Eric Camulli

We talk to each other using our voices less and less these days. In fact, a thousand years from now our vocal chords might shrink to where it is no longer possible to communicate using them. Instead, we may find ourselves twitching our thumbs at each other using a language that we refer to as Morse Code 2.0. With the advent of social media, mobile apps and texting, the burning question is - what long term effect does this communications trend have on customer service and loyalty?

Despite what some may think, our vocal chords are indeed much better adapted to handle communication than our thumbs. Yet we speak to our customers less than ever before and discourage conversing with them at every turn with an overload of self-service systems, applications and options.

But is it possible to have a complex and meaningful problem-solving chat session? Can a customer relationship really blossom 140 characters at a time? Or is your fan page just evolving into an angry mob page...

Remember back to the mid-90’s when AOL was King of the Internet? In fact, many people thought AOL was the Internet. AOL had it all. They did a great job of aggregating content so that everything you ever wanted was all in one place. They centralized communication so that you could quickly and easily email, chat and interact with all of your friends and buddies. You could meet new people. There was a profile page, simple sharing and online gaming too. Toward the end, the term they used to describe AOL was “walled garden” because the experience was controlled by a single service provider.

This should look familiar because just as computing is centralizing all over again, decades after the decline of the mainframe, the Internet experience is now following suit with the explosive growth of Facebook. In fact, according to Nielsen, Facebook is where people spend most all their Internet time, more than Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia and YouTube combined!

So does this mean that...

It’s a fact that self-service transactions cost a fraction compared to connecting customers to live-service. It’s the major reason why self-service is an important strategy for Business and IT these days. Most consumers like helping themselves and I am one who certainly enjoys this convenience so long as they don’t get too “cute” or complicated. You know what I mean, so I won’t pontificate. Self-service technology will continue to improve and its applications will evolve into useful and intricate mashups that combine home grown content with elements and information from communities all over the Web. Your organization will become an aggregator of content specific to your business and it will become quicker and easier for your customers to get information and solve their own problems than ever before. They will come to rely on a vast outside network of resources, sponsored and condoned by you.

Huh? …You may be thinking that the title of this entry makes no sense. Why should you care about former customers who packed up and took their business elsewhere. Forget them. Right? While it’s true that you may be distant cousins at this point in the relationship, there’s still a relationship that exists nonetheless. Therefore, be aware of how you treat customers in those final moments as they terminate their service. It can leave a powerful and memorable impression of your brand on them. Here are some different examples that demonstrate what I’m talking about…