Good Customer Service Is Simple

Outstanding customer service is a competitive advantage. Most companies salute good customer service as a key objective. But in its simplest form, what is good customer service?



Customer Service—A Simple Definition
Customer service means meeting your customer’s expectations. That means you and your customer need to have a mutual understanding of what is expected and you have to deliver on that expectation. The expectation can be very high or very low; the point is that you do not disappoint your customers relative to their expectations.
I sometimes shop at a local discount store. The goods are not high quality, the store is far from clean, I get little or no assistance from the store’s staff, but the prices are great. The last point defines my expectations; they have consistently great prices, so I like the store—they meet my expectations. I also go to a very nice restaurant in my neighborhood. The waiters wear tuxedos, the food is fantastic, my water glass is never empty, they call me by my first name, and it is very expensive. My expectations for this restaurant are very high. If they fail to meet my high expectations, I am not a happy customer. My expectations for these two establishments are very different, but in both cases, I measure my satisfaction against my expectations.
What do your customers expect from you? How do you know? That’s simple, too: you ask them. If their expectations are different from yours, there’s a problem. It is very important that you have a mutual understanding. This often means managing the customers’ expectations. If they have expectations that you know you cannot meet, tell them that you cannot. In both the short and long term, any mismatch in expectations leads to a poor relationship—and you may lose a customer.
Who should talk to the customer about expectations? Of course, you have sales people or customer service representatives talking to the customer on a frequent basis. But they are frequently focused on people in the buying department. You need a broader view of the customer’s expectations. Your engineers should talk to their engineers, your quality people to their quality people, and your executives to their executives. Talk to many people. The greater the interaction, the better the mutual understanding and the greater your ability to deliver great customer service.
Here’s a tip: your largest customers are typically the most demanding, but they are also trendsetters. What they expect today, others will expect in the future. Your largest customers usually have a more formal statement of their expectations, making it easier for you to meet those expectations. 


What Do Your Customers Expect?
In customer service, there are two essential rules:
1. Make promises you can keep.
2. Keep the promises you make.
If you go along with your customers’ expectations, you have made a promise to meet them. This sounds—and is—very basic. The tests of customer service are the many interactions that happen every day—deliveries, invoices, returns, price quotes, and many others. Every interaction is an opportunity to build or tear down customer satisfaction. If you say you are going to deliver at 10:00 AM, be at the dock at 10:00 AM. If you say you will call at 3:00 PM, call at 3:00 PM.
If you interviewed a large segment of your customers about their expectations, you would get a wide variety of responses. Reducing their expectations to a few basic issues, you would do well to abide by the following requirements:


Be Dependable—Being dependable means being consistent. Your customer has to be confident that you will always keep your promises. Of course, things happen (it does snow in winter, for example), and when you cannot keep a promise, they expect to learn about the problem as early as possible so they can adjust accordingly. They need to trust that you will notify them as soon as possible. Being dependable also means being predictable. If a need or problem arises on their side of an interaction, they want to be able to predict what you will do. Predictability is built upon having a consistent history and mutual understanding.


Be Easy to Do Business With—Being easy to do business with is a competitive advantage. Customers will actually pay more for a vendor who is easy to do business with. The administrative issues must work and work well. You do not want to be an exception to their normal business processes. Meet with other people than the buyers to understand how you can make their life easier. For example, should an advance shipping notice be sorted by your item number, their item number, the same sequence as on the purchase order, or some other sequence? Using the right sequence can save them time, money, and aggravation. Asking them about the sequence lets them know you care about being easy to do business with.


Be a Long-term Supplier—Switching suppliers is difficult. Your customers would rather keep you as a long-term supplier than have to switch. They need you to continue to meet their changing needs in the future, be it the type of products you supply, or the quality standards you adhere to, or the business processes you use. They also expect you to continue to be sound financially. That means they expect and want you to make a fair profit. What constitutes “fair profit” is up for debate, but they need you to be profitable for their long-term health.


