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Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

blogs.forrester.com

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Re: Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

#31

Post by beambot »

my5thaccount wrote: post #19

Customers rarely call me, but when they do, it's fine -- I love them. It's usually because they can't figure out how to log in. It's especially painful when they call at 8:30am on the east coast and I'm on the west coast and my cell phone wakes me up and they say, "I can't log in." and they are mad at me and I don't even know who they are or which account and it turns out they've been typoing their username for days.…

Sounds like your auth system needs some work... Or at least some logging and detection so you can reach out to frustrated users preemptively. They are literally calling you at all hours asking you to help fix this part of your system - sounds like great user feedback.

Re: Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

#32

Post by dublinben »

my5thaccount wrote: post #19

Customers rarely call me, but when they do, it's fine -- I love them. It's usually because they can't figure out how to log in. It's especially painful when they call at 8:30am on the east coast and I'm on the west coast and my cell phone wakes me up and they say, "I can't log in." and they are mad at me and I don't even know who they are or which account and it turns out they've been typoing their username for days.…

As someone who has been on both sides of that conversation many times, that is a failure of your product. A user should not have to pick up the phone and call you (during normal business hours) to get a password reset.

Re: Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

#33

Post by bsder »

devonkim wrote: post #22

I have to disagree with some of the implications of the article. Older people (baby boomers or older) like my parents or mother and father in-law immediately look for a phone number when they encounter an issue because they "don't trust computers to be as up-to-date as a real, live person" (summarization). This tendency seems to decrease as a person becomes faster at looking up information online, but even my father…

The under-25 generation seems to be actually terrified to have to ... gasp ... TALK to somebody.

Many of them will sit and wait for 2 days after ordering something online when something is available 5 minutes away at a brick and mortar store.

I don't get it. I guess I'm just old.

Re: Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

#34

Post by my5thaccount »

dublinben wrote: post #32
my5thaccount wrote: post #19

Customers rarely call me, but when they do, it's fine -- I love them. It's usually because they can't figure out how to log in. It's especially painful when they call at 8:30am on the east coast and I'm on the west coast and my cell phone wakes me up and they say, "I can't log in." and they are mad at me and I don't even know who they are or which account and it turns out they've been typoing their username for days.…

As someone who has been on both sides of that conversation many times, that is a failure of your product. A user should not have to pick up the phone and call you (during normal business hours) to get a password reset.

There are plenty of things she could have done before calling me, but she could call me and she had a great experience doing so and now loves the product even more and has more confidence using it, because she knows if she faces something really hard, there actually is a person who will help her just a phone call away. If anyone asks her about it, she can say, "Omg, I just called them and they answered and I was in. I've never had that before!"

There's a real value in that and all it cost me was a phone call. No money well spent, imo. I was going to wake up that day anyway.

Re: Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

#35

Post by rfrey »

pheoki wrote: post #16
sandebert wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to be rude or anything, but you might also had some effect if you updated the texts on your customer service page to not just be repetitions of Lorem Ipsum. :-) http://sascase.com/customer-service

It's interesting, because that immediately makes me question the QA behind the product, when I a see the web QA being poor like this. So I poked around the site, and the main picture shows "29 colours to choose from" and several of the cases have chipped paint. I guess it goes back to what my grandma used to say about girls with dirty fingernails.

That they repair their own cars? That they've been gardening?

Re: Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

#36

Post by [deleted] »

beambot wrote: post #31
my5thaccount wrote: post #19

Customers rarely call me, but when they do, it's fine -- I love them. It's usually because they can't figure out how to log in. It's especially painful when they call at 8:30am on the east coast and I'm on the west coast and my cell phone wakes me up and they say, "I can't log in." and they are mad at me and I don't even know who they are or which account and it turns out they've been typoing their username for days.…

Sounds like your auth system needs some work... Or at least some logging and detection so you can reach out to frustrated users preemptively. They are literally calling you at all hours asking you to help fix this part of your system - sounds like great user feedback.

[deleted]

Re: Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

#37

Post by SolaceQuantum »

bsder wrote: post #33
devonkim wrote: post #22

I have to disagree with some of the implications of the article. Older people (baby boomers or older) like my parents or mother and father in-law immediately look for a phone number when they encounter an issue because they "don't trust computers to be as up-to-date as a real, live person" (summarization). This tendency seems to decrease as a person becomes faster at looking up information online, but even my father…

The under-25 generation seems to be actually terrified to have to ... gasp ... TALK to somebody. Many of them will sit and wait for 2 days after ordering something online when something is available 5 minutes away at a brick and mortar store. I don't get it. I guess I'm just old.

Have you considered the things online tend to be cheaper than objects in the brick and mortar store? For many things, especially- textbooks (typical need to buy for college-going under 25 people), car parts, electronics, and certain interests like yarn, woodworking tools, aromatherapy, sports equipment?

Re: Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

#38

Post by diogenescynic »

I cancelled my Comcast subscription because their phone support is so horrible and they removed the ability to chat to a live agent on their website. If you call Comcast customer service you have to verify your account/identity to access the phone tree and then once you are actually connected to an agent you have to verify your account/identity again. Then when that person transfers you to the department or agent who can resolve the issue, you have to verify your account/identity again. It's absurd. I actually think it's designed to frustrate you into hanging up. Also, the call transfers tend to drop your call. Imagine verifying your account/identify three times, then your call is dropped so you have to go through the process all over again. You've now had to verify your account/identity 7x for usually what is a simple task. It is the single worst customer service experience I had ever experienced.

Re: Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

#39

Post by hockley »

dublinben wrote: post #32
my5thaccount wrote: post #19

Customers rarely call me, but when they do, it's fine -- I love them. It's usually because they can't figure out how to log in. It's especially painful when they call at 8:30am on the east coast and I'm on the west coast and my cell phone wakes me up and they say, "I can't log in." and they are mad at me and I don't even know who they are or which account and it turns out they've been typoing their username for days.…

As someone who has been on both sides of that conversation many times, that is a failure of your product. A user should not have to pick up the phone and call you (during normal business hours) to get a password reset.

We can never optimize problems between the keyboard and the chair to 0%. The choice then becomes: create ways to help them, or accept that you will lose them.

Re: Customers Don't Want to Call for Support

#40

Post by howareroark »

I'm thinking it doesn't have to be so complicated as web chat and SMS. Forester is kinda in the business of convincing companies to spend money on new fancy stuff.

Just respond to an email right away with a welcoming and well considered response. As soon as I know someone has reliable email support, I'm down.

Calling is fine too, but with email you give someone a chance to do a bit of research for you and not be on the spot.

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