Special Focus: Ops & Fulfillment

If they’re online, figure out whether it’s worth addressing the situation. Do you want them online while you’re on the phone? The cost advantage of self-service on the Web no longer applies; the full expense of any inbound phone call has been triggered anyway.

But now you have some new opportunities, including the chance to teach customers how to deal with any online order problems, so the self-service option gains relevance again. Spending that kind of teaching time on the phone can show how much you want to support the relationship and participate together, and it’s well worth the labor and telephone cost if you end up with a successfully completed transaction instead of an abandoned online shopping cart.