Critical Issues Facing Customer Service Organisations

Customer Service concerns head the list of enterprise issues as organisations struggle with the broad implications of new e- business models. Among those concerns are the following issues that are related to the KM discussion.

1. Growth in on- line customer base — As successful businesses continue to build their customer base it is not unreasonable to expect that e- commerce could generate a tremendous increase in on- line customer activities.

2. High expectations — Today’s customers are increasingly conditioned to expect superior customer service or they can easily move to a more satisfying competitor.

3. Costly and complex — The cost and complexity of maintaining an effective level of customer satisfaction grows in dramatic proportion to the size and sophistication of the customer base. The effective use of knowledge is a key ingredient

In all successful organisations, no matter what business they may be in; or what services they may provide. “With the advent of e- business, knowledge management is moving to the forefront of CEO agendas as a disciplined approach for enterprise transformation”. Effective knowledge management enhances products, speeds deployment, increases sales, improves profits and creates customer satisfaction. However, using knowledge correctly in an organisation requires an understanding that the mere availability of simple, disconnected bits of information is not knowledge and cannot adequately address these enterprise imperatives.

With that in mind, the subject of this Guide is a discussion on the use of knowledge management to enhance customer satisfaction through effective customer service. Customer service, as defined in this Guide, includes customer support, technical support, and product support.

Why Enterprises Implement KM Solutions for Enhanced Customer Satisfaction?

There are a number of issues that are increasingly obvious to business executives that motivate them to consider KM solutions in order to meet the customer satisfaction goals of the enterprise. Of course customer satisfaction touches many areas of the enterprise including product quality and suitability, price points, warranties, speed of delivery, etc., but one key area of customer satisfaction occurs when the customer has a problem or a question that needs to be answered. Many people think that a customer problem is a disaster, or worse, not important at all! Successful enterprises, however, recognise that a customer problem may be an opportunity to cement a lasting relationship with the customer by taking care of the problem quickly and efficiently, with good humor and real concern for the customer’s satisfaction. This cannot easily be done without KM solutions.