We’ve all heard the adage, the customer is always right. No matter what industry you’re involved with, if you have customers, you need to have a way to make them happy at all times. This is due in part to the amount of power a customer has these days. Let’s consider this this post on customer service and marketing that was featured in the Huffington Post this past July. The author highlights the fact that customers have more power than they ever have had before. They can brag about their service or product on their social media accounts, and this information can go across all of their followers and friends, creating many new leads and revenue.

However, at the same time, this power can be used in a negative light as well. If a customer receives a faulty product, doesn’t receive the right product they ordered, has faced a rude customer service representative, or was billed incorrectly, all of these can be posted on their social network accounts as well. That’s why it’s important to ensure that you have the systems in place to make sure that the customer is happy at all times. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how many businesses can benefit from this new age of customer marketing.

• Bill Correctly with Revenue Assurance: There’s nothing more annoying for a customer than receiving the wrong billing for their telephone bill. Because of the proliferation of telecommunications in everyone’s daily lives, many telecommunications companies have been unable to adapt as quickly as the rise in demand. Most of the billing quirks are because of human error or a faulty system. Therefore, many companies in the telecommunications field can certainly benefit from third party revenue assurance help. A reputable vendor can look at your system and see the errors, so you can prevent angry customers from tweeting about their dislike of your service.

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• Order Fulfillment: If there’s one area where retail is certainly seeing an uptick in sales, it’s in online orders. While certainly a great thing, it’s only a profitable area when all aspects of your supply chain are working on the same page. A quality order management system can help customers see the progression of their order from the submit order click to when the order makes it to their doorstep. This visibility will ensure the customer is happy as they’ll always be in the know and will prevent errors that might occur along the way.

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• Disaster Recovery: There’s no question that much of the country has seen its share of natural disasters recently. These disasters can bring with them much chaos, and that includes how businesses stay online. And it’s not just natural disasters. Faulty equipment, human error and power outages can all lead to an outage, which could result in disaster if you don’t have quality disaster recovery planning. You never want to see the worst, but if you prepare for it, you won’t have an influx of angry customers who have experienced the consequences of an outage.

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In the present and the past as well as the future, the customer is king. Given the extent of their power in this social media world, customer service has never been more important. These steps should help you get there.

About the Author

Sean Carter is an experienced writer who has been featured on many sites regarding travel, technology and business for many years