Google+ Hangouts and the Future of Customer Service

Being personable and knowledgeable a must for future Customer Service Reps

This is not just for brands, mind you, this is also for all of us consumers. I’ve worked in a call center before. It was a political call center, but still, I imagine the environment is the same for the stables of telephone customer service reps (CSRs) worldwide. They sit in their cubicles accepting calls getting reamed over the phone sometimes… and for awhile we seemed to be moving toward chats and digital/text based models (based on my personal experience as a consumer). Without being able to hear a person talk, we are even further removed from the human element of business-to-customer interaction.

However, with the ability to Hangout with a dedicated team of CSRs, we are able to return to a level of human interaction long since forgotten with the advent of the tele-call centers.

Why This is Good for Consumers

Ever feel like you’re talking to someone who is busy flipping through a magazine and barely paying you attention on the phone? Well, with a Hangout, you’ll be able to see exactly what is going on with your CSR. They have to pay attention to you because they can be seen! It becomes more like a brick-and-mortar interaction.

“But sometimes brick-and-mortar interactions are equally as frustrating because of rude individuals..”

Yes, I believe this is true. However, if Google were to implement their record function and allow a consumer to save their CSR call (just like companies record their phone calls) then the CSR on-hand would be aware that their service was being recorded and would strive to do their best. I imagine that the wide-spread implementation of this function/process would encourage CSRs across the board to endeavor to excel at their jobs. Can you imagine the benefits of being able to share an excellent or horrible CSR experience with people via video? YouTube? Imagine how fast an outstanding video would spread.

The existence of being able to record Video/CSR calls and the resulting share-ability would cut down significantly on poor experiences – hiring practices would improve – you could compare one company’s CSRs against another. Competition breeds excellence, right? Don’t you want a better form of competition that leads you to getting better customer service? I know I would.

Why This is Good for Brands and Businesses

Having a carefully recruited Hangout-based CSR team would do wonders for any brand or business. You’re connecting with your consumer base on a more human level. Finally, we are able to get back to delivering excellent customer service – with smile. A smile that doesn’t have to be imagined by the consumer.

Being able to see and record and analyze calls would be a boon to a marketing research team and also for encouraging CSR teams/individuals to excel in their position. How much can you tell by analyzing phone calls? Body language is an indicator that you simply cannot get by relying on voice-to-voice interactions (unless you count sighs, or someone chucking their phone at the wall).

And – because of my proposed ability to provide the customer with their own copy of a CSR Hangout interaction – a company’s dedication to excellent customer service can be realized with minimal cost – organic sharing – heck, CSRs could become superstars in the social realm. “Bob from the +Ford Motor Company team was so helpful and friendly in my call to him about our truck’s radio features- here, take a look!” – and there’s Bob; smiling, laughing with the customer – helping out.

However, before you get that PR twinkle in your eyes business owners/recruiters/marketing teams – this will require you to hire people who are excellent people-to-people… people! CSRs will become the faces of your company – no longer can you speak from behind a logo – “the man behind the curtain” effect will fall to the way-side… but I think this is a good thing.

So who is going to do it first?

So, really, I’m looking for the first company to give this a shot. A real shot – not a one off customer service experience that is done for the sake of a PRWeb Press Release. I’m talking dedicated CSRs maintaining Google+ profiles (oh goodness, they could keep records of past calls on their profile!) that have the ability to Hangout during business hours.

Also – what sort of practices do you think brands can implement via Hangout or G+ in general that would make a great customer service experience for you? Would having a video library of past experiences/calls be something you’d like to see? Imagine being able to pick your own CSR. Cool, eh? Do you think this sort of model is sustainable?