These organizations never anticipated the resources that would be required to field such an onslaught of online inquiries. In fact, recent studies show that it usually takes days and sometimes weeks for customers to get answers to very simple questions. Still, customers demand that organizations support e-mail as an alternative mode of communication. And e-mail is just the tip of the iceberg. Today, customers visiting web sites want real-time options and access to live agents.
Customers can service themselves a large the majority of the time.
And organizations can track the types of questions asked in order to hone in on a variety of issues and opportunities that improve business and service. The end result is that customers decide to come back again and again, because they know they will be able to find the answers they need each and every time. This frees up employees to focus on the more complex issues that require personalized responses.