RightNow Technologies Inc. offers a self-service solution that is both powerful and easy to manage. RightNow Web 3.0 is a dynamic FAQ interface with an "organic" engine that automates the FAQ building and maintenance process. As customers interact with the FAQ, they rate the effectiveness of published answers and suggest additional questions to add. Reps can publish them automatically or after reviewing them with a customer service manager. On future visits the highest rated and most requested answers for a topic are presented first, further enhancing the self-service process. The service also includes basic e-mail handling to make sure customer questions are addressed by a specific agent or business department.
RightNow Web 3.0 comes in two versions - a server-based application or an outsourced service. Add-ons including an auto-responder, live help, and survey engine are also available.
E-mail Management
A December 1999 study by Jupiter Communications found that of 125 top Web sites surveyed, just under half (46 percent) did not respond to e-mail queries for five days or more, did not respond at all or did not have contact details on their site for customer queries. To prevent your Web business from becoming a similar sad statistic, replace your rudimentary email address (such as service@mycompany.com) and weak message filters with a sophisticated e-mail management tool.
E-mail management applications such as eGain Mail and Kana Response let you auto-respond to e-mail or Web forms with scripted answers, route more complicated queries to specific agents, assign messages a priority status in the queue, and track communications with the customer through the resolution of the problem. Both offer helpful backend reports to pinpoint customer service trouble spots and ensure your reps are better prepared for similar queries in the future.
Live Help
Think for a moment about that hypothetical customer having trouble with your shopping cart at 2AM. An e-mail address and FAQ file are unlikely to fix their problem in time to keep the sale from going south, and calling your customer service number requires them to log off, which defeats the whole purpose of e-commerce. Now what?
Adding a live help component to your Web site will minimize such service dilemmas. Here''s how it works. You add a live help link to your Web page. When a customer clicks it, this activates a real-time chat session with a live service agent. The live agent can respond to questions, push sales collateral and helpful links, or engage in suggestive selling all while the customer remains connected to your Web site.
Several vendors offer live help solutions in both outsourced and server-side formats. Some solutions, including FaceTime and iSession, are designed to outfit your existing staff of agents with live chat tools; others such as LivePerson, PeopleSupport and LiveAssistance let you augment your own staff with rented live agents around the clock, after hours, or during peak periods.
Integrated e-Service Solutions
If you''d like to enhance your e-commerce site with all these options, consider an integrated e-service suite. Most suites are modular, letting you add extra components or features when you need (or can afford) them. Depending on whether you install and administer the tools yourself or choose an outsourced version, they cost up to several thousand dollars and can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks to roll out. Among the most sophisticated choices are NetEffect Systems, ServiceSoft''s eCenter Suite, and RightNow Web with plug-ins.
Bonny Georgia covers business technology issues from her home in suburban Boston, Massachusetts. She is a contributing editor for Home Office Computing, PC/Computing, and FamilyPC. She can be reached at georgialyn@aol.com.
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