Credit where tech credit is due

 

By Ariella Brown

Credit for keeping the service in automated service 

When was the last time you were delighted by an automated process from your credit card?

Tech innovation doesn't always deliver a better customer experience, as we saw in Customers and brands are not on the same page about tech. A lot of automations that companies implement  tend to frustrate customers as they're designed for cost-cutting rather than service. 

Customers are discouraged from even attempting to speak to people at companies that  either offer only "live" chat or email for contact or who put customers through endless rounds of menus and wait times that can extend to an hour. But when a company does get it right with an automated response that saves the customer time while delivering just the outcome hoped for, the company deserves credit for doing it right.

Such is the case for Bank of America. This week I discovered that I retained a large credit on the card. That was due to my having put in the payment for the statement balance twice. I first put it on July 3 and didn't see it applied, so I put it in again on July 5. When an email let me know that my balance was a negative number, I inferred that both payments went through. 

Not wanting to keep that balance until I'd spend it down, I wanted to request a refund check. When calling in and putting in the number, the system identified the credit balance and offered the option to get a refund. This was then confirmed with an email.

That was wonderfully easy and fast.There was no additional time spent on going over the account, the mailing address, or any of the other things one has to review when calling an online seller like Amazon about an issue on a delivery. 

 When the automations are set up to offer what people really want, then they do save everyone time and aggravation. We need more of this and less of the kind of tech that is used only for the seller's immediate benefit and not for the customers.

In truth, what benefits customers benefits the business because happy customers are the ones you retain and who add the most lifetime value (LTV).

Related:
Visualizing the customer journey
Keeping it Rrreal

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