|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
| The
impact of mobilization using Mobile Enterprise applications on
customer satisfaction and sales
While they may be more difficult to
precisely quantify than gains in field productivity, the improvements
in customer satisfaction and sales that arise from mobility enablement
can also have a tremendously positive impact on a company’s
bottom line.
|
Customers want service that’s
prompt, accurate and complete. If you can deliver that kind
of service, you will be able to sell them more. And if you
can out-perform the competition, you’ll also gain marketshare.
CRM mobility enables companies to achieve their three-fold
goal of promptness, accuracy and completeness by keeping key
players in CRM processes “in the loop” even when
they’re out of the office. In fact, equipped with CRM
mobility, organizations in virtually every vertical market
can achieve unprecedented levels of customer delight –
even as they take cost out of CRM processes.
Here’s why:
Promptness
One of the best ways to destroy customer satisfaction is to
respond slowly to events or messages. And one of the main
causes of such delays is lack of access to the right data
and/or CRM applications. Mobility-enabled CRM eliminates these
delays in both connected and disconnected modes. When end-users
are connected to enterprise systems, Mobile Enterprise applications
allows them to check order status, get shipping notifications,
etc. in real time. In disconnected mode (assuming that the
handheld device has the on-board intelligence to provide reasonable
application functionality) Mobile Enterprise applications
also eliminates delays by putting reasonably up-to-date data
at the end-user’s fingertips. It also lets them immediately
input data into their handheld systems during on-site meetings
or their on-the-road phone calls for later upload –
so that they don’t forget to do it later or enter incorrect
information.
Accuracy
In addition to giving customers answers quickly, you have
to give them answers that are right. As noted above, Mobile Enterprise applications reduces human error by allowing information
to be entered as close as possible to the moment of acquisition.
In fact, even if customers enter order information themselves
using Web-based systems, Mobile Enterprise applications-equipped
salespeople can take the extra step of verbally confirming
those order entries from their handheld devices – further
reducing the possibility of mistakes. Imagine the sense of
security customers feel when they enter an order online and,
a few minutes later during a conversation with their sales
rep who happens to be on the road at the time, they hear something
like: “Oh yes. I’m looking now and I can see that
you just re-ordered those assemblies for priority shipping.
Thanks. And I’ll make sure they go out by Thursday!”
Even with an intermittently connected device, field salespeople
are still way ahead of competitors who don’t have any
system access at all. Data that’s an hour or two old,
after all, is still better than data that’s 24 hours
old or worse.
Completeness
In addition to doing things right and doing them quickly,
customers also expect you to cross all your t’s and
dot all your i’s. Unfortunately people – especially
on-the-go salespeople – don’t always do that.
Properly architected Mobile Enterprise applications can help
overcome these human fallibilities in two ways. First, by
providing access to back-end application resources, Mobile Enterprise applications eliminates the obstacles that often
keep people from completing tasks at any given moment. So,
instead of saying “I’ll check on that when I get
back to the office” and then forgetting to do so five
hours and six sales calls later, salespeople can take care
of business before they even finish their conversation with
the customer. Second, by allowing for the creation of scripted
workflows, Mobile Enterprise applications can make sure that
no steps are skipped in critical processes. For example, an
order entry application can be designed so that orders can’t
be completed without an inventory check and a ship date confirmation.
By ensuring explicit communication with the customer and avoiding
promises that can’t be kept, Mobile Enterprise applications
can safeguard against the most common causes of customer disenchantment.
In a tight economy, every single customer relationship is
precious. For companies seeking to preserve these relationships,
effectively field-enabled CRM is an absolute necessity. Also,
by delivering substantially superior customer service, companies
can differentiate themselves on something other than price.
That price-independent differentiation is of tremendous strategic
value as companies struggle to maximize their profitability
in highly competitive markets. |
|
 |
©2002 Dexterra Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Dexterra, Dexterra Mobilizing Enterprises, Hyper-Data-Links, Dexterra Field Service Application, Dexterra Administrator, Dexterra Customizer, Dexterra SmartClient, Dexterra Studio, Dexterra Mobile Enterprise Server, Dexterra Database Connector, Dexterra Enterprise Connector, Dexterra Universal Connector, Dexterra Configure Web Service, Dexterra Connector Web Service, ForceFlow, FormFlow, FieldFlow and the Dexterra Logo are trademarks of Dexterra, Inc. The names of actual companies, products and quotations mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
|
|
