unit 3 notes

Simple

A policy should be simple and easily understood by all in the organization.

Investigate and Analyze the Complaint

Be fair. Get both sides of the story. Keep records in the complaint file of all meetings, conversations or findings.

Customer Experience Management (CEM)

CEM looks outward: Focus on customers and Focus on creating positive customer experiences

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Guidelines

Companies may face liability when employees use social media to comment on their employer's services or products without disclosing the employment relationship; such liability may result even if the comments were not sponsored or authorized by the employer.

Study Influencers

Connecting with and collaborating with influences is a great way to get your brand know

Explain the difference between customer relationship management technology and customer relationship management

Customer Relationship Management is a strategy CRM (no, not software) to transform your business to be customer, not product, focused. The CRM software is just a tool that helps the company carry out this strategy.

Employer Liability for Employee's Illegal Behavior

Employers cannot ignore internet based criminal activities when known. Employers must consider reporting the unlawful conduct to the authorities. To mitigate risks, employers should have and enforce policy prohibiting unlawful Internet activity.

Keep Your Brand Voice,

Image & Tone Consistent

A study by the Technical Assistance Research Programs Institute pinpoints three findings about customer complaints:

The average customer with an unresolved complaint will tell nine to 10 people; 13 percent tell more than 20 people. Up to 70 percent of complainers will return to your business if the complaint is resolved. Up to 95 percent return if the problem is resolved quickly. For every complaint received, the average company has 26 unhappy customers it never hears from; six of these customers have problems that are considered serious.

Identify Your Area of Expertise

The more unique and engaging content you create on your chosen topic of expertise, the more your followers will start to think of you as a leader in your chosen field.

Customer complaints

can generally be divided into three general areas—the product, the business's employees, and the business itself.

Business Policy

defines the scope or spheres within which decisions can be taken by the subordinates in an organization.

Collaborative CRM

direct communication with customers that does not include a company's sales or service representative ("self service")

Interpreting business policies typically involves

explaining company procedures, often written in bureaucratic language, to customers who are already irritated and upset.

A brand promise

is a collection of attributes, tangible and intangible, that frequent customers associate with your business and that define the beliefs or impressions of those who have never been customers.

The brand promise

is the most important part of a brand's design.

Until it is determined otherwise, one should assume that the complaint is legitimate.

After the customer's explanation, ask whatever questions may be necessary to obtain facts needed in solving the problem. Asking the customer to be brief may anger the customer. The manager should not be called unless you cannot handle the situation to the customer's satisfaction.

Discuss the use of customer information in customer relationship management

By gathering and organizing customer information, a business can better determine and fulfill its customers' needs and wants. Customer information is also used to identify the most profitable, loyal customers. After identifying these customers, the business may provide higher, better service to these customers to maintain their loyalty and increase their profitability.

Explain types of data commonly stored in a CRM system

CRMs include physical addresses, job titles, email addresses and phone numbers.

Prepare and File a Report on the Disposition of the Complaint, and Periodically Analyze and Summarize Complaints

Circulate complaint statistics and action proposals to appropriate departments. Develop an action plan for complaint prevention. Make sure the consumer viewpoint is given appropriate consideration in company decision making.

Explain the impact of organizational structure on customer relationship management

Customer experiences should be seamless. All departments must work together toward common CRM goals. To ensure that customers have "seamless" interactions with the company, all customer information must be available in one location to all employees who require it (usually using CRM technology). Companies with superior customer relationship management processes are much more likely to be organized according to customer segment or group.

Fully Update Your Social Media Accounts

Decide which social media account(s) you are going to focus on, and delete any old accounts that you are no longer using.

Bullying

Employers may face liability when employees use social media to disseminate rumors, gossip, and offensive false statements about co-workers and supervisors. Employees may also become the victim of taunts or jokes from co-workers on social media or through e-mail or messaging.

Needed to Sustain the Organization

Finally, customers are the reason an organization is in business. Without customers or the potential to attract customers, a company is not viable. Consequently, customers are not only key to revenue and profits they are also key to creating and maintaining jobs within the organization.

Resolve the Problem in a Manner Consistent with Company Policy

Forward the complaint to the appropriate level of authority for resolution. Keep the consumer informed through progress reports. Notify the consumer promptly of a proposed settlement.

