First talked about in 1844, written about again in 1854, patented in 1876, argued about for another 10 years, connected across the US in 1915: The Telephone. We cannot forget the importance of Alexander Graham Bell (and many others, to be fair), a native of Edinburgh, Scotland a short trip from the Ciboodle HQ outside of Glasgow. So, here we are nearly 100 years from that first cross country call and the phone remains relevant, even more important than many communication channels which have come on the scene since.
A Chat With Paul Greenberg
“When push comes to shove, social stuff is still, and even email, is degrees of separation. People are nastier in emails than they ever are in person…Consequently, the real one-on-one interaction is always the telephone” Paul Greenberg
I had a great opportunity to spend a few minutes talking with Paul Greenberg while at the Destination CRM show in NYC. It just so happened that during this time we had a video crew on stand-by and were able to spontaneously capture the moments on film, with excellent lighting of course.
During the emergent phase of Social Communications, the phase we are in right now, the core objective of many social platforms is to go get something done on another platform. To some, this is go read this article, to others; this is please go buy something. In the customer service realm, this is often to shift the communications from a channel that is hard, like email or Twitter, to something synchronous and real-time. It is still too difficult to resolve a personal, complex or sensitive issue on a Facebook wall or in 140 characters.
Multi-channel customer service is the wave the present and we will certainly ride this wave into the future. We will see an increase use of social channels for many different things, but we will hop from one channel to the next (Cross-channel) and make contextual decisions based on many things. In the end, when there is an emotionally charged issue, or an urgent issue such as a service outage, insurance claim, bank issue – in person or face to face communication and the telephone will remain critical to problem resolution for many years to come.
“The phone is ultimately how things will get resolved, if it is big enough”
What do you think? Am I being over simplistic? Too conservative in my approach and thoughts? I invite you to give some feedback and challenge me a bit. If you are bold, take a few minutes and take the survey as part of the research we are conducting with thinkJar.
I agree. I think the notion that we will be able to offer service without the need for a voice operation in the future is a step too far for many industries. Our challenge is to optimise demand distribution so that it is served in channel that suits the customer’s need at the time they have it – focusing on low customer effort. In doing this we must be careful not to alienate whole groups of customers. Customers may have a preference to use certain channels for transactional or enquiry type interactions but when it comes to the tougher / more emotionally charged interactions a lot of customers will still want to reach for the telephone and speak to someone.
I find this post interesting, mainly because I don’t have a phone. Since September 18, I have probably made less than 25 phone calls and zero text messages. When I meet someone (mostly other international kids) they ask for my number. They often times are taken aback by the fact I do not have a phone. “How do you communicate?” usually follows. I answer back “Who do I have to communicate with?” I live with the majority of my friends. If I am not in the dorm, I am probably not in a situation where I can talk on a phone/don’t want to. I am in a rare situation, where I am on my own. However, I am still working. One thing I have discovered is that the phone cannot build trust like the face to face interaction. Every single one of my customers (I provide the service of an English teacher) needs to trust the fact that I will show up at the time I told them the previous week.
I understand in big business/international business, the phone is often times the closest thing to direct contact. However, I believe that is changing. I spend almost all of my time with the next generation of professionals (a generous way of saying college students). Chatting, tweeting, facebooking, and texting IS taken very seriously. A fight between a girlfriend and boyfriend can be sparked by a picture tag, BEFORE any direct communication is made. Often times I find myself asking a friend ‘when is so and so going to be here?” “I don’t know, he/she hasn’t texted back.” !!! As an old fashion Vermonter, I wish it wasn’t so. However, I have friends that use the words ‘talking/texting’ synonymously. This is troubling, but the way of the world. My perspective for a growing CRM/Social media is that your next market is going to take social media as seriously as phone calls and personal interactions. Especially in customer service.
To comment what Mr. Greenberg said. I completely agree with you. Problems should be solved over the phone/ in person. We communicate better than any other species and we share ideas better than any other species. However, I have friends who have never made a follow-up call after an application, have never filled out a paper application (meaning online), and don’t know how to look for a job if it isn’t on ‘Craigslist’. Obviously, this problem didn’t even exist until 10 years ago, or so.
I understand you guys are both very successful and progressive thinkers in social media. I have great respect for that. I just want to provide some insight on the next generation.
Hi Andrew,
I’ve been hearing about you for a long time and its funny to finally communicate with you about phone communication via a comment on a blog.
To go to the heart of what you said, while there is no doubt in my (or other like thinkers) mind that social channels e.g. Twitter, Facebook, texting, chatting etc. are serious communications channels they don’t diminish the value of the traditional ones either. Note something interesting. You said that you have no phone YET you said that you’ve haven’t made more than maybe 25 calls since mid-September. Meaning that even without a phone, there were circumstances that compelled you to use a phone because it became the required means of communication. That tells you the power of direct communication. It can’t be ignored simply because other channels exist to communicate in.
The fundamental idea of communication channels is that each of them has a purpose. Some like tweeting etc. are newer and others like face to face communication have been around since the human species has. Even with your generation, I have to presume that most people wouldn’t rather text about an event than be there. The socialization process is complex and it involves lots of different pipelines and even if one generation prefers one way and others other ways, the fact is that the phone has survived several generations and will continue to be there in mobile form at least for a long time to come. Its voice-to-voice and that is fundamental to human communication. Its our DNA. That said, the value of social forms of communication is huge and these are new and important channels that businesses have to take account of and participate in because as you put it well – “…your next market is going to take social media as serious as phone calls and personal interactions.” I couldn’t agree more.
BTW, the fact that those friends of yours who haven’t made a follow up call or filled out a paper (digital) application and can’t find a job without Craigslist. That’s not such a good thing. But it has nothing to do with the new social channels. Different kind of problem.
You’re obviously a very bright guy and aren’t saying a thing that I find fault with but you do have to remember that all the communications channels are viable. Those that aren’t will go the way of the telegraph. The rest will be here a long time to come and since the essence of social is actual human face-to-face interaction – actually, it is the essence of society – that one will be here forever. Social media or any other channels notwithstanding.