Retail Asia 2018 RA September.October 2018 (Online) | Page 46

E-COMMERCE
Return of human touch in
digital customer experience
The human touch plays a big part
in retail even in the digital world.
Gordon Littley, managing
director of Verizon’s Global
Customer Experience, expounds
more on this and how he
became a repeat customer after
an online transaction he made
encompassed a personal touch.
D
igital transformation has
changed everything when
it comes to the customer
experience. In fact, it
is hard to escape the seemingly
endless drumbeat of emerging digital
technology offerings presented to
businesses as ‘the latest best solution’ to
delivering a better customer experience.
Cloud computing, automation and
artificial intelligence (AI) — and the
data they exchange — have enabled
today’s enterprises to know more about
their customers than ever before.
They promise a better experience
by offering multiple entry channels and
better predictions about ‘the next best
action’, but often overlook the most
important part of that experience: the
customer. There is certainly immense
value in bringing tools and technology
to simplify every interaction with your
brand, but businesses cannot overlook
the fact that on the other side of each
transaction is a human being. And for
some interactions, the best way to help
a human being is with another human
being.
As much as these digital tools will
change the way you provide customer
experience, it will be key to carefully
balance automated touchpoints with
the human touch. Instead of replacing
human interaction, technology should
be used to augment the human
experience in a way that inspires loyalty
to your brand.
The key thing to keep in mind
when it comes to customer experience
is that transactions are rarely
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Retail Asia September/October 2018
transactional. There is an emotional
connection, however slight, that a
customer creates with almost every
product, company and brand. People
invest an incredible amount of time
and effort researching, shopping and
purchasing things they think will solve
a problem, make them happy, show
their love with a gift, and increase their
status or any number of other emotional
reasons.
When a product does not live up
to its promise, it is not just a product
failure. It’s something that can cause a
minor inconvenience, something that
can ruin someone’s day, or in some cases
something that can feel like a complete
betrayal. While you could perhaps fully
automate the customer experience, a
chabot or AI-powered support page can
only do so much.
The customer should always have
the opportunity to work with another
human who can provide empathy during
the make-or-break part of the customer
journey. Even with the best automated
processes, in certain circumstances,
humans still like to talk to humans.
And, the human touch can always
lead to more and unexpected sales
opportunities.
For example, I recently ordered
several items from an outdoor clothing
company. The shopping experience
was completely digital and satisfactory.
However, after I received the goods
I purchase, I received a call from a
“human” checking on my purchases and
if I wanted to exchange any of the items.
This had not happened before, and I
liked it. Not only did I turn into a brand
advocate and loyal customer, but I also
ordered more merchandise right away.
As you work through your digital
customer experience strategy, don’t forget
to keep the human touch a part of your
foundation. Here are the four key things
you need to do to let your customers
know they matter:
Provide choices: Let your
customer decide how they want
to interact with you versus you dictating
how they interact. Sometimes an
automated Tweet is the best way to solve
a problem; other times, it takes a call or
even a face-to-face interaction.
Listen carefully: People have
never been more willing to
share what they think about their brand
experiences.
Act intently: Every customer
experience is the chance to forge
a lifelong fan or lose a customer for life.
Use technology thoughtfully:
The use of data and automation
can greatly improve the customer
experience. Overdo it though, and
the customer experience can be
disingenuous.
As today’s innovative technology
becomes tomorrow’s table stakes, the
human touch will be what separates a
great customer experience from a poor
one. The ability to tie technology and the
human touch together will help deliver
a better customer experience than either
can do alone. ra
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Instead of replacing human interaction,
technology should be used to augment the
human experience in a way that inspires
loyalty to your brand.