Customer connect in a digital age

As companies scale up, they have to invest tremendous time and resources to create systems and processes to ensure quality delivery and customer satisfaction. With the advent of digital, the opportunity to connect and respond to consumers has increased manifold. On top of this, big data, social media, analytics etc. can further help companies identify the trends, insights otherwise not visible, to proactively work towards delighting consumers.

Despite the significant progress made in reaching and connecting with the consumer, one is appalled to see the customer getting frustrated because of simple challenges which get drowned in the deluge of communication and big data. Let me share some examples

1. I bought a Reebok football which turned out to be faulty i.e., it deflates very soon. The shopkeeper refused to do anything. Finally, with no other option, I communicated with customer care team on twitter and sent them all the details including invoice. However, they sent back a format stating that information had to be filled in the format which had fields like article number etc. which I have no idea of. On mentioning that this was all I have (which included the invoice), the response was that we won’t be able to help you unless you send us the information in the desired format. On requesting if I could speak to someone, there was absolutely no response. I believe a company like Reebok would never have the intention of cheating their customers, however a mechanical response system with no check on whether the problem is getting solved or not, is leading to precisely that impression!
2. A leading insurance company’s agents call you in the middle of afternoon sleep on Sunday to tell you about how your funds have been invested, and if you would like someone to come home and explain that. On repeatedly telling them that I would prefer a mail, and not calls disturbing me like this, calls have continued unabated. Isn’t any customer sensitive company supposed to listen to consumer feedback and act upon it? They would rather do expensive market surveys to understand how consumer wants them to communicate with them but have no process to capture direct feedback!
3. Another example is of a leading electronic safe company. On calling customer care, one was put on hold using an IVR for a long time, and also given messages in between suggesting you hang up and write an email to us instead! On writing the mail, a message was sent stating that their technician would visit us, and also a code which we were supposed to SMS if satisfied with the service. Sounds perfect and impressive. Only issue was that the technician didn’t turn up for a couple of days! One had to call them again to get the basics done i.e., a person coming to solve the problem.

All of us can think of many such instances where all we are looking for is someone to hear and understand the issue, and give a reasonable response. Still, even for large established brands, it becomes so challenging to even deliver the basic customer service!

Firms are spending so much money on marketing, advertising, and promotion plus building their presence across multiple channels – offline, online, social media etc. What will it take for them to give some time and attention to ‘unglamorous’ or ‘less strategic’ issues like basics of customer service! Customer care department should not forget the basics and lose human connect, in their race for sophistication and digital supremacy. Hence, it’s equally or rather more important to build the right culture and attitude in people to ensure systems and technology is a facilitator, and not an impediment in delivering customer satisfaction.

This article was also published in marketingbuzzar.