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Customer Service Information |
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Are You Putting Technology Before Your Customers?
Which is more important the technology or the customer? The one thing about the online world you can be sure of is change.It seems like every day there is a new technology being addedwhich will make the internet more accessible.As online marketers, we strive to keep up with all these trendsand incorporate them into our marketing arsenals. Going back to when the internet started, it was a bit of a nerdyplace to be, with lots of people communicating in text only.Some savvy individuals saw how this growing community could be exploited and used to advertise their wares, and with all the hyperlinking joining them to other sites they could be easilyfound. Then the world wide web evolved from the basic internet adding pictures and multimedia and eventually adding videos too, and it became even more useful to marketing. Added in with emailwhich made it possible to reach a large audience at low costthe web became irresistable to businesses. Each step forward brings with it even more opportunities for us online entrepreneurs to get our messages seen. But as it marches on into new technologies are we all missing the point somewhat? We all need our ads to be seen, but often we seem to be spendingmore time wrestling with new technology than actually working.Everyone is jumping on the blogging bandwagon at the momentand offering xml and rss feeds to get their messages out. Flash video, along with audio, and video streams is also being used extensively, and often unneccessarily to market products. But even more alarming is the reliance some people are placingon this new technology, to the point of abandoning traditionalemail and websites. Let me relate this recent story which actually happened. I received a newsletter which I read regularly, andlike many others the owner was having problems with gettinghis email newsletter through spam filters. Like many newsletterpublishers he had decided to publish his newsletter as a webpage.He started sending out regular emails when the newsletter was available, and including the link to read it. All ok so far. It was shortly afterwards I received an update from this newslettertelling me that it would no longer be available as a web page, butwould now be an rss feed only. And telling me if I wanted to carryon reading I should download some software to do so. Whoa, backtrack there. Your subscribers can only read your newsletter if they downloadsome extra software and learn how to use it? I emailed the owner to point out that I thought it was a bad idea.You want your subscribers to stick with you, make it easy for them,the reply I got was that I should join the 21st century, if I wantedto read his newsletter he would tell me how I should do it. No I don't want to read it that bad thanks anyway. So before you go running headlong into the latest technologicalmarvels of the internet, think about what your customers need.Do they have the latest greatest browser to view your latest greatestmultimedia masterpiece?Will they need to download some extra software just to view yournewsletter? Subscribers are humans too you know, and as humans they are ficklecreatures. They will stick with you while the goings good and easybut make them work to stay with your newsletter and you're historyas there are plenty more good newsletters they can get free. Flashy animations, and new technology can be impressive, butput your customers first, and use the technology only if it helpsthem. Doug Titchmarsh Doug Titchmarsh runs several sites including http://www.cashinonline.info andhttp://www.titchmarsh.com and publishesan e-zine for marketers online and offwhich you can get by sending an email todouglastitchmarsh@getresponse.com
MORE RESOURCES: AI Chatbots Are Ready to Talk to Customers. Sort of. The Wall Street Journal Pricing, AI, DPA, Customer Service Tools; Bill Emerson Interview; Training This Week; STRATMOR CD Workshop Mortgage News Daily Samsung Electronics Canada Customer Service Wins Bronze in ‘Best Use of Omni Channel' at International CX Awards 2024 Yahoo Finance Qme secures $3M funding to streamline customer service across Africa Techpoint Africa Building Competitive Advantage in Customer Care Through AI The Business of Fashion 311 Customer Service Center City and County of San Francisco FTC Finalizes Order with H&R Block Requiring Them to Pay $7 Million and Overhaul Advertising and Customer Service Practices for 2025 and 2026 Tax Seasons Federal Trade Commission News Ikea expands integration with assembly services platform Chain Store Age JEA is inviting bids for 19-story downtown tower that used to be its headquarters The Florida Times-Union Consumers Demand Enterprises Modernize to Improve Ailing Customer Experience, Says Research Business Wire American Lamprecht Enhances Visibility for Air and Ocean Shipments Using Descartes Solution Supply Chain Dive Women in Fintech: A Conversation About Loyalty Ecosystems in Financial Services with Becky Hill Finovate Neterra Enhances Its Customer Service Monitoring System Total Telecom Gladly Named a Leader in Constellation ShortList™ for Digital Customer Service and Support PR Newswire QueueKiosk™: Saving Thousands of Active-Duty Man Hours & Improving Customer Service at the MPF Office Kiosk Marketplace Finally, hard data on a real-world AI business use case: It’s huge for customer service Sherwood News Liverpool reinvents customer service through digital platform ComputerWeekly.com CSPI & Nutrition Action Customer Service CSPI Newsroom Firm to expand customer service in Yorkshire with new service centre Golf Business News Textron Aviation to Open New Service Facility at Essendon Fields Airport, Expanding Capabilities in Australia Pittsburg Morning Sun Help Department of Taxation and Finance Six Game-Changing AI Customer Service and CX Strategies Hospitality Net Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) New York State Department of Health Cigna's customer-centric strategy could ripple across the sector Modern Healthcare Major AI Success Story: Giftify Achieves 40% Faster Customer Response Times with Enterprise AI StockTitan Contact Us About Your Bill myclearwater.com Customer Service Center apps.tampagov.net 311 - Birmingham’s Customer Service Center City of Birmingham (.gov) Palm Coast Utility Department Celebrated for Enhanced Customer Service City of Palm Coast DESCO's meeting held to enhance customer service and power reliability The Business Standard 70% of customer service to rely on AI by 2028: Gartner Outsource Accelerator Customer Service & Support Hillsborough County (.gov) My experience as a Customer Service and Sales Intern Toby Shapiro's Experience at A.D. Sutton and Sons Chapman University 3 Ways To Quickly Make $50 GOBankingRates Delta’s annual profit-sharing day spotlights ‘people first’ strategy The Atlanta Journal Constitution Welcome to Riverside Public Utilities City of Riverside (.gov) Celebrate Customer Service Week City of Riverside (.gov) Which companies have the best customer service? Amazon, Shein, Costco among top-rated brands USA TODAY Con Edison Proposes Investments to Meet Growing Demand for Clean Energy, Enhance Customer Support T&D World Fulton County Recognized as a 2024 National Customer Service All Star Fulton County Government Contact Reverb Support Reverb Charter Names Robyn Tolva Senior Vice President, Customer Service Reliability | Charter Charter Communications America's Best Customer Service 2025 Newsweek 8 strategies for using AI for customer service in 2025 Sprout Social Attorney General Bonta Demands Better Customer Service for Californians California Department of Justice AI for Customer Service Market worth $47.82 Billion by 2030 - Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets™ PR Newswire Can artificial intelligence rescue customer service? The Economist Permits–customer services King County Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications Federal Communications Commission Shep Hyken, HPU Customer Service Expert, Mentors Students and Staff High Point University Department of Transportation Governor Tom Wolf President Biden Announces New Customer Service Actions, Targets Subscriptions and ‘Doom Loops’ CX Today 11 key elements of excellent customer service Business.com Launch of New Districtwide Customer Service Platform The School District of Philadelphia Summer EBT | Department of Human Services Governor Tom Wolf Video Quick Take: Intercom’s Brian Donahue on How AI Agents Can Be Your First Tier of Customer Service Support HBR.org Daily |
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