How SMBs Are Able to Thrive During Inflation Through Salesforce

A study from the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) released recently shows that 22% of small business owners cite inflation as their own business’s single most important problem. That’s the highest inflation ranked on the list in over four decades. The NFIB attributes inflation to labor shortages and supply chain constraints and sees them as a major challenge to small businesses (Salesforce.com)

So how can SMBs manage customer expectations while adding value to their experiences despite these current issues with the help of the number #1 CRM platform, Salesforce? One of the options is to invest in Salesforce-managed service and support to provide a better customer experience. Here are four additional ways that SMBs can improve their customer experience with Salesforce managed services:

With Salesforce-managed services, there are many ways to deliver self-service to the customer. This can include building custom apps like some of our partners have done or enabling agent-assisted automation.

First, they can build an agent-assisted automation solution. This is where an agent can use Salesforce to pull up account information and upsell or cross-sell additional Services and Products. Also, using Salesforce Service Cloud, managers can use the Salesforce Console for Service to contact and engage customers. It’s a great way to get back to the customer quickly.

Next, some companies can use Salesforce as a customer portal. This means having Salesforce embedded on their website and using it to deliver a self-service experience. This can help reduce the number of calls to the customer service department by providing a self-service tool. Each customer or customer segment gets a welcome email that contains an access token and a link to log into the customer’s own personalized Salesforce customer account.

To Respond Faster to Queries

Speed is a key factor in determining whether or not a customer will make a return visit to a business. A study from Pardot shows that after a purchase, it takes a business 3 hours to gain a new customer and 20 hours to lose one. The longer it takes to respond to customer queries, the more likely customers are to end their relationship with the organization.

Small businesses can quickly turn around customer queries with integrated CRM, support, and sales tools.

To Get More Social

Social media is a great way to improve a customer experience, especially when the company’s social media customer service tool is integrated into Salesforce CRM. For example, if you have a customer who has been having a problem with your product and posts about it on Twitter, Salesforce CRM may pop up a message suggesting that the customer contact support. That customer support representative can then pull up the customer’s account right there in the post to find out how best to serve that customer.

To Find the Right Resources

When it comes to knowing the right resources to help your customer, you need to be able to access them quickly. When customers contact businesses to complain about a product or service, companies need to resolve the issue quickly. Otherwise, a customer may end up going to a competitor. One of the best ways to resolve the issue quickly is to have the right resources at hand.

With Salesforce Service Cloud logging, case management, and escalation features, you can determine whether that customer’s issue is a known problem. If it is, you can use the case management feature to determine who is the best person to deal with the customer.

Conclusion

As we have seen, SMBs are feeling the effects of inflation, and it is impacting their businesses and their customers. To stay afloat, businesses can use Salesforce-managed services and support to give customers a better experience in order to retain them.

Apphienz understands your organization’s need for Salesforce-managed services and support that you can depend on. Our team of professionals ensures that your systems are configured using only the latest and most innovative technology. Contact us today to know more about our services!