As customers demand a higher level of satisfaction, Julie Bevacqua explores 6 ways to enhance customer satisfaction.

1. Today more than ever, it’s important to close the gap between what customers expect and what
companies deliver. Given that CRM and social tools make for instant results, the customer has
rightfully set his sights on higher levels of customer service, which include personalized and
competent service, immediate results, and a variety of communication options.
Let 2012 be the year you overreach yourself in delivering to your customer. Here are 6 ways you
can do this:
1. Understand your customer: Do you really know what your customer thinks? Can you learn
from complaints? Benefit from praise? Thanks to feedback management tools, which are easy to
implement and use, it’s possible to truly understand what your customer wants (and not what you
think he needs).
Companies like British Airways take it one step further and use tools like those offered
by Aptean (formerly CDC Software) to help them track and monitor customer feedback and
complaints.
Do you really know what your customers want?
2. Give your employees more authority: While you might hesitate to give your employees
autonomous power to do as they will, if they are on the frontlines, they will benefit from the freedom
to make immediate decisions.

2. A good example is Zappos which is known to encourage its staff to make decisions ‘beneficial to
the company’s overall health and growth’. Zappos even developed their own CRM system
based on customer feedback.
3. Adopt tools to help enhance customer experience: Some brands are well designed to foster
customer loyalty – think high end fashion, luxury goods, or even a bank. Companies such as
mortgage and investment agencies, real estate agencies, and maintenance businesses like
plumbers, electricians, and lawn care need to work harder to net and retain their clientele.
No matter your organization however, every customer interaction is the opportunity to build on an
existing relationship. If you are an ecommerce store, a good shopping cart can go a long way in
creating higher conversion rates. Similarly, any business can benefit from adopting a good CRM
system to help with simple, yet vital issues like customer tracking, service resolution, and online
support.
Here are 5 customer enhancement tools to explore:
 Clickdensity helps identify and address website architecture efforts via heat maps.
 4Q Survey encourages customer engagement by helping you gather customer feedback via 4
questions you design.
 Get Satisfaction helps build online communities to facilitate customer conversations
 Zendesk offers a support system to help you track and respond to your customers.
 LiveHelpNow lets you create a live chat system to connect with customers.
4. Anticipate customer needs: Customers who’ve had their needs met generally tend to become
loyal followers of a brand. But how about those brands which anticipate customers’ needs before
they arise? Can you imagine the impact such an action will have on a current or potential client
base? To anticipate a need is to solve your customer’s emerging need. Will he have this same
need in the future? Your customers might be satisfied, but are their needs solved?
Airlines have often been given a bad rap when it comes to customer service, but this is one
example of when an airlines, Southwest, has anticipated its customers’ needs and acted on it. In
this instance, the customer in question, Steven Levitt, has not only become a lifelong fan, but is
happy to share his experience on hisblog. Cost to Southwest= a phone call. Benefits?
Invaluable.
5. Align your services with your brand values: What do you expect when you book into the Ritz-
Carlton? Luxury? Comfort? Indulgence? Excellent customer service? The brand deliverson all of
this and more. From the moment you check in to the moment you leave, you are treated by
gracious and courteous staff whose job it is to make your stay pleasurable and memorable.

3. Now think of some of the brands you know like Mercedes Benz – engineering, quality,
performance, price; Netflix – convenience, affordability, speed; Ikea – reliability, DIY, affordability.
Your brand should evoke a certain feeling and deliver a certain promise. Make sure it’s consistent
with what the customer expects.
6. Create a defined policy: A small business owner might not feel the urgency of creating a well-
defined customer service policy. But as the company grows and begins to service more clients, a
policy can save you time and effort. If the customer contacts your staff with a complaint, what’s the
first step to be taken? If this doesn’t work, what’s the back up plan? Who should the customer
approach?
We’ve all been given the runaround at some point or the other and can understand how frustrating
it can be from the customer’s point of view. A customer service policy should eliminate most if not
all these issues.
Customer service like any business dimension is an art, which generally takes time and effort to
learn. Unfortunately, it’s also a business aspect that does not forgive mistakes easily. Thankfully,
there are plenty of tools to help you implement a successful customer service department.
What are some of the customer service plans and policies your business will be adopting in 2012?
POSTED IN: CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT / TAGGED: CRM, CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT,CUSTOMER SERVICE
A thought-leader in the technology marketing space, Julie Bevacqua is a leading expert in
business-to-business (B2B) marketing with hands-on executive experience in corporate, industry,
and product marketing; demand management; and social media. She has held executive positions
at global enterprise software companies, heading up integrated marketing strategies from brand
differentiation, demand generation, sales and marketing integration, and digital marketing
strategies to media and analyst relations and corporate social responsibility.
By taking every opportunity to extend the company’s digital footprint, Julie guides her team to
achieve online dominance within the global marketplace. A natural networker, motivator and
mentor, Julie shares her marketing and business savvy through her blog www.JulieBevacqua.com.
Business and corporate marketers and entrepreneurs gain unique insights into the latest
techniques on digital and social marketing that can be applied in any organization.

4. Julie lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia, a haven for technology and enterprising
upstarts, dubbed ‘Silicon North’.
Reach Julie Bevacqua at:
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Blog: Visit Julie’sBlog