Technology in business offers significant improvements that is efficient and productive. In today’s high-tech world, you can easily outsource, automate, and manage tasks in ways previously impossible, and collecting customer information and feedback has never been easier. It is great news for growing businesses needing to do more with less. The time, money, stress, and human resources you save with technology make it a no-brainer. And your customer will thank you for it. But with ‘high tech’ opportunities also comes risk.
There’s a temptation to shift too far in the opposite direction: using too much technology! Many people think that excellent customer service is primarily defined by how fast you can find information and how quickly you can get a response to an email. The truth is that excellent customer service comes in many forms, and human connection plays a huge role in securing and retaining happy customers who love and enjoy working with you.
The key is balance – your business strategy needs an appropriate mix of ‘high tech’ and ‘high touch’ elements.
It is finding the right balance between high-tech and high-touch business practices.
People do business with people, not machines. The know, like, and trust factors will affect a potential customer’s buying decision. And while some crave human contact more than others, there will always be the need for the human element in your customer service, no matter how high-tech your approach is.
But it’s not an either/or situation – it’s about seamlessly merging the two. We consider your audience and the journey from finding your business to conversion and fulfilment.
For example, you shouldn’t deal with your clients exclusively through your website or automated phone service. High-touch means that as they work their way through your sales structure, your customers also have regular contact with a living, breathing human being.
Please give them a number they can call on your website or in the emails you send them, and make sure a person, not a machine, answers it.
Go one step further, give them the name of a customer concierge they can deal with, and ensure that the person follows through on their transaction. There’s nothing more annoying for customers than dealing with a different person each time they contact your company.
Remember, your clients want you to solve their problems. As convenient as online invoicing, contract signing, and emails are, sometimes your customers want to speak to a human to get their questions answered and their problems solved.
Don’t be a faceless company!
To continue being high touch as you grow, the people element of your business needs to be scalable.
The number of customer service, support, receptionists, call center staff, and other customer functions needs to grow as your business does, just slightly ahead of demand.
Many want an emotional connection, especially after the events of the last few years. There are various ways to create this in your business, for example, having a lovely reception area with a coffee machine and a full-time receptionist to make clients feel welcome instead of forcing them to walk into your greasy and grimy workshop.
There must be an element of high technology to achieve maximum output. But it must be about making people more efficient to support your customers. They choose you for you, not the technology you use.
