Web-based Customer Service: E-service or E-limination »
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Furbies and Pokemon are rarely associated with the phrase "mission critical e-commerce." But, for parents pinning holiday cheer on a Web site's promise to deliver the year's top toy in time for Christmas, few things better embody the importance of customer service.
"If you want to talk about mission critical to a parent -- " says David Fowler, with an audible shake of his head.
Fowler is the vice president of public relations for online customer service giant Kana of Denver, Colorado. He cites late or "no-show" deliveries as a common customer service failure on the Web.
Lapses in customer service, he says, range from a simple lack of follow through on promises, such as missed delivery dates, to responding to customer concerns with "canned" e-mail messages thanking them for being a "valued customer."
A recent report from Forrester Research cites customer satisfaction shortcomings at 76 percent of commercial Web sites leaving those doing business on the Web to either improve their e-customer service or face elimination.
"On the Web customers don't come to complain, they go away," elaborates Fowler.
He adds that the 76 percent number is unlikely to go away. He explains that the 24 percent of Web sites providing positive customer experiences continue to "raise the bar" and with it customer expectations of service.
The rapidly evolving state of Web-based customer service is shifting the advantage once held by smaller firms to larger companies that are quickly learning the nuances of e-commerce.
Larger companies, with help from consulting firms like Kana, are realizing the importance of customer service on the Web and the advantages of leveraging the power of Internet to establish relationships with customers.
"In the 'old days' (the philosophy) used to be, 'Avoid talking to the customer because it chews up people time,'" says Fowler. "But, the old way of doing customer service doesn't work. You now have to be proactive. What you're really in the business of now is fostering customer interactions."
He explains that large companies are often better able to service customers by making use of "real-world" store locations or other infrastructure already in place to augment online service tools.
But, all is not lost for small business owners. In addition to hiring a company like Kana to maximize Web-based customer service, small-business owners can make the most of what Fowler identifies as the four main ways to provide Web-based customer service.
1 Assistance mode - The "warm" approach of offering customer service in the assistance mode provides a real person as a customer contact either at a store location that augments the Web site or over a telephone support line.
2 - State-of-the-art in Web-based customer service, virtual assistants are complex software programs that create a human persona to interact and build trust with customers while adapting to customer needs.
3 Self-service mode - Low maintenance customers are fine working with lower-tech customer service "wizards" or corresponding with a company through e-mail.
4 Proactive - This method attempts to answer customer questions before they are posed. Fowler cites SprintPCS' recent effort to proactively address frequent questions from customers wondering how many minutes of cellular phone time remain on their particular service plans. In a proactive move, Sprint builds personalized Web sites for each customer that keeps track of time left on their account, satisfying the needs of many customers before they are even expressed.
Fowler is quick to point out that Sprint's approach also allows the company to customize marketing plans to specific types of customers based on their usage and other factors that come to light from the personalized Web pages.
That powerful synergy of customer service, marketing and sales is changing the way many e-businesses approach business in general.
"You're always doing all three (customer service, marketing and sales)," says Fowler. "E-commerce is like a good stew that needs all three ingredients."
He stresses, however, that the key to providing good customer service for a Web site is providing many different methods for customer to contact the company. Some customers might prefer e-mail correspondence while another might feel more comfortable talking to a real person. The greater the number of routes available for customer contact, the more likely one of those routes will suit different comfort levels among different customers.
Ultimately, says Fowler, every commercial Web site operator must constantly look for ways to make their customers' lives easier.
By Sean Yokomizo
Furbies and Pokemon are rarely associated with the phrase "mission critical e-commerce." But, for parents pinning holiday cheer on a Web site's promise to deliver the year's top toy in time for Christmas, few things better embody the importance of customer service.
"If you want to talk about mission critical to a parent -- " says David Fowler, with an audible shake of his head.
Fowler is the vice president of public relations for online customer service giant Kana of Denver, Colorado. He cites late or "no-show" deliveries as a common customer service failure on the Web.
Lapses in customer service, he says, range from a simple lack of follow through on promises, such as missed delivery dates, to responding to customer concerns with "canned" e-mail messages thanking them for being a "valued customer."
A recent report from Forrester Research cites customer satisfaction shortcomings at 76 percent of commercial Web sites leaving those doing business on the Web to either improve their e-customer service or face elimination.
"On the Web customers don't come to complain, they go away," elaborates Fowler.
He adds that the 76 percent number is unlikely to go away. He explains that the 24 percent of Web sites providing positive customer experiences continue to "raise the bar" and with it customer expectations of service.
The rapidly evolving state of Web-based customer service is shifting the advantage once held by smaller firms to larger companies that are quickly learning the nuances of e-commerce.
Larger companies, with help from consulting firms like Kana, are realizing the importance of customer service on the Web and the advantages of leveraging the power of Internet to establish relationships with customers.
"In the 'old days' (the philosophy) used to be, 'Avoid talking to the customer because it chews up people time,'" says Fowler. "But, the old way of doing customer service doesn't work. You now have to be proactive. What you're really in the business of now is fostering customer interactions."
He explains that large companies are often better able to service customers by making use of "real-world" store locations or other infrastructure already in place to augment online service tools.
But, all is not lost for small business owners. In addition to hiring a company like Kana to maximize Web-based customer service, small-business owners can make the most of what Fowler identifies as the four main ways to provide Web-based customer service.
1 Assistance mode - The "warm" approach of offering customer service in the assistance mode provides a real person as a customer contact either at a store location that augments the Web site or over a telephone support line.
2
3 Self-service mode - Low maintenance customers are fine working with lower-tech customer service "wizards" or corresponding with a company through e-mail.
4 Proactive - This method attempts to answer customer questions before they are posed. Fowler cites SprintPCS' recent effort to proactively address frequent questions from customers wondering how many minutes of cellular phone time remain on their particular service plans. In a proactive move, Sprint builds personalized Web sites for each customer that keeps track of time left on their account, satisfying the needs of many customers before they are even expressed.
Fowler is quick to point out that Sprint's approach also allows the company to customize marketing plans to specific types of customers based on their usage and other factors that come to light from the personalized Web pages.
That powerful synergy of customer service, marketing and sales is changing the way many e-businesses approach business in general.
"You're always doing all three (customer service, marketing and sales)," says Fowler. "E-commerce is like a good stew that needs all three ingredients."
He stresses, however, that the key to providing good customer service for a Web site is providing many different methods for customer to contact the company. Some customers might prefer e-mail correspondence while another might feel more comfortable talking to a real person. The greater the number of routes available for customer contact, the more likely one of those routes will suit different comfort levels among different customers.
Ultimately, says Fowler, every commercial Web site operator must constantly look for ways to make their customers' lives easier.