Do-It-Yourself Customer Service?
Posted by Katie Parvin on Mon, Jan 23, 2012 @ 01:45 PM
Customer service representatives have the sometimes frustrating task of dealing with estranged customers on a daily basis. Yes, that's what the reps are there for, but half of the customer's frustration comes from being on hold, "talking" to a robot for 20 minutes, being disconnected, etc. What if the customer could take care of some of their issue all on their own?
Self-Service-Centers are becoming more prevalent in the customer service industry, and I can see why. Like I said before, a majority of the customer's anger isn't due to their initial issue or the customer service representative, it comes from the process of getting to speak to the rep. For example, I had to call my bank because my wallet was stolen. I had checks, credit and debit cards, and my license in there. All I wanted to do was call the bank and tell them to cancel everything immediately. After being on hold for, what seemed like an eternity, I finally got through to a person, and they told me I was going to have to go into a local branch. Well, just like every other American, I have absolutely no time so I unfortunately got upset with the representative. If I would have known that initially, I would have taken the 30 minutes I tried to pass what I like to call "The Robot Test" (seeing if you can make it through the automated phone service before giving up and hanging up), and spent that time driving to a local banking branch. This was a small bank and I could not find that information anywhere on their website. Frustrating to say the least.
What could they have done to save the customer service rep and myself some time and frustration? They could implement a self-service-center. This is an area of forums, FAQ's, and other information where customers can solve issues on their own 24/7. I believe if they are using your product to solve an issue, it will help them learn the product better. It will also save some serious frustration.
I'm not saying that customers shouldn't call with issues because there are some which should be and need to be handled by the customer service representative. There are some issues though, where someone could easily do it without calling a rep and could save themself some time.
If you want a great software with one of the industries best self service center, PhaseWare has one which is a step above the rest. If you would like to learn more, you can click HERE or watch this short video which explains the products a little bit better.
How do you support your customers around the clock? If you're a customer, would you prefer figuring out issues on your own?
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