What about Exceeding Your Customer’s Expectations?
We often hear that a company has a strategy of exceeding customer expectations. As a general statement, exceeding your customer’s expectations is good, but not always. Exceeding expectations is good only if it is meaningful to the customer. Let’s look at an example where exceeding customer expectations had no impact and even some negative impact.
A chemical company decided that quality was very important. They therefore tightened their specifications for certain products. But these products were used by many customers, and those customers had engineered their production processes around the original specifications. For many, the tighter specifications were meaningless. As long as the product met the original standards, their production processes continued to work, and the customers did not even realize that the new specs were tighter. For some customers, the tighter specs caused some production problems, and they had to do some engineering to account for the tighter specs. The chemical company saw tighter specs as an improvement to customer service, but it had no impact on most customers and a negative impact on a few. If the customer does not see value in the “improved customer service,” it is not an improvement. Changes in any direction can have unforeseen consequences.


The Role of Systems
At a tactical level, making promises you can keep and keeping those promises is enabled by internal systems. We stated that good customer service means making promises you can keep. To make these promises, your systems need to predict what you can and cannot do; if you cannot meet a customer’s request, your systems need to give you the information to manage that request. If a customer needs a delivery on a specific day, your systems need to tell you if you can make that date. If you cannot make that date, the systems should tell you when you can and what you need to do to make it happen. 
Your customers want consistency. Good systems have well-defined business processes that produce consistent results. They even have well-defined processes for exceptions.
An investment in standard business processes is an investment in customer service.


Summary
Good customer service is simple. Your customers have expectations, and if you meet those expectations, you are doing a good job. The key to good customer service is a mutual understanding with your customers on what they should expect. If they have higher expectations than you can deliver, they will be dissatisfied; you may lose a customer, or go from being a preferred supplier to an occasional supplier. If they have lower expectations, you may have an easier job of meeting them, but you are also at risk of being replaced by a supplier who will provide better service.

Custom Software Development - Necessity and Advantage

Custom Software Development services are growing day by day. One of the major reasons behind it is the flexibility custom made software solution offers which almost every business is in need of to modernize and to change with the often changing working patterns. Further, to stay ahead in this fast paced and competitive world, companies have to be highly adaptable and to suit such transforming needs customized software solutions play a key role.

In order to get smartest programs, businesses need to use client-oriented approach or project management. Companies should be well aware of the requirements of their customers. If you are a company you can take help of specialists to learn about the products of your customers and meeting closest to the needs of your customers in most efficient way. It is the duty of the manager to contact customers and update them about the progress of their work. A manager also helps in making corrections with possible mistakes that are done by entry level software developers. Custom software development proves useful and fits the need of customization to be done.

Custom software solutions are specialized solutions, well crafted and developed primarily for catering unique needs. It is usually not targeted for the mass market, but generally created for particular companies, business entities, and organizations to serve their specific needs. Also it is designed on special requests of the company and therefore, final output is different matching exact budgets or project managing needs of the company.

Besides there are other Advantages and features which include following:

• Easy and User-specific: Custom Software will not have UNWANTED functionalities which makes it easy to use and more user friendly or user specific.
• HIGHLY Cost Effective: No need to pay for UNNCESSARY functionalities; no EXTRA cost for customizing as it would already have a provision and capability for it and may not require license fees to create more copies. Thus it becomes more affordable.
• Saves Time: Custom Software Development may take less time as it is for specific or focused group.

Custom Software Development is a niche of experts and requires a very good skill, technique, experience. Therefore one must be very cautious while hiring efficient developers for such services.

Custom Software Development and the Management In Organizations

Custom software application development is in a mature state and is now providing exclusive solutions to businesses in the form of various management systems such as supply chain, content management, human resource management etc. Once developed and incorporated, these systems become vital assets to the organizations as fulfillment solutions with extraordinary utility and efficiency. Software applications are tailored for organizations to perform many different functions like financial analysis, valuation, reporting, forecasting etc. These are some of the factors determining the functionality of an organization and evaluating its proficiency.

