Jun 4, 2022
Your Customers Want Self-Service, and Here’s What You Need to Know about Why
You bend over backwards to provide helpful customer service. You look for the best team members, with the right attitude and aptitude to take care of your customers in every way.
What it means to “take care” of customers is changing. So, while a focus on customer service is a sound and proven strategy, it could be what your customers want most is for your employees to leave them alone. Customers would rather take care of themselves with self-service.
However, self-service isn’t the only service that customers want. There are times when self-service doesn’t work, and only having that option will create a bad experience.
In this episode, we discuss why people want self-service and what any company should consider when providing customers that option. We also talk about when self-service doesn’t work and why—and those reasons might surprise you.
Key Ideas to Improve Your Customer Experience
Two stats caught our attention from consumer research company Attest’s US Food and Beverage Report from July 2021. The first was 72 percent of Gen-Z shoppers would rather use self-checkout at the grocery store, and the second was that 68 percent of all shoppers would rather try clothes and makeup online with the help of a virtual tool. Attest’s research indicates that younger people like self-service for everyday interactions. It also suggests that shoppers of any age are pretty happy with online shopping for things that were traditionally in-person purchases.
Here are a few key moments in the discussion:
- 04:33 We start off the conversation by discussing if this is about wanting more or less human interaction or a generational thing.
- 07:56 Ryan shares the most important question to ask regarding making the move to a self-service channel (Hint: it’s about customers).
- 12:24 Colin talks about how he uses self-service in his Freedom Boat Club membership and why he prefers booking flights online over talking to a company representative (Hint: It’s because he’s picky).
- 17:18 Ryan explains how customers wanting to be in control is a significant driver in a self-service preference, and why not everybody feels that way.
- 18:27 Ryan explains some of the psychology that is underneath these preferences and needs, as well as suggesting a summer reading assignment for our listeners that want to know more.
- 22:33 We get into the advice we have for firms regarding self-service for their experiences as well as what to avoid in those situations.
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Customer Experience Information & Resources
LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' As a result, he has 290,000 followers of his work. Shaw is Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy as one of the best management consultancies for the last four years in a row. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University.
Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 35,000 subscribers.
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