Customer satisfaction–when I visit companies, I hear over and over again that their main differentiator and the reason for their success is superior customer satisfaction. In fact, 80% of businesses believe they provide “superior” customer service. But, of course, that is statistically impossible. This demonstrates that the vast majority of those companies do not have a way to track customer satisfaction. Some of today’s modern ERPs give you tools that will not only automate some key tasks that will improve customer satisfaction, but will also help track customer satisfaction and its key indicators.
Customer communications can contribute significantly to customer satisfaction. When customers believe personal attention is being paid to their accounts and that their feedback is important, they rate the vendor higher on the customer service/satisfaction scale. Being an account executive, I know how difficult it can be to make the time—at the right time–to follow up with new customers to see how their first order was handled or to contact customers with returns to ensure the return process went smoothly and encourages customers to stay with the company. Often, we assume if a long-term customer keeps buying from us that all is well, but without measuring their satisfaction, how do we know that they are not shopping around for another vendor?
A modern ERP like Acumatica that is built from the ground up using today’s Cloud technology can automate some of the customer communications process and increase customer satisfaction and revenue. A fully-integrated ERP system with CRM, inventory, accounting, shipping, and warehouse automation can provide all the data and events to ensure continuing communication with customers.
A new customer who places their first order can be sent a survey one week after the order shipment date. If the survey has not been returned, the system can automatically schedule a phone call for the account executive (AE) to follow up. All of the surveys the client completes over their history can be stored and analyzed to see any trends in their satisfaction and alert the AE if they fall behind certain established thresholds.
If the order is not shipped complete and there are backorder items, an alert can be sent to the AE and the customer can be automatically sent from the AE regarding the backorder. Based on the purchase order to replenish the inventory the expected ship date can also be incorporated into the notification to the client.
The entire return process can also be automated and communicated. When the item is received, the results of the return inspection, if the item is being repaired or replaced, the amount of the credit, and the tracking number on replacement items shipped are all examples of information in the ERP system that can then be sent out in emails or surveys to customers. The system can even schedule a date for a call to be made by the account executive.
In today’s world where new applications are being created every day, it is important that your system have the ability to integrate with other Cloud solutions and technologies like industry leaders Survey Monkey and Hubspot that can provide niche or specific functionality to fully customize your solution.
In summary one key to achieving a really high customer satisfaction rating is timely communications with your customers. Having a Cloud-based, fully integrated ERP system that can automate the communication process to both ensure the communication happens and optimize the account executive’s time is a critical component to achieving this goal.
To see how Acumatica Cloud ERP can integrate with new technologies for a custom-fit solution, contact NexVue (now Net at Work) at 203.327.0800 or visit us online at www.nexvue.com.