On the line

Ask your customers for feedback!

Blackbaud conducts customer satisfaction survey

TEXT: CLAUDIA FUNK

Keeping your customers satisfied is the primary task of a service desk. But how do you stay on top of your game? In this edition of On the line, Blackbaud will answer exactly this question.

Administrative tasks are often time-consuming and prone to errors. For this reason, both non-profit organizations and profit-driven companies frequently outsource these tasks to specialists such as Blackbaud. Blackbaud provides non-profit organizations with CRM software and services tailored perfectly to every aspect of their customer-oriented business processes. This software enables fundraisers and member organizations to map out exactly how charitable their donors are and allows them to set up targeted marketing and communications campaigns. Linda Bouman, who is an experienced consultant, was appointed service desk manager at Blackbaud two years ago. The Blackbaud office in Almere, The Netherlands, currently employs 30 people, five of which are service desk employees. The employees not only provide support for using the CRM system; they also offer a number of supporting services, such as importing bank payment files, creating and sending collection files to the bank, importing (prospect) files and exporting database selections.

Linda Bouman is service desk manager at Blackbaud

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Meeting your commitments

Once every six months, Blackbaud sends out a questionnaire to gain insight into its customers satisfaction level; after all, the quality of any organization is judged by its customers. We conduct this survey on a regular basis, says Linda, which gives us the opportunity twice each year to adjust our services.

Customers of the service desk focus primarily on the response time and duration when resolving a problem - areas in which Blackbaud recently made some significant progress. Our most recent customer satisfaction survey, which we conducted just a few weeks ago, resulted in a much higher score than 18 months ago, explains Linda. Our customers often have to meet tight deadlines regarding campaigns and mailings, and we should be able to join them in the pace at which they work. We cant change their deadlines, but we can work on our own response time. Although response times are usually fairly short at Blackbaud, it can still prove difficult to offer customers a quick and technical solution. Sometimes, it may take a little longer than expected to retrieve certain data. It is then important to communicate this delay to the customer well in advance, as any waiting times can involve a considerable amount of money. The message might not always be positive, but at least youve informed the customer in good time so they know what to expect. This can prevent frustration on the part of the customer and enables you to maintain a sense of calm within the department. Just make sure you inform others of what youre doing to meet your commitments.

Improving your services

Following the analysis and findings of its customer satisfaction survey, Blackbaud has set itself new goals for the next six months. The most important goal for this year is to shorten our processing times, explains Linda. Our service desk has grown considerably and, as a result, we have had to reorganize the way in which we share knowledge. Previously, each of our employees could answer questions off the top of their head, but this is no longer possible. We have now set up an internal Wiki in order to support our employees in finding the information they need when dealing with customers on the telephone. But theyre not quite there yet. Every now and then, we come across a query for which were dependent on the specialist knowledge of one particular person within the organization, says Linda. ORGANIZATION: Blackbaud SERVICE DESK: offers support for use of the CRM system and other services, such as importing bank payment files and exporting database selections. Any issues raised by the customer satisfaction survey are tackled by Blackbaud immediately. If we manage to improve upon all these points in the next couple of months, then this will also have a positive effect on our services and customer satisfaction, Linda says convincingly.

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