Stephen Lynn

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What Does it Take to Provide Superior Customer Service

I recently read a blog post on Why Small Companies Are Better at Customer Service by Anthony Tjan. In his post Tony points out, “The key difference in these experiences is the common sense and empathy of the small local company. Too much customer service — especially in large companies — has devolved to standard operating procedures and scripted answers delivered with artificial calmness.” I agree that the key differences Tony points out are critical, but they wouldn’t completely explain why companies provide good or bad customer service. It also...
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Permalink: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 5:21 PM
Posted by slynn | 0 Comments
Filed under Dovetail Software, customer service and support
Dovetail Software: Easy to Use - Ask our Customers

One of the reasons our customers move off of our competitors’ software is because it is easy to migrate from other solutions to Dovetail CRM. Our development staff thinks like customers, so they develop from the perspective of the customer, i.e., how to make their jobs easier. There is nothing like testimonials from our customers, so hear is our latest example . Thanks for the kind words David. Until Next Time, Stephen
Permalink: Monday, September 14, 2009 1:55 PM
Posted by slynn | 0 Comments
Filed under Dovetail Software, CRM, CRM software development, customer service and support
Value of Software Maintenance & Support

We pride ourselves on the value we provide our customers for maintenance and support, whether it is on our own software products, or on the Clarify software products we also support. I have written frequently about the level of service we provide, often citing customer examples to back up our claim. We are often asked by customers who are considering switching to our Clarify Help Desk Program why we are better than Amdocs. Here’s what we highlight - First, Dovetail charges considerably less than Amdocs charges for support. In tough economic times,...
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Permalink: Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:26 AM
Posted by slynn | 0 Comments
Filed under Dovetail Software, Clarify user, customer service and support
It's About Making the Customer Successful

We have been accused of providing consulting work for free and it is an accusation I am quite proud of. While we are certainly in business to make money, it isn’t all about getting every last dollar from your customers. Take care of your customers, make sure they are successful, and ultimately you will achieve financial success. That is the Dovetail way. We pride ourselves on this approach and I have previously mentioned some examples. But a recent situation was more than just responding to a customer’s request. It was proactive consulting - providing...
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Permalink: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 8:37 AM
Posted by slynn | 2 Comments
Filed under Dovetail Software, forgotten space, CRM, customer service and support
So How Good is the Commitment of our Customer Support Personnel?

I love talking about Dovetail’s Customer Support. I know it comes off sounding self serving, but if your customer support personnel were as dedicated to the customers as ours are, you would brag about them also. And since I always say “Actions Speak Louder Than Words”, let me use another recent example to demonstrate the level of commitment of Dovetail’s customer service. A couple of weeks ago, one of our customer support personnel (he prefers that I not name him) was at the hospital as his wife was in labor and about to deliver their new son. It...
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Permalink: Monday, August 03, 2009 11:00 AM
Posted by slynn | 0 Comments
Filed under Dovetail Software, customer service and support
The Risks Associated with SaaS

People tend to follow trends, and certainly the trend towards SaaS is growing. There is a lot of positives associated with on-demand applications, no doubt, but just like other similarly “can’t miss” opportunities (such as Bernard Madoff or Allen Stanford for investments), companies need to be aware of the risks associated with SaaS. Some of these have been highlighted previously, such as losing control of your data, or the long-term costs associated with SaaS are often higher than perpetual licenses, but one that hasn’t got as much attention should...
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Permalink: Friday, June 26, 2009 10:28 AM
Posted by slynn | 1 Comments
Filed under CRM, customer service and support
Customer Survey – Don’t Ask Unless You Really Want to Know

I recently spent a week-end at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas. It was a lovely week-end, the staff was fabulous, we had a great room, and the restaurant was superb. About a week after our stay I received an email from the hotel asking me to complete a survey about our stay. I completed the survey and told them about one problem we had at the hotel. I thought it was important for them to know, and I even filled out the section where it asked if I wanted someone to contact me so I could elaborate on the issue. This is where their customer service broke...
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Permalink: Thursday, June 18, 2009 4:46 PM
Posted by slynn | 3 Comments
Filed under customer service and support
Good Technology Does Not Guarantee Good Customer Service

I recently took my car in to the dealership for a warranty issue. The service rep greeted me when I arrived, made sure I had a loaner car, and my car repair was completed when promised. So a successful visit, right? Wrong. As I was driving home, the same problem developed. I called the service rep, he apologized, and arranged for me to return at a later date. But then it got interesting. Two days later I got an email from the dealership. Take a look: Dear Stephen, First of all, thank you for bringing your vehicle in for service at xxx. As a preferred...
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Permalink: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 4:27 PM
Posted by slynn | 0 Comments
Filed under Dovetail Software, CRM, customer service and support
Is Customer Service and Support Still the “Forgotten Space”?

A couple of years ago, Dovetail Software coined Customer Service and Support (CS&S) CRM as the Forgotten Space . It was our belief that CS&S was being ignored by the vendors and senior level executives. From the vendors, more R&D dollars were being put into the more glamorous areas, like Sales Force Automation and Analytics. And senior executives, despite shouting about the importance of providing great Customer Service, saw this function as a cost center, where the goal is to reduce costs as much as possible without alienating customers....
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Permalink: Friday, May 15, 2009 11:52 AM
Posted by slynn | 0 Comments
Filed under forgotten space, CRM, customer service and support
Customer Service to be Proud Of

I love my company, Dovetail Software, and the culture we have created. It seems a little self-serving to brag about ourselves, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity this time. We have a number of mottoes in the company, and one of them is “Just Do It.” I admit we stole this from Nike, but I don’t think they will object to the fact that we find it fits our company. So now for the situation. We had a support case come in Saturday night during our non-business hours from one of our customers. First, the customer hadn’t purchased 24x7 coverage from...
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Permalink: Sunday, April 19, 2009 7:00 PM
Posted by slynn | 0 Comments
Filed under Dovetail Software, customer service and support

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