Can you remember the tedious old days when a call or trip to a company’s customer service department was more of an exercise in stopping oneself from pulling one’s hair out, rather than a way of sorting out issues? Thankfully, whilst this experience does indeed still exist it is the exception rather than the rule, companies and websites across the world having taken steps to improve their approach to customer service.
Customer Service Trends
24/7 Assistance
Around the clock service is now a mainstay of the online approach to customer service. Customers want and are able to contact their service providers at any hour of the day, meaning that companies now increasingly find themselves in a position where they must either outsource or extend operating hours.
In-Service Live-Chat
Talking live to customer services personnel is nothing new; Kindle provides a live help tool that works through Skype, for instance; but incorporating quick customer service help into the site’s services is a new innovation within the net. This affords them the chance to chat about small game issues or queries, without having to send emails, letters or initiate phone calls.
Social Media
Companies such as travel carrier KLM are now offering customer service assistance via social media sites. Customers can log in to Facebook, Sina Weibo, WeChat, LinkedIn and Twitter, to name a few, and ask the company any question, receiving a response within an hour and providing information or a solution within a day. For people with small issues that don’t require a phone conversation in order to be sorted out, this can be a great way of reducing the load on more important customer service lines.
Online-Offline Integration
Any bricks-and-mortar companies worth their salt these days will have moved a degree of their business on to the internet, and as such are being made to integrate their customer service provision to this new, blended way of doing business. Customers expect that, if they go in to a store, they will be able to talk about online-only issues without having to talk to a dedicated online-focused operator.
Customer Reviews
Although user reviews of businesses and their services aren’t traditionally seen as key to customer service, today’s world of TripAdvisor’s customer feedback options ensure that reviews that are glowing are hugely importantly to company growth and public stability. This obviously involves going through reviews, flagging issues and solving them, but also requires companies to offer replies to reviews, involving the customer and making sure they feel that their voices are heard.
