Study Shows Tight Integration Between Front and Back Office Operations Improves Customer Service
January 15, 2009
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
No matter what the state of the economy, a priority focus on customer service is important for any company. Now, as organizations throughout the world are competing for fewer customer dollars, many are re-evaluating their strategic approach to the execution of customer service, especially in terms of the contact center.
For a number of companies, the contact center has become a critical component to achieving strategic goals as it is the heart of customer-facing activities, including customer service and telemarketing. At the same time, these companies are being hindered by a mix of integrated technologies and proprietary solutions.
Tighter integration between technology solutions, data, processes and resources can benefit both front and back office operations. According to recent research from the Aberdeen (News - Alert) Group, 69 percent of survey respondents believe the number one strategy for reducing cost and improving the customer experience is to gain a deep understanding of the link between back-office operations and customer service.
The Aberdeen report, "Enterprise Performance Optimization: Understanding the Customer-Focused Organization," revealed that the Best-in-Class companies achieve superior performance by taking a customer-centric view of organizational resources and initiatives. Click here to obtain a free copy of this report.
"A customer centric approach requires deep knowledge of customer satisfaction, buying behavior, and a foundation of customer data to ground strategic decisions about what to sell and how to sell it," explained Ian Michiels, Research Director and Customer Management Technologies Practice Leader at Aberdeen, in a company statement.
"Enterprise Performance Optimization is an emerging class of technologies and processes designed to maximize spending, reduce costs, and ultimately increase revenue. Best-in-Class organizations exhibit an increasing focus on customer centric strategies which provide the foundation for EPO initiatives.
EPO uses the tactics and processes in front office operations and applies them to back office operations to maximize profit, revenue, and employee satisfaction," Michiels added.
Aberdeen positions the report as demonstrating the value of collectively leveraging organizational practices in process, performance measurement, knowledge management and technology to optimize contact center operations in order to deliver expected and demanded levels of customer service.
When organizational capabilities and technologies are combined, Best-in-Class companies have proven that they are able to positively affect customer retention and average revenue per contact, putting significant value on the integration of front and back office operations.
In today’s tough economy, customers will be demanding more for less, putting increased pressure on the company to perform. By streamlining processes and tightly integrating operations to ensure optimal performance and customer service, the organization can deliver the greatest value possible out of the contact center.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi
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