Virtual Customer Service

One of the most frustrating jobs I’ve had was being a support specialist for a small technology company that was a third party provider of online music for universities. In 2006 many small tech companies such as the one I worked for were getting on their feet and realizing that they could provide a service that was in demand. The hard part for them was generating enough revenue to keep themselves afloat before their angel funding or venture capital ran out. Because of this I noticed that these types of companies put large amounts of money into design, sales and marketing and as little as possible into developing the product and testing its functionality.

While sitting in meeting after meeting to discuss how each department was doing, there was not once that I could report that my department was up to par. I constantly filed tickets with the dev. team to fix bugs, add user requested functionality, and create easier methods for us to be able to solve the users problems. All of this was wasted effort due to the fact that their was simply no resources for doing such a thing.

In the case of bigger companies, such as amazon and ebay, that are publicly traded and making a decent profit I have a much higher standard for how my transactions should take place. Often I buy things from online stores that do business through Amazon or eBay and for the most part these alternative stores provide decent service for a much lower price. In the rare case I buy from a major online store, I expect the same kind of service I would get if I was shopping at a regular store. If I can’t find something and no one is there to help, I’m not going to stay long. Many times I have gone to an online store and spent time adding several items to my cart only to have their server time out and leave me hanging much like a clerk on the phone. Instead of online customer service, I like to think of it as virtual customer service. Its “almost, or nearly as described, but not completely or according to strict definition” customer service (Oxford American Dictionary).

1. In terms of online customer service, what are some ways that online retailers can improve the user experience?

2. How important is speed in regards to customer service? How do speed and functionality relate?

3. What concepts can the smaller companies learn from the big guys and what can the big guys learn from the little guys?