The Buzz

Instant Responses. Is that all? Smart query technology doesn’t just throw up a few matching search results. It helps the business by creating a larger and larger pool of responses that comes in handy to answer more customer queries. Let’s see how that works.

Customer-Centric Technology The key thing about Smart Query Technology (SQT) is that it is a highly customer-centric system. It is designed around the principle that the majority of customers are likely to have similar or related questions. Few questions are fundamentally unique. SQT uses this to the advantage of both customers and employees.

Faster Deadlines, Shorter Fuses While all consumers increasingly deal with a paucity of time, business to business customers often call for even faster service. They may have little discretion on waiting times and could be ordering the product on behalf of another department that needs it urgently.

How Standard Customer Support Systems work Let’s look at the shortcomings of standard customer support systems with an example. On a Thursday, Ms. Williams send in a query using the company website to the manufacturers of the new kitchen tiles that she has purchased. She is planning to install them over the weekend when she […]

It’s just a waste of time! That is what many customers end up saying when placed on the other end of a routine customer support procedure. Frustrated customers hanging up or yelling on the phone are all part of the day for most CSRs. Both parties end up feeling annoyed and de-motivated.

The Golden Age of the Internet When the first Internet explosion occurred in the late 1990s, it was tempting for businesses to think of the web as a catch-all medium. It seemed as if there was nothing that the new kid on the block couldn’t do! With time has come the sobering realization that an […]

A Slip between the Cup and the Lip Think about it for a moment. Everywhere, there are tomes written on how businesses revolve around the customer, how customer-centric marketing is the key to success. Yet, rarely is this ever implemented. Disgruntled customers are far easier to find in most industries than satisfied or loyal ones. […]

Using Technology to Delight Customers One would assume that companies in the forefront of technology would be using innovative ways to respond to and delight customers. Not necessary, as a 2007 Accenture study among consumer-technology companies demonstrated.

Spammers are everywhere! All e-mail users, whether individuals or corporate find that spam is one of their biggest problems. Over 150 billion e-mails are sent out by spammers every day! As soon as businesses list their e-mail addresses, they find that they are flooded with spam. Spam is not just irritating – businesses end up […]

Why Companies Don’t Look for Smarter Systems One of the reasons many businesses go in for e-mail based systems, live chat support orsimply include an FAQ section on their site is that these are easy to implement, and socheap! The initial low cost looks very attractive. But, over time, the cost of such customer service […]

Single-serving responses make more work for everyone Let us imagine that we have access to all the customer queries that a solar-heating equipment manufacturer receives over a month. To our surprise, we find that 30% of them are variations on one question, “Do your heaters store energy for rainy or cold days?” Even though the […]

Two Ends of the Spectrum Let’s take the case of a Seattle based supplier of solar heating products and two of its customers. Mr. Robinson wishes to inquire about the prices of a new model of solar heater. This is a generic question that the business gets asked at least three times every day. Ms. […]