Main conference presentation

E-service: What we can learn from the customer-service gurus

Eric Reiss

Sunday April 13 2008, 4:30 - 5:15PM

As IAs, we often preach the value of our work by citing the self-service opportunities we can create. Yet how many of us have actually examined the foundations of customer service? And can we still learn from the service gurus of the 80s?

Having helped develop several service-training programs -- and indirectly turned two mediocre carriers into “Airlines of the Year” -- I think customer service might just be the UX motherlode.

The concept of “customer service” has been kicking around for over a century. More recently, we’ve seen it morph into “Customer Relationship Management.” Basically, we’re talking about the design and execution of a system of activities -- people, processes, and technology -- that ultimately build brand, revenues, and customer satisfaction. These services include:

• Help me services (Scotty, beam me up)
  
• Fix it services (My doggone printer just ate my homework)
  
• Value-added services (Here’s milk to go with your cookies)
  

Some are online, some are offline; often they are converged systems that address both areas. In this presentation, I will review the basics of customer service and show:

• Why 90% customer satisfaction isn’t nearly good enough.
  
• Why most service metrics don’t address the real customer pain points
  
• Why service redundancy is usually way better than corporate synergy
  
• Why sometimes we shouldn’t listen to our customers
  
• How we, as IAs can start to create robust service experiences that build real trust and increase conversion rates.
  

For decades, service gurus such as Ron Zemke, John Tschohl, Karl Albrecht, and Ray Considine, have been helping businesses understand the dynamics of customer service. Some of them finally woke up to the opportunities of the Internet around 2001 -- but their messages were buried in the rubble of the dot-bomb.

I know where to dig.