Format to Print Page
Send this Page To a Friend
Volume 2.3 Table Of Contents
- Be strategic when stocking your customer service arsenal
- Trend Watch: Kiosks changing the way companies serve their customers
- Digging Deeper: Test your assumptions about stakeholder buy-in
- Ask the Business Performance Expert:
Be strategic when stocking your customer service arsenal
Regardless of industry or the size of your company, the key to winning your customers’ satisfaction and loyalty is to provide superior service. The good news is that as technology advances, there are more ways than ever to arm your company in the battle to attract and retain customers.
A partial list of options includes: traditional call centers staffed by customer service representatives; computer driven interactive voice response (IVR) systems; chat rooms; blogs; websites; and email. As an alternative to a visit from a service technician, your customers may fix simple problems or maintain equipment themselves with the help of computer driven instructions over the telephone or via Internet. In fact, a variety of transactions can now be accomplished through self-service kiosks (See “Trend Watch”)
It’s easy to be seduced by the latest and greatest technology; however it may not be a fit with your customers’ needs or your organization’s capability to effectively deliver the level of service you promise. For example, I’ve spoken with people who are livid about being stuck in automated systems without being able to easily reach a service representative when they need to discuss a problem. This is just one way that even the most sophisticated companies can develop a reputation for poor service.
How do you determine a winning combination of customer service options? The key is to design a service strategy that fits with your company vision, mission and objectives. Align your customers’ needs and preferences with the type and level of service you want to provide, along with your organization’s capability and willingness to execute the plan (see “Digging Deeper”).
Keep in mind that a service strategy that works well for your competitors may not work well for you and vice versa. The more that you focus on your organization’s unique reality as you go through the strategic thinking and planning process, the more likely you are to develop an effective approach to serving your customers that increases both top and bottom line results.
Trend Watch: Kiosks changing the way companies serve their customers
The next time you check in to travel by plane or train, register at a hotel, go to a bank, or even buy groceries, the chances are greater than ever that you’ll be using a self-service kiosk to complete your transaction. While some industries, such as banks and gas stations, have been using this technology for years, an increasing number of industries are just starting to embrace self-service kiosks. It seems that the applications and possibilities are almost limitless.
In his April 22, 2005 posting on “self-service Trends” appearing on the Self-Service Kiosks blog (http://www.gokis.net/self-service/archives/000987.html), Patrick Seitz of Kiosk Information Services, Inc. reports that sales of interactive kiosks totaled $492 million worldwide in 2004, a 6% increase over the prior year, and are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 8.1% between 2003 and 2010. According to statistics by researchers Frost and Sullivan, the United States appears to be a leader in using this technology (66%), followed by Europe (21%) and Asia (9%).
In many ways, self-service technology represents a win for everyone: customers can speed their transactions, and companies can gather information about their customers’ habits and improve productivity and bottom line results by using fewer employees to tend to more customers.
What could go wrong with this arrangement? If customers perceive that they are receiving less service because of new technology, the potential advantages disappear. Minimize this risk by understanding the plusses and minuses from your customers’ perspective before committing to even the most promising technologies. Incorporating customers’ issues and concerns into your strategic thinking and planning process will enable you to adjust your strategy and/or adapt your implementation plan so that it has the greatest chance for success.
Digging Deeper: Test your assumptions about stakeholder buy-in
Even if you’ve spent considerable effort capturing information about your customers’ service needs and preferences, it’s also critical to tap into other stakeholders’ perspectives to test your assumptions about the suitability of the service options that you’re considering. Each group has its own concerns and needs that you must consider, and their early buy-in is critical to successfully implementing your plan.
On one level, it seems as if it should be easy to identify the key stakeholders that you’ll need to win over. They’re the ones whom your service strategy impacts the most, right? Not necessarily. In fact, the most apparent stakeholders aren’t always the most powerful.
In addition to customers and a variety of employee groups and sub-groups, third party stakeholders such as outsource providers, alliance partners, government regulators, unions, and the community may have a significant role in shaping, approving and even implementing your service strategy.
For a partial list of groups who may impact the success of your customer service strategy click here.
Ask the Business Performance Expert:
Q: Based upon
benchmarking leaders in our industry, we are considering
incorporating more options for self-service in
our customer service strategy. Our competitors
were able to generate significant success within
a six-month timeframe. Should we expect to see
comparable success?
A: Benchmarking the best practices
and strategies of your competitors can definitely
be useful for understanding what your customers
expect and will accept. However, it’s dangerous
to assume that an approach that works well for
your competitors will work exactly the same way
for your company and customers. It’s important
to identify how your competitors’ organizations
are similar to and different from your organization.
As an example, I know of one company that would
have had to considerably change their management
practices and policies to successfully implement
the same customer service strategy as their competitor.
Before you adopt best practices, understand
how you’ll need to adapt them to
meet your organization’s unique reality
and get more of the results you want.
Quote: "When preparing any reports, doing work for customers or creating anything in general ....there never seems to be enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over."
Rick Pascal & Associates is a recognized leader in Packaging Industry recruitment: www.packagecareers.com or call (201) 791-9541