Self-service - a step toward customer loyalty

FROM SELF-SERVICE bookings to kiosks for movie payments, bank ATMs to prepaid airtime payments from a mobile phone, there are now scores of IT-based  self-service tools  already in use  in everyday life.

But Kevin Meltzer, business development director at Consology, believes that the self-service revolution is only just beginning.  "To remain competitive, companies must strive to offer their customers convenient and accessible service channels that offer a consistent level of service no matter where and when customers use them."

He points out that in addition to reducing the cost of service, self-service speeds up customer interactions and often improves their experience when dealing with a company.  "We  can expect to see a range of developments in the self-service market in the year to come," he adds.

ALL ABOUT THE SAVINGS

Companies around the world are looking at ways to cut costs amid the worst economic storm in decades. Most are starting to take the knife to their technology budgets, with only the initiatives that promise to deliver genuine cost-savings likely to be spared. Research group Forrester predicts that the global economic crisis will cause worldwide spending on IT products and services to drop by 3% in 2009.

Meltzer says that a good way for companies to cut costs is to incentivise customers to use the channel you want them to use. "It costs money to keep a call centre going, and customer service agents in branches also cost money. Why not offer clients an incentive to use self-service options and reduce those overheads?" he asks.

This opinion is mirrored in a Frost & Sullivan report called ICT Opportunities in an Economic Downturn. The report identifies transactions via mobile phones, electronic billing services and self-service systems such as branchless banking as some areas that should do well in the downturn. Self-service is one of the few areas where companies are likely to invest more, rather than less. The reason for this is that self-service allows companies to improve customer service levels without growing headcount.

"Self-service generates cost savings from automating transactions and deflection of calls from the contact centre while ensuring that customers can access convenient service and support when they need it," says Meltzer. "Self-service can be more cost-effective for customers, too, so they will embrace it eagerly as they try to make their spending power stretch further." He references a survey commissioned by NCR in the US, which found that 72% of the consumers would be more likely to shop with a retailer that gives them the flexibility to interact easily via online, mobile and kiosk self-service channels versus a retailer that does not.

CHANNELS

The internet, mobile devices, and multifunctional kiosks are just some examples of the channels that companies need to offer, according to Meltzer. Kiosks and mobile phones are likely to become more important for South African companies that want to service customers from the lower-end of the market, who usually do not have access to an internet connected PC. "The mobile channel could turn out to be a game changer for the self-service world," he says.

"Some benefits the cellphone offers as a self-service channel include portability, location awareness, ubiquitous connectivity and higher market penetration. By the end of the first quarter of 2008, there were more than 42 million mobile subscribers in South Africa. Even if one allows for some subscribers holding more than one account or being inactive, it is clear that the mobile phone is the best channel to take self-service into the mainstream in a country where internet penetration remains relatively low. Getting it right will involve a great deal of work in integration of back-end systems to ensure that customers get a consistent service whichever channel they use."

Most customer-carrying companies in South Africa offer at least some basic self-service offerings, such as electronic billing and payments and account management. Meltzer says that the human touch is vital, but it needs to become more efficient - and limited to difficult queries. For everything else, there`s self-service.