In-house keys to better customer service

Jeremy Payne looks at how to structure customer response systems for effortless interaction

Clearly, you should make it as easy as possible for the customer to get what he or she needs from the engagement process at a price the business can afford and sustain.

However, although it sounds counter-intuitive, all businesses should be careful not to waste resources on trying to exceed customer expectations. There is little or virtually no loyalty gained from this.

Arguably, increased spending and loyalty correlate with the effort the customer needs to put into the relationship. Customers do not want exceptional service; they just want consistently good service.

Different types of customers will be comfortable with different methods of engagement. Younger customers aged 16 to 24 are likely to want to make contact via a smartphone or other mobile device, for example, and will often be looking for voiceless interaction.

Therefore, sending them one-time URLs that allow them to navigate their way into your site and solve their problems themselves is likely to resonate well – as well as save the provider money. They may then get actively involved in the conversation, and help answer queries for other customers via online forums or social networking sites.

These types of customers really do not want to talk to a business about their problems. They would much rather seek the answers online than wait for a voice call to be answered.

Customer service needs to evolve continuously to keep up with customer demands for effortless interaction. At the start of any engagement process, most will want to get their problem solved on their terms at a time convenient to them on the device of their choice. Most will also want the interaction to proceed with as little effort on their part as possible.

This can result in friction between the organisation and customer, which providers need to avoid at all costs.

A good example is contact centres, where the customer trying to solve an issue may be put on hold or transferred to an interactive voice response system where they are asked for personal details, including contact information, account number, and the purpose of the call.

The customer is then typically asked to respond to further questions via the telephone key pad before being put through to someone else within the contact centre and being forced to answer the same questions and go through the same process all over again.

Companies need to evaluate a typical customer service journey and map these journeys to specific customer profiles.

There are usually fewer than 10 basic objectives for each customer who contacts a vendor or service provider, depending on the complexity of what the provider offers.

If a customer is phoning a utility company, the most common reasons may be to say they are moving house, or to pay their bill, or challenge the bill they have received.

Companies can then look to create a pathway with as few steps in it as possible to enable the customer to resolve whatever problem they have as quickly as possible.

In the past, organisations tended to focus simply on ensuring a quick resolution to the customer's enquiry – sometimes at the expense of the quality of the response. To address this, organisations need to ensure they have systems and offerings that help them identify customers and the likely types of enquiry, assisting their attempts to interact accordingly.

Jeremy Payne is international group marketing director at Enghouse Interactive