How great is chat—the ability to receive quality support without having to be stuck on the phone? Beautiful!
Recently, I was looking for the email address of a local Office Depot in Oklahoma City, so I accessed the specific store’s website, assured I would easily find the email address for the delivery of a print job. Alas, it was nowhere to be found. The site, however, offered a chat option. Like many chat systems, I was asked several questions upfront, including my name and the nature of my inquiry.
Unlike many chat services I‘ve used, I was not asked to repeat all the same information again once I was actively chatting with a support representative. You know how frustrating it can get when you provide all the needed details, only to be asked for them a second or third time. Just pass the information I provided to the support representative and don’t waste my time asking for it again and again. I asked the representative for the email address, and after a couple of back and forth questions to make sure we were on the same page, I was given the specific store’s email.
Awesome! This is how chat is supposed to work: no wasted effort, just ask a question and get a response. I sent off my print job and went about the rest of the day, knowing I would circle back to that Office Depot store and pick up my request. When I arrived at the store and checked in at the front desk, I was surprised to hear my job had not been received. Total bummer! I gave them the email address I was given by the chat support representative, and to my dismay, it was the wrong one.
After I got my job printed (of course I had my print job on a memory stick—you should always have a backup plan in place), I got to thinking about the juxtaposition of my joy from the original chat experience and the disappointment of the ultimate fail. Here’s the thing: regardless of how amazing you make your customer experience to be, all is for naught if you don’t provide accurate information.
The best course of action would have been for the Office Depot website to have accurately provided the correct email address—and every important contact information needed on that note—on their website. Failing that, there is absolutely no excuse for the chat support representative to have provided the wrong email address, especially after making sure they had the correct store location.
As I frequently say, good self-service beats great personal service, and that includes providing accurate information in a secure and easy-to-access manner. How many places does your organization potentially provide inaccurate information? Don’t leave it up to chance—thoroughly vet all sources of customer service and ensure that the support is consistently delivered and always accurate.