Chapter 9. Customer Service

In this chapter

Customer Service Concepts

Understanding Cstomer Service Object Relationships

Contract Templates

Service Contracts

Cases

Queues

Use Case Corner—Gracefully Transitioning a New Customer to Your Service Department

Summary

The ability to provide superior customer service is one of Microsoft's key messages in marketing Microsoft CRM. This will undoubtedly be a major driver in convincing business that CRM is a worthy investment. Much has been written about the cost of acquiring customers versus the cost of retaining customers. The verdict is nearly unanimous; it is much cheaper to keep a customer than it is to attract a new one. This is not to say, however, that customer acquisition is not extremely important (it is!), it is strong evidence that investment in customer retention tools can yield a hard return on investment.

Furthermore, the standards for excellent customer service and encompassing systems to provide and improve this service are rising. With more and more consumers becoming familiar with superior customer service models such as Amazon.com, there is increasing pressure for companies of all sizes to provide similar levels of service, if not similar technology tools, to enable these service levels. As consumers we are increasingly apt to select one vendor over another based on what Web-based service tools they provide us. After all, why wait on the phone to order a pizza when you can quickly visit a Web site and with one click order a favorite combination you've ordered in the past?

This leads us squarely back to the concept discussed in Chapter 4, “Microsoft CRM Functional and Conceptual Overview.” CRM is a platform through which you can automate all your business processes. Microsoft CRM has been built specifically so that customers and developers can tap into that platform and build functionality specific to the needs and wants of customers. Although Microsoft CRM version 1.0 will not ship with external interfaces for customer interactions, a future release will include a Customer Portal. Furthermore, Microsoft Solution Developer partners are currently building several varieties of customer and partner facing functionality.