Cross-functional Cooperation and Training

→ Customer care

"In many companies, the business units designed to serve the same customers rarely interact, and when they do, they seem at odds about how to handle problems or complaints." To remedy this lack of agreement you must improve your cross-functional communication and cooperation. This can be done, for instance, by assigning customer accounts to cross-functional teams of employees from various areas where contact with customers is paramount – for example, product/service design and → development , → marketing , → sales, and accounts receivable.

"Eliminating the layers of bureaucracy between customers and those employees best equipped to → solve their problems is a first step in the sub-process of building cross-functional cooperation. As world-class companies have discovered, the best way to achieve strategic business success and streamline the customer service is to provide cross-functional training so that employees understand → entire customer cycle   ‒ from the first contact with a company to the follow up that accompanies a sale and order fulfillment."  >>>

Next, to stay close to the customer, you need to establish bilateral communication between management and frontline employees. Some best-practice companies even require top managers to take the jobs of frontline employees for a day every month or assume a contributing role in a cross-functional team. This 'vertical' communication between managers and frontliners, however, should be truly bilateral. Make sure your frontline employees have a sense that management will listen seriously to any observation and suggestions they make.  >>>

→ Create Customer Value: 10 Lessons from Konosuke Matsushita

Finally, you must develop a cross-functional information system to identify any failure to provide adequate customer service. You information system should collect those failures, categorize them, and provide analyses of when and why they occur. Remember however, that best practices in providing customer service ultimately come down to people behind the information system. Getting managers and frontline employees together and giving them a chance to work co-operatively is the essence of the process.  >>>

Customer Service as a Competitive Advantage

Businesses have traditionally relied on technology and product innovation for → competitive advantage . However, as products became commodities due to global competition and relentless technological advances, the battleground for → differentiation and → customer value creation shifted to customer intimacy and service... More

This service-focused competitive strategy has worked well for numerous companies across various industry sectors.  >>>