SAP’s “Tough” Choice Shines a New Light on the Importance of Customer Service

In a CIO article, Thomas Wailgum discusses SAP’s step towards a “two-tiered maintenance and support model for new and old customers: the high-end Enterprise Support plan and a welcome return of good ‘ole Standard Support, the SAP support plan formerly known as Basic.”

According to the article, it was a very “tough” decision for SAP to choose between maintenance revenue and making their customers happy. This is troubling in itself, but their 2 choices have much to be desired as well. How long will the customers be happy with this narrow model? Why didn’t SAP make 3 or 4 more options to cover a wider variety of company types? This feels like a beginning to an end for SAP, as customer service is coming back in 2010. Many business analysts think it’s about time we come back to the basics. When you really look at the big picture, what makes our companies stay afloat? What allows us to do business? Customers! Not maintenance revenue!

A survey from one business analyst- William Band, shows that the higher the customer experience index, regardless of the industry, the more customers buy and the more loyal they are. Contact center customer support needs to evolve to better serve customers who no longer rely on one venue for receiving information but instead, engage multiple sources. In addition to checking a company’s Web site and its brochures, many customers research information on products and services from social networking sources, such as blogs, and online user ratings. With customers now requiring more real-time support, it’s essential to keep pace with their expectations and to respond to them in new ways. Turn to Computeration to find easier ways to manage your business processes in order to create a great experience for your customers. They will thank you for it and you will thank them for their loyalty.

Specializing in ways to enhance your company’s customer service with Microsoft Dynamics® GP in Idaho and the Pacific Northwest, with clients around the world, Computeration makes your implementation successful by offering experienced project management, data integration, training, and consulting services.

By Gloria Braunschweig with Computeration, an ID and Pacific Northwest Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner.

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