The human touch

The average adult picks up their phone 1500 times a week and spends around anywhere between 3 to 5 hours a day online. How often do you pick up your phone or smart device in a day? Be honest! What tasks do you do online because it’s easier, quicker, simpler? What do you do online that would take much longer if you had to make a phone call or even leave the sofa?! What else do you do online to while away your time? Imagine life without smart phones and tablets; it’s hard to envisage, isn’t it?

We live in a fast-paced, super-connected world. Digitising customer service has undoubtedly made our lives easier, especially for the simple tasks such as viewing statements, making payments or ordering something. Many organisations have offered an omni-channel customer service for quite some time now; the pandemic has also forced some organisations to ramp up their digital efforts and others to begin their digital journey for the first time. But what does this mean now that it feels as though we’re starting to emerge from the pandemic? (Here’s hoping, anyway!)

We’re probably not alone in feeling that during the pandemic, customer service became more difficult for us customers. We made allowances (“Cause Covid” we uttered with a shrug), yet after a while, it began to wear thin. Post-pandemic research from HubSpot shows that the organisations who provided a way for customers to interact directly and human-to-human, achieved much more significant growth than those who didn’t. Interestingly, although we spend so much time online, 52% of customers surveyed by HubSpot said that they want to deal directly with another human being again. This isn’t surprising really, when you consider the fact that humans beings are hardwired to connect with others.

Moreover, a recent global study by PwC revealed that 59% of consumers feel that organisations are losing the human touch. When something goes wrong – we just want to speak to a human being rather than fight our way through an automated process supported by a faceless chatbot.

So, what does ‘human touch’ mean in customer service? It means:

• We want to be listened to
• We want to be acknowledged
• We want help when things go wrong
• We want a personal experience
• We want someone to understand us and empathise with us
• We want to feel connected, in a human way

We talk about the ‘new normal’ and we’re still trying to define what that means. Many of us are making different life choices, we’re wondering if face masks are here to stay. There’s lots of talk about hybrid working and some organisations have already made their decision on this. One thing is for sure – customers want hybrid approach to customer service. They want to be online for speed and simplicity, but they also want to engage with a human being when they need the personal touch. Considering that 95% of customers say thar customer service is a key driver to their loyalty to an organisation, and 60% of customers switching to a competitor after a poor experience, it’s essential to get it right.

Our GREAT Customer Service programme is about getting the emotional connection right; however you’re interacting with your customer. We use the GREAT framework which provides a structure for an emotionally connected, loyalty-inspiring, trust-building customer interactions:

• Greet – A warm welcome, building trust from the beginning – “I’m here for you”
• Recognise Needs – Recognising what the customer really needs – “I will help you.”
• Empathise – Displaying genuine empathy and attuning to the customer – “I understand you.”
• Act – Acting with accountability and owning the customer’s issue – “This is what I’ll do…”
• Thank – Thanking with sincerity and ending on a high – “I’m happy I could help you today.”

Take a look at our GREAT Customer Service programme and if you’d like to explore this further, give us a call on 01582 463464. We’re here to help.