Overview

No matter how many years your company has been in business, call volumes and staff turnover can still be difficult to predict. But certain things remain constant.

One is the need for support. Whether customers buy PCs or insurance, you can always expect them to ask questions that require answers from experts.

Technological advances have enabled companies to devise more efficient ways to give support reps, and where appropriate, their customers, answers to questions about their products and services using on-line knowledge bases.

Data Versus Knowledge

From a broader organizational perspective, a company's most valuable information isn't about its products; it's about its customers. Companies rarely lack this data, but they often encounter problems because useful data isn't readily accessible. Plenty of companies have customers' records residing among multiple departments, like billing, customer service and customer support. Some departments have inaccurate or incomplete records. Or customers' records in one department contradict those in other departments.

That's bad enough. The implications are worse. Let's say customers stop doing business with a company because support reps don't assist them to their satisfaction. If the company does not consolidate customers' records, then it can't get a quick read on whether its support department helps or hinders the company's effort to retain customers. As a result, the company risks not being able to identify the cause of customers' dissatisfaction in time to remedy it, let alone become aware that dissatisfaction exists. A good example of such a disconnect is the Fleischer/MCI story related...