Explain ways in which customer relationship management can benefit a business

Identifying most valuable customers Creating targeted marketing campaigns Allowing employees to perform their jobs more efficiently Increasing word-of-mouth promotion Increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty Increasing sales and profit

In another situation, a business might have multiple database records for one customer

If the business sends multiple (excessive) copies of promotional materials (e.g., product catalog) to the customer based on the data in the database, the customer may become annoyed. Sending multiple copies of a single mailing to one customer is also a waste of the business's money.

High-Context Cultures

Infer information from message context, rather than from content. Prefer indirectness, politeness & ambiguity. Convey little information explicitly. Rely heavily on nonverbal signs. Asian Latin American Middle Eastern

Social-media-management

Know that having your accounts set to private limits the general public from seeing your posts - and ultimately limits your audience.

Change your overall social media mindset

Regardless if what you're sharing is business or personal, a change in mindset about how we approach social media may be one of the best ways to keep from having a possible mishap that could ruin our reputation.

Low-Context Cultures

Rely more on content rather than on context. Explicitly spell out information. Value directness. See indirectness as manipulative. Value written word more than oral statements. European Scandinavian North American

Always maintain a filter

To keep something from coming back and harming your reputation or your company is to just be super mindful of what you share, even when you feel you're sharing it with your private community..

Import Your Contacts

You might be amazed to see how many people you already know on the social media networks you're using.

Customer complaints

against the business itself are generally related to the business's policies and procedures.

Business Process Management (BPM)

aligning business objectives and activities with customer needs; Aids in maintaining long-term customer relationships

Non-functional benefits

are the most desirable, however, as they appeal to people on a visceral level and are the least vulnerable to competitive copying.

The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)

confers rights to employees to form, join or assist labor organizations, refrain from such activities, and participate in activity engaged in for "other mutual aid or protection." Employees' communication through social media may be protected under the NLRA.

Management establishes policies that help employees to deal with

customers in the same way for the same situation. This helps to ensure fair treatment of customers and to satisfy them. A business's employees can carry out their responsibilities in a coordinated manner when all of them follow the same policies, but this does not necessarily even out the workload or provide employees with satisfaction.

Customer-centric Strategy

focus is on customer needs and wants

Touch Points

interactions between a customer and a business

A brand promise

is a business's agreement, spoken or unspoken, with customers that it will consistently meet their expectations and deliver on its brand characteristics and values.

Policy

is a predetermined course of action which is established to provide a guide toward accepted business strategies and objectives. In other words, it is a direct link between an organization's "Vision" and their day-to-day operations.

CRM data warehouse

model directly impacts an organization's ability to readily perform analyses that are specific to CRM.

The CRM software

must be able to track current clients, future prospects, and referral sources, as well as make that data accessible company-wide with appropriate security safeguards.

The benefit

must focus on points of difference, not points of parity.

Business policy is the study

of the roles and responsibilities of top level management, the significant issues affecting organizational success and the decisions affecting organization in long-run.

Businesses often use

personalization technology to target certain products to certain customers based on the customers' purchase history.

If management doubts

the effectiveness in their interpretation, they must reassess, revise and re-implement the policy.

The company incurs real costs in handling these complaints: people costs, technology costs and communication costs;

then there are customer recovery costs such as ex gratia payments, gifts, premium waivers and service re-performance. In addition, there are the indirect costs of management time, space and training. The final component of the first cluster of costs estimates the effects of churn and word of mouth that result from the complaints-handling experience.

Corporate Culture

values and ideals shared among employees

Each country has their own way of saying things,

what may not be offending to you may be offending to them. International business communication is all about knowing the important thing that lies behind peoples words in the international arena.

The Five-Step Process

will help you to avoid becoming argumentative by lessening the conflict and opening dialogue with the customer. It will assist you in providing a more positive customer experience.

Matching engine technology

works in a similar manner. Based on a particular customer's needs or preferences, matching engine technology determines the product offering that would best appeal to that customer.

Acknowledge

"I apologize that the product was not of the quality that you expected. I understand your frustration. I can help."

Clarify

"In order for us to improve on the quality - and for me to better serve you, may I ask what specific areas were of poor quality?"

People say

"To solve this dispute I'm going to have to change my approach" "I can maintain my values and behave in culturally appropriate ways" "The more I understand this culture the better I get at the language"

Present Resolution

"We would be happy to exchange the product for a similar product of higher quality."

Checkback

"Would that be satisfactory?"

The ideal benefit to claim has the following three qualities

(1) it is extremely important to the target consumer, (2) your organization is uniquely suited to delivering it and (3) competitors are not currently addressing it (nor is it easy for them to address it in the future).

