Help on the

There is a popular commercial for a credit card company that starts with someone calling to redeem their credit card reward points. They get someone in a foreign country in a dilapidated office with outdated equipment. “Peggy” answers the phone and he and his co-workers have a good laugh when the misguided customer thinks he’s actually going to get a reward for all those points he’s accumulated. Unfortunately, too many of us have experienced customer service situations like that.

Communications with persons from another country can be difficult because of language and customs barriers. The person on the other end of the phone may have great knowledge and expertise, but it all comes down to the mastery of the language and their ability to paint clear word pictures the other person can understand in order to troubleshoot a technical problem or find a solution to a customer service situation. Even English speaking customer service reps have difficulty with customers that need to see something in order to comprehend, especially complex situations like computer problems.

One method of customer service communications that removes those barriers is the on-line chat. Since you are communicating through a running dialogue that is recorded in front of you on a screen with each person’s responses in sequence, it greatly increases the opportunity for understanding, clarification and gives a visual dimension to an otherwise strictly verbal interaction over a telephone. I recently had a problem with a new all-in-one printer/fax/scanner/copier that would scan from my desktop. I accessed HP’s online chat, and found lots of reasons why this is something every company should add to improve their customer communications:

1. It’s fast. No waiting on the phone, listening to endless chatter while waiting for someone to come on the line. No layers of sequencing to finally get to the person you need to speak to.
2. It’s personal. You have one person dedicated to you. They stay with you until the problem is resolved.
3. The responses are written on the screen, so when the customer service rep gives you a URL to copy and paste or a list of sequenced instructions, you can refer to it and not rely on your memory.
4. It has a greater success rate. Because things are visible on the screen, it’s more likely you’ll get the instructions right the first time.
5. It’s recorded. In my case, I could print out the whole chat transcript for future reference. HP is smart—if the problem happens again, I can go to those notes first before calling back. One fewer call for them to handle.
6. Written words are clearer and void of emotion. There is less chance of offending a customer with an exasperated sigh or off-handed comment.
7. Available. Many companies use the on-line chat for 24/7 service.

On a sidebar on their website, HP told their service customers that they just got a new Cappuccino machine, so they were now available 24/7. Customer service with a side of humor.

Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a workplace consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for communicationsjobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and creating original gift items available on http://www.etsy.spoolhardy.com/. You can read more of her blogs at communicationsjobsblog.com and view additional job postings on Nexxt.