Before you introduce a new product or service, it goes through a lengthy design process and rigorous testing. You spend untold hours on a marketing strategy, getting everything just right. Launch day comes, though, and you realize you forgot something: Nobody told your customer-service department about the company's latest and greatest offering before people started calling and emailing to ask questions.

"It creates a lot of confusion, is bad for morale, and upsets customers," says the anonymous writer at the Service Untitled blog. "Having a more formalized process that keeps customer service in mind is a much better way to handle product launches."

Service Untitled suggests these steps:

• Educate everyone in customer service on its benefits and features. Even go so far as to require certification before they interact with the public.
• Give them a clear sense of the volume you expect, and update them on promotions, discounts and special pricing.
• Advise frontline staff on possible problem areas—if you're concerned about something in particular, let them know. And be sure that they have the resources needed for resolution.
• Update your website so the information customers see online matches what a customer service representative will tell them.

The Po!nt: "Creating a process lets companies work through [a launch] like it's second nature," says Service Untitled. "[They] can be consistent and most importantly, they can go smoothly."

Source: Service Untitled. Click here to read the complete post.

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