Whether you have a Digital Value Point (DVP) depends on your type of business and the channels through which customers experience your customer service.
Although having a DVP sounds like some contagious disease, you can only catch it if your business communicates with customers in the following three ways.
- Face-to-face via a shop or retail outlet
- On the telephone, as part of a customer service call centre
- Via an eCommerce website.
As my rather crude diagram below shows, the DVP lies where these three communication channels overlap.
Why is it important to recognise you have a DVP?
If you are in this position the chances are that your business has evolved from retail, to online, to having a customer service call centre. If so, you have a mature or established business. With this comes an expectation of the very best in customer service communication skills.
On the shop floor, customers expect you to
- Engage with them and develop a rapport
- Be polite and courteous
- Know your product extremely well
- Provide additional information, when required
- Ensure that the experience is worth a repeat visit.
When online, your customers expect content that is
- Speedy to use and navigate
- Rich in rapport so they want to scan, skim or even read it
- Relevant to their needs as a buyer
- High in credibility so they are willing to buy?
When on the telephone, your customers expect you to
- Answer their questions swiftly and efficiently
- Effortlessly manage all of the screens and systems in front of you
- Process their orders or requests.
At any time each of these sales and communication channels can replace the other. Which one a customer uses will depend up on habit, convenience and past experience.
Each channel has to offer a customer service experience as good as the other. Remember, some people feel that calling the a Customer Service number, is the equivalent to calling the head office, so they expect an even better service.
In a nutshell…
Customer service and the DVP is about
- Excellent communication skills
- Digital proficiency (website, eCommerce and CMS)
- Great product knowledge
- Sales know-how – so you can suggest additional items
- Calm composure – for when things go wrong
- An ambassadorial nature – especially when you are the first point of contact
- Flexibility – the ability to juggle all of the above
In many cases these skills are underestimated or taken for granted. That’s why companies with a DVP tend recognise this and invest in those who are at the forefront of the customer experience.
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