Designing Great Customer Service
ING Direct, a bank which exists solely online, has found a way to do customer service right. Recently I had to close a checking account—one of the few actions that can’t be completed online—and was not looking forward to the phone call, dreading the half hour I’d have to spend speaking to a robot and entering account numbers. To my surprise, when I dialed the customer service number a person actually answered the phone. Shocked, I fumbled for words not expecting to have to actually speak with a human. After I managed to tell the lady that I need to close an account, she quickly moved any extra funds in to my savings account and told me I was all set. No “please don’t close your account” pitch, and no lengthy scripted monologue to try and get me to signup for another service. She just closed my account, and asked me if there was anything else she could do for me.
In an age where more and more services are being performed in the web realm, a great offline customer experience is vital. If users are met with endless automated robots and “press 4 to hear these options again”, they are going to run for the hills—straight to a company that understands great customer service.