ING Netherlands has a reputation for excellent online customer care. They were one of the first banks to make use of social media as a customer service channel. Their social media helpdesk team now has a wide experience of the different kinds of situation that can arise and is able to deal with them quickly and efficiently. In recognition of this, the ING online team won the 2014 Dutch customer service award. In addition to its standard approach to online service provision (fast and correct), ING has also Invested in a more empathic style of communication. They have thought creatively about how they can make the bond with the customer more personal in both positive and negative situations. To begin with, there is transparency about the people working in the bank’s social media channels. ING uses the real names of its staff. Some organizations prefer to work with fictitious names for the people employed in their online customer service units. This is often obvious to the consumers, who much prefer talking to real, genuine people. This is something that ING has understood.
This is reflected in a certain kind of openness and warmth throughout their online service process. If a customer mentions in passing that they have recently graduated from university, the team will make an amusing photo to congratulate them. This photo, together with the answer to the customer’s original query, is then shared via social media. Similarly, they will sometimes use online cards or a short Vine video to send customer’s messages. Occasionally, use is even made of offline cards, to respond to something that has become apparent in an online conversation (a special birthday, a bereavement). The aim of this human touch is to make the relationship between the market and the ING webcare team (and therefore ING as a whole) more personal and more genuine.
Empathy is a unique human capacity. Some people and some companies have it built into their genes; others need to make more of an effort. Every organization has the potential to develop the empathic qualities it needs to succeed. Empathy is one of the key elements in developing a real emotional bond with customers. For this reason, it is too important to be left to chance.