By Matthew Bowman

Global Business Executive

I have been talking to a lot of people over the past year about the way that customer service is taking on a new importance in most organizations. Of course most executives say that the ‘customer comes first’, but I believe that many companies are now looking to their customer facing team for ideas, leadership and competitive advantage.

Take a look at this recent blog featuring the CEO of Mercedes Benz USA, Steve Cannon, in which he suggests that the experience customers have when they interact with your company is now a part of the marketing process:

“Now with social media and the connected environment we live in, a good experience can lead to thousands of connections and a negative experience can lead to potentially more than that,” he explained. “When I started three years ago, Customer Experience was our No. 1 priority. We put a team together under a General Manager who reports to me and we empower them to take a more holistic look at Customer Experience and map the customer journey. This has to be the heart beat within our group.”

I believe that we have started on a journey that may go even further that just marketing looking to the customer service team for help.

Customer service is now seen as the heart of a business. It’s where your team interacts with customers every day. It’s where prospective customers ask questions, people who are about to be customers clear up last minute doubts, and existing customers get support.

Is it any surprise that marketing executives now see it as a strategically important part of what they do? But what about the sales team too? What about your R&D? What about your operations? All of these areas of your business could benefit from a more direct link to the people who really use your products.

Mercedes is one step ahead of the crowd in aligning their customer experience team with marketing, operations and sales. I think that the next few years will see customer service teams take on a key role in the strategy for companies in all industries.

Source- Linked In