Making the Business Case for Net Based Customer Service

Jim Sterne

Making your company easy to do business with is today's great competitive edge. Customers expect the best price. They expect fast service. They expect to get answers instead of being put on hold until dawn. And they will flock to buy from you if you can save them ten minutes here and twenty minutes there.

One manager in charge of buying computers for his company told me of a choice he was making between two desktop PC suppliers. He was looking at buying 250 computers from Dell or Compaq. Both companies offered the same warranty. He had negotiated prices so similar as to be indistinguishable. Both companies had excellent reputations. How was he to decide?

One evening, he went to look at their respective Web sites. He had seen all the literature and found it duplicated on the Web. He had seen all the pictures, read all the testimonials and pored over the reviews. Putting off his decision as long as possible, he clicked on the Customer Service area of each company.

He was surprised. At that point in time Dell offered a list of telephone numbers he could call to get help. On the other hand, Compaq had a wealth of information, printer drivers, diagnostic software and advice on configuring new computers, so customers could take this information and use it to solve problems themselves.

The buyer thought about the engineers who would be installing these new systems at night. He imagined them running cable through the ceiling and trying to get workgroups of computers to share printers. He realized they would be working after hours, when the computer users were at home. His decision was clear.

When prospective customers, such as the one just described, can see what it's like to be a real customer, and they like it, it turns them into a real customer faster than a large advertising budget.

Now that the quality of customer care can be viewed from around the world in seconds, you no longer have to provide better service than your competitor did yesterday. You have to provide better service than your competitor did this morning.

Competition This is not to suggest that you can ignore other means of customer support. Yes, you have to provide a fax-back system. Yes, you have to offer 1-800 service. Yes, you need to offer voice response systems. And yes, they are getting more sophisticated every day. But, the World Wide Web offers so many ways to give customers what they want, you will be in deep trouble very quickly if you concede the art of Web-based customer service to your competitor.

Don't forget that your competitor isn't necessarily who you thought it was. You used to compete with the company across town. As you grew, you competed with companies across the country. You knew who they were and could track them. Today, someone in Holland, Switzerland or Poland could become a competitor overnight. It's up to you to check the Internet for new arrivals The most important reason for Web-based customer service is the feasibility of proffering full-time availability. New trends in business call for 24 hour accessibility. Providing meaningful service around the clock is very expensive if it depends on humans.

Really good humans not only know how to find the answers, they know if the found answer is actually useful. These people are quickly promoted into positions where they don't answer the phone during the graveyard shift.

But, exactly why do your customers need service 24 hours a day, seven days a week? Because, that's when they want to work or buy. If the customer service you offer is business-to-business, the former - people working at odd hours (or on the other side of the globe, in these days of global business) - generates demand for your service outside of 9 to 5.

If the customer service you offer is for end consumers, then the urge to check a bank balance or buy a car at 2am (or, again, from a different time zone) generates demand that you need to meet. If you don't, someone else will.

These trends, which cumulatively amount to customer expectation inflation, make the case to provide customer service twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week on your Web site. It's not just that you should do it because you can. It's not just that you should do it because your competitors will. You should do it because your customers are going to expect it.

Save money! The news about the need for electronic customer service is not all bad. In fact, a lot of it is great news. It means your customers are asking for you to create a tighter bond. It means they are ready to assume some of the responsibility to be self-supporting (with help from your Web site). It means they are willing to help you save money supporting them.

If the task is to find the right answer in the database, the solution is to let customers look for it themselves."

For your Web-based customer service to save you money, the important part is not to think of it as yours. It is Web-based. It is customer service. But, it belongs to your customers. Successful customer service always means looking at your products, your company and your customer service methods through your customers' eyes. The customer doesn't care if your company is organized by product line, business unit or spheres of political influence. The customer wants his or her question answered or problem solved.

The most important task for a customer service Web builder to undertake is figuring out what the customer will want to see, want to ask and want to get out of the experience. It may well be worth the effort to ask them directly: "If you were able to do business with us via our Web site, what sort of functionality would you like to see?"

Once your Web site is up, you need to offer incentives to customers to comment on their experience. Give them ample opportunity to click on a button that lets you know if they really like the service, somewhat like the service, dislike the service or hate the service. Give them lots of chances to express a written opinion. Your customers will be forthright and they will come up with good ideas.

Jim Sterne is the author of three books on how to use the Internet in business, including 'Customer Service on the Internet - Building Relationships, Increasing Loyalty and Staying Competitive'). Jim is a frequent speaker at international conferences, specializing in the changing landscape of electronic marketing and customer service. As a consultant, he provides education and marketing strategies to Fortune 500 companies.