Is Self Service Really Enough?
Author: Gary Barnett
Walmart.com is getting a lot of attention, or I should say “flack,” for a story that recently appeared in the New York Times. According to the publication, the online retailer is embarking on a “Customer Contact Reduction” program, whereby it will virtually push its customers to help themselves - resolving issues or answering questions online by accessing “self-help” tools. The New York Times says that Walmart.com will no longer publish a phone number that will enable online customers to contact live agents via telephone. What is not clear, however, is whether or not customers will be able to access agents via online methods, such as email or Web chat.
I have a few thoughts on the changes being proposed by Walmart. First, I actually think Walmart.com is somewhat on the right track. I wholly advocate investing in automated tools, such as websites and voice portals, email and chat to ensure that they address customer needs, and to make them as easy as possible for customers to navigate. Doing so provides customers more choice, enabling them to simplify and expedite certain routine transactions including, in this case, order tracking. This “choice” combined with a seamless experience can lead to increased customer satisfaction and, as the Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Index shows, a consumer who is satisfied with how an automated system works is two-and-a-half times more likely to conduct future business with a company.
On the other hand, I don’t think it’s a great idea to dictate how your customers solve their problems or tell them they cannot contact your company – it just plain sends the wrong message. In addition, cutting out telephone communication can cause a big snafu. Research shows that consumers prefer to use the method of communication with which they are most familiar and, in most cases, that’s still the telephone (73 percent) . Online transactions are slightly increasing every year as a percentage of overall interactions, but the phone remains, hands down, people’s channel of choice – and it will for the foreseeable future. Eliminating telephone access to live agents could cause customers to become frustrated or annoyed, feel less valued, and ultimately drive them to the competition. The damage could be further compounded if customers don’t have easy access to alternative methods of contacting a live agent, such as email or chat.
Any way you slice it, consumers still want to be able to interact with live agents if they choose to do so. Even if it is saving a company some money up-front, removing the option and the vehicle could prove to be a costly endeavor over the long-term.
Do you think consumers will easily adapt?
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