Traditional business (organizational) department structures’ partitions are collapsing. A much needed strategic paradigm shift has occurred, with an emphasis on collaborative work circles and interdepartmental teams. Collaboration between two crucial departments – marketing and customer service – is not only tactically sound, but it is also incredibly valuable.
If you haven’t yet taken advantage of internal synergy, here are four reasons why marketing and customer service should collaborate.
- A common goal.
Customer service tries to keep consumers in the funnel while marketing concentrates on pulling them in. At the end of the day, everyone is delighted if your company has more customers than the competition. However, consider this: Getting a new customer costs 6–7 times more than keeping an old one (Bain & Company). This exemplifies how crucial customer service is to the marketing department. You can have a significant impact on your bottom line if you can optimize your retention strategy and sustain branding and marketing campaigns across all touch points.
- Customer service knows your customer.
The most important stage in your marketing team’s efforts to precisely identify your buyer personas will be to interact with your customer service staff. Your customer care team is likely to have the most contact with your ideal consumers and is familiar with the subtleties of their thought process as it relates to the purchasing process. They may provide useful insight into your buyer personas and provide answers to many of your inquiries about basic customer qualities, demographics, and purchasing habits.
- Customer service protects your brand
Customers are drawn in by advertising and marketing campaigns that set experience expectations and make specific promises about quality and service. You might have a real disaster at a vital consumer touch point if you don’t properly train your customer care employees on your brand efforts and promises. Customers will be unhappy from the start if your customer service department fails to match consumer expectations or reinforce the brand promises made by the marketing department. This is not the way you want to start your firm.
- Customer service representatives are brand ambassadors.
Customer service representatives should be viewed as internal ambassadors, promoting the marketing and brand principles that distinguish your company and encourage customers to return. A customer care department should function nearly as an extension of the marketing department, with access to a variety of marketing-approved technologies. They should use scripts to reinforce brand promises, comprehend campaign components and marketing materials that support their efforts, and, in the end, provide customers with an experience that is consistent with the marketing messages.
If you’d like to brainstorm with the Ripple Effect Group on creating a winning marketing and customer service strategy please reach out to help@theRippleEffectGroup.com. The Ripple Effect Group is a full service marketing agency located in Rocky Hill, CT.
