Not Just A Customer Service Tool

Optimizing your customers experience program should be considered a revenue source. You could categorize it as a customer service tool, but research shows satisfied customers impact sales. One of the best strategies is to look for way to improve sales, within your customer experience program.

On company Orvis, has extended their online customer service hours. Brad Wolansky, VP of global e-commerce shared with Brandweek how his company views the CRM tools:
“Yeah, we do plenty of customer service and it’s a terrific way of solving customer service issues. But from a business model standpoint, it’s a sales conversion tool. When properly managed—and I underline ‘properly managed—a chat program is a money-making effort that should not be viewed as a customer service cost.”

It’s interesting how Wolansky views part a traditional customer service tool as revenue making action. How many of us dismiss or cut back on customer experience programs because we fail to see the potential sales from it? In fact, companies who deeply invest and utilize their customer service tools are some of the most successful. We can think of Zappos and their success as a leading example.

The key is to manage it as a sales tool versus just a customer service tool. Every interaction with the customer is an opportunity to strengthen your brand and deepen the connection with your customer. Look around at how your promotions are handled, how much product knowledge your sales associates offer, and discover the niches where you can improve both customer experience and sales.