What’s the Best Channel for Communicating With Customers? Part 2

In this follow-up article, I look at voice, social media and mobile support as customer service channels and the benefits of using each.

Voice Support
I'll start with the telephone, the longest-standing way to communicate with customers. Voice remains popular for the following reasons:

• People like the "human touch." People like to speak to other people; it makes them feel valued.
• It's immediate. Voice offers an immediate channel to the company, so issues can be resolved quickly.
• It's convenient. Most people own a telephone (either home or mobile).
• It's expected. Consumers expect retailers to offer customer service via the phone.

Despite its longevity, voice as a customer service channel does have some drawbacks. For example, when a company is experiencing high call volumes (e.g., following an incident), customers tend to get frustrated when kept on hold.