Director of Customer Relations Duties

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By eHow Contributing Writer

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Director of Customer Relations Duties

Customer relations, like customer service, is responsible for dealing directly with the customer in order to answer questions and resolve complaints. The Director of Customer Relations wears many hats. In addition to properly managing the employees in her department, she is also responsible for effectively managing how the employees interact with the customers. She must establish how the department will treat its customers, create a strategy and action plan for delivering the type of service customers expect and encouraging employees to provide excellent service to the company's customers. In some instances, the Customer Relations Director speaks directly with dissatisfied customers.

Establish customer service philosophy

The Director of Customer Relations is responsible for establishing how the customer service department will interact with customers. She sets the guidelines for how the customer service representatives (CSRs) will handle customer requests, irate customers and resolving customer dissatisfaction. For example, the Director may decide the guidelines for providing complementary products and services for dissatisfied customers.

Establish performance expectations

The Director works with her team to set performance expectations for the CSRs and managers. The expectations set by the Director should coincide with the customers' expectations of the company. For example, if customer satisfaction surveys show that the customers feel that it takes too long to handle their requests the Director must set a measurement that requires the CSRs to handle the customers' calls in less time. A performance expectation for the manager may be to complete performance reviews for all of her employees

Strategy formulation

The Director is responsible for analyzing the reporting created on behalf of the customer service team. She must use this reporting to create strategies for meeting customer and senior management's expectations. Senior management has budgetary goals that the Director must meet while still ensuring that the CSRs' customer interactions keep the company in a positive customer light. The Director must create this strategy with her department and upper management. She must get "buy-in" from those affected by the proposed strategy.

Employee development

Customer Relations Directors are responsible for employee development. They must ensure that each member of their team is current on the best practices for handling customers. Staying current can range from one-on-one training sessions to internal best practice workshops to external customer relations training. Employee development also means assisting employees with developing skills for promotion within the company which can mean additional managerial and technical training.

Recognition programs

Customer Relations Directors should also work with the team to create recognition programs for excellent customer service. These programs should recognize employees that go "above and beyond" to satisfy customers. The programs can involve giving notes to say "good job" and gifts and cash awards for continued excellence. In short, the employees and managers should receive rewards for exceeding the performance expectations.

Handling escalations

If a customer is displeased with the resolution offered by a CSR or manager, he may request to speak to the Director. When a customer request gets to this level, the Director must ensure that she does not undermine the work of the previous employees. It is important to remain firm but also courteous in advising the customer what can and cannot be done to resolve the complaint.