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Marin
Independent Journal
Friday, May 11, 2001
Humanity
Vital To Tech Success
Pair Released 'Dummies' Book on Web Service
By
Carolyn R. Saraspi
E-mail
may be a fast, easy and convenient communication tool, but
it could kill business if you're not careful.
Automated e-mail messages can be as impersonal as the typical
form letter, and customers don't appreciate that, says local
consultant Karen Leland.
She
and business partner Keith Bailey talk about maintaining
the human element in e-mail, voice mail and other communication
staples of the digital age in their latest book, "Online
Customer Service for Dummies."
The
new book is an encore to the duo's 1996 "Customer Service
for Dummies," which sold more than 175,000 copies and
is available in 15 languages.
"When
the first book was written, we really didn't have the proliferation
of the Internet or e-mail," Leland says. "It's
a different world than it was."
But,
Bailey adds, "the basics haven't changed, the tools
have."
The
main message of the new book is that companies still need
to establish trust among customers and business partners
- many of whom they'll probably never meet - to gain their
loyalty.
Technology,
whether in the form of a slow e-mail response or inadequate
Web page, can play a part in tarnishing that trust.
For
example, Leland, who lives in San Rafael, said she recently
made inquiries at a couple of online travel agencies.
One
replied with "an incredibly curt response that basically
said, 'I don't know the answer to your question; the offer
is what you see on the Web site, nothing less, nothing more,'
" she says. "I was appalled, I was shocked."
The
second company, on the other hand, "said, 'Thank you,
here's what we do know, what we don't know,'" Leland
said. "Guess which one I went with."
Both
she and Bailey say chapters on developing customer rapport
through e-mail and making sure a business is customer-oriented
are must-reads.
The
book also has guidelines on choosing a relevant domain name,
dealing with customer complaints and putting together a
call center.
Marin
companies Any Mountain and Brightware are mentioned in the
book.
Leland
and Bailey have provided customer service training and consulting
to clients such as Autodesk, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and
Dupont for 17 years, and they also have appeared on television
programs including "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
"Most
of the work we're doing right now with high-tech companies
is putting back the relationship part that has been lost
with the speed-of-light work environment," Bailey said.
"If you don't take a big-picture look, it doesn't matter
what you do, because the technology is not enough."
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