In fact, your customers are likely to blame your customer service representative for a bad experience and credit the representative for a positive experience. However, if you examine the points raised by customers in a recent study, you will notice that some of their complaints are related to technology.
On the other side of the coin, customer service was mentioned 75 percent of the time as a major contributor to an excellent customer experience. If the representative was friendly, knowledgeable and had the authority to help, customers responded very positively.
Interpreting the statistics reveals that neither technology nor humans alone can provide your customers with the type of experience they want. What is needed is a seamless blend of the "human touch" and the proper technology. In short:
Everything has to work well together. Having a great online store, for example, is nice, but if you cannot link orders to shipping information so that CSRs can respond to customers' inquiries, you risk frustrating your buyers. If your CSR cannot help customers by issuing a return authorization, guiding callers through the product assembly or finding a local retailer who carries your products, your customers will likely rate the experience as unsatisfactory.
If you are wondering whether delivering a great customer experience is worth your effort, consider the following statistics discovered during a recent survey. When customers felt that a brand had "done them wrong," they responded by:
In other words, 64 percent took an action that could impact your profitability. Depending on age and location, the numbers could be even worse.
You might not realize it, but of all the actions a miffed customer could take, airing their grievances online has the potential to do the most long-term harm. The 2 percent who stated that they would post disparaging information online averaged more than 1,500 connections who would see the negative comments — and possibly repost, retweet or otherwise help share the news. The resulting cascade of negative information floating around the Internet about your brand could be difficult to overcome.
The chances are high that some of your customers will have a negative experience. You can reduce the risks of long-term damage, however, by doing three things.
In conclusion, technology can assist your marketing efforts in a variety of ways. However, it cannot do the job alone — and neither can your employees. The best results will be obtained when you blend the best of each seamlessly.