Newsletter #83 Why Online Service Sucks

Created on 27/11/03

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The last newsletter (24th October, 2003) was "The End of the Browser?"

Recently Norton Antivirus told me that my subscription had expired. OK, except I had renewed it just the month before. My PC had been fixed recently but in doing so the techs had reset my computer clock. So I went online to the Symantec Website - after wasting lots of time working through Trouble Shooters without success I discovered a disturbing fact - Symantec no longer supported my 2002 version of the software. Huh?

Jupiter Research's 2003 report on customer service found that only 56% of respondents were happy with help via email and that online customers were increasingly using phone contact. Also 88 % of respondents expected a response to their customer service email within 24 hours, with an impatient 13% expecting a response in less than an hour! However, only 54 % of the sites that Jupiter sampled responded to emailed customer service requests within the 24 hour time period. Why doesn't this surprise?

I could give you many more examples of poor online service and I'm sure you've got plenty. There is a common problem with the way many companies use the Web and other technologies to interact with customers. They operate under the premise that everything should be automated and that human interaction is not required. Technology was supposed to automate and therefore do away with those pesky customer service representatives who cost so much to train and manage.

Edward Hellenbeck, Assistant Professor of Business at Saint Joseph’s College in Maine, points out that: "Excellent service delivery is hard work and operationally exhausting. It requires explicitly defining what customers want, measuring how well you deliver on customer requirements and hiring the type of people who are suited to providing good service....Certainly not as romantic as developing that new doodad for your existing product." Most companies are interested in the "doodad" or latest buzz.

Unfortunately it is impossible to anticipate the almost infinite number of special orders or problems that customers have. Even if you do, many customers will not know how to negotiate the Knowledge Base search function, or use the Trouble Shooter or FAQ list. Humans like to interact with other humans who know the site's products and in whom they can trust.

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WANT A BETTER RETURN FROM YOUR WEBSITE? - We offer cost-effective audits for Website owners looking to make their Website easier to use. The best way to test whether your Website works for your target audience is to watch some of them use it! For more information www.netinsites.com/services/usability.cfm or reply to this email.

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Jack Aaronson, CEO of the Aaronson Group, states that a customer-friendly Website doesn't start with the designer, creative director or copywriter - "It starts with a company culture that emphasizes customers and defines its core values by how it helps its customers do what they need to do." If your company is not customer-centric from the Mission Statement on down through the tough realities of customer service delivery, then it's almost impossible to fake a customer-centric Website.

Amazon.com is a company with a great customer-focussed ethic. It has spent tens of millions of dollars on technology to try to exceed customer's expectations. It is the highest rating company on the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Although it struggled for profitability for many years, many would say that this was because of a buying splurge during the dotcom boom/bust, rather than because of poor performance.

Amazon uses technology as a tool to deliver fantastic customer service. Edward Hellenbeck again "Technology is an enabler. It is not the solution to delivering great service." Most companies just don't get it.

That's why online customer service sucks.

Alex Garden

Newbies

For previous tips visit the Newbie Hot Tips page.

Power Users

For several years PC keyboards have had three extra keys. The two "Windows" keys each have the Windows logo on them and they are between the "Alt" and "Ctrl" keys either side of the space bar. The "Shortcut menu" key is on the bottom right side of the keyboard between the "Ctrl" and "Windows" keys. "Windows" opens the Start Menu "Windows+R" opens the Run dialog box "Windows+E" opens Windows Explorer "Windows+F" opens Find Files "Windows+M" Minimise all open windows "Windows+Tab" Cycles through tasks "Windows+F1" Windows Help The Shortcut menu key will display the shortcut menu for the selected object.

For previous tips visit the Power Hot Tips page.

One for the kids but most adults will be fascinated too - Operation Deep Impact. In July 2005 the NASA Deep Impact spacecraft will release a small, 370 kg Impactor directly into the path of comet Tempel 1 (approximately 6 km by 3 km in size). The idea is to get the first ever look below the surface of a comet into the frozen ice and dust left over from the formation of the solar system. Kids can enter their name and it will be included on a disc attached to the Impactor - they can make their own personalised certificate as well. http://deepimpact.jpl.nasa.gov/sendyourname/index.html

For those of you who are really into budget travel you might want to check out The Budget Traveller's Guide to Sleeping in Airports. As the site says "Many airports are actually better than local lodging. And to top it off - IT'S FREE!" More than 1996 listings from over 532 cities. http://www.sleepinginairports.net/airports.htm

We've added an article to our database: "Personalization Not the Secret to E-Commerce" which seems to undercut one of the buzzwords of the last few years.
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/markets/retailing/article/0,,6061_3092341,00.html

To search through all the articles in our online database use the search function on any page of our Website.

OK so it's not a techno quote but I have always liked it:

"Cowardice, as distinguished from panic, is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination." Ernest Hemingway

You can see our other Quick Quotes on the front page of www.netinsites.com; just refresh the page to see another one randomly selected from our database. Great for presentations or times when you want to appear to be a techno-dude(ss)!

To access previous newsletters visit our newsletter archive.

If you want to subscribe to this newsletter just visit www.netinsites.com and use the box at the top right.

Best wishes

Alex Garden

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