The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Customer Care: As We Move out of Recession, the Quest to Build More Solid Relationships Will Generate Renewed Interest in Customer Service. (Tech Topics)
Lauren Bielski · ABA banking journal · 2002
As an analyst at GartnerGroup in the late 1990s, Mitchell Nitzan spent much of his time examining the great raft of customer relationship management (CRM) tools then on the market. From early on, there was an understanding that applications needed some capacity for knowledge management to be effective, explains Nitzan, now vice-president of marketing with knowledge management vendor ServiceWare, Inc., Princeton, N.J. Ideally, a CRM system would let a company retain customer information and transaction history, says Nitzan. Yet the application set also needed to be a source of product data and other information of the Frequently Asked Question sort, he adds. Companies also needed a system that could create an organized workflow for service reps and customers. idea was that these systems could somehow guide customers through the more routine transactions, Nitzan explains. These traits, not incidentally, were what attracted the analyst to his new employer. In an earlier incarnation, Serviceware created a system aimed at tech support personnel. Then, via acquisition, it married a self-organizing, self-learning search engine which got rolled into the vendor's Eservice product suite. The resulting system responds to natural language queries and is aimed at helping organizations create effective customer service--partially by helping customers to help themselves, And Nitzan thinks bullish times are ahead for his firm and the class of technology of which it is part. Fragmentation of customer knowledge is still a challenge, especially for large organizations, but newer tools are on the horizon to help. ServiceWare, like other vendors not strictly sales focused, seeks to attack care of the customer with the same gusto other vendors go after his pocketbook. This group roughly includes Avolent, Broadvision, and Chordiant, as well as Critical Path, e.piphany, and Interrelate. Each may come at the problem of customer interactions from different angles or imbed service functions with other applications, but these vendors-add Rockwell FirstPoint Contact and Webtone Technologies to the list--are designed to simplify, streamline, and normalize remote channel care. Care, not just sales Care, of course, usually isn't a factor when a company is being charming as they exhort the product or tout the brand. Instead, it becomes a must after the sale, or as a result of routine inquiries, or if something goes wrong. It's pesky and 24-by-7ish. It comes in the form of complaints or questions involving activity that occurred at the branch, from the call center, or on web. It requires diplomacy, quick wits, and firm answers about product, policy, or problem. And, of course, it's a problem whose solution is understood in the abstract. But many banks still struggle with actually doing it right and somehow curbing customer service costs at the same time. I don't think any industry has a handle on consistent performance throughout the enterprise, says Dalen Harrison, vice-president at Rainier Pacific Bank, Tacoma, Wa. most banks you'll have certain operating units that will have their act together, others that struggle with keeping track of who their customers are-it comes with the territory. Harrison thinks that many banks should get high marks, though. From what we've read and seen of the industry, many banks are beginning to take a hard look at ROI on these CRM-related projects; they're more realistic, and perhaps will be more successful for it. At Rainier Pacific, serious attention is being paid to enhancing customer care at the branches and from remote channels. pledge 24-hour response to an e-mail and complete resolution the first time if possible. We also question our customers about their satisfaction with service so we can make adjustments if necessary, Harrison says. …