The proliferation of the Internet in the last decade has seen many businesses and organizations take their services online, customer service not being an exception. As a young person I am always intrigued with the possibility of being able to seek help from a company at the click of button without necessarily having to line up long hours at the company’s offices or making a telephone call. The thing about customer service is that it is meant to be an always-on, and if it comes to the online environment, it is our desire to be able to get instant customer service from whenever and wherever you need it (Barringer & Ireland, 2012). However, recently I had an experience with the Financial Services (FS) which I can as my most frustrating customer experience yet.
My experience with the web self-service at a Financial Services customer service was frustrating and annoying. Ideally, the web-self service ought to be quick and easy as concerns seeking and finding help online. However, I was unable to get the information I required from the financial service customer service because of the nature FS to forget customer history and previous conversations . Furthermore, the website only offered static self-help options as FAQs which was insufficient to guide me to the resolutions I was expecting (Barringer & Ireland, 2012). I gave up and decided to a reach a live FS agent for help because my questions require a greater level of engagement. My call to a live agent was equally frustrating as the customer service agent was unable to suffice me with the necessary information after a long call waiting time.
The incident made me think of a new business idea that could serve as a reliable solution to the web self-service and a live customer care agent. I figured that introducing a virtual assistant on the Web site would go a long way in helping guiding customers to the relevant answers or resolutions they seek in a conversational human-like manner, devoid of the need to phone a live agent at the customer service desk. Implementing a virtual assistant solutions will present enterprises with an opportunity to differentiate through innovation of their customer experience, leading to customer satisfaction.
Reference:
Barringer, B. R., & Ireland, R. D. (2012). Entrepreneurship: Successfully launching new ventures. Boston: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
