How effective are your Internet enabled customer services practices?

Have you noticed how everything seems to be changing to include an 'e' enabled version?  We have e-books, e-zines, e-mail (not new, but it fits the description).  While the Internet has become a great tool for business, not every business process can be effectively and successfully transferred to the Internet.  As many Internet centric companies have discovered, some things change and some insist on staying the same.

One of those things is customer service. I regularly complain about the poor customer services that I often receive from companies on the Internet. It's almost as if they believe that a virtual customer is truly virtual. That is a potentially fatal perception because, along with access to a nearly unlimited customer base, the Internet has also created a vast pool of competitors for your products and services.  In the face of so much competition, differentiating yourself from your competition can be difficult. But it can be done and providing excellent customer service is one way to do it.

According to statistics, over sixty percent, yes, sixty percent, of email sent to businesses by their customers goes unanswered.  A customer usually contacts a company because they have a problem or a question. They know that email is received within minutes.  When no response is received within 24 or 48 hours, that's bad customer service.  When no response is ever received, that's inexcusable.  It's very easy to automate email responses and if a company receives hundreds of email messages in a single day, an autoresponder may be a way to acknowledge that an email has been received. This is just the first step in the process.

The next step in that process is to read and respond to the email.  The email should be answered in a way that addresses the customer's questions and provides them with additional contact opportunities, such as a telephone number, if they have any additional issues. Unfortunately, that does not generally happen.  Although many companies have modified their 'email only' customer service strategies to include chat and sometimes telephone contact, many still rely on email as the single point of customer service.  

In my e-business planning and implementation guide, 'The e-Business Primer, I state that 'email is not a customer service strategy.'  I still maintain that is true.  Email can and should be part of an overall customer service strategy that includes a range of customer contact possibilities.  This strategy should include an escalation plan that clearly defines how customer complaints will be responded to. Every employee should be aware of the components of the escalation plan and  know who is the responsible company contact at various crisis levels. 

Technology is an important component of any company's business strategy but it's wise to understand that it does have limitations. Keep your customers happy by responding to their email requests in a way that shows them that you have actually read the message that they sent and have sent a personalized reply. If that means that you have to hire additional staff, then do so. This is an excellent opportunity for workers who telecommute--more on that topic in a later article. 

One company that provides superior customer services is Godaddy Software, www.godaddy.com. This company provides domain name registration services as well as website hosting and they are an industry leader in the effective implementation of a multi-tiered customer service system. I know, I have used them for domain name registration and website hosting for my websites, as well as those of my customers, for several years. I have never been disappointed by the service that I received from Godaddy's customer service representatives. They are courteous, well-informed and stay with a problem until it is resolved. I recommend this company for all of your domain registration and website hosting needs.

Remember how quickly news, good or bad, can spread via email--a single email can be forwarded to thousands of people, all over the world, in a very short period of time. Don't let your company be the subject of an email sent by a furious ex-customer, to be read by everyone they know and many people they don't know. One angry customer can drive hundreds and even thousands of potential customers away from your company's products and services. Use technology as a way to enhance your customers' experience, not to avoid contact with them and they will appreciate you for it and reward your efforts by doing business with you, instead of your competitors.

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