Can customers tolerate long waits (Harvard Business Review article)
Corporations seriously try to improve the customer experience and want customers to be satisfied. Sometimes, though, customers have to wait on us. For example when checkout lines take too long, customers complain and do not like waiting. This is also true when serving customers in a department store. If employees take a long time, customers become dissatisfied…or do they? Enter the Harvard business Review:
Customers can be okay with long waits
In a recent study, researchers found that customers can tolerate long waits and value our service when they can see what we are doing to meet their needs. Apparently, just knowing what is happening improves their experience.
In their study, Buell and Norton conducted an experiment using two simulated travel website. On the first site, customers quickly received their airline results while on the second site, customers waited longer (and both sites generated the same flight options). Otherwise, the sites are identical with one exception that influenced customers to rate the second site higher, even with the longer wait times.
Here is what was different with the second site: While waiting, the site showed customers how it searched for flights (from airline to airline) and provided an update as it happened. Customers seemed to prefer this even though they had to wait up to minute longer. In real life, the travel website Kayak does this by showing customers each airline as it searches.
How companies show transparency
The researchers provided some interesting examples. On Apple’s automated voice response system, the company added prerecorded typing sounds to give callers the impression that the system typed the customer’s query. Spanish bank BBVA’s ATMs shows a video of bills being counted while customers wait. Our U.S. Postal Service installed screens to show customers each step being taken by postal works who are helping them.
What can you do to show transparency?
Some employees have changed their behaviors to improve the customer experience. Here are a few examples. The intent of this list is to give you an idea for some things you can do. Some of these may not be applicable or even work.
- Instead of putting a customer on hold, let the customer hear what you are doing (even talking with peers).
- When working on a computer to resolve a customer inquiry and the customer is with you, let the customer see what you are doing on your monitor.
- If a customer emails you about a problem, you might need some time to research the request. Let the customer know that you received the email and explain the timeline. Provide periodic updates to let the customer know that you haven’t forgotten and that you recognize how important his or her query is to you.
The source
http://hbr.org/2011/05/think-customers-hate-waiting-not-so-fast/ar/1
1995-2011 Presentions & Workshops
Formative Evaluation: The Potential for Improving Distance Learning Delivery
01 April 1995, Penn State and University of Illinois Symposium
Fostering Student Engagement at a Distance
01 August 1995, 11th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning
Research to Practice: Implications for the Continuing Professional Educator
01 October 1995, NUCEA Regional Conference
Eight Ways That Performance Technologists Can Help “Accidental” Project Managers
13 April 2005, ISPI Conference, Cracker Barrel event
21 April 2009, ISPI Conference, Cracker Barrel event
Win and “WOW!” Clients & Sponsors through Stories about Performance Maturity
13 April 2005, ISPI Conference
08 July 2005, Tampa Bay ISPI Chapter
22 April 2009, ISPI Conference
Improving Performance at Certegy Check Services
15 October 2005, Tampa Bay ISPI Chapter
Improving Performance through Training & Documentation
04 April 2006, ASTD Suncoast Sarasota Specialty Interest Group
Design Tactics
6-Aug-2006, Tampa Bay ISPI Chapter, workshop
Guaranteeing Interventions: Nine Formative Evaluation Techniques that Help
06 August 2006, Tampa Bay ISPI Chapter
20 April 2007, ISPI Conference
01 June 2007, ASTD Suncoast Chapter
07 April 2008, ISPI Conference
21 April 2009, ISPI Conference
Engaging the Organization
08 November 2007, Tampa Bay ISPI Chapter
Engaging Learners
08 Nov 2007, Tampa Bay ISPI Chapter, workshop
Practical Tactics that Improve the “Design” in Instructional Design
04 Apr 2008, ISPI Conference, workshop
Becoming an Expert
08 May 2008, Tampa Bay ISPI Chapter
CPT Reviewer’s Workshop
05 June 2008, ISPI workshop, Tampa Florida
Knowledge Management Ain’t Training Materials
13 November 2008, Tampa Bay ISPI Chapter
Managing and Communicating the Instructional Design Process Certificate
05 December 2008, Training Magazine Live + Online
Viability in Difficult Economic Times
29 January 2009, Tampa Bay ISPI Chapter
Summarizing Multiple Departments’ Performance Issues to Executives: A Performance Maturity Methodology
01 September 2009, ASTD Suncoast Sarasota Specialty Interest Group
To Engage or Disengage Learners
14 September 2009, American Express internal webinar
Explaining Multiple Performance Issues to Executives
18 November 2009, ISPI webinar (called “SkillCast”)
I Hate Recognition…Because It Is Hard to Give and Tough to Take
20 November 2009, Tampa Bay ISPI Chapter
Project Management for Technical Communicators
01 December 2009, STC Suncoast Chapter
Project Management for Instructional Designers
01 December 2009, Gary DePaul Virtual Workshops
Performance-based Instructional Design
18 April 2010, ISPI Conference, workshop
Organizations shouldn’t regard training materials as knowledge management
20 April 2010, ISPI Conference
Five behaviors needed when talking with executives and clients
23 April 2010, ISPI Conference, Cracker Barrel event
12 April 2011, ISPI Conference, Cracker Barrel event
Human Performance Technology (HPT)
11 October 2010, Notre Dame MBA Attendees
Building HPT Organizations: Panelists’ Success Stories, panelist
12 April 2011, ISPI Conference
Getting Leadership Buy-in: Business Support Plan, co-presenter
13 April 2011, ISPI Conference
Call Centers Can Improve the Customer Experience
Call center management is infamous for not empowering their agents to improve the customer experience. On an AMA Edgewise podcast (9 minutes and 46 seconds), Michael Alter of SurePayroll explains how his leadership improves the customer experience. They not only know how to own their customer’s concerns, but the leadership empowers the agents to do the right thing (by following three simple guidelines). Here the podcast:
…more on the call center customer experience coming soon.
