Just last week, Hewlett-Packard did a restructuring of its online customer support. When buyers of its consumer notebooks, desktops, printers, and monitors need help using their products, they can access a peer-to-peer support forum in which members can trade tips and answer each other's questions regarding HP products. Another aspect of the revamp includes free online classes that educate consumers on subjects such as wireless computing as well as building digital scrapbooks. One more component of the overhaul includes the addition of online video which aims to provide tips and tutorials on topics such as connecting dual monitors and configuring a TV tuner on a PC.
According to HP, the overarching goal of this overhaul is to increase customer satisfaction. Tara Bunch, VP for global customer support operations for HP, articulated this view in a statement, claiming that the new support system’s main function of enabling “customers to assist each other through a community and get better support online helps us achieve our goal of improving customer satisfaction worldwide”.[1] In fact, an increase in traffic to the company’s Customer Care site initially spurred HP to make the changes. As more and more customers began to use the online support system, HP wanted to make it more helpful and manageable as a big increase in traffic has the potential for a greater number of dissatisfied customers who find the system to be ineffective. HP realizes that a less than optimal experience with a company can encourage customers to change companies or maybe even return the product for a refund. Therefore, HP would rather give their customers positive experiences than lose them to competitors when customers choose to switch companies after having a negative interaction with HP’s support system.
HP claims that such improvements in its customer technical support have helped it achieve a thirty percent increase in buyer satisfaction. However, aside from this increase in buyer satisfaction, an online support system has two other major advantages. First, vendors monitor these forums in an effort to identify problems with products as well as to gather customer feedback. Second, online services help to cut down on expensive phone support.
I think it’s pretty clear by now that the revamping of HP’s online support system is helping the company to strengthen its customer relationship management system. A primary objective of one of these systems is to increase revenue by providing delightful experiences for the customer. As mentioned above, it sounds as though that HP’s new support system is easy to use and effective and the increase in customer satisfaction indicates that many of its customers are having very delightful experiences with the system. Indeed, the support system is helping HP achieve two of the most important goals of a CRM system. It’s enabling the company to better serve its customers and to treat them better by allowing them to improve the quality of their products as well as gain insight into their feelings and attitudes towards the company via customer feedback. Ultimately, HP’s superior performance in the CRM function of providing after sale service and support should give the company a competitive advantage. Not only does the new support system allow HP to better serve its customers, but it also has the added benefit of cutting costs as it greatly reduces the need for additional employees to administer expensive phone support. The only apparent downside to such a system is that customers won’t always know all of the answers to difficult questions and some customers may become frustrated when they can’t get advice from a real expert. However, overall it appears as though HP is moving in the right direction as the benefits of this new system largely outweigh the costs.
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