Custom software applications are built entirely on the expertise and skills employed in custom software development. By providing unique solutions to organizations for a number of functional aspects, these applications help them to function in a more effective and dynamic manner. Custom software development is the result of a practical approach that business identities started adopting to address various issues related specifically to them and possess unique products that stand out in the market. The new ideas and practices brought a variety in the kind of solutions as the use of technology and the skills involved came from different perspectives. Offshore software development is the current preferred practice for getting innovative software solutions on low budgets.

No such belief exists now that an offshore software application developer is under-resourced or lacks the skills and expertise required to develop high-end solutions. As a matter of fact, many of these developers are now believed to have greater project management and streamlining proficiency than what many West-based developers would have. They are helping organizations worldwide by providing solutions based on new technologies that can meet the organization-specific requirements and address those issues which hinder their growth. With someone like a custom software developer India, organizations can easily get tailored solutions to help them achieve success and growth regardless of their location.

The process involved in custom software application development includes a strategic planning in advance for the project. It combines the domain expertise and the use of latest technologies for delivering effective outcomes. The projects in the undertaking of experts of the field run in a streamlined manner reducing the deployment cycle time and cost and providing a faster rate of return. These days, a special emphasis is laid on developing scalable custom web applications, which enable organizations to benefit greatly with a smooth management even with the increasing load.

www.woodappleunik.com

reachus@woodappleunik.com

Customizing ERP Software

Customizing is an integral part of ERP solutions. This is a crucial decision which needs to be taken by the organization as it is detrimental in ERP'S success. The rate of customization is directly proportional to ERP success. Customization tends to pose a challenge to time and the funds allocated. The challenge of a successful management lies in balancing them and making both ends meet. It is a difficult task but the success speaks for the process.

Burning Issues

The major issues that require attention in the process of customizing ERP are strong knowledge about the current system and the likelihood of innovations in ERP. These two issues have their own say in the process of ERP customization. The process of customization will not take place properly unless or otherwise there is a strong working knowledge about ERP systems. Even if it does the rate of success won't be to that of the desired or atleast required extent. The chances of innovation in ERP will have a say on the customization of ERP because whatever modifications are done now would not have any relevance if they are already covered in the new systems. If the management addresses these two issues properly then the chances of ERP's customization are pretty high which also speaks for ERP'S success. A proper ERP solution can be provided by the Right ERP company.

Features of ERP innovations

The innovations of new ERP applications help users to include all the specific details in ERP system itself. This means they don't have to input these details into the ERP systems every time they login. This also implies that the operators need not recompile ERP softwares as and when there is a change in the attributes or methodology of data fed. Customization has also helped the users to act independently rather than depending on the vendors whenever a modification is required. The innovations in New ERP systems have made it so userfriendly that the customers go to the extent of modifying the systems to perform functions exclusive to the organization. ERP solutions are now handier to customize than ever. ERP company offers numerous and flexible ERP solution.

Sound knowledge about ERP System

The features be it old or new or modern or traditional will not be of any use unless the users are aware of the ERP Systems features and modalities. This knowledge has to be imparted to the end users apart from IT personnel. They should have a clear knowledge about the entire system in finger tips. If questioned or demanded they must be capable of bringing that particular function into effect. The services of an expert ERP consultant will come in handy for an organization to supply this information to the user. The consultant will make a decision on the basis of the organizational needs and system configuration. He will be a part of the organization for quiet some time. This will also help him in know the organization and people better. He will therefore be able to work easily. Customization is an important part in implementation of ERP.ERP Company can decide the proper ERP solution for the organization.

Conclusion

The extent of customization does not solely decide the success of ERP. If it results in user satisfaction another important criterion then customization and ERP success go hand in hand. The best choice has to be made from ERP solutions.


www.woodappleunik.com

The Seven Truths About CRM for SMB's

SMBs have strikingly unique requirements for CRM. Obviously, they have fewer people, less time, and less money to spend on implementing software. But they do take their businesses and customers very seriously (maybe even more so than bigger, bureaucratic organizations), so SMBs want tools that can specifically address their requirements. Presented here are seven truths about SMB CRM: 

1. You can't put 10 pounds of CRM in a 5-pound SMB bag. 
SMBs simply don't have the money to acquire and customize a large, horizontal system. A handful of vendors now offer comprehensive CRM specifically designed for SMB budgets and domain knowledge. 

