Maybe Your Customers Don't Want to Talk to You
Despite all the buzz surrounding social media marketing, its promise to better enable conversations between businesses and their customers, a recent essay in the Harvard Business Review by Matt Dixon and Lara Ponomareff point to research that suggests that maybe your customers really aren't that interested in talking to you after all.
"Have you ever walked into an airport, seen that there is nobody in line at the check-in counter, but still made a bee-line for the self-service kiosk?" the authors ask. "Better yet, have you ever waited in line for an ATM machine even though there is nobody in line for the teller inside the bank?"
If you answered "yes" to either of these questions, you're like most customers, who are increasingly turning to self-service options, even though companies seem to think customers would prefer to interact with them live.
According to Dixon and Ponomareff's research, companies believe that their customers vastly prefer live over self-service. But the authors' data shows that customers are actually statistically indifferent about this. Self-service is seen as just as good as using the phone, for example. And this lack of preference holds, regardless of age, demographic, and type or urgency of the issue.
The authors have been tracking customer service interactions for a number of years and, lack of preference aside, note the decline in the number over the last five years who list the phone as their primary means of securing customer service. They found, for example, that 57% of inbound calls come from customers who first tried to resolve their problem via the company's website. And over 30% of callers are on the Web at the same time that they are talking to a rep on the phone
So why the decline in turning to the phone? Arguably self-service is more efficient, less annoying. It gives consumers a feeling of control. It points to "our infatuation with gadgetry and electronic communication," the authors suggest.
And they also suggest, it might be that customers are shifting to self-service because "they don't want a relationship with companies." Sure, they want their issues fixed, their problems resolved, but that's it. "While this secular trend could be explained away as just a change in consumers' channel preferences, skeptics might argue that customers never wanted the kind of relationship that companies have always hoped for, and that self service now allows customers the 'out' they've been looking for all along."
And while this might seem like a dilemma for "social media marketing" and for the promise of deepened customers' ties with brands and companies, it also seems like an opportunity (and a nod) for developing more and better self-service platforms.
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This is a great article; there are some aspects of social media that I think are great - Facebook being a case in point - but real time social media, such as twitter, are expensive, in terms of an organisation servicing the channel, and it terms of our time, as customers. I think this is something people will come to realise, and perhaps this article is the start of this dotcon(versation) bubble bursting.
Interesting points, Audrey.
And I whole-heartedly agree.
We ran an experiment for our sales last year, we're small independent antiques store, one location, no chain, we ship world-wide or cater to local clientele.
So, we had a NING site, and almost 200 members had joined in.
The NING site had ALL the facilities for social sharing, groups, discussions, videos, photos, and more.
What we found was that for the most part, the "members" were really customers only, in the more traditional sense.
They interacted with us only when we had something which filled their need. They tended NOT to interact much with each other.
Even after purchases they were reluctant to leave reviews, and the like.
We concluded, after about 8 months that in fact our business could be just as well served by a broadcast with comment system as we could get on Wordpress, for instance.
Due to some technical issues with NING, this is exactly what we have done.
Our conclusions were correct, for our business, as our current, must less "social" setting, actually growing faster than our NING ever did, and business is as brisk as ever.
Our best customers will tend to spend little time in conversing with us... and jump into the fray as soon as an item of their desire shows up.
So we let them peacably coexist with our items.... and only turn on the "social" switch when they beckon.
IN the end, much more profitable than pondering out how to "relate" to each individual customer, and anything which doesnt' relate direclty one-on-one is often seen as not really relating at all.
Sheesh... we do have a business to run here, so we're kinda glad the experiment's results were such.
Of course, we were early adopters..... turned early retractors now :-)
What we may see will be the Rise of the Automated Conversations through social network channels as methods of providing customer relations and service that fall in the space between "talking to a real person" and the ATM.
This will put a bunch of human social media marketers out of a job. Welcome to the real world.
If we accept and (sometimes) prefer to go to the self-checkout stand at the Grocery; or the self check-in at the Kiosk, then, we will also use Twitter, etc., with Brands, to engage in automated conversation to get what we want.
