I recently encountered a frustrated customer in front of me at the automated checkout. “I just want a croissant!” she told the machine. The machine didn’t answer. “Can I have some help please?” she shouted across the supermarket. The cashier gestured that he’d be there in five minutes. Frustrated, she threw down the pastry and marched out of the shop. I’m sure you’ve seen this one-act drama play out yourself in a branch of your local store. But what can you do when the machines make things harder, not easier, for you and your customers?
In truth, however ergonomically thought through, your website, automated checkout system or chatbot will contain usability challenges and bugs. We are probably a good 10 years away from a reliable, non-infuriating customer service system that requires no physical support. Even then, I’d still be wary and advise you to have staff on the scene. Humans can offer something that a robot can’t: a solution to a problem that they haven’t been programmed to fix. Press ‘croissant x1’ in a hurry too many times can result in a mistake that only a member of staff can fix. A human won’t stand there looking silent and baffled when confronted by a watermelon without a sticker. Can technology get better at this? Yes. Can it always get it spot on? I don’t think so.
The same goes for online chatbots. The advantage of these is that a chatbot can immediately deal with 15 people asking them what their password is for an online store account. The disadvantage is that they have absolutely no idea what department Margot’s hyacinth blue cardigan (that has sort of square buttons) came from. Ultimately, you need human intervention on certain things. Pushing out the latest fad technology just won’t work. If your new proposals don’t answer one question: “Does this benefit the customer?” I’d advise rethinking your plans for introducing tech over humans.
Ultimately, we are moving away from a traditional store attendant model in many areas of customer service. There will be teething problems and no doubt we will all be frustrated by the machines we encounter for many years to come, but let’s make sure that our customers don’t feel the brunt of that change. Keep an ample supply of staff around to help the technologically troubled among us (who hasn’t been angry with a ticket machine?) and always give the customer an opportunity to deal with an actual person about their problem.
I often hear online retailers being blamed for why bricks and mortar stores are failing, but honestly, I’d suggest another reason. If you go into a real-life store, you go for the experience. You want to try on that jacket, chat to the waiter about the specials board and enjoy the ambience of a cafe, store or outlet. If that experience is really poor because it resembles a drawn out, painful battle with a touch screen that doesn’t work, of course you will lose customers and revenue. Cheaper doesn’t always equal better, and what’s convenient for your business might not be the best answer for those choosing to spend their money there.
Your friendly, smiling and supportive staff are an important part of your customer experience. View them as disposable at your peril; if you’d rather speak to them than an order screen, the chances are that your consumers would too.
