According to the article, customer service was conceived in the early 20th century. In that era, people "told the clerk behind the counter what you wanted and he fetched it for you." Unfortunately, or fortunately, we are unable to recieve this type of customer service these days. Now, the clerk tells us to do things for him! I have experienced this first hand, at a reputable supermarket chain, a clerk behind the counter asked me to go to the isle and get myself the free packet of biscuits which were supposed to be bundled with the chocolates I had purchased! I had to go and get it myself! I have heard of self service, but this is too much! What this story does prove is that the era of customer service is drawing to a close, and the era where computers aid us in doing the task of what the clerks if the bygone era did for us. The writer says: "now that companies have gotten you used to the idea, they are poised to go all the way." I would agree to this, since we have been exposed to the idea of self-service for so long that there is no uprising against the shift. If all the students of the world were suddenly told by their teachers that there would no longer be any classes, and that they need only come for exams to schools, there would no doubt be an uprising. But, since we have grown so used to keying in our own credit card numbers or swiping our own credit cards at kiosks, we are not disturbed by this change.
One of the first companies to have an online store of their own was apple inc.. They had their online store opened at the start of the internet revolution. Although initially not welcomed, the store grew on people, and now, everyone would rather walk to their computer rather than the store to buy themselves an apple-branded product. Although one has to key in his or her own credit card number, they are able to have a sense of ownership over the computer they purchased online, since this type of purchasing will allow the person to "customize" their computers. Although you do not physically go into the guts of your computer to replace the "RAM," you have a sense of satisfaction that you took part in the process. Consumers are now able to blame their fellow consumer for the queue holdup, since it is them who is doing the checking-in or checking-out.
This means that the companies incur much less consumer dissatisfaction, since the consumers blame each other for the unintuitive process of work the company has designed for them to do. However, the problem of the "pushy salesperson" is overcome. However, as the writer puts it, "... clerks aren't completely going away. You just don't have to see them." The clerks are now more highly skilled, and are required in smaller numbers. This will mean the solving of the problem of the labour shortage being solved. However, it means that we are becoming more dependent on technology for our everyday tasks. This dependence on technology is uncomfortable to some, but no matter how much we fight against it, we have to go the way of technology, since it is the better way most if not all of the time.
Thus, I agree with the writer that the era of customer service is coming to an end, and everything will soon become self-service in the near future.
0 comments:
Post a Comment