I’m at the beach today (sorry), and my laptop is connected to my neighbor’s wi-fi connection (with their permission). My son needed directions to someplace in town today. So how did I find those directions? I Googled the place, got the address, went to Mapquest, got directions, and then I sent them via SMS to my son’s cell. It took less than 10 minutes.
A few years ago, the computer was a task driven activity. If you wanted to do something you booted up, went to the task, did the task, and then shut down. This was driven by dial-up connections that were slow and sometimes metered so they were expensive to have on all the time.
Now, high speed connections and powerful computers make an “always on” connection practical. The computer and its connection to the cloud has become a utility that’s as easy to access as a light switch. I’ve noticed that our family is checking the computer several times every day for something, be it information, or entertainment. And this doesn’t include email and work related stuff.
What does that do to our perception of good service? If I can access information anytime, and it’s instantaneous, what happens to my mindset when I’m put on hold? How do I deal with a customer service rep that doesn’t have the right answer immediately? What’s my response to a line at the branch?
It seems to me that with near-perfect information always available, customers could re-define their perception of service quality. They will have higher demands for quality information and at the same time, lower tolerance for anything that takes longer than a few seconds to accomplish. It’s entirely possible that an institution’s standards for excellent service, as measured by first call response, queue times and customer ser vice responsiveness may be insufficient. There may be a need for new definitions of satisfactory or excellent service. And, it may be that traditional customer service simply can’t compete with online alternatives.
If that’s the case, offline customer service will have to be re-defined in order to find a value proposition that customers will accept. Perhaps business performance metrics should be about high value added content, highly personalized service and customer education. Speed and efficiency would be promised and delivered through online channels.
One solution that fits into customer expectations in this environment is real-time chat. It places human access and responsiveness in the context of the internet space. From this perspective, online chat becomes a strategic communications tool, rather than an add on “nice to have” channel.
In an “always on” world, customer service needs to be redefined, what do we need to do to turn the new reality into a strategic opportunity? Maybe it’s online chat now, and video chat in a few years.
1 comments:
I think you are really onto something here. The fact of the matter is, more and more we are a product of the digital age. Whether we were born into the digital age or not, many have evolved into the same mindset where immediate sending and receiving of information is organic. As our expectations continue to be modeled around instantaneous information and turnaround, businesses are going to need to adapt their own customer experience module accordingly. In our work with you, we see this as growing challenge for businesses, making a comprehensive understanding of what customers want and need more important than ever. Equipped with this understanding and knowledge of what their customers are looking for in their experience as patrons, businesses are better positioned to navigate this ever-changing landscape of how to best communicate and deliver on consumer needs in the digital age.
Nicole, BlissPR
Disclosure: Maritz is a client of BlissPR.
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