Discuss reasons why businesses should encourage employees to use social media at work

1. Allows employees to take a mental break 2. Enables employees to make and support professional connections 3. Employees can ask questions and solve a work problem 4. Strengthens and builds personal relationships with coworkers 5. Enhances information discovery and delivery 6. Improves employee recognition and retention 7. Boosts organizational productivity

Describe guidelines for exhibiting a customer-service mindset

1. Always tell your customer what you CAN do for them. Don't begin your conversation by telling them what you CAN'T do. 2. Allow irate customers to vent. Do not interrupt them or start to speak until they have finished having their say. 3. Diffuse anger by saying "I'm sorry or "I apologize." 4. Use your customer's name at different points in the call. 5. Make certain that your "solution" to the customer's problem is acceptable to them. Get their approval and agreement. 6. Always conclude each call with a "Thank you" or a verbal message of appreciation for their business. 7. Make certain that your tone of voice is in sync with your words. Remember, your tone of voice can completely contradict your message. 8. Listen attentively! There is nothing worse than asking an irate or troubled customer to REPEAT what they have just said. 9. Go the extra step by following up on your solution. Re-contact the customer to make certain that everything has been handled in a satisfactory manner, and they are pleased with the outcome. 10. Remember to ask if there is anything else that you can do for your customer. Taking the time to ask the question often results in increased business and a more committed customer.

Identify occasions when employees can exhibit a customer-service mindset

A customer who is upset about the quality or delivery of our product/service. A product return or a cancellation of services. Incorrect information given to the customer. A customer who is negative toward your company due to past experiences. Confrontational issues and conflict. Angry customers. Explaining a company policy or procedure. Fielding a request to escalate a call to management.

Adaptation

A more proactive effort is made to use cultural differences and intercultural skills to maximize understanding and relationships with people from other cultures

Social media can be both advantageous and a disadvantage for both employers and potential employees as well. Here we have listed a few advantages and disadvantages in terms of how social media affects the hiring process:

Advantages Traditionally, employers have mostly been limited to the information that candidates provide on their paper resumes. With the advent of social media, employers now have access to much more candidate information than before, including information regarding personal interests, social interactions, and even previous work samples. From a job seekers standpoint, social media has made the task of finding a job much easier. It helps to streamline the job search process by allowing people to search jobs across hundreds of sites to find opportunities that meet their specific abilities. The Internet and social media allows employers that are located in more remote areas or are looking for a niche skill set to greatly increase their access to potential employees. In the past, these businesses have traditionally relied upon advertising to find new candidates, but social media has all but wiped out the need to advertise positions through more traditional means.

Describe the relationship of customer relationship management and continuous improvement

After developing a CRM strategy and implementing CRM processes, continuous improvement must occur to ensure that: Company values remain in line with the CRM strategy CRM processes remain effective Efficiency aids CRM.

International business communication is communicating across cultures and the first thing you must always put in mind is the basic understanding that one size doesn't fit all

Always putting in mind that the cultural practices or habits you have does not mean that everyone else around the globe does. As they say, When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Involve customers in the interpretation of any business policy

Ask for candid feedback about how the rules impact their business. Publish your findings so that customers can see that you have taken their feedback seriously and intend to act on their suggestions.

Operational CRM

Automation of the support of customer processes that include a company's sales or service representative

Explain alternatives. If the current interpretation of the business policy for your organization makes it impossible for a customer to do business with you, examine options, particularly if the customer account presents lucrative opportunities or shows significant loyalty.

Avoid damaging your company's reputation by taking a firm stance without considering other possibilities. Educate customers on training opportunities and resources available on the company website to defer and offset dissatisfaction with business policies.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Building, maintaining, and maximizing the long-term value of customer relationships through: Technology, Strategies, Processes, & People

Businesspeople should try to learn as much as they can about a client's culture, customs, and social values.

By understanding and being aware of cultural differences, businesspeople can adapt their communication styles to make a positive impression on their clients, earn their clients' trust, and persuade their clients to buy. Businesspeople who adapt their communication styles are aware of actions that a particular client might view as hospitable, as well as behaviors that the client might find offensive. Offensive behaviors can hinder the ability to build long-term relationships with international clients.

Discuss the role of corporate culture in customer relationship management

CRM should be one of these values! For customer relationship management to be successful, it must be supported by the corporate culture. Senior executives must believe and demonstrate that building and maintaining customer relationships is a corporate priority. Corporate values must be understood and embraced by all employees. Employee incentives can help ensure that employees embrace CRM strategies and processes. Also, employees must be given leeway to do what is necessary to satisfy customers.

