How technology changes impact on web-based customer support? Here we will talk about the pros and cons of web-based customer support.
Each year the landscape of Internet-based technologies is constantly expanding. To think that only ten years ago many of us were mailing paper-based press releases, wading through reams and reams of paper in metal filing cabinets, feeling quite smug about or computers with Pentium processors and boasting our 512 megabytes of ram.
During these years, technical support was largely carried out over the phone, through the mail, or on the chance you lived near a distributor, in person. Now with the prevalence of the internet and web-based forms of communication, the technical support game has changed and the way we troubleshoot, inquire and report problems has gotten a facelift.
The year 2011 saw a massive increase in the number of businesses that have integrated web-based support or issue tracking software into their customer service module. Out of all the top performing companies in the United States, 91% give customers the option to utilize a web-based form of troubleshooting. Out of that percentage, another 51% actively use email, live chat or voice messaging services to resolve customer support related issues. But, even with these favorable numbers, web-based customer service doesn’t always get it right. Just like a live service representative, web-based solutions can occasionally succumb to errors and hiccups.
Internet-based customer support can exist in a variety of forms. From webpages detailing frequently asked questions (FAQs) to the option of for customers to “live chat” with a specialist, the range in which a business can utilize these support options are pretty varied.
Below are some of the pros and cons of using a customer support service over the internet.
The Positives
Perhaps the greatest benefit of moving customer service to a web platform is the huge reduction in queue times consumers must endure while waiting to speak with a specialist over the phone. Options like live chatting and web forms allow customer support specialist to engage in a higher level of multi-tasking and the ability to navigate across multiple customer tickets that fall within the same categories (further increasing efficiency).
Nothing can be more disheartening for a customer who has a pressing issue to be confronted with a thirty-minute wait. In fact, the White House Office of Consumer Affairs came out with a report that showed customers who were dissatisfied with their customer support experience told three times as many people of their poor experiences versus that of a satisfied customer who will only tell about three to five.
Phone-based customer support methods also run the risk of playing the transfer game. I think we can all attest to a time we have been speaking to a support specialist only to find that we need to speak to another department that can specifically handle our questions or concerns. Often times, these transfers will see us re-supplying security questions, dates of births and other verification questions. In some cases, these transfers can occur several times. Each time a call is transferred to another department, a business runs the risk of alienating its customers and increasing the chances that they will go on to report a negative experience.
Web-based customer support software completely eliminates this conundrum. Instead of hold times and transfers, web-based support software automatically fields the consumer to the correct department based on the information they have entered into the online support web form.
Five or six years ago, companies who chose to move the majority of their customer support on to the internet were met with a lot more criticism than those who do so now. The American conscious is one that is increasingly adopting web-based forms of communication as a completely acceptable substitute for verbal exchanges over the phone or in person. We are a society that embraces our social media as suitable forms of alerting others to what is going on in our lives. Large scale business transactions are carried out exclusively through email and text messaging information to our friends and coworkers is completely common. Simply put, fielding complaints, inquiries and problems through a web-based support module will not alienate consumers in the same way it has in years past.
The Cons of Web-Based Customer Support
The downfalls of customer support carried out over the web typically lie in a consumer’s aversion to detailing problems or entering in potentially confidential information into an internet-based web form. Web-based support solutions inherently lose the same personal touch that a phone call can instill within a customer. Unfortunately, this is simply one of the realities of using web-based support.
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To combat this, businesses can strive to personalize the user’s online experience as much as possible. Try to avoid cliché, robotic sounding response emails. The average consumer is going to be well versed in generic response terms such as, “your issue is important to us, thanks for contacting our support team, we will be in touch as soon as possible.”
These responses lack the typical personalized flair. The acceptable response will vary according to the industry. Businesses should not be afraid to embrace their demographics. Using the accepted vernacular of these consumers is a great way to keep using web-based automated software but maintain that great personalized voice.
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Security concerns also run rampant when entering personal and sensitive information over the internet. It seems we all too frequently here of how X company has recently had their online databases of customer information compromised. Consumers are aware of this and can occasionally shy away from uploading this information to the web.
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Alleviating these fears for consumers is all about the visibility of the security features you have in play. Make sure that the steps you have taken to combat any misappropriation of information are clearly visible on the contact/web form’s landing page. Include a blurb about these measures and the importance of consumer safety and confidentiality. It can also be a good idea to include a contact number here in case the individual simply does not feel comfortable uploading this information to the form.
There are of course many other pros and cons other than what I have included here. If you are a business owner that has had some success with web-based customer support I would love to hear from you below.
