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| Customer service – it's not about the numbers |
| 01-Dec-2009 01:37 PM |
| I had a whinge to my telco provider the other day. They'd stuffed up my order of a new iPhone (a very sensitive subject to me). After encountering grief on the phone and blank faces in the store, I finally took my rage to Twitter. It took 2 days, but I was eventually approached by a Twitter-based rep; ‘Seb’. After getting my phone number, he called immediately and fixed everything. Sorted. Thank you Twitter; thank you Seb. But, while I'm in my disgruntled Telegraph-reader frame of mind – I have to ask why it should take a rant in a public forum to prompt a response leading to resolution? The answer is of course a lack of effective "traditional" customer service channels. In which case, the next question is, why is "Need help then call this number" the primary customer service message promoted by most organisations? Cost effectiveness perhaps? A call centre (even off-shore) coupled with an automated voice-recognition service can't cost less than daily maintenance of an online public forum. And with fewer people needed to man the forum, you could ensure only the best people for the job are employed to do it. Accessibility then? With two thirds of Australia's population online and with mobile handset penetration over 100% (most people have more than one handset to explain that confusing stat), the concern over accessibility should be far less pressing than the concern over the loss of business due to poor service. Privacy? Whilst a one-on-one conversation is certainly more private than a question asked in a public forum, the desire of an individual to spread the word of bad service experiences are well documented. A private chat will very quickly become a public complaint if it's not entirely satisfactory to the customer. The likes of Dell, Best Buy and even giants like ING are starting to embrace this way of thinking – but I wonder if this is being driven by a need to "try something new" rather than an attempt to fix something that isn't working. So when organisations look at improving their customer service models, online (or at least Digital) would seem to be the place to start. Dialling back reliance on call centres to answer questions and handle complaints, and improving digital presence in a more public environment would reduce the number of people involved and thus ensure only the best level of service is offered. Surely this would seem to be the way forward. Let’s face it, boasting you're the fastest to answer a customer complaint is a counter-productive claim if you're also known for giving the wrong answers. |
