Archives for the 'Small Business' Category
Document Scanning Triggers: Customer Service
In the eyes of most customers - and let’s face it we are all customers either as individuals or as businesses - the key requirements of good customer service means getting our questions answered and our problems solved quickly and efficiently. Most of the time, this happens over the phone and could involve us trying to solve an invoicing issue, following up on a general enquiry or simply requesting extra information on a product.
Somehow, no matter how entertaining the “holding music” is, being put on hold for minutes at a time while someone finds the information they need to give us our answers does not deliver the customer service level we expect in today’s electronic world. Yet we are faced with this situation time and time again. Often, this is a result of an organisation keeping their records in paper format – even a small organisation cannot hope to have all their paper files immediately to hand, particularly when even the best paper indexing system will still leave gaps.
So what’s the alternative? Well, with all of your company’s paper documentation stored electronically, you change the playing field entirely. There is no longer any time delay in finding the information that you need to respond to your customers’ queries - instead, by accessing their files or documents with the information they are looking for, you’ll be able to respond immediately. And with paper documents available online, alongside email correspondence, you have all the relevant information at your fingertips.
In fact, having this information available allows you to take it one step further, giving you the opportunity to focus much more clearly on the real reason for their question and take a more proactive approach. While at the same time, by being able to answer your customers’ service enquiries more quickly, you can also reduce the costs associated with, saving you money at the same time. A real WIN - WIN situation
So next time you are listening to “Green Sleaves” wondering when the person on the other end of the phone will return with the documents they need, make a mental note to get those key customer documents scanned and indexed and watch your customer service ratings soar.
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Small Business Scanning is all about Planning
As small businesses grow and attract new clients, one of the main challenges they face is dealing with issues caused by the growing pains that this very success brings. Ways of working have to be adapted without compromising the levels of service being offered, and all this at a time when space in the office tends to be at a premium.
Smaller businesses also have to make sure that they retain their competitive advantage over the competition - often much larger organisations than themselves. These advantages usually centre on the personal relationship they have with their clients and their speed of response, as well as the level of specialist knowledge that they can offer. This is particularly true when it comes to legal and finance professionals where the personal service is the foundation of which their business is built. Having a customer’s files and information instantly accessible is therefore a critical factor in being able to provide the level of service required.
This was the situation that SG Independent, an IFA based in Hitchin, found themselves in. Their business was growing quickly as their reputation grew and it was taking longer to access the various pieces of documentation for individual clients, partly because they were running out of space. What they needed was to be able to find and access all their files at the touch of a button to make best use of their time and, above all, to continue to give the level of customer service that they desired. The solution also needed to be scaleable so that it could grow with them.
Scanning their files seemed to be the ideal solution but while SG Independent needed to be able to search through the files quickly, a fully indexed database seemed excessive in the circumstance. The decision was taken to create the documents as fully searchable pdf files – this would give the speed of access without compromising on quality and would ensure that they could expand the system as their business grew.
“Preview were excellent and recommended the solution which fitted my requirements, both now and going forward,” said Bradley Stevenson. “They focused on what was best for my business and didn’t try to sell me something I didn’t need, which shows that the trust I had in them was well founded. I chose them quite simply because I got on with the account manager who was excellent – in my business, good business relationships are what it’s all about. That’s what I have with my clients and that’s what I got from Preview.”
Now SG Independent has all their documents immediately to hand and is able to continue to deliver the levels of service their customers demand, while keeping their system up to date by adding new files on a regular basis through Preview.
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