Are you one of those customers who prefers face to face contact when getting your enquiries and problems sorted? Are you one of the many who rank the ‘annonymity’ of call centres as one of your biggest frustrations? Do you like to see the ‘whites of their eyes’ when you’re making a complaint?
Well, you’re not alone! Apparently 66% of us believe that being able to see a customer service agent will help resolve our queries more quickly. Well, British Gas have come up with a solution! It’s face-to-face customer service calls via video chat!
They have introduced an innovative approach where you can now see the customer service representative on your laptop or computer when you call them! It’s an initial trial that will last for three months and video chat will be offered to some customers who have questions about their bill, need tariff information or would like to resolve complaints. The pilot will involve 20 customer service agents, based in their contact centres, who have volunteered for specialist training to take part in the cutting-edge trial.
It’s a good example of being ‘easy to deal with’ which is an ingredient of 3D Characteristic #3: It’s All About The Experience!
With over half of the UK population having now adopted video calling through things like Skype and Apple Facetime into their everyday lives, it will be interesting to see whether seeing the expressions, gestures and body language will help build rapport, understanding and trust.
If it does, it will certainly set a new benchmark on which we’ll judge other ‘call centres’ by…. which can only be a good thing!
(This is 3D Example #5 in our 3D Challenge – Our Search For 100 3D Ideas!)
