Customer Service 2.0
According to the book “We Are Smarter Than Me” on average telephone support cost $25 to $50 per call. Email support costs $4 to $14 per call. Why not use the collective power of online communities to make customer service more effective? Netflix did just that with its recommender program. Amazon reviews helps people make decision based on the feedback of other consumers. The key to get people active is to offer incentives. Special status, reward points and other incentives remind people that they are making the community a better place.
A really forward thinking example of next generation customer service is a new
site called Satisfaction. Modeled after established customer communities like Mini2.com and TivoCommmunity.com the service is “people powered” both by company representatives and customers.
The sites makes consumer issues public and transparent. Each company or product page lists the company representatives “4 Company Name employees are listening and participating”. It also using lots of Web 2.0 concepts to classify issues, rate them, participate, even post to your Twitter account.
I found the service trying to troubleshoot an issue with my Twitter account. Lets see how this works out. I’d like to see how an open system like this would effect big companies like Verizon or Comcast - do you think customer satisfaction would improve?
