Care about the Web

The telecommunications industry should be feeling a sense of urgency regarding how to better use the Web for customer care.

The public is ready: Some 90-plus million Americans are online, which accounts for 40% of the population older than 16. Businesses are ready: More than 60% of companies contacted in a recent survey indicated that, in the next five years, the Internet will be the most important technology for dealing with customers.

We have arrived at the point where the telecom industry can use Internet technology to its own advantage and benefit customers. There are at least three opportunities for online customer care that will soon become problems for the providers that lag behind: creating real-time sales, adding value to customer care and targeting the most profitable customers.

A surprising number of Web sites fail to offer real-time sales opportunities. Capturing e-market share requires going beyond simple product information, inquiry and completion.

The gold standard for Web sites is the ability to provide a comparison of features, complex product configurations, design, pricing negotiation and order completion and confirmation - all in real time.

Adding value to customer care is not only about reducing costs but reducing customers' cost of doing business with you and their trading partners. Electronic customer care should provide new ways of analyzing billing details and producing meaningful reports online.

A company may miss the target if it implements Web technology to reduce the cost of handling low-revenue customers. However, the reverse may be true.

The Web may be the key marketing and customer-care vehicle for the most profitable customer base. The most profitable customers should be provided with robust Web-based services not available to others. Less profitable customer populations may not be Web-enabled, but they can be shifted into automated voice-response units.

How does your current Web capability measure up? To build more successful online customer-care Web sites, make sure you have incorporated these five capabilities:

- Create an environment of credibility. Is a real-time response provided, or if not, is a customized response provided in a matter of hours? Two- or three-day lag times cancel out the immediate satisfaction that customers get from the Internet experience.

- Streamline the process. Make it easy for customers to place an order, ask a question or get information. Manage the customer's total online experience so the process replaces the service representative in a positive way.

- Engage the customer. Is knowledge about the customer updated during each visit? Keep adding to what you know about profitable customers in a way that rewards them for providing this data. Can your customers join a community of other customers with like interests.

- Refresh customer knowledge. Are you providing a constant flow of information on product introductions and upgrades, pricing announcements and upcoming events? Use the existing knowledge base to help your customers value visiting the Web site.

- Set objectives. Is the Web site designed to produce specific results? Go beyond simple sales objectives and matching the competition. Establish corporate goals that strengthen branding, improve customer satisfaction, create user communities and lower administrative costs on both sides.

Right now, the playing field appears fairly level in terms of carrier Web site performance. No single carrier stands out, but next-generation carriers have an edge because they lack legacy back-office systems that hamper real-time customer order information and product pricing updates.

The formula for success is not simple. At a minimum, however, carriers need a single executive to provide focus and a comprehensive strategy for branding, selling, servicing and engaging the customer. The highest priority should be integrating the Web and back office.

A winner-take-all race is on to determine which carrier will produce the most effective online customer care system. Right now, there are no clear winners.