I read an article today about the “death of customer
service.” The author’s main complaint was how nearly everything is moving
toward self-service—and the frustration customers feel when things don’t go as
planned. I couldn’t agree more.
From the beginning, Image Connection has focused on service.
Yes, you can place your order online. Or, if you prefer, you can call or
email—but wait, there’s more! If you choose to call, we actually answer the
phone. What a novel approach.
Sure, we have voicemail. If you call on Christmas Day or
after hours, you can leave a message. But if you call between 8:00 and 5:00,
you will generally be greeted by a live person.
We believe we have one of the most sophisticated software
platforms in our industry—designed by us from the ground up to serve our
customers. Yet, we still manually handle many tasks that could easily be
automated. For example:
Every order is manually reviewed by a real person before it
is accepted and processed. The custom nature of our business makes every order
unique, based on product, color, size, and decoration. Every day, our employees
catch mistakes—customers selecting the wrong logo, the wrong style, or
something different from “your last order.”
Credit card charges are not fully automated either. When a
card is billed automatically, any change to an order often requires a
corresponding change to the charge. This can be very frustrating to the
customer. Because of how we handle credit card transactions, our error and
chargeback rate with our processor is likely lower than 99.9% of other online
companies.
Some might say that with AI imminent on the horizon, we’re
foolish not to automate these processes. I would argue the opposite. Especially
with AI on the horizon, it’s more important than ever that we do everything we
can to provide the highest level of customer service and satisfaction.
That commitment to human service is how Image Connection
will continue to distinguish itself—not just from average competitors, but from
the many good ones as well.