"Won't you please, please help me," where and when and how I want...

The Beatles had it right  when they sung Help!  Truly, when I was younger I did't need much help, but now that I am older and my priorities have changed in "oh so many ways," I expect not more but different asssitance than even a few years ago.  Organizations employing web-based tools at appropriate service levels can succeed in meeting customer expectations and decreasing shopping cart abandonment rates. However, web self-service alone does not take care of the customer all of time.  Across most demographic segments over half abandon forms online and half of those never intended to fill them out. But engaging a low return customer in exchange for the high value customer ready to purchase is too steep.

Web customer service and sales should keep an eye out for a customer sending the subtle ques just as in traditional brick-and-mortar establishments. Channels such as mobile  and web self-service require none, if only sometimes light human intervention and thus provide more cost-effective results than phone interactions.  But, as we all well know vertical markets exhibit different innovations in this area depedning upon the maturity of the martket, the level of competitive threats they face, and the average value per customer each interaction is worth.

For instance, high-value customers in financial services face more complex tasks and may require more hand holding and assistance online than self service tools can provide.  In this case, combining online assisted service with full agent intervention by phone improves customer loyalty and gives agents the ability to leverage the power of an enterprise’s website.

Also, the insurance vertical, especially auto, health, and homeowners, shows a vast displacement by web customer service of the customer lifcycle.  The reuslt:  the near extinction of the in-person neighborhood insurance agent due to the lower cost of web and mobility based tools but the changing demographic and the newly moneyed consumer’s wish do engage online.  Insurers face losing precious revenue if they don’t figure out the right balancing act between live and assisted customer care tools. 

In retial, when a customer browses for a pair of shoes in a store, the sales clerk doesn't have access to personal choices such as language or other data-centric preferences.  Uniquely, web-based tools provide the combined benefits of the cost savings of other web-based channels while simultaneously delivering the richness of realtime interactions.

When I want assistance it's become expected and goes beyond personalization.  Revenues depend ont it, "and I do appreciate you're bein' 'round," but don't suffocate my ability to feel a sesnse of privacy when I want.  It's a hard formula to perfect.  Likewise, transforming  the purchasing experience could transform into the loyalty of an engaged consumer vs. an abandoned shopping cart and a missed opportunity to win a new customer.