Don’t let the technology get in the way of the message

I was interested to read the CCA latest press release warning about the complacency in handling customer’s emails. The use of email, text, web chat and social media are clear growth channels of the future. What lessons have we learnt from call handling to make sure we create a clear and differentiated customer experience online?

The old saying ‘what goes around, comes around’ is true and it’s great to see that we might be going back to applying the good old fashion rules of written communications and I believe some of the key philosophies that should be applied are:

1. Make sure you flex your style of writing to match your customer’s style of writing. Very often the company brand comes first and without flexing the style of writing the level of rapport and connection will be limited.
2. Bring good news upfront – how often have you received a letter or email response with three paragraphs of explanation around the process and in the last paragraph an answer to your question. This does little for engagement
3. Apply a peak end rule at the end, make your customer feel that you have really read their email and use some of their language at the end of the message and not the usual company sign off line.

There is a real opportunity for companies to embrace this channel and learn from previous mistakes, to view the CCA press release click here

Definitely food for thought.

Briege@Bluesky

www.blue-sky.co.uk