Discuss customer relationship management software approaches

Customer Support is often considered as the key differentiator in a fiercely competitive market. The "Case management feature" of the Customer relationship management software empowers a business to deliver timely, accurate, complete and clear information to customers. The customer service desk can easily open, track, report on and close calls allowing managers to prioritize the workflow.

The key customer-save course of action is the complaints-handling process.

Customers who complain to service providers and are well treated by the process are less likely to churn than customers who have no cause for complaint. In other words, a well-designed, easy-to-engage and responsive complaints-handling process can build loyalty.

Social media can be both advantageous and a disadvantage for both employers and potential employees as well. Here we have listed a few advantages and disadvantages in terms of how social media affects the hiring process:

Disadvantages Employers must be careful with what types of information they are accessing through social media, as accessing the wrong type of information can actually lead to discrimination cases. In addition, a social media profile doesn't always give the best overview of a potential employee, and you might make a decision without trying to get a glimpse at the candidate's "bigger picture." For an employer that is trying to make comparisons between potential candidates in order to narrow things down enough to make a final decision, sorting through social media to make these comparisons can be extremely time consuming. If your company doesn't have enough manpower this search process can quickly become exhaustive. Because there is a great deal of information available out there on the Internet, it can be difficult for employers to refine their search enough to receive accurate results. If the job requires a specific skill set, it's not always easier to use social networks to find the best fit for your company's opening.

Discuss the importance of formulating a CRM strategy prior to implementing CRM processes and tools

Each company should design a unique CRM strategy that directly addresses its needs, organization, and customers. An important step in developing a CRM strategy is identifying the objectives/goals of the CRM program (e.g., to increase customer retention, to improve product offerings, etc.). Before implementing CRM processes and tools, each company must determine which members of its organization will be involved in CRM so that these individuals can be trained. CRM technology and tools should be selected after determining the company's CRM strategy, objectives, and program participants.

Stage appropriate skills

Empathy Risk-taking skills Problem-solving skills Social adaptability The ability to adapt communication patterns

Revealing Trade Secret or Proprietary Information

Employees may reveal, either inadvertently or intentionally, proprietary or confidential information on a blog or social networking site.

Discrimination

Employers may face liability when its employees use social media to gather more information about job applicants and employees than they otherwise would have been able to learn through traditional means. An employer that accesses social media to gather information about its applicants or employees may unintentionally expose itself to failure-to-hire or wrongful termination claims, depending on how the information is used by the employer.

An essential element of any CRM software is ease of use

End users are often of different ages, backgrounds, and skill levels with technology. The CRM software chosen must be user-friendly yet flexible enough to be customized for the firm's long-range plans. It should also have the flexibility to sync with and build on information already stored in Microsoft Outlook.

Leave strict interpretation for implementation if the customer resists. Propose an implementation date that allows the customer time to adjust to your new policy and enforcement of a current policy.

Ensuring customer satisfaction involves validating that new support mechanisms meet the needs of existing customers and future customers alike. Provide seminars, training, workshops and other forms of support on interpreting your company's business policies before terminating a service that impacts a customer's business.

Find & Join Groups

Facebook and LinkedIn both offer thousands of opportunities to join groups focused on specific industries or topics.

Follow-Up

Find out if the consumer is satisfied with the resolution. Was it carried out? Refer the complaint to a third-party dispute-resolution mechanism, if necessary. Cooperate with the third-party.

Consider this

For every customer who complains, 26 remain silent. Five complaints a week means there are 130 dissatisfied, disgruntled ex-customers out there that you never hear from.

A business's policies must be appropriate for the type of business.

For example, a policy that might be appropriate for an investment business might be inappropriate for a hardware store. Not all business policies are written, and it would not be necessary to display them. The personal preferences of management should not be a consideration.

Affects Activities Throughout Organization

For most organizations customers not only affect decisions made by the marketing team but they are the key driver for decisions made throughout the organization. For example, customer's reaction to the design of a product may affect the type of raw materials used in the product manufacturing process. With customers impacting such a significant portion of a company, creating an environment geared to locating, understanding and satisfying customers is imperative.

Keep your accounts secure

Hackers have been known to hack into accounts, take them over, and leak sensitive and damning information, ruining the lives of the who they hacked.

