Bringing back the human touch - 10 suggestions for Internet-based support services - Internet/Web/Online Service Information - Tutorial

Communications News,  Jan, 1999  by Russ Cohn

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Ten suggestions for Internet-based support services.

Customer support is in a state of crisis. As corporations deploy new support technologies, they increasingly alienate the very customers they hope to serve. The Internet is extending this unfortunate trend with nightmarish tales of robot e-mail responses that are neither accurate nor timely. A recent e-mail to Compaq, for example, was return0d to me 57 days later, with the following opener: "Let me begin this e-mail with our apologies."

Years ago, we simply walked into a store and met face-to-face with the person who sold us the product in question. We resolved our issue on the spot. Then came the toll-free help line, which provided little more than another distribution channel for elevator music. The norm today is a recorded voice that instructs us to press an endless sequence of buttons on the telephone handset, followed--of course--by an encore of elevator music.

The Internet is bringing a frightening new twist to the customer support saga: self service, also known as "surf service." We are now made to answer our own questions by wading through dozens, sometimes hundreds, of help pages on a corporate Web site.

When we send an e-mail in the hope of reaching a real live person somewhere in corporate America, we often get a robotic guess as the answer. After all, there's a reason for the oxymoron "artificial intelligence." Occasionally, we receive a 10-page list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) in our in-box.

The Internet has the potential to recreate the personal touch of customer service. Tools and technologies readily available today will enable a small group of human operators to respond to individual pleas for help. We are on the brink of a higher level of personal service. The following step-by-step guide shows how to get there.

1 DEFINE YOUR MISSION

While all companies are, in principle, committed to providing great support, most ultimately focus on financial benefits. World-class Internet support is defined as providing the right answer the first time within 24 hours. Decide if you want world-class support or if a simple auto-response will suffice. Be honest about your dedication to quality, availability of budget, and timeline for results.

A reasonable goal might be to have customers try at least once to find their own answers on the Web. A good Web site should list FAQs and should have simple navigation tools. If customers can't find an answer quickly, chances are the answer isn't there or it can't be found easily. A segment of the population has no patience for surfing. These individuals tend to complain loudly and repeatedly, and--coincidentally--they tend to spend a tot of money. They're good customers but difficult to serve. Be aware that on any given day a segment of your customers want a "live" response from a live representative of your organization.

2 DEFINE SERVICE LEVELS

Clarify your mission by defining a simple service level or quantitative measurement of performance. The most current framework is a certain high percent completed within a reasonable time period--for example, 95% completion in 24 hours. Avoid extremes such as 100% completion or average completion, since these can be easily biased and they don't provide a complete picture of performance. Mission-critical products and services will probably need a higher service level, such as 99% completion within several hours or minutes.

Keep the service level simple and standard so that others can use it. At some point, you will transition the support function to another manager or to an outsource agent. Such transitions usually take place at the worst possible moment, so it's nice to have a standard service level already in place.

3 BUILD THE BUSINESS CASE

Internet support has extreme cost advantages over conventional phone support: compare $10 for a typical phone-based incident to $2 for a typical Internet-based incident. Automated systems can be even cheaper if they reliably provide the correct answer the first time. Unfortunately, most auto agents are accurate only 30% of the time.

The downside of automation is that, if it doesn't work well, customers tend to call the help line. That scenario not only misses the savings opportunity, but it also incurs an extra expense in implementing the new, unsuccessful automated technology.

Be aware of auxiliary expenses. Systems, training, IT support, ongoing management, foreign language support, and quality control can have serious budgetary impact.

4 MAP THE INTERFACE POINTS

Know where support affects the rest of the business. For example, to validate accuracy, clear standard responses with the appropriate product managers. Certain difficult questions will need to be "escalated" to an appropriate expert within the organization. Be proactive about activities in other parts of the company that will impact the service level--for example, product launches or technical glitches.

5 SELECT SYSTEMS

This is the death trap for many. There are so many systems out there that you can easily spend a full year testing them, only to discover that new versions are available and more tests are needed. This is known as "analysis paralysis." Give yourself a time line--two months should be enough--and stick to it.