The End of Call Centers

If your customers have to contact your call center to ask for help in using your website, or to find information on your website, you have failed in providing good customer service. If your customers have to pick up the phone after visiting your website, that counts as an unnecessary transfer, and customers hate being transferred. Your website isn’t just a digital billboard, or payment processing tool, or a conglomeration of information. It’s also your customer service representative. You should treat your website as the first customer service representative your customer will interact with.

Your website should be so intuitive, that you won’t need a call center. That’s right. Mo phone number, no email, no live chat. If a customer has to contact your call center after visiting your website, you are telling your customer, “I can’t help you.” And if you don’t want to put in the time to make an intuitive website, or to make sure all your business process are streamlined, that is the same as telling your customer, “I won’t help you.” You are intentionally making it difficult for your customers to conduct business with you. How is that good customer service?

If you want an example of good customer service, look at Amazon.com. Ever since its inception, I have used Amazon.com to buy book, to buy used books, to sell my used books, and I even dabbled in opening up an affiliate account to sell even more books. Not once have I ever had to contact their customer support line. I don’t even know where to find their customer service number! It is as if Amazon.com designed their website in a way so that they wouldn’t ever need a call center, even though I know they have one. Now that’s good customer service.