This will happen through our mobile channels before it happens online. It was a misnomer to term it "social media" anyway - it will be a grand space for communing with bots (ones that add value and do what we want). Twelpforce will be one cloned Customer Service bot, who will be more effective than the 2800 humans. We'll embrace it (provided they do a nice ad campaign around it)...
Long live the bots...while Social media professionals join the ranks of the unemployed.
This post is providing with really valuable and helpful information about the social media marketing. From the above post one can get the actual thought of being a good marketer with this service by promoting their business. Thank you for this kinds of really valuable post.
Interesting article. The idea of customers preferring to serve themselves is somewhat counter-intuitive, but it makes sense upon closer analysis. Customers desire the fastest solution to their problem. The means of getting there is usually secondary to the speed at which the problem can be solved.
This article could have significant cost savings implications for small businesses that are outsourcing (unnecessary support operations). Good read
Jason
http://www.facebook.com/pages/StartupSidekick/148793365130702 (follow us on Facebook for more entrepreneurial advice)
I guess that’s why the post office use so many kiosk in there branches, people definitely don't want be standing in there line or talk to them. They just want to get in and get out. I think they know it!
Why should your customers communicate with you as a vendor if they have nothing to tell?
Why should you as a vendor address to your customers when you have nothing relevant to tell your customer ? It is like the product manager offering (forcing) a lunch to their customer in order to get information.
The point is you (as a vendor) should address to your customer at the very moment they show interest: for example when they visit your website. All you need to know is when your customer visits your website (and preferably know his interest too).
We know this thanks to our own service.
This had to be studied?
Its simple:
-companies cut staff or use India
-you get horrible service
-you get use to hating said company
-you say F IT!
-you use anything that doesn't involve waiting a crazy amount of time just to have horrible service.
I love America but we suck when it comes to service. And since we don't make anything I'm not sure what we have left. So take your Chinese goods and call India when it breaks...
Downward spiral - the end.
Here's a recent example of great customer service (+1 irony for slashdot link):
http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/07/29/0539233/Valve-Apologizes-For-12000-Erroneous-Anti-Cheating-Bans
Social Media is a Revolutionary Technology for Interpersonal Communications. It is not a revolution in marketing. I don't want to talk with almost all the brands I patronize unless they want to cut their margins and give me stuff for free. We all have a few select brands or businesses we are crazy about and happy to engage with. Other than that we are seeking to engage with each other. That's it. I see so many businesses hoping to market via Twitter and Facebook without asking why someone wants to talk with them. You have a plumbing business? You make door nobs? And even if I am open to talking make it quick!
I'm not so sure that customers want to avoid a relationship with a company. I think it's all about time.
Chatting with an online customer service rep allows you to converse with others who pop by, do some filing, etc. The same goes for other online communications - you can multitask. A phone call requires a different level of concentration and exclusiveness -- and time!
That's also one of the advantages of purchasing online. If you know exactly what you want, you choose the color, size, model, etc. and presto -- it's on its way to you. If you call the same company to order you'll spend (I'm guessing) a few more minutes while the rep reads back your credit card number, confirms your order, gives you an order number, tells you when you'll receive it, and tries to upsell you. That process takes just seconds online.
Of course, if you aren't sure of what you want you need to either call or visit the store in person (or request samples online :-)
As consumers, we're stressed, working harder and longer hours than ever, raising families, and so on. The less time it takes to do what we need to do, the better.
Self service+ online = great for everyday.I much prefer it for simple transactions.
However-when problems arise, it's crucial to speak with a knowledgeable person of authority, in a timely manner to get them resolved. This cannot be done via self serve.
I find it increasingly difficult now to find ( said helpful person) when attempting to resolve issues with some online companies & large corporations. I feel as though it makes no difference to them if I've had a good experience, or remain a customer.
So I don't.
Eventually, if they loose enough business, perhaps they'll take note?
Some people might prefer self serve but as a company, you still want to keep abreast of your companies "brand." Conversations about your product/services are still happening (WOM) whether you participate in them or not.. My guess is you want to participate & still offer your customer some form of customer service... This is how you keep customers anyhow....
SO, yes, self-serve might be best for those in a hurry, but you still want to maintain some voice and some connection to your customers...
Great article..