Did you order anything over the holidays? Call for any customer service assistance?
If so, were your expectations met?
Customers want to receive answers immediately and even faster when they are stressed, say due to the holidays. Here’s how some companies faired this season:
- Amazon reps took 1.2 hours longer to answer customer emails this year than they did in 2013.
- GameStop decreased its phone call wait time from 727 seconds to 261 seconds in 2014, that's eight minutes less than the previous year.
- Target's email response time increased from 6.1 hours in 2013 to 26.7 hours in 2014. However, the merchant reduced its phone call answer time to 57 seconds.
Source: Dallas News contributors Maria Halkias and Troy Oxford, 2013 and 2014 pre-holiday shopping seasons
The goal in customer service is to meet or better yet, exceed expectations.
Think back to your online ordering experience.Were you given an expected delivery date? Did the company email an order comfirmattion when the item was put on the truck and another when it was out for delivery? All of those emails, calls and notes help manage your expectations and make you feel like your order is important.
How can you manage expectations?
Instead of saying "I'll call you back ASAP", or "in a moment" or "end of day".
Use real timeframes instead such as in 20 minutes, in half an hour, by 4pm.