Comdex Spring / E-Commerce Management Symposium
Chicago, IL:
E-Mail Solutions - the e-customer service leaders - today announced their latest service: "We Are You"™ online outsourcing. "We Are You"™ personally answers customer e-mail questions in three hours or less. This new service has been in beta-testing for the past two years and will be available nationally on April 24, 2000. Customers involved in the beta tests included Creighton University and Namezero.com. Pricing varies by e-mail volume, but typically runs $1.50 to $3.00 per message.
THE GROWING CUSTOMER E-MAIL PROBLEM:
The Yankee Group and other industry analysts have recently discussed the problem
e-commerce companies encounter when overwhelmed by customer e-mail. Key report findings include:
- "Only 30% of companies surveyed respond to e-mail within 24 hours..." Yankee Group
- "2/3rds of shoppers abandon purchases at checkout due to lack of human contact..." Forrester Research
- "Customers are not satisfied to send an email query and get a response a week or two later..." Teleprofessional
- "The overall lack of attention paid to online customer service presents an opportunity to differentiate your (business)...by providing four-star customer care..." Home Office Computing
- People shouldn't have to wait weeks for corporations to answer their e-mail..." ViewPoint Marketing
FLOODED WITH CUSTOMER E-MAIL:
Mitch Johnson, CEO and founder of E-Mail Solutions added, "companies are calling us because they are overwhelmed by the huge number of customer questions they received. They know they aren't handling their e-mail appropriately. The companies realize that they are either ignoring many sales opportunities or that they are spending way too much time and money repeatedly answering the same questions. That's why our new "We Are You"™ online outsourcing service-product is so appealing to companies - it not only improves customer communications but it efficiently reduces costs by eliminating repetitive writing and thinking up answers."
"The Internet is changing everything, except the need to take care of your customers," Johnson explained. "E-mail inquiries into web sites must be answered in a timely, professional manner. Online customers cannot be ignored. Customer expectations are very high and getting higher. Only those companies that measure-up will build loyal buyers."
HOW ONLINE OUTSOURCING WORKS:
The "We Are You"™ online service relies heavily on an experienced team of Internet service consultants that are supported by a variety of sophisticated software tools. The "We Are You"™ team manages all customer messages from the moment the messages enter an e-mail system. The end result is a consistent, concise, personal response for every customer.
Johnson explained, "essentially, the E-Mail Solutions team first categorizes the company's e-mail requests that are coming in from customers. Then personal answers are written for each question-category and coded into the computer algorithms. The management system immediately directs all unusual customer questions to supervisors and an answer is quickly developed by company management (with all new answers databased for future algorithm use). The end results are loyal customers that have had their most complex questions answered. The paybacks for our client companies are two-fold: first, companies improve their costly and time-consuming process...but more importantly, they increase customer loyalty by providing a personal, professional answer to every customer."
OUTSOURCING VS. IN-HOUSE SOLUTIONS:
"Many companies first try to develop a system themselves, but they quickly learn that there is a steep learning curve involving many one-time only tasks," Johnson explained. "Our clients eventually come to us for an outsourcing solution, because they know that we don't 'reinvent wheels.' We have a strong track record of getting the management-response process up-and-running quickly and easily: no computer hassles, no training delays, no recruiting frustrations."
ABOUT E-MAIL SOLUTIONS:
E-Mail Solutions is the recognized leader in e-customer service outsourcing. We specialize in "humanizing e-commerce" by providing timely responses to customer questions. Specifically, we provide end-to-end e-customer service, including: e-mail functionality, direct marketing, and "Live Business-Chat™" capabilities. The company is located in Omaha, Nebraska.
Contact:
David Keenan
Corporate Communications
512.342.2678 corp22@flash.net
