In a recent blog entry by the always insightful Colleen Jones, she writes that the customer service (or self-service) experience is an often-overlooked opportunity to use "persuasive content."
I agree. A successful customer service experience is an opportunity to deepen the relationship with your customer. At that moment, your customers are more open to hear what you have to say, or to see what you’re selling.
But what about the customer service experience itself?
Unfortunately, companies tend to pay little attention to the interface and support content that drives the self-service application.
Here are a few examples I’ve run across recently. In this case, the diagnosis is poor explanatory content delivered at a critical point in the application:
I had to read the top two sentences several times to be sure of what I was about to agree to. Do you know what "initiate automatically payment" means? Can you "debit" a credit card?
Beyond being poorly written, they didn’t provide with me any useful information that might make me feel more comfortable with what I was about to agree to. Like: When will my credit card be charged? Will you send me an e-mail letting me know it went through?
Here’s one of my favorites:
The fact that I’ve logged in successfully is grounds for an error message? Yes, it turns out. I had logged into a black hole that I couldn’t click my way out of.
If I was logging in to the wrong place, couldn’t the error message have told me so, maybe with some instructions about getting to the right place? Better yet, could they have told me before I logged in?
Imagine you’ve just completed one of these transactions. Would you be open to giving one of these companies more of your business?
Provide a high-quality, simple, and above all, effective, experience for the customer and he or she will be much more receptive to the persuasive content that follows.
Take a good look at your self-service application. Carefully read your interface and support copy. Now ask yourself:
- Am I clearly telling the customer what they’re supposed to do?
- Am I using clear language on my online forms, or am I using jargon?
- Have I told the customer what they need to have on hand before they get started (so they’re not left scrambling for their driver’s license on page 9 of the app)?
- Am I offering help content throughout the user’s experience, not just in the help section?
- Have I told the customer what their—and our—next steps are after they complete the process?
When you can answer "yes" to these questions, you’ve demonstrated (and not just written about) your respect for the customer–for their time, and for their business.
Coming soon: Some examples from companies who are doing it right.