What FAQs Reveal About Online Customer Service

Jerry McGuire’s “Show me the money!” line is to movies what “Show me the information!” ought to be to the ‘Net. Recently released statistics from Media Metrix show that Internet users spend a little more than one minute per Web page these days, which can be attributed to a savvier, more sophisticated audience. No longer are users languorously exploring a site reviewing each detail. They want to get through with the purpose of their visit as quickly as possible. “Get in, get out” - if that’s what users want, that’s what e-tailers should be helping them do.

Helping users get through their online experience expeditiously and pleasantly is one purpose of a web site’s frequently asked questions or FAQs section. “An FAQ section is a kind of a one-stop-shop for information so the consumer doesn’t have to go looking all over the site for what it is they need,” asserts Frontier Airlines’ Director of E-commerce, Lowell Miller.

As such a crucial place for online customer service and communication, one would think that a web site’s FAQs section would contain the kinds of questions that users would be likely to ask. The problem is that all too often, even the most fundamental information is not provided in the FAQs?and nor is it conveniently provided elsewhere on the site. Ask an online consumer about their experience in having their questions answered and they are likely to tell you something very different then the site publisher would, and what the consumer tells you can be quite revealing.

Most consumer questions for e-commerce sites revolve around the ordering process, and many consumer complaints focus on having to start, or even complete, the ordering process before learning critical pieces of the procedure. “I hate having to get to the credit card form before knowing what the cost is,” says online consumer Ken Briggs. “I wish they would save me time by telling me the price up front.” Another online shopper, Katrina Bell, echoes a similar sentiment. “My peeve is having to go through the shopping cart first just to find out when and how my order will ship,” she says.

The more complex a web site, the more critically this problem impacts the bottom line. E-commerce sites can actually lose visitors who become frustrated by not being able to find the information they’re looking for. “Since the Internet has eliminated geographical boundaries, it’s much more likely to quickly and permanently lose a customer to a competitor if that customer can’t find what they’re looking for,” describes Robert Hansen an e-commerce consultant with Rainier Technology.

But even basic information seems to get overlooked. “I just filled out an entire form at a site only to find at the last possible minute that they didn’t take AmEx, the only card I use,” groused Anne Holland of MarketingSherpa.com. “This is the only card many businesspeople use, and this was a business site!” she added.

Other oftentimes unanswered FAQs include questions about:

• contact information organized by company department
• local sales tax
• sales outside the U.S.
• return policies and procedures
• online order status
• saving shopping carts and personal preferences
• live-time inventory (e-tailers gearing up for a big Christmas season would be wise to have this component in place to avoid the disasters of Christmas 1999)
• back orders

Steve Young of Deltek Systems, Inc. recounts a personal experience of his own: “Several months ago I ordered a piece of equipment online and after waiting for two weeks I finally contacted [the supplier] by phone. I was told that the specific item was two months’ back-ordered. Needless to say, I was quite unhappy.”

Why is it that sites seem to overlook the obvious? In part it’s a function of poor planning - in their haste to get online, some e-commerce companies don’t take the time to think the “simple things” through. Hasty decisions and rapid implementation lead to deficiencies in the online consumer’s experience which then spawn other problems, much like a domino effect. Consultant Hansen says that the e-tailer must “enable information for the customer,” by putting the power of the whole process into their hands. A June 2000 survey of online shoppers undertaken by IMPACT Strategies, Inc. drew the conclusion that, “the resulting imperative [for e-tailers] is to put consumers in control of a simpler process for consumption on the Net.”

To address this empowerment issue, a whole Internet customer support industry for “eCRM” has cropped up with solutions ranging from real-time live help desks to instant messaging, Web chat, voice over Internet, phone response, and email services. As e-commerce grows in sophistication, so does the intricacy of online consumers’ questions. E-commerce entities need to be sensitive to the fact that people are different and seek help in different ways. Some are willing to ask for it, and for these, live help desks are useful; others might be embarrassed and concerned about looking less-than-competent, which is why more anonymous solutions like FAQ areas and email may be a better bet.

An interesting solution that presents a kind of compromise is the dynamically-generated, software application-driven “FAQ engine,” which can be thought of as a kind of “self-service” FAQ center. It starts with a database that is pre-populated with the most commonly asked questions. Consumers can search through categories related to their questions or type in the question itself into a search field. Answers most closely matching what the consumer is looking for are dynamically served, and the user can either click on the related answer or refine their search with another question. They are also given the option to pursue help through more traditional channels like email or more advanced services like live help.

Another feature of these FAQ engines is that as new questions are asked and answered, they are automatically added to the database, so that the next customer with a similar question might quickly find more satisfactory answers. Chuck Dourlet, Vice President of Marketing for RightNow Technologies, one of the companies offering dynamic FAQ engines, describes this learning system as “organic.” Other players in this marketplace include companies such as eGain, People Support, Brigade Solutions, and Brightware.

The long and the short of it is that online customer service is a real issue that requires real attention. Although it’s wonderful to have lots of creative customer service solutions built into a site, if the site doesn’t address the fundamental concerns of its targeted shoppers in immediate ways, the online consumer still counts it as a strike. Looking at consumers’ most frequently asked questions is vital in helping recognize, plan for, and constantly re-assess online customer service capabilities.

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