| The Key Elements | | | | impediment to or discourage good customer |
| Your customer management program has three key | | | | management. Review both the design and the |
| elements | | | | necessity of your forms. Get rid of administrative |
| - corporate policy and systems | | | | impediments that conflict with customer management |
| - on job support systems | | | | policy and systems. |
| - reward systems for successful customer support | | | | Reward Systems |
| and service staff. | | | | It's important that you reward staff adequately for |
| Corporate Policy and Systems | | | | successfully implementing your customer service |
| Your policies and systems must be designed to show | | | | policy. But you must be clear about one thing. |
| that positive customer management is an unequivocal | | | | Reward systems should reward successful goal |
| priority. Your policies need to clearly encourage | | | | achievement: not effort, application or good |
| - prospects to become clients | | | | intentions. You may choose some form of |
| - clients to continue and increase their involvement | | | | acknowledgement or recognition of old fashioned |
| with you. | | | | "application". But the major tangible rewards must go |
| This means clear systems and performance | | | | to those who satisfy or exceed your performance |
| standards for targets, guarantees, service provision | | | | standards. |
| and market position. Without proper policy and | | | | You should ensure too that support and service staff |
| systems you cannot expect your sales, support and | | | | are equally eligible for tangible rewards as are contact |
| service staff to support customer management. | | | | staff. |
| On Job Support Systems | | | | Conclusion |
| These systems should include training, job aids, | | | | If you're to survive and prevail through the recession, |
| customer information, product or service delivery, | | | | professional customer management is crucial. A |
| after sales service, problem resolution and customer | | | | successful system contains all three elements I've |
| contact techniques including phone, letter, email and | | | | mentioned. Many sound systems fail because they |
| face to face. | | | | don't pay sufficient attention to one or more. |
| In particular, you must eliminate systems that are an | | | | |