Which customer relationship management (CRM) feature includes digitized customer support processes, such as ticket routing and escalation?

Workflow automation is a core feature of modern CRM systems designed to streamline and automate business processes. In the context of customer support, this feature uses rule-based logic to manage the lifecycle of a customer issue. This includes automatically routing incoming support tickets to the appropriate agent or department based on criteria like issue type or customer priority, and escalating tickets to a higher support tier if they are not resolved within a specified timeframe. This digitization of processes ensures efficiency, consistency, and timely resolution of customer inquiries.

B. Response queue analytics: This feature involves the analysis and reporting of data from support queues (e.g., wait times, resolution rates), rather than the execution of the routing and escalation processes themselves.

C. Channel preference management: This is concerned with tracking and using a customer's preferred method of communication (e.g., email, phone, chat), not with the internal handling of a support ticket.

D. Interaction history management: This feature provides a consolidated view of all past communications and transactions with a customer to give context to agents, but it does not automate the workflow of a current ticket.

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1. Payne

A.

& Frow

P. (2005). A strategic framework for customer relationship management. Journal of Marketing

69(4)

167-176. In Section "The CRM Process Element

" the authors discuss how technology enables the automation of customer-facing processes

such as customer service and support

which inherently includes the logic for routing and managing inquiries. (p. 171). https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.2005.69.4.167

2. Buta

S. (2016). The role of CRM in business. Annals of the „Constantin Brâncuși” University of Târgu Jiu

Economy Series

1(1)

130-133. The paper describes Operational CRM and its component

Service Automation

stating it "helps in managing customer service requests

complaints

and product returns... It can be used to assign the service requests to the most appropriate service agent or employee." This describes automated ticket routing. (p. 132

Section 3.1.3).

3. Chalmeta

R. (2006). Methodology for customer relationship management. Journal of Systems and Software

79(7)

1015-1024. The author discusses the technological components of CRM

highlighting that operational CRM automates processes. Within the service module

functionalities for "incident management" include rules for assignment and escalation

which are forms of workflow automation. (p. 1019

Section 3.2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2005.10.018