Managing Customer Relationships in Uncertain Times 7 of 13

Option 5: Customer support is every employee’s job

At the beginning of the decade, as the growth rate in the U.S. economy reached unsupportable levels, customer service suffered. The rapid reversal of growth into negative territory has caused companies to cut costs, which has only exacerbated the problem. In an economy where the customer is king, service is not a differentiator—it is a survival technique.

Enhancing customer satisfaction involves culture as much as process and technology. However, process and technology can help. We see the increasing usage of technologies like corporate portals that connect customers not simply to company information, but to applications that manage customer information. This trend will only increase.