One of the things which can help improve customer service is complaining (I should try this in other areas of life!). Seriously though, what's being referred to here is - that there are too many people who receive poor service, and simply due to the stressful process of complaining, they just walk away. They forsake their rights as consumers, as customers and at the same time, the problem doesn't get noticed by the right people and continues to persist.
My first life-lesson in complaining about a product or service happened around the age of 14. I was munching away on a packet of Peanut M&Ms, and came across a freak one; somehow it that had ended up with a strange combination of green with turquoise. It was just the one from the whole pack. But I'd eaten enough of these (not necessarily a good thing!) to remember the Customer Service information printed on the back of the pack.
So putting together a complaint letter to the confectionery manufacturer, I prepared the Freepost envelope & plodded along to the closest pillar box.
To be honest, I didn't really expect anything to happen (it was a first experience doing this). So it came as a pleasant surprise when an apology letter arrived from the company, and that bundled generously with gift vouchers amounting to the value of around 15 packs of M&Ms!
For many of us, perhaps its due to past experience with poor service quality or an 'I can't be bothered' attitude, whatever the reason, all-the-often we don't bother to complain. And guess what this leads to? Yes, you got it, even poorer service.
Let me now glimpse over some of the areas where I believe Amazon can improve the customer experience.
1. Provide local storage
One of the factors contributing to the cost for customers in a number of countries is the courier charge (your DHLs). Every item must be individually packaged and sent off from a limited number of storage warehouses. The UK Amazon warehouse for example, is based in Swansea, South Wales (incidentally where I lived for most of my life!).
If Amazon were to identify globally dispersed hotspots where certain products are greatest in demand, they could establish smaller, local depots covering defined catchment areas. This could be restricted to high-demand items. The logistical processes would be more refined and the cost saving can be passed on to the customer. Amazon would gain a competitive edge in remote markets where often lucrative and untapped options remain latent.
2. More than 1-click
One of the features offered by Amazon is the '1-click' order process - seems like a really neat idea and it can be for many people. You'll come across this for example when ordering an e-Book from the Kindle Store. Simply click the button one-time and the order is placed, your bank account is charged, and the e-book download is triggered automatically. All thru a single click.
It shows how powerful technology can be, since a fair number of complex business and IT processes work in synergy in order to facilitate this.
For myself, I'd like to have at least a confirmation after the button is clicked. A sort of 'Are you sure (Y/N)' message. That little step gives one time to think, before placing the final order.
Of course there are order cancellation processes, but I'd still like that step as a check before committing to spend hard earned money on a particular transaction.
3. Greater diversity
Highlighted in my former post, there is ample scope to improving the range of products Amazon can offer. They have the business model in place to support a wider spectrum of products than currently available. Continued exponential growth of the Internet only serves to increase the opportunities available to Amazon.
Managing product quality is more difficult with resellers, so widening their own offerings would make the shopping experience more interesting and reliable at the same time.
4. Researching Customer Needs
Expending effort to discover your customer's needs is an extremely powerful tool which helps to gauge what products and services are greatest in demand; you're more likely to achieve a decent sales target, marketing tartan in Scotland, rather than in Malaysia.
So having an intimate understanding of the customer needs and the gaps in a particular market allows you to develop a unique offering for which the demand can great.
There are a number of perspectives around this; consider for example the weather - so in the summer, the demand for portable Air Conditioners will increase. Whereas in the Autumn-time, the demand for garden rakes will increase.
I hope these posts will provide some interesting food for thought.
Regards,
Musab Qureshi
