Is Saying 'Hello' Enough? The Shocking Truth About Modern Customer Care

Target's 'Hello' Initiative: A Step Forward or Just a Gesture?

Improving customer care is different for each company. Target, the giant retailer, recently announced that it will say “hello” to customers on the sales floor. While that is good news, is it enough? Companies need to determine how best to improve their customer relationship.

Why is Target doing this? One reason may be that Target is not as strong with holiday sales as Walmart. So, perhaps they want to punch their way onto the map of the customer.

How do they know that simply saying “hello” is the magic key?

The Evolution of Customer Care: Balancing AI and Human Touch

Customer care has changed over the decades. Today, AI and other new technologies may be better than ever before, but they are not human to human. There is room for both.

Truth is, sometimes customers are OK with automation, but other times they prefer human contact. Sometimes depending on the time, other times on the complexity of the problem.

Customer Care Has Taken a Back Seat in Recent Decades

As an Industry Analyst and advisor to countless companies in wireless, telecom, AI, pay TV and more, I have witnessed many examples of success and failure in this area over decades of change.

There is plenty of evidence about the right way to show the customer appreciation.

What I see is a marketplace full of companies and competitors from every industry. Only some have a strong focus on customer care. Only some do a good job. These quite often tend to be the winners.

Apple is a great example. When their customer logs on to the easy to find customer service page on the web, they first have a choice. They can choose a text-based service or a live representative.

Based on what I see, both ways are important because sometimes the customer wants a live person to help. Other times an automated response is preferred.

Customer Care Should Improve the Customer Experience

Truth is, today only some companies are better with customer care. Others, not so much. That’s not to say every company doesn’t care or doesn’t try. Most do. They just miss the mark.

Companies need to understand simply making moves in the area of customer care may sound good, but unless it actually improves the customer experience, it can be a massive waste of time and money.

Getting closer to the customer is always a good strategy. However, that alone is not enough.

Getting Closer to the Customer Is Always Good, But Is It Enough?

That is why every company should cover all their customer care basics. They should always be kind. That will stand out in the cold marketplace.

However, beyond that, they should always focus on solving the customers problem. Don’t waste their time when all they want is a quick resolution to their problem. Good customer care both solves a problem and is a touch of performative art that can raise the company profile.

Remember, the customer does not have extra time to waste. They are not focused on helping companies find a new way. They just want to get something fixed and get back to work.

Failure to Deliver Good Customer Care Results in Losses

The price to pay for failure is steep. Failure to deliver a good customer care experience will result in lost revenues and customers.

Because of investors, companies need to focus on growth. They must improve going forward.

There are many tens of thousands of businesses, either B2B or B2C. Only a few standouts in the mind of the customer.

The goal of every company is to be on the winning side. Standing out in a good way should be the goal of every company. Also, this should be improved, year after year. Learn what works for all top competitors. If you are focused on making the customer experience better, they will notice and appreciate the effort. Customers tend to know the difference and can tell when a company cares about their experience and always improves, year after year.