The Magic Of Immediate Customer Service

When it comes to customer service, there’s nothing quite like delivering an immediate response.

Google optimizes the delivery of search results down to the last millisecond. That’s because fast web sites delight people. They like it when web pages appear quickly, when sites are snappy and responsive. People love it when they order something on Amazon and they get the package on-time, as promised, two days later. The same holds true for customer service in every business.

When it comes to Speechpad, nothing makes me happier than a happy customer. Companies spend a lot of time putting CRM systems in place and hiring and training customer support people. Yet there remains nothing quite so magical as getting back to a customer immediately.

Not the next day; not in a few hours; right away. Granted, we can’t always respond to customers immediately, but we try to get back to them immediately as often as possible. At Speechpad, customers have questions about uploading very large files, about pricing, about 24 hour turnaround. We try to address many of these questions through our web site and our FAQ.

Yet there’s nothing customers like quite so much as knowing there’s someone on the other end of their email or phone call who cares about getting their transcription done on time. As self-serve as our web site is, customers like to know, especially when they first start working with us, that we’re dedicated to delivering great transcriptions.

And nothing makes me happier when it comes to customer service than responding to their inquiries immediately. There is something magical about immediate customer service. That means when an inquiry comes in, we respond right away.

Even in a hyper-connected world where dozens of new tweets appear every minute, getting back to people right away–truly right away–remains magical. There’s simply no substitute for that level of immediacy and responsiveness, whether it’s during the business day or on a night or weekend.

Highly responsive customer service not only shows you’re responsive, it gives customers a positive feeling about your company. It differentiates you from the competition.

So when it comes to customer service, think about response times. Don’t let emails sit in the queue until you have the perfect answer. Don’t send an automated message. Send a personal reply and do it right away. Immediacy matters.