Tag: CRM

HR, Still the “Ugly Step-Child” When it Comes to Technology

August 5, 2014 Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the HRSSI Conference in Atlanta. The conference is a Human Resources (HR) Shared Services event for HR Executives and Jim Scully has done a nice job of marketing to that particular audience with content rich in information without the SALES pitch of other HR Shared Services shows. It is appropriately named the HRSSI Shared Service Institute Executive Retreat. I came away from the HRSSI retreat with a few new friends and some valuable insight on current trends, challenges and what technology solutions are prevalent in HR Shared Services today. Many of the scheduled presenters had solid metrics that they were willing to share and discuss. I left with a burning question though…why are so many of Fortune Top 500 Companies forced to use their IT Departments CRM solution/technology to manage the complex HR…

Need Help convincing the CFO/ CHRO/ CIO for HR Technology Investment?

November 30, 2012 Are you working on a new or improved HR Shared Service Center? Need that Investment for HR Technology? Want to know what funding resources and ideas are available? Read on... The latest CedarCrestone Survey (in its 15th edition) is riddled with great information on HR Service Delivery. When I was a practitioner I often used excerpts from this survey to help support HR technology investments for HR Shared Services. One of the key findings in the latest survey around HR Service Delivery within an HRSSC reads - "Service delivery automation delivers at least 15% in administrative savings when pervasive employee and manager self service and a move to shared services with an HR help desk application is adopted." That last comment hits the nail on the head! Deploying an HR Case Management/ HR Helpdesk tool should be high on your Christmas Wish List this year! Wanting…

HR Brit is Coming To America: Part 1

November 29, 2012 I’ve recently joined Dovetail Software as Chief Strategy Officer; my role is to build the company’s vision, focus on product strategy and to identify key strategic alliances that will benefit the firm, our partners and ultimately our customers. Where did I come from I hear you ask… Firstly I’m a Brit from across the pond, so I started my career in an English town in Surrey called Woking, sitting on a Customer Support desk working for a company that sold Helpdesk products, which is where I learnt the importance of excellent Customer Service and Support! Customer Relationship Management (CRM) seemed like an ideal career for me, I have a thirst for knowledge and thrive on sharing what I know with others. CRM took off in a big way, especially in Europe, where I spent 11 years working on large CRM…

Great vs Bad Customer Service, and Technology Could Help

October 13, 2010 I have written a number of times about how good technology doesn’t ensure good customer service. If companies don’t put into place good policies or give their employees the ability to solve customer problems, technology can’t overcome that. Well, it can also be true that technology can “help” ensure good customer service. I say help because it doesn’t guarantee it, it just increases the likelihood of success. I think many of us have had experiences where we are talking to customer service or technical support, and it turns out that the agent doesn’t have all the information he/she needs to assist you. They either have to transfer you to a different department or put you on hold for a long time while they try to track down the information from a different department. I have experienced this not once, but…

It’s About Making the Customer Successful

August 12, 2009 We have been accused of providing consulting work for free and it is an accusation I am quite proud of. While we are certainly in business to make money, it isn’t all about getting every last dollar from your customers. Take care of your customers, make sure they are successful, and ultimately you will achieve financial success. That is the Dovetail way. We pride ourselves on this approach and I have previously mentioned some examples. But a recent situation was more than just responding to a customer’s request. It was proactive consulting - providing consulting before it is asked for, and then not even charging for it. A new concept. Let me explain. Better yet, let me just refer you to Gary Sherman’s recent blog post, Hiding Empty Queues in Dovetail Agent, that will give you the details. Thanks Gary,…

Good Technology Does Not Guarantee Good Customer Service

June 2, 2009 I recently took my car in to the dealership for a warranty issue. The service rep greeted me when I arrived, made sure I had a loaner car, and my car repair was completed when promised. So a successful visit, right? Wrong. As I was driving home, the same problem developed. I called the service rep, he apologized, and arranged for me to return at a later date. But then it got interesting. Two days later I got an email from the dealership. Take a look: Dear Stephen, First of all, thank you for bringing your vehicle in for service at xxx. As a preferred xxx customer, our goal is to provide you with outstanding customer treatment that extends beyond the purchase of your vehicle. If for some reason you were not completely satisfied with your service experience, please…

Is Customer Service and Support Still the “Forgotten Space”?

May 15, 2009 A couple of years ago, Dovetail Software coined Customer Service and Support (CS&S) CRM as the Forgotten Space. It was our belief that CS&S was being ignored by the vendors and senior level executives. From the vendors, more R&D dollars were being put into the more glamorous areas, like Sales Force Automation and Analytics. And senior executives, despite shouting about the importance of providing great Customer Service, saw this function as a cost center, where the goal is to reduce costs as much as possible without alienating customers. Let’s revisit this subject and see how we’re doing. We just came back from the Service & Support Professional (SSPA) Conference in Santa Clara last week. Just as I noticed the first time I went to the SSPA expo two years ago, most of the major CS&S CRM vendors didn’t participate. Of…

Record 1st Quarter Through Superior Customer Service

April 8, 2009 In one of our recent blog posts we wrote about how important great customer service is to keeping your current customers during these difficult times. Our just completed first quarter speaks towards the importance of great customer service. We had a record first quarter for Dovetail Software. Customer Service had a lot to do with this. First, we had a 100% renewal rate with all our current customers. Added on top of this, we secured a number of new support customers from one of our competitors. Why were we able to achieve this? Two reasons: 1) We offer great customer service (in fact, superior to our competition) at a lower price; and 2) This competitor (I will refrain from naming them) doesn’t care about their customers. Let me elaborate. Our philosophy in our company is to do whatever it takes…

Dovetail Software Expands Customer Support Services

February 18, 2009 We pride ourselves on our customer service. We walk the talk. Towards that end, and taking our customer service to another level, we are offering two additional services to our Dovetail support package. First, in an effort to bring a tighter link between our customers and Dovetail support personnel, and to ensure customers always have a point person they can turn to with any of their support needs, Dovetail is assigning a Service Account Manager (SAM) to each of our customers. The company will continue to provide its top quality support and allow customers to contact Dovetail for support via whatever means is most convenient for our customer, but the company wants to make sure if there are any questions, our customers have a person to turn to. Second, as part of our annual support, Dovetail will provide a three day…

Maybe Amdocs Should Call Dovetail for Clarify Support

February 16, 2009 Last week, I blogged about a recent support issue an Amdocs customer was facing. They had contacted Amdocs, but couldn’t get assistance. We helped the customer solve the problem even though we have no support agreement with that customer. Well, we are at it again. Last week, Jorge posed a question on ITtoolbox for the Clarify experts. Seems Jorge “tried Amdocs' tech support but they said it would require an enhancement ($$$) of their doing.” Not content to have another Amdocs customer go away unhappy, Gary Sherman solved Jorge’s issue. You can see the full exchange , but as you can see below, Jorge got the answer he was looking for: Reply from jcruz1965 on 2/16/2009 10:32 AM “Hi Gary,I was able to squeeze on some time on Friday and implement your fix in our development system. Worked flawlessly. I now…