I have judged the http://www.asponline.com/ annual web support site awards for a couple of years. I took a break for two years and am back this year again. I got my packet of review materials from five entrants late last week. In past years I have had more entries for companies whose sites I admire. This year I received entries for lesser known companies or more B2B companies.
So selfishly, I have less to learn from the entry essays this year but there are always nuggets of wisdom to be found.
Outside of the competition, I have noticed some interesting trends that are not yet captured in the judging guidelines. For example, Web 2.0 seems to be almost ignored by larger technology sites. I note Dell as a major exception here - they have created a progressive customer engagement site, Dell Community. The components are video (delivered via a Flash UI), Ideas (an ideas exchange), Forums (the same as the old forums but a good Lithium forum implementation) and Blogs. There are a few other elements here like Wikis and Podcasts and RSS that hark to an older form of engagement. So what is progressive about this? Video - the video player uses real technicians and engineers to show and tell. The player directly links to the buy-path of the products shown. Videos can be rated and commented upon. The ideas exchange is a place for customers to directly tell Dell product marketing people and support people what the feel about the products now and how they want Dell products to be shaped in the future. Another company who embraces this idea is Lego - Mindstorms is a classic example of direct customer engagement. Lego is openly discussing new feature choices with key customer segment volunteers.
Another trend missing in the ASP judging guidelines is the trend towards integrated support that is both visible and invisible to the customer. Broadband vendors have embraced vendors like SupportSoft to help them with the multifarious connectivity issues in phone, cable and multi-play scenarios. You barely see the software unless a problem arises. Even when you do see it, the software is auto-checking the issue - interaction is rarely needed. Symantec doploys chat tools and knowledgebase directly embedded in the product interface - Norton 360 is a good example of this. Look at any Microsoft Office product to see integrated knowledgebase right in the product UI. Why assume that a customer will know to go to your website. In the case of Microsoft, it is a gamble that they would find the right section of your site to get the help they need. Present the help where it is needed and give yourself the opportunity to update the messaging and to gather rich usage data. Support Chat is much more than it seems on the surface - it implies so much more when you see what comes with it - it usually is allied to a scripting tool - somewhat like BAT files - which allows remote computer discovery and the ability to effect changes remotely. Initiating a Chat session can trigger a set of self-checking routines that make a customer interaction with a support agent unnecessary. If your PC is acting badly because the CPU is overloaded, the auto-checking scripts can find this quickly and alert you before you get thru to a person. It's easier for the customer and saves CSR time.
In short, I see much web support today (2008) based around a transactional break-fix and search/navigate model. I believe the next generation of support will be much more about customer engagement, sharing, rating and automated self-diagnosis. The B2B area may take longer to embrace this but there are signs that this area is catching on too.
No comments:
Post a Comment