I recently ordered some notice boards from Ikea online shop. The ordering process was quick, they arrived promptly but were damaged. After time online, web chat, phone calls, I finally ended up driving from my home in South West London to North London to my nearest store and taking them back. I hadn’t visited this store since 1992…
The whole episode got me thinking about the effect of customer service on a brand and do marketers need to be worried about customer service?
The Economic downturn should mean more focus on customer service not less
During the economic downturn companies have made cut backs and reduced or outsourced customer service. The Harrison Group, a research firm that polled 600 wealthy consumers for an American Express survey found that consumers have become more self-reliant as companies have cut back on customer service to cut costs.
Great for a company’s bottom line but it means that disappointed shoppers do their own research online and will easily go elsewhere if their needs are not met.
Marketing departments need to become more closely involved in the handling of customer care as it moves online.
To deal with increasingly empowered, demanding consumers, marketers have had to step up their game in customer service. Thanks to online and mobile, shopping consumers at all levels are pickier and more fickle than ever. Social media giving customers the ability to take their complaints viral, marketing departments need to become more closely involved in the handling of customer care as it moves online.
Customer Service needs to align with brand image
Consumers expect consistency from the companies they do business with, and that includes the brand image being reflected in the service they receive.
For example if a consumer is dealing with a luxury brand, they expect the agent who takes their call to spend time understanding their issue and helping them out.
This is why it is essential for organizations to ensure that their customer service reflects the attitude of their brand across each touch point.
A recent example of this is Starbucks. In an attempt to improve customer service and ‘personalise’ the customer experience, Starbucks have introduced a system whereby their barristas will call you by your name to avoid the situation where 4 people used to step forward when they shouted “grande skinny latte”.
In the UK of course many have given names such as Ben Dover for laughs. After 4 attempts at saying my name and spelling it (Alison – pronounced Alison) , in the end I had to write it on the cup myself . I was then refered to as “Miss Alison” by the guy on the till but at least they were trying.
Steps to Align brand image to customer service :
There are a number of key steps that should be taken to align the brand image with customer service.
1. Implement brand strategy with marcoms and customer service
Establish and implement brand strategy to marketing communications, but also to all elements of customer service, eg call centers, online help, within retail stores or other face-to-face interactions.
2. Set up customer service processes that reflect brand identity.
For example a brand who’s values are built on consumer trust might want to emphasize person to person contact rather than bury its consumers in a website that makes it difficult to find contact information.
3. Employees need to reflect the brand image
Employees are the face of the company and how they behave should reflect the brand image. For example a company with a fun brand, needs to hire people with exuberant personalities for all its service touch points , starting from staff who come face to face with customers to those working in call centres.
4. Self Service initiatives should be aligned and reflective of the brand.
Avatars are a great way to do this online. Going back to the Ikea example at the beginning of this piece . They have Anna whom I found very polite and helpful exactly as the customer service staff in store .
5. Customer service metrics need to be implemented according to the brand image.
A consumer contacting a high-end retailer will expect the brand identity to be reflected in the store or call centre they call, with the customer service representative spending time to understand what the client needs and address the issue. In this example the company should not use call handling as a metric, but rather focus on customer satisfaction or other quality-focused metrics.
It is essential that the brand is aligned across all consumer touchpoints and social media is a vital and increasingly important component in this mix
Social Media is changing the landscape of customer service
An interesting infographic by our social times .shows how consumers are increasingly turning to social media to solve problems but also as important to a brand, to air their grievances :
57% of customers prefer to search online to solve customer service issues
44% of adults use the web to share their grievances about products.
60% of companies don’t respond to consumers via social media even when asked a direct question (Cap Gemini study)
Not responding to social media can have a major effect on a brand’s perception.
The 2012 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer shows that consumers who have used social media for customer service have an impressive amount of influence.
Consumers who use social media are prepared to spend more for good customer service but also tell more people if things go wrong.
(Click for bigger preview – Source: Parature)
Providing excellent customer service on social media has now become a necessity for every brand
The decision on how to execute a social customer-service strategy and who will do it has to begin with working out a customer-response strategy:
Where do you want to talk to your customers and how do you want to talk to them? Decide the best platform and then you can decide on what tools are best to work on that platform.
However there must be a central social media champion to centralize that function so all communications have the same voice.
Marketing, PR and operations now have to work together. Operations still have to own and resolve the issue but it’s important that marketing understand the CRM issues that arise and what moves their business.
Customer Service : do marketers need to be involved?
For a company who’s brand is important the face to the consumer is vital . Marketers can no longer remain separate and brand and customer care will have to work more closely together in the future.