Why Phone Support?
I’ve written about whether or not companies should offer phone support in the past. It is an issue that has and still is being debated by a lot of people – from customer service representatives to CEOs of Fortune 100 companies. One of the more recent opinions on the subject came from Sarah at the Chicago-based software company 37signals. Her opinion? Phone support is essentially a waste of time.
I’m perfectly willing to admit that phone calls are not always the most efficient medium for resolving problems. And I also agree with Sarah’s point that phone support can be cumbersome and inconvenient for many customers, businesses, and employees. And I agree that phone support is not as flexible as email support. However, I do have to disagree to some extent.
To preface a little bit, I am a young guy who has grown up using computers and email. I work with technology companies and I use email a lot, I understand email, and I feel that email is a perfectly acceptable medium in many cases. With that in mind, I also like to pick up the phone and talk to people (or companies). For a lot of things, I feel that the phone just works better.
In her post, Sarah mentions two extremes. The first extreme is in the incredibly inefficient call center where customers have to wait on hold forever only to talk to representatives who know little to nothing. The second extreme is 37signals, where the company regularly responds to emails in a helpful and friendly manner within 15 minutes. I don’t think either case is the norm. Most phone calls at most companies don’t take 45 minutes to resolve and most companies don’t reply to most emails within 15 minutes.
Just like email, phones have their advantages as well. Customers like knowing they can talk to someone and get immediate answers. They like knowing that they get their issue resolved in a relatively timely manner (even if a call takes a half hour, chances are most email support replies do not come in that amount of time) and that they can avoid the back and forth that all too frequently results from email support. A lot of times, a 10 or 15 minute phone call can resolve an issue that would take multiple days of going back and forth via email to resolve.
Customers like being able to call because they can talk to someone live and they can (usually) get their issues resolved before they hang up. Email support is generally much slower than 15 minutes. Phone support is generally much faster than 15 minutes on hold. (This is one of the reasons why live chat has become more and more popular – you don’t need to be on the phone and you can still get help live.)
In my post on this subject that I linked to a bit earlier, I pointed out what I feel are three important factors that should determine wheter or not a company should provide phone support:
- Does the business model call for it? (Are you a premium or a budget provider? Given your current pricing and profit level, can you afford to provide phone support?)
- Would the phone help issues get resolved faster? (Talking to someone for the sake of talking to someone doesn’t benefit either party. If issues can be resolved over the phone, then phone support is probably a good idea. If issues aren’t getting resolved over the phone, something is wrong.)
- What are your customers’ expectations? (Does every other provider offer phone support or is email support the norm in your industry?)
I think these factors are still the case. If you’re planning to be the greatest service provider in your industry, you better offer phone support. In a lot of companies, tech support used to be a 9-5 department. Now, in a lot of companies, it’s a 24/7 department. To differentiate, you usually have to go a step beyond what everyone else is doing.
My main piece of advice is to provide support over a medium that your business is suited for and that your business is comfortable with. Email support alone is obviously working for 37signals – they’re growing and the customers like the company. However, just email support won’t work for everyone. Sometimes it is just necessary to pick up the phone and work with your customers live – regardless of how efficient the medium is.