The web has radically changed what customer service essentially is. Since customers nowadays has the ability to talk to each other, customer care has to be more than just an e-mail address on a contact page. You can break down the evolution of web-based customer service into four steps:

1. Email / Web form

The most basic form of customer service on the internet  consists of an e-mail address or web form that goes to some kind of customer service. This is a good start, but you can do so much more.

2. FAQ on your site

By also adding the most common questions and answers to the site reduces the proportion of standard questions, and thus the burden on the customer service staff. Such a function can be anything from a simple text page or instructional videos to a huge database of information.

3. Answer the questions where your customers are

A problem today is that many customers do not come to your site, but they discuss and try to solve problems elsewhere. Locating these discussions through automated searches (RSS, Twitter, etc.) and answering the questions there may often be much appreciated.

Apart from this, more and more companies set up customer service accounts on micro-blogging services like Twitter.

4. Let customers solve problems together with you

Last but not least, it is necessary to mention sites like Uservoice and Get Satisfaction, two wonderfully exciting customer service sites where anyone can start a discussion around a company, and companies can contribute by allowing representatives to join in the discussion. Who knows, your company may already be there without you knowing about it?

These sites are some of the best examples of modern consumers taking matters into their own hands and producing content instead of being passive recipients. Here, companies have the possibility to develop their services and products together with the customers, which is a great way of strenghtening the company and it’s brand.

(This is an updated version of a previous post written in Swedish.)