Overview

What makes activities of support centers different from the practices of other call centers? It depends how you define support.

Companies are expanding their definitions of support beyond helping customers with high-tech gadgets. Support has come to refer to any type of assistance companies provide to customers after they buy their products or services.

But, you ask, if support is simply post-purchase service, then why even have a support department? Why not consolidate support within customer service?

Not so fast. Support certainly overlaps with service, but there is a distinction between the two.

Customers often call or e-mail companies when they have inquiries about the status of processes like the approval of loan applications, or the dates when packages of clothing they order on-line are supposed to arrive. Callers sometimes get in touch with companies even when they are not sure they're ready to buy anything, such as when they ask about hotel or flight reservations. These are requests for updates, but they are not necessarily questions about the products themselves.

A support call, unlike other types of calls, comes from existing customers with specific questions about products and services they have already paid for.

The goal of a support organization is not to avoid calls, even if an on-line knowledge base is sufficient to answer some questions. Also, many principles of CRM originate in customer support organizations. Support which often entails service level agreements with certain customers who purchase certain products is at the foundation of...