| Providing excellent online customer service
can be challenging because of
the impersonal nature of the internet.
Anyone who has ever had any customer
service training knows that providing
personalized service is central
to building good, long lasting,
mutually beneficial customer relationships.
However, when you take the face-to-face
(or at least voice-to- voice)
interactions out of the customer
service equation, how do you provide
that top-notch, high-quality customer
service in an online business
atmosphere?
The question of providing quality
online customer service is something
that many internet-based business
owners struggle with. No offense
to the men, but I have found that
women in business are much more
inclined to be concerned about
providing quality online customer
service, and it is a very valid
concern.
Many business women I have talked
to have been inspired by W. Edwards
Deming's philosophy of continuous
quality improvement when it comes
to providing quality customer
service. Unfortunately, Dr. Deming
passed away in 1993, so we are
not privy to his view regarding
online customer service, though
some of his philosophies are certainly
applicable in the internet business
frontier and to issues regarding
online customer service.
Dr. Deming advocated a systems
approach to improving quality
with attention to continual improvement
of products, services, processes,
people, and communication. Not
only is the satisfaction of the
customer and communication with
the customer in the spotlight
in Deming's philosophy. He also
considered relationships between
individuals within an organization
and with suppliers and emphasized
the necessity of using facts and
data for decision making.
Though the online business environment
differs greatly from the manufacturing
sectors that Dr. Deming consulted
for, his philosophies regarding
quality improvement and customer
service are certainly applicable
to online customer service. Basing
decisions on data in the form
of feedback from customers, suppliers
and individuals within an organization
is something that is often overlooked
in regard to online customer service.
Sure, internet business operators
use facts and data for the purposes
of internet marketing - selecting
keywords, choosing topics for
information products, and so forth.
However, they rarely, if ever,
actively engage in obtaining feedback
for the purpose of improving their
online customer service.
Before you go on a tangent, making
changes to the way that you provide
online customer service, why not
survey your customers and ask
them what they think? Here are
some questions you may want to
ask to obtain feedback from your
customers that can be used to
improve your processes of providing
online customer service:
1. How do you feel about the impersonal
nature of online customer service?
2. Which of the following methods
would you prefer for obtaining
customer service from our company?
(please rank the choices from
1 to 5, 1 being the most desirable
and 5 being the least desirable).
_____ Email
_____ Telephone
_____ Live online chat sessions
_____ Online forums
_____ Teleconferencing
3. Please indicate your level
of satisfaction with the online
customer service you have received
from our company.
_____ Extremely Satisfied
_____ Somewhat Satisfied
_____ Satisfied
_____ Somewhat Unsatisfied
_____ Extremely Unsatisfied
4. Please share your comments
and suggestions regarding how
we might improve our online customer
service.
This is a simple example of a
survey for the purpose of improving
online customer service. Of course,
you can formulate your own survey
that is more customized to your
particular business. However,
when considering making changes
or improvements to online customer
service processes and systems,
it is a very good idea to obtain
feedback from your customers.
Also consider suggestions from
suppliers in regard to improving
communications and online customer
service. Receiving such input
prior to revamping your online
customer service system will ensure
that you meet true needs and desires
without incurring unnecessary
expenses that won't make a difference
in the customers' perception of
your online customer services.
Copyright Christopher J. Enders.
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