The first two clusters of cost aggregated to just under $2 million, an average of about $25 per complaint

However, when the third cluster of costs was computed, the revenue losses from unvoiced complaints were estimated at a staggering $16 million, meaning that the total annual costs of customer complaints totaled $18 million.

Know your audience

If it wasn't obvious, the best way to help keep your sanity and privacy when building your business' reputation is to keep separate accounts - one for your personal life and one for your company.

A U.S. woman who worked with an African national, announced to a male colleague with great enthusiasm that she was "expecting," even though she was not yet showing.

In a defensive tone, he asked why she chose to inform him of the pregnancy. The woman walked away disappointed and offended. On his part, the man reported to their boss that she had falsely accused him. Why? By telling her colleague about her pregnancy, the lady was sending a message that he was suspected to be the father. In his African culture, only the father should be aware of an early pregnancy.

Inclusive/Comprehensive

In order to have a wide scope, a policy must be comprehensive.

In the international scene, knowing and identifying cultural differences can make a big difference between successful business negotiations and mortifying rejections

International business communication plays a major role in this, as knowing how to communicate through their point of view is a great advantage.

Once you fully understand a customer's complaint, you have to decide if the complaint is justified before you can resolve the situation.

Investigating the problem helps to determine how the situation can be handled within company policy. Restating the complaint eliminates any misunderstandings. Taking action occurs after determining how the complaint can be handled. Asking a supervisor about a complaint would only be done in unusual circumstances.

A brand promise is similar to a guarantee.

It is what the business intends to provide the customer. A brand promise differs from business to business depending on the type of business. For some businesses, the brand promise might be quality at a low price, or dependable service, or reliability. Whatever the promise that is what customers expect from the business

Relationship Mapping

Maps of the informal and unspoken relationship networks

Explain goals of customer relationship management (CRM).

Meet customer expectations Provide customers with outstanding experiences at every touch point. Create customer advocacy (word-of-mouth promotion and referrals)

Putting it all together

Mistakes and mishaps happen, especially in the social media world where sending a tweet is as easy as two taps on your phone and a keyboard. When you're building an online reputation for yourself or your company, these mishaps can cost you your reputation, your job, or even your company.

Each of us views the world through "cultural lenses" constructed by us or imposed on us by society

Most of the time, we are not aware of our lenses. Most important, we forget to recognize that others wear lenses too; and that their lenses may be different than ours.

The three aspects of CRM - customer relationship management software implementation are

Operational CRM Collaborative CRM Analytical CRM

Strategize

Our strategy is to retain the customer whenever possible. We want to provide the customer with a positive experience while balancing both the business and customer needs. We don't want to simply accept return merchandise since we know we will lose the customer.

Discuss the benefits and drawbacks associated with CRM technology

Overall, CRM can make your company more efficient and customer-friendly to capture greater market share, increase customer loyalty, and attract more customers. Properly managed, raw data can be pulled together using customer relationship management (CRM) software and turned into cohesive intelligence that can then be analyzed to— forecast trends and firm revenue; find growth opportunities within the firm; make key management decisions; and justify expenditures for marketing resources.

Personal branding ties in with your company's branding efforts. As you've probably used social media to achieve this, employees can also use social media as an outlet for their respective personal brands.

Personal brands can also be trusted more by the public than corporate brands. Why? Because people are seen as easier to approach, friendlier and more genuine. This means that, if given the opportunity, your employees can serve as brand ambassadors for your company with each of their interactions, and those interactions can have enormous potential to increase the visibility of your company.

Clear

Policy must be unambiguous. It should avoid use of jargons and connotations. There should be no misunderstandings in following the policy.

Reliable/Uniform

Policy must be uniform enough so that it can be efficiently followed by the subordinates

Appropriate

Policy should be appropriate to the present organizational goal.

Flexible

Policy should be flexible in operation/application. This does not imply that a policy should be altered always, but it should be wide in scope so as to ensure that the line managers use them in repetitive/routine scenarios.

Specific

Policy should be specific/definite. If it is uncertain, then the implementation will become difficult.

Stable

Policy should be stable else it will lead to indecisiveness and uncertainty in minds of those who look into it for guidance.

Explain types of business policies that affect customers

Return policies Customer Service policies Online purchases Sales/Coupons/Rebate policies Business Conduct policies

Business image is the view or opinion that customers have about a business

Salespeople can improve the image of the company in the eyes of its customers by knowing company policies and procedures and being able to accurately interpret them to the clientele. Properly explaining policies will help to avoid misunderstandings and to improve the company's image. A routine is a regular course of action; goals are objectives to be met. Rules are regulations. A business establishes routines, goals, and rules in order to avoid misunderstandings with customers and improve its image.

