Transparency and 21st Century customer service

Transparency and 21st Century Customer Service

I dropped in to a packed house at the ICS Annual Conference and a question was asked of the panel asking whether the 'old' version of customer service was fit for the 21st century. No and it was not fit for the last century either.

End the Big Lie

My vision for 21st century customer service is for us to address the big lie that has stopped the professional developing and maturing. The lie is that customer service professionals are there to administer customer-focused and friendly processes that meet customer needs and resolve their problems. They are advocates within the company of the customer view. Sorry but no – customer service people are there to attempt to explain and justify company-friendly processes to customers whose needs these processes do not meet and whose problems they cannot resolve. Customer service people are trapped into being apologists for the companies they work for.

The demands of the new transparency as set out by my current fave guru Don Tapscott - see him here http://www.usnowfilm.com/clips/53 talking about the revolution that is being caused by the new generation of digital citizens. The customers used to be held outside the boundaries with products being pushed out at them through the traditional distribution channels. Bring the customer inside and look at co-created products. The new power of customers to exchange information globally mean that if you are going to be naked, you had better be buff says Tapscott. If you are not up to this sort of scrutiny you loose trust. In the old days we have to admit that companies selling bad products sold hard often did well. But that will not work anymore. The power of transparency changes corporate behaviour. Need I mention Toyota again – the story is all the more sad since the company has built some great product. The Lexus has inspired customer service legends.

Agents of the New Honesty

The profession now has an opportunity to retake the heights and gain a new professional reputation. Wouldn't it be great if 21st century customer service reflected these truths, said goodbye to the old lies and became the advocates for and agents of the new honesty and collaboration with customers.

Can you digg it?

Colin Adamson