WHEN technology shifts, notable changes are felt and customer service experience is not an exception. Artificial intelligence (AI) has increased the speed and alertness of customer service.
Are leaders and corporates ready for these changes? Every company must learn and embrace technology to improve customer service.
For most companies, customer care is common knowledge, but it’s not a common practice. Most companies are concerned with how they can make money, leaving out the most important ingredient — customer care.
Internet is now an inevitable part of our lives. Business can be incomplete without internet. Internet without great customer care is equally dangerous.
One of Amazon’s leadership principles says that their first obsession is the customer. Amazon says: “Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers”.
No wonder why it’s a billion-dollar company today.
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Build a strong online communication strategy
A great internet strategy is the first thing you should work on to have a great internet customer service. This lays out your vision, mission, objectives, goals and action plan about internet customer care.
For example, is your company available 24/ 7 to attend to emails? How long do you take before you answer to an email? What protocol do you follow to answer emails? As long as this is not clearly crafted and communicated, an employee can as well answer to emails after seven days.
A strong online communication strategy will also determine how you are going to train your staff on customer care.
Your strategy spells out how you are going to evaluate or measure the effectiveness of your internet customer care.
Team strategy
Most companies employ tech-savvy people to be on their internet customer service desk without empowering them with the basics of customer service.
Train your tech savvy people on customer care. Don’t leave anything to chance.
Secondly, there are those that are good at customer service, but they are limited on tech skills — they must be trained as well on the best tools of internet customer care.
Chief executive officers must now embrace executive coaching so as to empower employees.
Complaints management system
Some years back, I remember some supermarkets had a book where customers would write their comments.
That was a great strategy, but we must now learn that customers don’t wait for that book for them to complain, they use the internet and social media.
As a result, every company should have an internet complaint management system.
Real power has shifted
Now the power is in the hands of the customer. Their smartphone can cause great damage to your brand. Their talk of you on social media could damage your reputation. So every business has to understand that the power is in the hands of the customer.
Rough war has emerged
Small boys get into business every day and the internet has made it easy for these small boys to stand shoulder-to-shoulder using the internet.
It’s a disruptive war, which does not respect your business. It’s a “David vs Goliath” war! Be in the game, knowing that everyone has access to internet and they can just eliminate you at the click of a button.
Realise the power of effective communication
Internet does not eliminate the power of effective communication. There is this temptation that makes us feel that internet is not formal.
John Tschouhl (2001: 111-112) in the book titled E-service says: “As technology has evolved, we have become more dependent on equipment and don’t teach employees people-to-people skills. Whether you are dealing with customers in person or via internet, you must know how to communicate effectively. Communication is a skill that can be taught but, just as people don’t learn to use a computer in just two hours, they won’t learn how to communicate effectively in two hours. Repetition and continuous training is critical”
Relate humanly
Because there is a machine to transmit our messages or signals, at times we lose the human touch in our communication on internet.
Besides relating humanly, you must relate in a great way. Don’t think that because someone is far away, it won’t matter. Let your website be user friendly.
Respond fast
Make it a policy that every email or post from social media is responded to promptly. Most companies lack that strength.
If you respond fast, you become a cut above the rest. For example, a negative message about your company left unresponded to for a long time, especially when your customers continue to pass their negative comments, can be so damaging.
Recognise everyone who is online
Internet tools have made our lives so easy. Now you can recognise how many people are browsing your website.
Employ those to your advantage. Add a web chat module on your website, so that you could do a live chat with your customers.
Re-assure security
Assure the customer about their security on your website. This is what AliExpress, and Amazon have taught us over years.
You can buy using your Visa or Master card online from as far as China and you are assured that it will hit your doorstep in any part of the word. When you are reliable on internet, it’s easy for people to send money to your company.