Source of Information and Ideas

Satisfying the needs of customers requires organizations maintain close contact with them. Marketers can get close to customers by conducting marketing research (e.g., surveys) and other feedback methods (e.g., website comments forms) that encourage customers to share their thoughts and feelings. With this information marketers are able to learn what people think of their present marketing efforts and receive suggestions for making improvements. For instance, research and feedback methods can offer marketers insight into new products and services sought by their customers.

Describe the role of customer experience management (CEM) in customer relationship management (CRM)

The business world has become increasingly focused on the customer versus the product. Many businesses have adopted customer-centric attitudes and strategies. Customer-centric strategy: A plan of action used by businesses that shifts the focus from businesses and their products to customers and their needs An important component of CRM is customer experience management (CEM). Customer experience management (CEM): Strategies, processes, and policies used by businesses to meet or exceed customer expectations for service and to provide customers with outstanding experiences/interactions at every touch point throughout their business transactions

Share Content On a Regular Basis

The sweet spot is posting around 3-4 times per week for individuals.

A growing number of interactions between businesses and customers now take place on the Internet. While there are advantages to this trend, such as greater marketing opportunities for businesses and greater purchasing opportunities for customers, there are disadvantages as well.

The vastness of the Internet can make it more difficult for businesses to establish and nurture personal relationships with their customers. Interacting with customers over the phone, in-person, and through the mail are older (but still important) types of touch points.

Getting on social media for a moment and scrolling mindlessly through feeds can give employees' brains a chance to go on autopilot.

This can let employees decompress and allow them to return back to their work with fresh eyes. Those ten minutes of downtime can actually be an investment for your company.

So that businesspeople don't do something that will offend their clients, they should adapt their communication styles with clients from different cultures.

To develop positive relationships with international clients, businesspeople should try to learn as much as they can about their clients' cultures, customs, and social values. Adapting communication styles requires businesspeople to be patient, flexible, empathetic, respectful, confident (but not overly so), honest (transparent), and sensitive to their clients' cultures and customs. Projecting biased, demanding, manipulative, or indifferent attitudes may offend the clients.

Describe common CRM processes

Training employees in CRM Empowering employees to make CRM decisions Allowing customers to provide information on their own terms Managing marketing campaigns Managing sales leads Managing customer service Managing customer complaints

Security

Use two-step authentication, never use the same password on more than one site, don't share your account info, etc. Basic and even slightly more advanced ways of keeping your accounts on lock down should be used to keep your professional and personal lives separate.

What is online stays forever

We should also know by now that whatever gets put on the web, then removed, is not really removed for good. Before posting something on one of your social media accounts, no matter if it's a professional or personal account, always take a second to think about what could come of what you post. If that info is seen by the wrong people, could it hurt your reputation?

Demonstrate a customer-service mindset

When customers call on the phone, we are provided with a tremendous opportunity to reinforce and grow the relationship. It makes good (economic) sense to take the extra time and effort to make these calls as meaningful and service oriented as possible. Attention to customer service will go a long way in helping you to satisfy your customers and make them feel as if they are truly special.

Coworkers can use social media to interact with one another and build better relationships. Stronger relationships among employees can lead to more cohesive work teams, increased productivity and employee retention, which all benefit the company.

With social media taking over, it's best to encourage your employees to use it in a productive way rather than telling them it's not allowed. Of course, there are some employees who may abuse the rules, but by demonstrating and reinforcing the ways that social media can improve the workplace, it can be a great tool.

So far, CRM sounds like a dream come true

Yet studies show that more than half of CRM initiatives fail. Despite rising spending in CRM, a survey of 1,200 businesses executives conducted by the Data Warehousing Institute showed that 41% considered their CRM project "a potential flop." Only 16% were satisfied with their CRM software implementation.

Create & Curate Engaging Content

You also need to share content that you've written yourself, to demonstrate your expertise within your industry. This type of content shows you have knowledge of the latest trends in that industry and how it is evolving.

