The great benefit to Web 2.0 is the conversation. Normally, you advertise or do your PR work, and it is all about talking to customers (the target market, etc.), telling them your benefits, then measuring the impact and response. LinkedIn and other social networks allow a conversation between the company and its customers - not just listening, but interacting. How well suited are you to having a conversation with your customers? How do you listen and generate a response, without sending it through legal, etc.?
In my experience, many companies have no mechanism for this. At one company, getting a communication through legal could take a month or more - not practical for the Web. The companies that can design the system for having a conversation with customers online will have a tremendous advantage over their competitors.
The interactive nature of the conversations provides opportunities for market research, particularly for creating a Voice of the Internet Customer. What are the demographics? Do they mirror your target market for your product or service? A well-trained researcher can use the opportunity to ask generic questions, with sincerity, and collect ideas and attributes for analysis. The techniques outlined in our book are applicable here, with a few modifications.
How are you using the interactive nature of the Web? Are you taking advantage of the conversation, or just listening?
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Customer Service People Need to Learn How to Listen!
Companies need to trust their customer service people a little, and not just have them follow a script. Sometimes you feel as though you are speaking to a recording, and listening to one, even when it is a live body on the other end!
I called someone about a service that I had seen advertised on the Internet. I was an enthusiastic buyer, but I had a couple of questions. The person who answered the phone had a script to follow. He proceeded through his script quickly, as if he were in a hurry to get to the next break point where he would ask for my credit card information. I tried several times to interrupt him with questions. One time he stopped, totally befuddled, and had no idea how to answer my question or where to refer me for an answer. He transferred the call to a supervisor.
She asked what my issue was. When I told her, there were a few clicks on her keyboard followed by her reading a script, which was not exactly related to what I had asked. She wound up transferring me again. Apparently, this company had never seen the data that each time you transfer the call, customer satisfaction is cut in half.
By now I had gone from being a very interested buyer, to being an annoyed buyer, to being just curious about where this would all end! No one seemed to be interested, or willing, or able to just shut up and listen to me! They did not have access to the data or the authority to think about my question and answer it. I wound up deciding not to waste any more time, but I wondered, what could my clients learn from this?
Do your sales, marketing and customer service people have access to the data they need and the authority to use it? Are your incoming sales calls scripted, or do you allow the sales rep to listen to the customer and think creatively about how to meet their needs?
If you are reading this post, you are probably sympathetic with the need to ask customers about their pains, wants and needs with respect to products and services. Don't forget to include the sales experience! How do your customers prefer to buy? What are their wants and needs with respect to the sales process...the ordering process? Do you have that needs hierarchy? Make sure your sales people know how to listen!
I called someone about a service that I had seen advertised on the Internet. I was an enthusiastic buyer, but I had a couple of questions. The person who answered the phone had a script to follow. He proceeded through his script quickly, as if he were in a hurry to get to the next break point where he would ask for my credit card information. I tried several times to interrupt him with questions. One time he stopped, totally befuddled, and had no idea how to answer my question or where to refer me for an answer. He transferred the call to a supervisor.
She asked what my issue was. When I told her, there were a few clicks on her keyboard followed by her reading a script, which was not exactly related to what I had asked. She wound up transferring me again. Apparently, this company had never seen the data that each time you transfer the call, customer satisfaction is cut in half.
By now I had gone from being a very interested buyer, to being an annoyed buyer, to being just curious about where this would all end! No one seemed to be interested, or willing, or able to just shut up and listen to me! They did not have access to the data or the authority to think about my question and answer it. I wound up deciding not to waste any more time, but I wondered, what could my clients learn from this?
Do your sales, marketing and customer service people have access to the data they need and the authority to use it? Are your incoming sales calls scripted, or do you allow the sales rep to listen to the customer and think creatively about how to meet their needs?
If you are reading this post, you are probably sympathetic with the need to ask customers about their pains, wants and needs with respect to products and services. Don't forget to include the sales experience! How do your customers prefer to buy? What are their wants and needs with respect to the sales process...the ordering process? Do you have that needs hierarchy? Make sure your sales people know how to listen!
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