“Do you remember when” was a common phrase I heard growing up, and I got tired of hearing it from my parents. “Back in the good old days” was another phrase where adults were going to tell me how great it used to be. Now that I am saying that to my kids, I shake my head in disbelief. When I think back “on the good old days” of getting customer service from a company, I realize that years ago, although life was slower and easier, it was relatively easy to get good customer service.
Companies used to staff call centers, and one of the metrics that the call center measured was hold time. On average, companies put an emphasis on ensuring that the hold time is as short as possible. In fact, it was one of their KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) before KPI became a popular acronym. My guess is that call centers today still measure hold time as a KPI; however, they may be more focused on having the hold time be longer than X minutes instead of shorter than X minutes. The reason for this is very simple.
With all types of online support that can be made available, it is significantly cheaper to provide service to customers online. I have seen it done in a variety of ways, from the good to the very bad.
I recently purchased a walking treadmill for my office, and I had some questions about how to keep it operating properly. The directions that came with the treadmill were terrible, so I went to the website to get more information. I could not find what I was looking for, so I chose to get support via the chat feature. I like to use the chat feature because I can do something else at the same time, as I end up waiting for their response many times. In this situation, my question was very generic. However, the agent chose to ask me questions that had nothing to do with my inquiry. In the end, I was told that someone would reach out to me in 1 to 2 days. I left that 20+ minute chat session less than thrilled. I have also found that leaving a voicemail for the support team is a waste of time because they never call back.
I have always been taught that when there is a problem, the customer will always remember how you fixed it. Consumers know that problems happen and that the service component is critical to their continued business.
When I think of how companies provide great service online, I have seen it done in some of the following ways:
One situation recently had me log an issue with a software provider as I was having problems integrating another system with this software provider. When I submitted my support request, I was told that someone would be in touch within 24 hours, and I knew ahead of time that 24 hours was their SLA (service level agreement). I got frustrated when I received an email 2 to 3 days later to say that my case had been reassigned, which meant I had to wait for another 2 to 3 days to hear back from the new agent.
I had some basic questions about how a particular feature works, and I was told that they can’t, or won’t, talk to me about how to do it and that I need to work with the other software provider to get it implemented. I said that I just had some questions that I wanted to ask verbally, and they said, “No, we can’t help you.” I later laughed when their system sent me a survey after the situation on their end was “closed.”
For firms that want to excel at online customer service experience in a long-term, cost-effective way, technology must be set up properly with the customer in mind. Doing this will have increased short-term costs, however. The following are tools that can be implemented to enhance your service:
The entire service component is changing now that more open technology is available. Make sure you don’t get left behind because your competitors are servicing the market better than you!
Have any questions about how your online customer service affects the customer experience? Please reach out to us at any time!
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