Customer service is a major, cost intensive, operation with extreme complexity. A vast number of communication channels have to be maintained to support your customers, including expensive call centres and well-trained employees. The high investment in customer service is essential to retain customers. Why? Acquiring new customers cost up to 25 times as much as retaining existing clients. Only a premium experience creates the loyalty to stay, justifying the investment is customer care. Therefore, any issue needs to be solved swiftly, professionally and the first time right.
The scale of these operations combined with required collaboration of departments intensifies the challenge to reach a premium experience. CRM systems have been introduced to create transparency and manage the complexity. However, the disconnect between ERP and CRM systems leads into significant information gaps. Employees are unable to answer basic questions about repair times, availability of stock and planning of vendors. Altogether, this leads to frustration at both customers and employees. Unhappy employees negatively impact the quality of your customer service, and, thus, their loyalty.