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February 9, 2000 Event
Human Touch in a Virtual World: Customer Service on the Web Super Bowl advertising, free shipping for life, cash bonuses for joining... Internet companies have spent millions and millions of dollars in an attempt to acquire customers. How much, however, do these same companies spend on transforming one-time visitors into repeat buyers? Judging by the current state of online customer service, the answer is an alarmingly low number. Even though most every analyst cites this growing concern, very few dot coms seem to be doing anything about it. Though customer acquisition has been the short-run priority for many Internet companies, the real long-term battle is for retention - a battle where customer service may fuel ultimate victory. Providing customer service is a real operational challenge. Etailers who make it a priority must make substantial investments in email support, chat helplines, and call centers. Not surprisingly, the brigade of headcount needed for these new service lines is both a non-scalable solution and a big threat to near-term profitability. New, outsourced solutions (eSupport, eConvergent) are being introduced into the market, but it is unclear whether generic, pre-packaged applications can do the job. Scalability repeatedly is praised as the virtue of successful Internet models, suggesting that one of the largest hurdles facing online customer service may be simple business philosophy. What elements determine excellent customer service? Some list attributes such as creative problem solving, prompt email responses, or liberal return policies. Others fixate on the need for contact with an actual person. The latter contingent believes strongly that real customer care requires real humans - and lots of them. Regardless of the definition of excellent customer service, the Web does not yet have it. Eventually this medium will use its natural advantages to provide a superior experience than its physical counterpart. Until then, perhaps the best way to address customer concerns is a strong emphasis on providing the right customer experience the first time around. It's Often Hard to Find Help Behind the Cybercounter
Key Learnings
RELATIONSHIPS ARE GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THEIR PARTS
Customer service is more than a quick response to a customer's inquiry. Companies with successful customer service strategies embrace customer service as a corporate philosophy rather than a budgetary afterthought. These companies strive for customer service excellence by creating relationships with customers rather than just creating inquiry history logs. In the faceless Web environment, customer service representatives have become a precious front line of communication. Contrary to its historical perception, customer service can have a real impact on the bottom line if given the strategic attention it rightfully deserves.
THE RICH GET RICHER
In theory, all customers should be treated as equals. In practice, providing all customers with equal customer service attention is a utopian (and costly) desire. Customer service strategies employed by offline customer service veterans (e.g., Amex, Nordstrom, United) are finding a place in the online world. Companies must identify their most valuable customers and reward these top tier customers with customer service privileges. Spending more on customers that spend more legitimizes customer service expenditures that would otherwise have little or no impact if spent on lower tier customers. What this "rich-get-richer" strategy lacks in fairness, it more than makes up for in a tangible impact on the bottom line.
PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE
A number of outsourced customer service shops have cropped up to meet an obvious market need. While many of these approaches do an admirable job of customizing a cookie-cutter solution for the customer service-impaired, these shops lack the intangible elements reaped by implementing customer service solutions in-house. Further, while technologies such as chat and instant messaging take a step towards appeasing customers' immediate needs, these are but a few steps in a marathon of human interaction currently absent from the customer service experience. There is an emotional aspect to customer service not afforded by outsourcing shops or interactive technology band-aid solutions. The killer customer service app will be the one that convincingly blurs the line between technology response and human touch.
BUT I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR
Customer service experiences during the 1999 holiday shopping season ranged from acceptable to embarrassing. An unrelenting focus on customer acquisition left little room (and budget) for servicing customers once they arrived. Despite a plethora of lessons learned in 1999, things will get worse before they get better. Customer service horror stories are expected to increase in the 2000 holiday shopping season as the gap between understanding the customer service problem and fixing it is considerably wider than many perceive.
QUOTES OF THE NIGHT
"How can Internet companies expect to have a relationship with me when they can't even ship me the CD I ordered?"
"You wouldn't want your call center in New York City."