The Dangers of Canned Responses by Jessica Zuhlsdorf
SpiceCSM - 315-261-7311 Jessicaz@spicecsm.com
I had to write a blog about my experience with a Satellite TV Provider. I had initiated a chat about a service change. The lady on the other end was very courteous but did not pay attention to what I was saying. She asked “How are you today?” My response was “I have had better days” in response to that she replied “Well that is great to hear”. Immediately I was turned off. So I ask, in today’s economy where everyone is scrambling to cut costs and increase efficiency, where is the fine line in the sand?
Customer service is one of the leading reasons people leave a company to seek services from the competitor. Many corporations need to be mindful of the fine line. Hiring people with soft skills and lowered technical ability is scary for companies. Why should it be? There are many applications that allow the basic technical information to be presented just as the agent needs it. Also, allows them to interact with the customer effectively using their soft skills to your benefit. Canned responses are another situation of increased efficiency to allow your agents to simply “pick” from a drop down or have the system auto populate a response. This can also be damaging if the agents are under stress to reduce average handle time without being mindful of what the customer is actually saying.
The fine line in the sand is being mindful of the customer interaction. While you can reduce costs and increase efficiency companies need to be mindful of these decisions and how they will affect the customer’s feelings about the company’s service. Ultimately balancing cost and efficiency to better the customer experience should be the goal for any service providing company.
