Customer Service in the Digital Age
Even in a digital age, customers respond to, respect, and remember the personal touch.
Technology is one of the most effective ways to reach customers. If used wisely, it can replicate the warmth of face-to-face contact that has defined exemplary customer service over the past century. When companies use technology in thoughtful and creative ways to serve customers, they will continue to thrive in the digital marketplace.
IKEA, the Swedish furniture company, created a mobile app that uses augmented reality. The app allows consumers to preview furniture in a room before buying it, saving time and money. Rackspace, the managed cloud and hosting computer company known for its “fanatically helpful” customer service, surprised a customer with a pizza while they spoke on the phone trying to solve a complicated problem. Companies do not have contracts with their customers. Therefore, they must earn their business with each transaction.
When I was a child, I remember shopping for clothes at the Sample Shop on Hertel Avenue in Buffalo. It was a few years before my father went bankrupt. I was always amazed that the owners knew all of our names, our birthdays and my parents’ anniversary, and what we liked and did not like. Today, Amazon comes the closest to replicating that feeling. Technology does not have to be cold and impersonal. It can bridge divides and make real connections to customers by using old-school techniques in new ways.
