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Bad customer service is easy to identify; it's lukewarm soup or an unreturned phone call. Good customer service can be elusive -- it's more difficult to describe -- yet we always know it when we experience it. In their study of Nordstrom's famed customer service, "The Nordstrom Way," Robert Spector and Patrick D. McCarthy quote Erik Nordstrom on the topic: "You need to be humble to do service. The moment you think you're really good at it is when you're not really good at it... If you are really looking to the customer, if you're really sensitive to the customer, and sensitive to the people on the frontline, you are aware of your shortcomings. That keeps us focused on the things that are necessary in order to give customer service."
Keeping Nordstrom's words of wisdom in mind, let's put ourselves in our subscribers' shoes. (And if we're shopping at Nordie's, they're probably nice ones.) Let's explore how we can use transactional, triggered and personal messaging to provide exceptional customer service via email.
(1) Transactional Messages are generated by your customers' and prospects' actions - from an online purchase to an account password change. Use email to deliver informative details - and peace of mind. A few examples:
(2) Triggered Messages are different from their Transactional cousins. While they are inspired by your subscribers' actions, they are generally not born of conscious behaviors such as a password update, but more subtle ones such as Web site browsing activity and purchase history.
(3) Most regular Email Insider readers are familiar with Transactional and Triggered messaging, but Personal Messages are rare and ripe for exploration.
When was the last time you received an email from a customer service representative personally thanking you for making a purchase or booking a reservation? Have you ever been notified by a retail associate via email that the shirt you were eyeing last weekend just became available in your size, or that a pair of cufflinks that suit your taste have been set aside under your name?
Empowering frontline associates to send customers and prospects personal email messages is an enormous untapped opportunity. We talk about the email marketing channel's unique ability to stimulate dialogue, develop relationships and build loyalty; let's explore that, one subscriber at a time.
So, would you care for the watermelon salad? When in doubt on whether you are delivering customer service via email, ask yourself this simple question: "Am I more focused on eliciting a conversion, or providing a benefit?" As Erik Nordstrom suggests, let's humble ourselves and honor our subscribers with exceptional service. They will reward us in turn with loyalty and repeat business.
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From search engines to online stores, each and every online business can benefit from adding the human touch (from a real human being) back into their processes. Just because this is technology and computers are involved doesn't mean everything has to be automated!
When you do this, as you experienced, that is a customer service experience that is memorable and keeps customers coming back for more! Something an algorithm or autoresponder can never accomplish.
Thanks for the great article!
At your service, Judith TheIStudio.com