Integrated Customer Experience is the key to a successful CRM program

By Ravi Kumar

One of the undoubted purposes of a CRM program is to give an integrated customer experience to the user along with a comprehensive view of the whole organization under one view. CRM, being the most integrated application of the entire enterprise, heavily relies on multiple integrations both inbound as well as outbound. These integrations, by offering detailed customer information under a single window, help business processes to reduce the customer handling time. Hence, these programs assist organizations to improve the overall customer experience.

In case of call center operations, a smooth and seamless CTI integration is critical for ensuring customer service. Leveraging this technology, several process inefficiencies can be eradicated. It reduces call hold time for customers and facilitates to add personalization features, which in turn, ensures an upgraded customer experience.CRM programs should offer an integrated customer experience such that usershave accessibility to a comprehensive set of features and amenities through a single application. It is the most integrated application in any business that connects several processes internally and externally, in and out of any organization. The integrations facilitate flow of information to customers without much disruption, hence reducing customer handling time and improving customer experience of the organization.

Computer Telephony Integration allows interaction between telephone and computers. It is a desktop-based interaction to assist users automatically. It is primarily, an automatic call routing that facilitates quick assistance to customers. Integrating the technology to CRM is a complicated process.Typically, when a customer call is received, the contact center looks up in the ANI, compares it in the database and determine the caller. The process becomes lengthy and customers have to wait for longer time as the center executive goes through histories to retrieve information in the system. CTI software facilitates quick response, as it will display customer details linked to the phone number in the computer as soon as the system is feed with the particular number. The core of a successful CTI system is its implementation. The entire architecture of the application needs to be analyzed and the connections should be determined with much care.

To integrate customer experience, CTI drivers are developed that acts as connectors between clients and a CRM. In this context let’s consider it as a Siebel CRM. The program processes voice to the agent’s desktop using the Siebel Application.A comprehensive set of services such as placing, holding, retrieving, conference and call transfers are facilitated through such applications. The caller details are displayed in the computer to facilitate the executive to manage the customer queries efficiently. It allows integration of call logs and other caller information. The technology creates an integrated business tool that allows assisting customers in the best possible way.

CTI integrated CRMshelp to reduceaverage call duration, signifying improved customer experience. The average call duration is the number of minutes spent on each call by a call center executive. Call centers endeavors to reduce this average call time without compromising customer satisfaction and quality of customer service. This is facilitated by CTI assisting executives to save time popping up complete customer data on the system. As far as a typical ROI for such integrationproject is concerned, it takes about 10 to 12 months to breakeven. Reducing call time is proportional to increasing savings.

CTI facilitates call monitoring, recording in real time as well as historical reporting. Using the technology, managers can understand the performance of the team comprehensively. This allows taking data driven decisions and improving quality of the CS team. Creating effective workforce is easier using this technology, which eventually translates into higher customer satisfaction.

A CRM application should facilitate gathering and organizing comprehensive information about the audience, prospects and customers of the business. To offer personalized service, the business will have to catch up with every updatesin customer’s end. Thus, it is very critical to have an integrated application, which has capabilities to retrieve, update and modify centrally located customer data. For example, changing marital status, changed residential address and other such personal information should be updated in the CRM program easily. This will allow leveraging the data for better marketing, while feeding the changing need of the customer.

A CRM is the basis of a business because it is the platform through which customer interacts. There are many applications in the market, but only the right selection of the program can impact the most. Therefore, it is crucial for companies to make a right selection keeping in mind the long-term prospects of the business. CRM programs that facilitate comprehensive customer service can bring huge ROI to any enterprise.

The author is a Director CRM Consulting at Cubastion Consulting