2. Vertical solutions are more than a beachhead. 
Vertical application solutions are primarily about data and processes. The CRM system must be able to reflect industry-unique information like customer and product profit, customer value, next best product recommendations, and customer retention assessment. It must also be easily adaptable to current and future company processes. 

3. When the lines are blurred, the more, the merrier. 
As more and more companies are crossing lines of businesses (e.g., banking into brokerage, insurance into banking), the ability of the CRM system to understand and manage multiple lines of business simultaneously is critical. 

4. Wahoo for Yahoo!--don't assume customization is configuration. 
Unlike configuration options or service-based customization, tailoring offers an affordable solution for SMBs to obtain a highly customized solution that fits the organization's own specific data and process needs. 

5. Admit it--you like your data integration cheap and easy. 
Data needs to be tightly integrated into the CRM and refreshed regularly to enable an accurate picture of the customer. Ideally, the CRM system comes built to handle this out of the box. 

6. Toggling is dirty application integration. 
In most SMB environments companies already have core systems that run their businesses. As such, they don't want a separate system to be on their desktops. 

7. Keep your ASP to yourself--you ain't touching my data. 
While the ASP model seems to be a gift to SMBs, it does not provide enough data integration or security for many businesses. Therefore, a new model, in-house application hosting, brings the affordability and ease of use of the ASP model, with the security and integration capability of the traditional in-house systems. 

If you ever read the story of "The Emperor's New Clothes," you remember the little boy in the crowd who noted that the Emperor was naked--the rest of the kingdom followed along accepting the vendor's deception that the Emperor was dressed. SMBs can't use the same software and business practices that have been used by the large and horizontal CRM companies. Disguising an all-purpose CRM application for SMBs is just unfit. In fact, the confusions created by the CRM industry would make anyone fit to be tied, but SMBs can be treated like kings when they can have CRM fit for them and only them. 


www.woodappleunik.com
reachus@woodappleunik.com

Five Project Management Processes During Software Programming

Like any living being, all software development company projects possess foreseeable steps (or stages) starting from generating some web application development idea and ending with the delivery of a successfully completed software product that complies with the requirements and quality issues. 

The Project Management Institute (PMI) defined five key software development processes in any project: initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing. Each of these web application development processes has different goals, contains different tasks, and requires different web and mobile application development skills. 

The initiating custom programming process consists of choosing a software project for performing, determining the goals, defining key figures of the software project (customers, managers, workforce), determining the general amount of work for the team of web developers, negotiating and signing the contract and adopting certain ‘laws’ for the software project such as authority levels and ways of communication during software development.

The planning process involves identifying the work necessary for the fulfillment of the web development project, defining the required software developer resources, drawing a schedule, and working out the budget for the software project. Moreover, this stage presupposes communicating objectives to the software development team and defining the specific ways and means for their achievement as well as receiving the approval from the customers.

The project executing process deals with supervising and leading the project web and mobile application programming team to have the software project done according to the approved plan. During this stage the customer should be informed regularly about the progress in the application development.

The project controlling process concerns supervising the software project performed in terms of evaluating the progress, changing the course of software development in case of deviations from the plan or changes in the requirements. An IT project manager in any software development company should be ready for unexpected and unforeseeable delays, overspending, or changes and should have al least two alternatives for solving these problems. 

The final step is project closing process which involves mainly finishing the activity, finalizing the results, acceptance of the final software product by the customer. Also it’s necessary to analyze and discuss the software project done with your web and mobile application developers.

Any software project should be the next step in your success in providing software development services. You should gain web application development experience and custom programming skills from it.    

ERP Software Customization: The Ultimate Sin of Enterprise Software?

Customization is one of the most controversial topics surrounding ERP software.  A majority of our clients have every intention of leveraging vanilla, off-the-shelf software during their software selection process.  However, as project teams get into the details of the software during the implementation cycle, requests to make one or more customizations to the software are inevitable.

