In the United States of America, prior to 1974, if a customer wanted their fuel tanks filled up with Gasoline, they had to wait on an attendant to fill up their tanks for them. Since that time, customers have been looking for self-serve options not only for their fuel needs, but to power their daily customer service issues. CRM solutions today can provide customers with a self-serve option, providing them with instant access about their account files and even solutions to many issues which up until recently required the assistance of a representative of the company.

The concept of self-service customer solutions is not a new one by any means. Many companies have enlisted the help of Frequently Asked Question sections on their websites and even through automated phone call services. But today’s customer is looking for detailed information which is relative to them and not some generic FAQ section. This is where automatic customer service solutions powered by CRM software excel over traditional methods.

Customer Self Service

The concept is quite simple to understand. CRM software’s customer self-service applications provide your customers with a login account to access a web portal which is integrated within your individual CRM software system. This account provides the customer with information about their specific account including billing history, shipping and receiving history, what type of products they’ve purchased, who supplied those products and even specific vendor information. It provides customers with up to the minute ticket updates, order status, shipping information and even the ability to track where their items are located with CRM technology.

There are many benefits of CRM Self-Service applications for customers:

• CRM Self-Service options reduce the total amount of phone calls inbound to your company by providing the customers with the ability to search through your online knowledge base for specific product issues such as updates and answers to specific questions relative to their account.
• It improves the customer service satisfaction level by providing instant access to customers about their issues on their own time, without having to wait for your employees to answer information for them.
• Allows customers to verify their specific online order status and track their orders when appropriate.

The days of calling CSR’s to handle all customer issues do not fit within most customers time schedules and thus, companies today need to consider the use of online CRM self-service features to best handle their customers growing specific needs.

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