Keep it Positive

You now know some of the things you should be doing on social media to build the best social impression for yourself

Watch out for these 10 common customer complaints and keep these handy solutions in mind:

You promised you'd get this fixed, but the problem just drags on and on. I keep getting shuffled from one person to the next. You just don't seem to care. Nobody tells me a darn thing. That guy was just plain rude. That guy had no idea what to do. I explained what I needed, but she just doesn't understand what I want. When I rented this thing, no one told me that I would need all of this other stuff.. I talked with John (or Mary or Paul) and let me tell you, he (or she) was no help whatsoever. Your competition down the street can do this for me.

Identify beliefs held by employees who have a customer-service mindset

You talk about positive customer interactions more often than negative. You view negative customer interactions as opportunities to learn even more about the customer's needs and expectations. You create opportunities for customer contact. You view your work from the customer's perspective. You define your function with the customer in mind. Once you have determined whether or not you have the mindset, you can work on strategies for creating it in your company.

A U.S. military officer student attended

a military meeting at the French Embassy. At the end of the keynote speech, the student was the only person in the room to applaud. Everyone else turned and looked at the student. It was embarrassing. Why? In the French Army, you don't applaud after speeches.

Cluster

a number of things of the same kind, a group of things or persons close together

The governance exists to foster

a strong working environment that allows employees to efficiently perform their functions. This occurs while maintaining compliance with state and federal laws.

Some of the tools

also aggregate information that is publicly available about the company, such as mergers and acquisitions, changes in management, product offerings and public LinkedIn profile information.

Business policy

also deals with acquisition of resources with which organizational goals can be achieved.

A customer may have a genuine cause for complaint

although some complaints may be made as a result of a misunderstanding or an unreasonable expectation of a product or service.

complaint

an expression of dissatisfaction with a product or service, either orally or in writing, from an internal or external customer.

Analytical CRM

analysis of customer data for a broad range of purposes

Business policies

are the guidelines developed by an organization to govern its actions.

Treat the use of social media in the workplace

as a performance issue. Employees should be focused on their performance, rather than whether or not they can sneak in a

A company would not be able to obtain a customer's suggestions for new products without

asking the customer for input. Businesses can track when customers come into their store, what types of products they purchase, and the amount of money they spend without asking customers to volunteer information.

The third cluster of costs computes the costs of unvoiced complaints—those problems or issues that customers experience

but do not report to the insurer to be fixed. The "iceberg effect" means that many customers choose not to complain but simply churn and utter negative word of mouth, with potentially major revenue losses for the client.

Building your personal brand on social media takes some work,

but it could land you your next job opportunity or help you to foster valuable connections. Follow the ten steps below to ensure your online branding is working for you.

Back up the business policy

by describing how it helps streamline business transactions that actually help customers in the long run. Provide details about why changes to previous policies make the current policy more advantageous in terms of long-term gains.

Complaints about employees

come from the use of high-pressure selling techniques, rudeness, lack of product knowledge, inaccuracy, and poor service.

CRM applications

constitute a powerful suite of high-end tools that help to effectively streamline business sales, marketing and customer relationship functions.

By acknowledging their frustration and using plain and ordinary language to describe what's required from the customer to proceed,

customer service representatives can diffuse a tense situation, maximize the opportunity to conduct a successful transaction and provide pointers to other information, such as brochures, website links and other phone numbers for help and support.

Rather than police your employees use of social media

encourage them to use it productively Demonstrate and reinforce the ways that social media can improve employees and the workplace overall.

In the People's Republic of China, a U.S. businessman had his credit card confiscated

for signing the bill in red ink pen. In China, writing notes in red ink pen suggests the writer will die soon. In Central Africa, writing and or signing a letter with red ink suggests that you wish death to the receiver.

In a Central African village, a Peace Corps Volunteer

got a crowd of village children following her home as she repeatedly waved the U.S. "hello" sign (opening and closing the four fingers). Why? In the village, the same sign was an invitation to receive gifts. She was embarrassed and the children were disappointed.

Social media

has spread rapidly and undergone massive changes. It now stands as a near-ubiquitous commodity; social media in the workplace is almost unavoidable.

Policies

identify the key activities and provide a general strategy to decision-makers on how to handle issues as they arise. This is accomplished by providing the reader with limits and a choice of alternatives that can be used to "guide" their decision making process as they attempt to overcome problems.

A policy that can be interpreted

in different ways leaves a company open to complaints and potential litigation.

Customer relationship management (CRM)

involves the use of strategies, processes, technology, and people to build, maintain, and maximize the long-term value of customer relationships. Although one aspect of effective CRM is providing excellent customer service, customer service is not the only factor that affects a customer's loyalty to a business. A business can provide excellent customer service without having a formal CRM program in place.

