MailTank, a leader in providing custom email management solutions to small business, recently published a white paper that defines email customer service for the next decade. The publication, provided to the company by The Field Consulting Group (TFCG), is based on interviews with three firms that switched to MailTank's online program to manage their email customer service efforts. According to MailTank CEO, Christian Winter, "This white paper comprehensively documents the success we've had in responding to our client's feedback and improving our system to the point where it has become the standard by which the industry will judge other providers."
The paper identifies five main reasons for the switch to MailTank.com:
The ability to precisely track customer interactions before and after sales
The ability to monitor customer service performance
Consistency of messaging
Ease of use
Exceptional technical support
In every case, the move to Mailtank.com greatly improved customer service performance and showed significant ROI. The organizations included an online retail boutique; an international Express and Logistics company specializing in South and Central America; and a Chicago-based auto dealership. The vendors that MailTank replaced were Gmail for Business, Mac.com, InBoxHQ, Talisma, SalesForce and MailRoom. (Some clients had used multiple vendors.)
All the customers who were consulted for the white paper had been frustrated by their previous email program's inability to adequately track customer interactions. Their previous systems operated in one of two ways: The first was that customer service agents, whether sitting side by side in the same office, spread out across the country or overseas, all worked from the same inbox. An email was responded to in the order it was received by the first agent who could get to it. If the customer wrote again, or multiple times (with follow up questions or seeking more specific instruction, etc.) their emails were rarely received by the same agent. As a result, customers had to explain their situation from the beginning to each agent they contacted, and they were often sent the same standardized responses multiple times. These experiences led many customers to conclude that once the sale had been made their business no longer mattered to the organization.
Each customer service agent worked from his or her own individual email account. This method, because it allowed the customer to correspond with the same agent time and again, improved the customer's experience of consistency, personal attention and value to the organization. Where the method fell short was in managements' ability to adequately oversee so many separate accounts. Managers needed to be everywhere at once and yet moving from one account to another was cumbersome and time consuming. In the end, individual accounts proved isolating and ineffective. Management often didn't find out about problems until it was too late. And agents, feeling they had to go it alone with their customers, were prevented from drawing on the ready-aid of their more experienced managers as well as from the collective wisdom of their colleagues.
Mailtank.com solved all of the problems their former systems did not. The details are in the new white paper, which is a useful tool for prospects who want documentation of how MailTank has created measurable results for its clients.
"MailTank handles as many employees as the client designates as part of the response team," said Lon Baker, MailTank's CTO. "Our program organizes and manages information seamlessly, and performs multiple tasks simultaneously with ease and simplicity."
MailTank will be at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco at the Moscone Center January 15 through January18. You will find them in the Enterprise and Business Solutions Special Interest Pavilion, at booth number 4348-12.
About MailTank
MailTank was created out of the experience of MacTank (its predecessor company) in helping over 200,000 Mac users. MailTank now serves customers across all platforms, including Vista, as well as Apple's Tiger and Leopard operating systems. MailTank is the best email management system currently available for small businesses and is also increasingly in demand by organizations of all sizes. For more information visit MailTank.com.