Archive for the 'Customer Service' Category

Telemarketing: Inbound Telemarketing Services

by Lynn Garland

Business owners are outsourcing their inbound telemarketing services to the United States and overseas. The companies are finding that they can get high quality services for a lot less than keeping it in-house.

Customers who want answers do not want to wait for business hours. Most businesses are very competitive in the United States and customer service plays a huge role in getting the business from the customer. A customer may be more inclined to go with a business that can answer their questions for them twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. When a customer wants information, they want it right away. And they are willing to pay for it.

You need to make sure that whatever service you use will pick up the call promptly and answer the questions your customer has with efficiency as well as courtesy. Few things turn a customer off more than rudeness. The customer service team must be polite to your customers.

Your telemarketing service actually represents your business. When the service receives inbound calls from your customers, they should be aware that your customers have no idea that they are not calling you directly. If you are outsourcing your calls to another country, be sure that the people who will answer the calls for your customers are English speaking.

It is important to have telemarketers that speak other languages. This would be very advantageous in situations whereby your company has other locations in Europe and Asia, etc.

Inbound telemarketing calls are being outsourced overseas because of the lower cost of wages and the telemarketers’ ability to handle technical questions better. The cost of living being (and wages) are higher in the United States and hence, it is understandable why inbound telemarketing services are outsourced to other countries instead.

Call centers provide customer service twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. Customers are therefore much happier because if they require service it is just a phone call away. Representatives are given a script to go by so there is similarity in the level of knowledge and they also maintain a certain quality in the service being provided.

Having some type of call record showing number of employees at the call service center, average wait for a customer call to be answered and the length of time for each customer call will inform you of the way in which the service is being operated. But before signing with any telemarketing service, it is recommended that you personally call the telemarketers to get an idea of how they will respond to your customer calls.

In order to provide customer service support around the clock, consider employing an inbound telemarketing service. There is more competition out in the market now that more and more businesses are choosing this method of customer service. You should be able to find a reputable telemarketing firm at a competitive price with good rates.

About the Author:

The Basics of Customer Loyalty Building

by Ashley Lichty

There’s no reason in the world why a customer who has used your product once shouldn’t use it again and again. No reason why they shouldn’t be a life long customers. Customer loyalty building can bring past clients back to buy again and again.

Most businesses don’t even think about creating a customer loyalty campaign. Although similar to lead follow-up, building customer loyalty is new ground for many companies. First things first is making sure you’ve got yourself a quality product or service.

You first step to customer loyalty building is having true quality service. Next, you’ve got to make sure your clients will always remember you. Businesses that forget about a customer as soon as the sale is made are NOT practicing good business practices. The sales is only the beginning of contact with a customer - to be honest, you should keep in touch with that customer until they die.

So if your excuse for not following up with past cast clients was not seeing the value in it, now you know better. Any customer that buys once has the potential to buy again and again, so no excuses! Now if you’re feeling a bit ignorant as to how to go about customer loyalty building, here’s some information on that!

Customer loyalty building is similar to regular marketing in that you have to consider your target audience to come up with a good plan. Keep a database of every customer, what they purchased and when they made the purchase. You can build your campaign timeline around this. However long your product lasts is how long it will be till they’re ready to buy again. A car obviously has a longer shelf life than toilet paper.

Next, brainstorm reasons to contact past clients, whether it is informative products, product updates or free gifts. Customer loyalty building often involves free giveaways. Sending holiday and birthday cards are also great for building top of mind awareness. Once you’ve got content, you have to figure out a way to get it to your prospects.

Of course, the more systematic your approach to customer loyalty building, the more efficient you’re likely to be. It’s important to map out a system of follow-up for your past clients, including direct mail, email and phone contact. A CRM (customer relationship management) program for your computer systems is a must for this process, and saves time and money.

In the long run, the steps you take for your customer loyalty building often mirror your prospect cultivation, just with different approaches. They are both just a means of turning potential leads into actual customers. The beauty of past clients is that they should already know how great your product is - making them a nice and easy sale!

About the Author: