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Contacting Your ISP Customer Support

 Over the past 10-15 years, the handling of customer support complaints and problems has improved a lot. Back in the old days you only had the option to pick up the phone and call someone anytime you needed to reach the customer service department.  Today, we have multiple means of contact to pick from. Each with its different aspects: phone, email, SMS, video chat, Facebook, Twitter, and Internet formats, just to name the obvious ones. Each mode of communication has it’s merits & demerits. It’s useful to be mindful of the pros and cons of each channel you prefer using. We’ll be describing different ways of contacting customer support. Read on below as we help you choose a preferred way of contacting an ISP. Let’s have a look!

Synchronous channel

The phone call falls under this grouping. Both require the mutual presence of both the client and service staff at the same time. The upside is that they are both able to hold an efficient dialogue back and forth, and easily find a common ground quickly where the question can be answered. However, the downside is you’ve got to wait a while in line for several minutes before an agent is available. Moreover, if you are outside service hours, there’s no way to get in contact with the firm no matter how urgent or serious the issue is. However, several companies offer 24/7 support as well, for instance, spectrum customer service is available all day around to get you a quick solution that hits the mark 100% of the time. In this context, we are talking of instant gratification.

Similarly, live chat falls under the same category and requires an agent to be present simultaneously, unless it’s a chatbot at the other end. Live chats are usually a quick way of getting in touch, with minimal wait time comparatively. Chatbot proves to be beneficial for companies as it can collect data across various channels and gets a better idea of who the customer is and the reason for their call. That in turn, lets representatives and employees connect accordingly with the customer they want to deal with. It also helps in routing customers proficiently that reduces overall queuing and session time, resulting in improving customer satisfaction.

Asynchronous channels

All sorts of communication channels like SMS, Email, Facebook, and other social media platforms are considered to be asynchronous channels. Email gives you a freehand of sending in your queries whenever its feasible for you and likewise, you can respond whenever it suits you. Since it does not require the agent to become available, you can simply move on with other tasks you have. From the business point of view, in case you don’t have customers queued upon the phone, you don’t have to worry about staffing up to handle the rush time.

Quite similar is the case with SMS, you don’t wait for the rep. to reply to your message. You could expect a reply back in a few hours or could even take a day or two, depending upon the workload and the efficiency of the support team. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you get an immediate response or not, once you’ve sent your question.

Additionally, social media also provides ways of communication in the form of Facebook and Instagram. Since every other person uses these types of platforms to stay connected, companies find them a great way of marketing their business to a large number of people worldwide. This is what makes them pay the most attention to social media that offers a cheaper way of advertisements and effectively communicate with potential consumers. They work quite similar to live chats and answers to your queries quickly.

While determining how quickly each of these channels can have responded, it is always a good idea to consider how each channel can be utilized and for what purposes it is good for. For example, via email, you can easily attach pictures of anything that gets broken or screenshot of the particular error. And when answering, emailing you a PDF instruction manual as an attachment is much convenient for a service person, rather than having to demonstrate on the phone on how to fix your internet.

Conclusion

While customer support works as the key element for any successful company, it has transformed a lot since the past few years. If you are trying to provide your customers with the best customer service possible, give them multiple ways to reach you and specific ways to connect with you. People are special and they function differently, that is why everyone has their preferences and finds comfort in different sources. It will not break off by giving just one or two options to get in contact with you.

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