Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution that led to the manufacturing and mass demand of goods and commodities being the primary component in maintaining a flourishing economy, the United States of America, and in turn the world, have centered their economies around 1 thing: the customer.
The customer is the primary subject guiding companies in almost all facets of business and decision-making. Whether it’s making a product cheaper, more accessible, more usable, or a service faster, more seamless, more resource and labor-efficient, ‘perfect customer experience’ remains the top goal companies are chasing. While one no longer has to make physical trips to a store or factory to file a customer complaint or get customer support from a service or product provider, improving customer service is one of the key ways companies are able to stay relevant and competitive in hyper-saturated markets.
So how have companies leveraged their resources to improve customer service in the past? With the invention of call centers and toll-free numbers in America during the 1960s and Interactive Voice Responses (IVR) in the 1980s, what is now the common practice of customer call support became popularized. American housewives became the first wave of call agents to occupy such roles, spearheading this phenomenon. Later, as companies sought cheaper options, outsourcing such services from countries abroad became popular. Then with the boom of mass communication and the Internet in the 90s came more mediums of customer service and support through email, websites, etc… Social media’s popularization in the 2000s further accentuated the distancing relationship between the customer and service/product provider, but increased the convenience and seamlessness with which customers could interact with companies, from the comfort of their own home online.
But with increased accessibility and communication came platforms for customers to publicly rate, rank, compare, and review services and products. Customers are now so accustomed to reviews that they are statistically likely to spend 31% more on a company with ‘excellent’ online reviews, making it the single most influential factor in guiding a purchase across industries. Just like one might view social media profiles as an accurate portrayal of someone’s success and happiness offline, a company’s online reputation and image is what is being absorbed by potential customers online, affecting how they interact and contribute to it. Thus today, customer service as we know it is primarily online through ratings, social media, and marketing. If a company’s leader wants to retain sustainable success in the market, monitoring their online presence and ratings is arguably one of the most important things they can do.
By Trisha K Venkatesh
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- https://omq.ai/blog/customer-service-history/
- https://www.tcn.com/a-brief-history-of-call-center-agents/#:~:text=Call%20Centers%20Originate%20in%201960s,were%20housewives%20in%20the%201950s
- https://www.invespcro.com/blog/the-importance-of-online-customer-reviews-infographic/#:~:text=Customers%20are%20likely%20to%20spend,business%20with%20%E2%80%9Cexcellent%E2%80%9D%20reviews.&text=86%25%20of%20people%20will%20hesitate,increase%20in%20a%20business’s%20revenue