When selling products, it's inevitable that issues will arise. Whether it be a damaged pallet on delivery, or a complaint about an item being faulty, it's important to log all interactions about the issue to ensure it's resolved as quickly and professionally as possible.
In the CRM, you can create dedicated records for customer issues and after-sale queries known as Problems. You can add notes to a Problem, set Tasks for other CRM users, progress them through specified Statuses, and even create and add Documents for full transparency of the issue. You can then report on key information about these Problems to help better manage your products or service, turning a potentially negative customer experience into a positive outcome.
Benefits of Using Problems
Help Categorise Different Types of Problems: Using the Problem Type Matrix in the CRM, you can effectively categorise different types of customer issues and queries. This will help you and your team learn about common issues your customers face.
Identify Bottlenecks: By categorising your customer issues using Problem Types, you can filter Problems on Reports, identifying how many issues you've had of each type. For example, if you've had a lot of issues logged to do with delivery, you could uncover a potential issue with your courier service.
Efficiently Resolve Customer Issue: Problem Pipelines help highlight which stage a customer issue is at, meaning the Customer Services team know how close the issue is to being resolved.
Ensure Processes are Followed: Problem Pipelines will also ensure that your Customer Services team are following the processes put in place to successfully and efficiently resolve customer issues.
Onboard & Retain Customers: All of the above will contribute towards onboarding new customers and retaining your existing customer base - critical for businesses selling products from stock B2B.
Examples of Issues to Record in CRM
Here are just some examples of the types of customer issues and queries you may want to record in the CRM using Problems:
Customer Returns: Returning unwanted items and damaged goods. You can create Sales Orders and Quotes underneath a Problem in the CRM for sending out replacement items too!
Customer Complaints: Customers may be unsatisfied with Customer Service, had goods arrive damaged on delivery or goods could of arrived late, meaning they'd like to log an official complaint. Use Problem Pipelines to process the complaints through necessary steps.
Accounts Query: Customers may also request copies of invoices or query prices with you. Your Accounts team could therefore use Problems to chase late payments.