgrades or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale
common restaurant upselling technique is to offer more-expensive items than the ones
the customer originally ordered. Servers often use this technique without the customer
knowing by offering two choices of liquor without noting that one is more expensive, for
example
CROSS SELLING
Cross-selling is the action or practice of selling an additional product or service to
an existing customer. In practice, businesses define cross-selling in many different
ways
Examples of cross-selling include: A sales representative at an electronics
retailer suggests that the customer purchasing a digital camera also buy a
memory card. A new car dealer suggests the car buyer add a cargo liner or
other after-market product when making the initial vehicle purchase
ESTABLISH AVENUES FOR CUSTOMER
RECOGNITION
5.1 Customer appreciation events are organised.
5.2 Loyal customers are rewarded.
5.3 Suggestion box is provided to encourage customer feedback.
CUSTOMER APPRECIATION IDEAS
1. Send a handwritten note.
2. Give back to causes close to customers.
3. Enlighten your community every day.
4. Notice when customers go above and beyond.
5. Offer a free service during a challenging time.
6. Take the time for face-to-face conversations.
7. Give a thoughtful gift.
8. Support their interests, work, and businesses
CUSTOMER APPRECIATION IDEAS (CONT)
9. Bend the rules for a customer
10. Give someone an unexpected upgrade
11 Host a customer appreciation week
12. Personalize your service
13. Check in with customers
WAYS TO ENCOURAGE CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
1. Encouraging clients to give Feedback. Client feedback is gold dust to businesses.
2. Feedback Boxes. Physical feedback boxes are one of the most basic, effective methods of data response
collection.
3. Surveys.
4. Reaching Out Personally.
5. Social Media.
6. Focus Groups.
7. Usability test.
ORGANIZATIONAL PROCEDURES AND RELEVANT
LEGISLATION
1.
privacy Act
2.
industry codes of practice
3.
anti-discrimination legislation
4.
consumer Credit Code
5.
customer charter
REFERENCES
• https://business.gov.au/people/customers/manage-customer-relationships
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonysmith/2018/08/01/how-to-build-lasting-customerrelationships/
• https://www.infoentrepreneurs.org/en/guides/customer-relationship-management/