With digital platforms and robust CRM systems in full play, many of today’s organizations are interacting intensely with customers. In fact, great customer service has become a key pillar in driving reputation, revenues and repeat business.
But most customer service success stories concern organizations in the B2C space, where companies like Southwest Airlines, Zappos, JetBlue (“air rage guy” notwithstanding) and Comcast take all the glory.
But what about the B2B space? On paper, bridging divides between customer service and corporate communications should be an easier task for many B2B companies, because the volume of customer service issues for most B2B companies is much lower than those of a major retailer, an airline or a cable company.
Yet B2B faces a couple of barriers to truly integrated communications/customer service efforts. First, social media hasn’t fully taken hold in B2B, and second, B2B organizations tend to have more personal relationships with customers, and those relationships often reside with the sales staff.
According to Evan Shumeyko, a director at OgilvyOne and head of its CRM Connections team, the biggest challenge is a three-way gap between marketing, PR and a function that resides in many B2B companies—the call center. “As the communications lead, you can set up a Twitter feed, but it’s unlikely that your service organization (call center) has any visibility into that feed,” says Shumeyko. “Because there is no loop from servicing to communications, neither function knows what is being said about the other.”
That gap has even more amplified by the length of the B2B sales funnel, says Shumeyko. Weeks and even months can go by as a customer is acquired and nurtured. “Sustaining contact with customers and scaling it across PR, marketing and customer service is a challenge,” he says.
Consistency in contact is another issue. “As a customer, I expect a company to speak with me on the same level of familiarity over time, whether it’s the call center or communications,” says Shumeyko. “If I’m getting a white paper from marketing, I don’t want the sales staff offering me the same paper later.”
IT’S ACADEMIC
These challenges have forced some organizations, particularly smaller ones, to be innovative in their approaches to customer service. Jan Reichelt, founder and director at Mendeley Ltd., a London-based company that markets an online research management tool, says his firm’s customer service effort is “complex” but effective.
A combination of social media ( Facebook and Twitter), face-to-face contact with Reichelt or co-founder Victor Henning, a user forum on its Web site and a four-person technical staff does the trick.
In addition, Mendeley has hired three students part-time—in California, New York and Canada—as community liaisons. Augmenting the liaisons are Mendeley “advisers”—people who support the software at various universities.
While it’s a hodgepodge of customer coverage, Reichelt says it works. “Our customer service is one of our strengths, and this is not really common within the academic space. People feel we have a soul because of it.” Reichelt’s advice to other communicators:
• Customer feedback can be a very valuable source of information. Remember, they complain for a reason.
• Customers can be your best marketers, so dedicate a good part of your budget for customer contact.
• Let information flow in and out of the organization. “We invite customers in to our office on Friday to talk to our product developers,” says Reichelt.
BUILDING CUSTOMER AWARENESS
That true back-and-forth with customers still eludes most B2B organizations, says Dan Simon, managing director, U.S. at Cognito, a communications agency for the financial services industry. But, a growing trend in B2B is PR’s focus on “customer awareness” and “client communications.”
In broad strokes, says Simon, PR used to be involved in lead generation and sales activities, but, when budgets began to be cut, they had to rethink how they reached customers. “Communicators are now trying to make themselves valuable to customers by disseminating smart ideas and additional insights that help them to build their own businesses,” says Simon.
For example, a Cognito client just launched a microsite dedicated to the derivatives debate. “It’s a source of news and information for their customers,” says Simon. “Sure, it’s a lead generation tool, but it’s also a value-add.”
Con-way, a freight transportation and logistics services company headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., has a similar customer strategy. While the company has numerous touchpoints for customers’ questions—social media, its Web site, local call centers and its fleet drivers—its PR function plays more of an awareness role than customer service one, says Gary Frantz, director of communications at Con-way.
For Frantz, customer service revolves around making sure customers understand what Con-way is about. “It’s trying to show our value to our customers,” says Frantz.
BRIDGING THE GAP
According to Shumeyko, the story of seamless integration between PR and customer service in B2B has yet to be written. But he does have advice for PR pros who are looking to better link up to customer-facing activities.
1. If you have a service or call center, go inside. “It’s like visiting the kitchen when you go into a restaurant,” says Shumeyko.
2. Treat service personnel like an internal focus group. Find out what customers are telling them.
3. Is there a disconnect between what you thought customers should be telling your service people and what they are actually hearing? “As a communicator, those are the key issues you should address,” says Shumeyko. PRN
[Editor’s Note: Looking for more information on PR and customer service? Visit PR News’ Subscriber Resource Center at www.prnewsonline.com.]
CONTACT:
Evan Shumeyko, [email protected]; Jan Reichelt, [email protected]; Dan Simon, [email protected]; Gary Frantz, [email protected]; Leslie Wolff, [email protected].
Five Ways to Make Customer Service a Strong PR Tool
While some PR pros may think customer service is out of their realm, the power of the Internet gives communicators a big opportunity to create direct dialogue with customers, says Leslie Wolff, CEO of Smart Marketing Group. “The opportunity for positive positioning is strong if you use your customer service segment as a way to create conversation,” says Wolff. Here are some key tips from Wolff in developing that opportunity:
1. Encourage and educate customer service personnel about the importance of their role in building the success of their company and their careers. Establish an award/reward environment and publicize it internally.
2. Establish a two-way communication system with employees, customers and vendors that invites ideas for improvement. Eliminate any “kill the messenger” attitude.
3. Integrate social media networks into the mix, which can spread the word of your customer service.
4. Create a Customer’s Council that encourages input on how you can provide a continuing level of exceptional customer service.
5. Publicize in every way possible what you are doing to improve customer service.