CRM - Moving beyond Call Centers

The concept of call centers started in Pakistan in 90s and really took off in middle of the current decade. Today it is a must have for every customer oriented organization.

Although call centers can potentially be very helpful in achieving great customer satisfaction, but not without empowering the call center staff with the relevant knowledge and timely information and providing a collaborative and integrated working platform with the rest of the organization. Isolated and disconnected call centers are in fact worse than not having a call center at all.

This is where the CRM software comes in. Done right, it is the foundation of creating a truly customer centric organization. CRM allows the front line staff to have all the relevant knowledge available not only to solve customers' problem but pro actively suggesting solutions. The pervasive nature of CRM with its integration of all backend systems in the organization gives the front line staff unique insights into customer behavior and helps them in removing customer complaints and increasing not only customer satisfaction but also sales for the company.

In our country we have very low expectations. When you are calling a company's helpline you are mentally preparing yourself for the long drawn arguments and need to request/threaten/beg the customer service people t0 redress. Now imagine a situation where the customer service agent listen patiently, suggests a solution and then follows up to let you know that the problem is solved. I don't know about you but this guy can now sell me anything.

This is the point that companies need to keep in mind when they are investing in systems. A good CRM will turn every single customer facing employee into a Customer Service Representative and a Salesperson. I believe there will be very few companies that will be able to overlook efficiency gains of such magnitude.

Calling all CRM Consultants

I did not want my first post to be a recruitment call but CRM business in Pakistan is picking up very fast. We currently have a couple of ongoing deployments and quite a few are on the way. In order to be adequately prepared for the workload we have initiated a recruitment plan for CRM resources. We need to formally train the personnel and give them enough hands on experience before we send them to the front line.

Please feel free to send your profile/resume to info@access.net.pk if you are an experienced CRM Functional and/or technical resource or if you are interested in pursuing a career implementing by far the world's #1 CRM i.e. Oracle Siebel CRM.