When it comes to customer service, are you ready to help?
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May 17, 2013
Today I want to share something different with you. It’s a video that I came across about customer service in Japan that I found on Gadling that was originally posted on LiveLeak earlier this year. The video is only 51 secs long but is definitely worth a watch.
If you can’t see the video then click here.
Did you watch the video? Surprised? Funny?
In a country that uses a lot of technology, I think it is fascinating and insightful to see a very personal approach to solving a customer’s problem.
Is it a spoof? I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not.
I’d like to think it is real and genuine. However, whether it is or not is irrelevant because I think it illustrates a real lesson for businesses that are trying to deliver better service to their customers.
That lesson, for me, is this: faced with a problem with how to achieve something or use technology to find something out some customers don’t want to have to use, or figure out how to use, another piece of technology to solve their problem. Sometimes, they just want someone to help them directly.
I know that this may not be the most cost-effective and efficient solution and we all can’t hide in consoles ready to jump out and help. But, we can think about the problems that our customers have and how we help them solve their problems. in doing that, we should consider how we can make it quick and easy for someone to get hold of us when they need to whether that is in person, on the phone, via email or via social media.
Technology can be great but it can also be a barrier. It’s useful to remember that often the best way to surprise and delight and serve our customers better is to just be easy to contact and ready to help.
Photo Credit: otherthings via Compfight cc
8 Comments
Fantastic video, certainly thought provoking…should we apply the same logic to our IVR’s?
I am certainly happy to take a technology route, because I understand it and can navigate it easily. It’s safe to say my mother has a different approach, she would be happy to spend some extra time waiting to avoid the button pressing and just speak to a human being.
Hi Guy,
Thanks for your comment. You make a great point. Wouldn’t it be great if we had guerilla crews watching and waiting to intervene if people had problems with IVRs?
Adrian
Great video Adrian, I will use that
As for the helpful technology, well if it isn’t easy to use, it isn’t helpful technology.
James
Love that video, Adrian. It’s a reminder that technology is great, but there’s nothing better than the human touch. Technology can only do so much – it can only do what it’s programmed to do.
Annette 🙂
Hi Annette,
It’s a great find, isn’t it?
The key challenge we face, I believe, as you point out is getting the balance right between the use of technology and the human touch.
Adrian
Glad you liked the video, James, and a great point!
All the best,
Adrian
It’s gotta be a spoof but it’s a great point.
Of course, there are no crowds, no angry commuters waiting to get tickets and all the rest of it that makes one-on-one customer service all but impossible in today’s crazy techno-centric world. It would be nice if the people who were actually employed in such places would do the jobs they were hired to do (like in the DC Metro System) which is to help out. Unfortunately, more often than not it’s every man and woman and child for themselves.
Nice post!
Hi Ken,
Thanks for dropping by and your comment.
I guess helping out and establishing a culture of helping out has to start somewhere. The challenge is, I believe, to not just break the culture of everyone for themselves but also to start hiring and identifying people that do want to help and to support them in doing great work. In doing so, hopefully we’ll start planting seeds that’ll influence others to follow.
Adrian