Customer service is by no means easy. Managing this part of your operation can be immensely challenging. Your team must strike a balance between solid technical knowledge and perfect communication skills to deliver the very best customer experience. At StartingPoint, we believe customer experience is something that should be continuously refined. Exceptional customer experiences are the fuel driving the growth of your business.

For over four decades, large US businesses have relied upon the shared services business model for cost reduction and operational efficiency. Even now, the trend continues with over 80% of the Fortune 500 companies in the USembracing it for obvious reasons. Presently, Human Resources (HR) and Legal shared services teams have become increasingly popular due to their sensitive nature and the supportive role they play in the overall functioning of a business.

So, what does CX mean? As you can expect with any “what is” query you pop into Google, Wikipedia does a great job providing customer experience definition. It says that: “The product of an interaction between an organization and a customer over the duration of their relationship”. Now, by all means – that 100 % true. But, being in the customer experience game ourselves, we’re not entirely satiated. At least not just yet.

The shared services model can transform business processes and smooth out the rough edges in your operational model. Have you been looking for ways to centralize your operations? We recommend that you consider the shared services model. Through the use of standardized technology, various units in an organization can access the same services. In this article, we are going to be providing everything you need to know about the shared services model.

Customer operations refer to customer-centric business functions like sales and service which extend support to the customer. These were earlier perceived to be a cost center, but that notion has changed over the past decade. Customer operations are now regarded as the Swiss army knife of business operations. This is largely due to the fact that it supports several core business functions such as Sales, Marketing, Branding, and Product Development.

What are shared services? How does a shared service business model work? In this article, we will be breaking down everything you need to know about shared services. Are you trying to build a request-centric operations model that places an emphasis on simplified customer experience? We will be exploring the key benefits of adopting a shared services model. There has never been a better time to start exploring the consolidation of business operations.

Sales engineering is becoming increasingly more important for service-based businesses. It’s time to start paying attention to the role of technical sales in your business. The truth is, without technical sales, you cannot sell. If you want to deliver solutions that meet your target market’s needs, you must bridge the gap between internal teams and customers.

Sales engineers play a significant role in bridging the gap between internal teams and customers. This shared services team has product experts who possess a sound technical background and a deep understanding of customer expectations. With that, they support several business functions like Sales, Customer Service, Research and Development, and so on. Sales engineering professionals can wear many hats because of their in-depth understanding of the products and the business itself.

Project Managers are presented with some challenging tasks which can hinder the success of the project. Some of the most prevalent challenges that keep project managers on the ball involve making sure the project is on track, within the assigned budget, keeping up with the project's pace, and managing resources.

Scaling and generating more revenue without necessarily increasing costs is a good sign for your small business. But with the potential to scale by increasing sales volume comes the challenge of keeping the company’s operations and profitability stable. This is why companies emphasize the importance of operational efficiency.