Among the daily challenges and pressures of running a manufacturing company it can be easy to forget about the importance of delivering customer service excellence but business can be won or lost on this very principal. Henning Ogberg explains how.
The level of competition that factories now face is fierce; buyers have the luxury of perusing copious manufacturers who offer the same range of capabilities and compete solely on price.
This new ‘empowered customer’ has created a fickle industry where infidelity is rife among manufacturing purchasers and it can be triggered by the smallest gripe.
Today, any manufacturer seen to be slow in their response to changing customer demands risks losing business in an instant – potentially equaling millions of pounds in lost sales.
Customers are more sophisticated, empowered and connected than ever before, and they are increasingly only buying outcomes that best fulfill their needs.
These trends are hard to ignore. Whether it’s a weakening global demand, the strength of sterling or key UK manufacturing areas battling the recent flooding; many factories could see a reduction in orders in the near future.
Therefore, it’s now vital that the industry gets to grips with the changing customer landscape and seeks new, efficient ways of working to achieve customer service excellence.
The principle priority for manufacturers should be to build long-term relationships with customers, based on customer service excellence and experiences.
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Gartner found that 89% of marketing leaders expect to compete primarily on customer experience in 2016, compared with 36% four years ago.
Therefore, firms should invest resources, time and effort to nurture these lasting relationships; offering the customer a solution or an experience rather than a series of goods and transactions.
Bernecker & Rainer (B&R), a manufacturer of automation technology, has made some remarkable progress in this area.
Having felt hampered by its previous disconnected customer service process, B&R invested in a new customer relationship management (CRM) system from SugarCRM.
B&R uses the CRM technology to provide a level of specialised customer service that aims to keep their customers loyal for years to come.
From the moment contact is made with a customer their key data is collated, allowing B&R to map the entire customer life cycle through the system.
Possessing consolidated information allows manufacturers like B&R to know their customers better. They’re able to get ‘under the skin’ of a customers’ requirements, allowing their sales and marketing teams to deal with them on a more personalised level, and achieve customer service excellence.
This tailored approach means deeper and more meaningful relationships, bringing lasting value to the business and its brand.
Ultimately, customer satisfaction is the lifeblood of any successful business and manufacturers who combine a top quality product with an optimised customer experience will cut through the headwinds faced by the industry and be fully equipped to deliver sustainable business growth.