According to the ERP Report, only 23% of organizations implement vanilla ERP software with little to no customization.  The remainder of organizations in our study customized their software, with 34% indicating that they heavily customized their software.  According to our same research, large companies with over $500 million in annual revenue are even more likely to customize their software, as are companies in the aerospace, defense, and government industry verticals.

In addition, an organization’s propensity to customize software seems to be at least partially driven by the specific ERP solution being implemented.  For example, as outlined in the below table, SAP and Microsoft Dynamics implementations tend to involve customization at a higher rate than Oracle EBS or Tier II solutions.

ERP Software Vendors Average Rate of Customization

	Heavy Customization	Moderate Customization	Vanilla Implementation
SAP	38.40%	40.60%	21.00%
Oracle EBS	34.40%	40.00%	25.60%
Microsoft Dynamics	32.80%	42.20%	25.00%
Tier II ERP Software Packages	23.50%	48.10%	28.40%

The reason for the controversy around customization is threefold,  First, it increases the complexity and risk of an implementation, while at the same time making it potentially more difficult to upgrade software in the future.  Second, it in some ways undermines the best practices built into the software, which software vendors often spend significant R&D developing.  Thirdly and finally, customization is often a symptom of bigger problems, including a solution’s mismatch with a company’s requirements or a lack of project controls during implementation.

So what to do?  Here are three tips to help manage customization of  ERP software implementations.

Three Tips to Help Manage Customization in ERP Software Implementations

1. Understand the difference between software customization and ERP package configuration. Configuration is the normal set-up of the software, such as parameters, fields, and workflows.  These changes are a normal part of any implementation and do not require changes to the source code.  Customization, on the other hand, requires changes to the source code and also requires a higher level of technical sophistication.  Often times, business requirements and objectives can be met via configuration and set-up instead of customization.
2. Ensure clear, company-wide definition of business requirements. One of the primary drivers of customization is lack of direction regarding business requirements.  If business requirements are not well-defined, it is more likely that a project team will bastardize the software to meet requirements as they are defined.  In addition, clearly defined business requirements will ensure you choose the right enterprise solution during your ERP software selection process.
3. Establish solid ERP project controls. Without strong project controls and project governance, a project team is more likely to customize every item on the users’ wish list without prioritizing, rationalizing, or identifying potential solutions within the core functionality of the system.  The executive steering committee and project manager need to clearly define criteria for potential customizations, including conducting a cost-benefit analysis of the customization to ensure that you are only customizing where is provides the company with a unique competitive advantage and where there is so viable workaround within the system.

Every company is unique and no single ERP solution is going to meet 100% of a company’s requirements.  However, keeping these three tips in mind and finding the right ERP software with the best functional fit will ensure that your customization needs are minimized.

www.woodappleunik.com

www.woodappleunik.co.nr

Hiring Right Software Development Services

The greatest challenge of today’s business world is getting software developed. Plenty of companies have developed turnkey applications for use throughout the business world, though it is common to run up against tasks that could be benefited by a permanent solution. One can hire software development services and get assistance in any of the following or in more areas: ASP Development, Java Development, CRM Development, iPhone Application Development, Flash Development, .Net Development, ColdFusion Web Development, or B2B Portal Development. All software companies give a preference to companies who can develop creative and protected software which is also economical in nature.

Know your needs properly
Learn about your company requirements from your management about who would be actual end users. It can be for managing finance, client tracking or data management, but the object of hiring the software company should be clear. 

Design your needs
Whether you are a designer or not you can prepare a mock up custom software development program for the hiring agency to give them a better idea of the functionalities that is required at your end. This would enable them to understand your needs. You should also project your security needs and take an assertive stand during the negotiation.

Decide a project destination
It is a very common practice among software development companies to change its budget as and when the project moves on. Hence, to be on the safer side it is always better to decide project destinations with time. If ever you receive any project requirement which is not up to your expectations as previously discussed, prices should not vary.

Hire the most competent
Hire the company or its staff having some experience in the sector. You can check with competitors about additional benefits they offer. If required you may also study the sample of software solution prior to finalizing the company you want to hire. You may also talk about the communication channel, time taken, budget involved and support to be provided after hiring their software development services.

www.woodappleunik.co.nr

www.woodappleunik.com