A CRM database

is a program of stored information that is relevant and useful to the success of your business. CRM database programs can be used as standalone software, incorporated with existing databases, such as Outlook or Excel, or a combination of the two.

Up-selling

is a sales technique whereby a seller induces the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale.

A strong brand promise

is beneficial to every stakeholder in your business. It creates pride in employees and helps them understand their roles. Suppliers serve your company more effectively, because they understand your point of difference. Most importantly, it creates brand awareness and brand loyalty in your customers.

Cross-selling

is the action or practice of selling among or between established clients, markets, traders, etc. or the action or practice of selling an additional product or service to an existing customer.

Client Intelligence

is the basis of maximizing the potential from your clients

Customer relationship management (CRM)

is the combination of strategies, processes, and policies that a business uses to meet or exceed customer expectations and to provide customers with outstanding experiences at every touch point. An important aspect of CRM is ensuring that customer data are current. For example, if the customer notifies the business about a change of address and the business does not update its computer database to reflect the change, the business's promotional mailings and invoices will not reach the customer in a timely manner, if at all.

Touch point

is the interface of a product, a service or a brand with customers, non-customers, employees and other stakeholders - before, during and after a transaction, respectively. This applies for business-to-business as well as business-to-consumer markets.

Personal branding

is the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands. It is an ongoing process of developing and maintaining a reputation and impression of an individual, group, or organization.

Segmentation

is the process of dividing an entire groups up into different customer segments.

Personalization

is the process of tailoring products/services to individual users' characteristics or preferences.

The benefit

may be functional, emotional, experiential or self-expressive (Who am I? What do I value? What are my convictions? With whom do I associate? To what do I aspire?).

A brand

must promise a relevant, compelling and differentiated benefit to the target customer. (People often confuse benefits with attributes and features. The brand must promise a benefit, not an attribute or feature.)

a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies

one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." A brand is thus a product or service whose dimensions differentiate it in some ways from other products or services designed to satisfy the same need.

The second cluster of "costs" computes the organizational benefits, if any, of the current complaints-handling process—any process,

product or service improvement; productivity gain; or marketing saving that is a consequence of learning from complaints is given a valuation here.

Complaints and complaint trends tell business how to do its job better by alerting management to problems that need

prompt attention and correction. Furthermore, they indicate long-range opportunities for product innovation and problem prevention.

Product complaints

result when products are defective, the wrong size or color, damaged or spoiled, don't meet customers' needs, or are mispriced.

Personal information about clients and prospects

should be tracked as well, including clients' interests and hobbies. Keeping track of birthdays, expectant mothers, and who is caring for an elderly parent helps staff remember to make appropriate inquiries of interest about personal situations when speaking or meeting with that client.

Continuous Improvement

striving to become more effective and efficient

To maintain the customer's privacy

the business should not post customer information on its web site, nor should it allow its employees to have complete access to a customer's confidential information.

Other aspects that affect CRM include

the business's organizational culture. It is important that employees adopt the business's customer-relationship philosophy to facilitate positive relationships with customers. Price is one factor that may affect the long-term buyer/seller relationship, but is not the most important factor to all customers. Customers also consider factors such as convenience and product quality.

The first and major step toward successful interaction with others whose lenses are different from our own is to become aware of the presence and

the impact of these lenses in our daily attitudes and professional behaviors. Developing an understanding of our cultural biases, fears and stereotypes, and how they affect our perceptions and interactions with each other in the workplace, is a giant step toward reducing stress and increasing productivity.

They define

the limits within which decisions must be made.

A customer calls

to complain about the quality of the product he received.

It permits the lower level management

to deal with the problems and issues without consulting top level management every time for decisions.

A policy that is unclear or open

to many interpretations can lead to potential discord both internally and externally.

Many companies

use sales force automation (SFA) technology to support, coordinate, and increase the productivity of their sales professionals. SFA technology, which is a type of customer relationship management software, can help to automate many aspects of the sales process, such as tracking leads, prospects, and customers. Other SFA technology features include contact management, sales forecasting, and sales report generation.

Campaign management software is

used by marketers to develop, execute, and track the effectiveness of promotional campaigns to targeted groups of potential or established customers.

Make Posting Easy

with Apps

Businesses employing foreign workers must interact and be productive

with sometimes more than a dozen different nationalities. Eye contact, physical distance during interactions, handshake styles and even a "yes" response can vary by culture