Customer service ‘on-the-go’

The increasing ubiquity of smartphones, innovations such as the iPad, and a fresh recognition of the importance of apps, has resulted in the possibility for a new kind of customer service: ‘on-the-go’.

This notion that a company can provide customer service ‘anytime, anywhere’ was really brought home to me last year. I was on a train checking for the latest tweets mentioning ‘Carphone Warehouse’ via Tweetdeck’s iPhone app when one particular tweet caught my attention. It was from someone who was trying to find out how to take the SIM card out of their iPhone. I had only recently done this myself, so I tweeted a link to an instructional YouTube video I had used. The person was very grateful, but unfortunately still couldn’t swap the SIM because he didn’t have a paperclip. What was interesting for me about this exchange though, was the following:

• The person I tweeted was on a train in the United States
• I was on a train in the UK
• I was ‘working’ out of hours
• The other person was able view a YouTube video
• The interaction was immediate

Technology had effectively rendered time and geography meaningless, as well as transforming the way in which I viewed ‘work’. I got enjoyment and satisfaction from the simple act of helping someone. I did not see this as work because my help was not sought specifically and I had no material gain to make, apart from the obvious altruistic ones.

Devices such as the iPhone are freeing up the nature engagement and point to a time when customer service will no longer require a fixed number of agents tied to fixed locations for a fixed period of time delivering a fixed set of services. What are the implications for both companies and customers of this freeing up of the traditional customer service model?

Furthermore, the smartphone has levelled the playing field to such an extent that literally anyone with a device and the knowledge and inclination to help, can do so. Importantly for the person asking the question, they can receive a response instantly. The company that provides us with the original product or service becomes just another player competing for our attention. Perhaps the challenge a company faces becomes one of how best to tap into or channel the output of this transitory, but trusted, crowd?

I believe the iPad offers similar possibilities to become part of this game-changing approach to customer service. Furthermore, with help desk products such as Zendesk offering iPhone and Android integration, managing and tracking tickets from a single source is no longer an issue. As fresh customer support products gain traction, organisations will become more acclimatised to experiment, explore and push boundaries.

Customer service ‘on-the-go’ is a new but extremely compelling channel for responding to customers at their moments of greatest need. We’re all customer service agents now…

This article was written as part of our May Newsletter