Stephen Nold

Interactive Customer Service
July 25, 2007

Have you felt like someone is watching you while you’re surfing the internet?  By now you should understand that few people remain anonymous while accessing other websites.  Since each computer has its own unique signature, tracking surfing habits is easy.  There are the wonderful cookies used for tracking browsing behavior.  No I am not talking about our mom’s favorite oatmeal raisin treats.  These are digital cookies which are parcels of text sent by a server to a web browser and then sent back unchanged by the browser each time it connects to that server.  This text is used for authenticating, tracking, and maintaining specific information about users, such as site preferences and the contents of their electronic shopping carts. 

Cookies have been of concern for Internet privacy, since they can be used for tracking browsing behavior.  Yet for the most part, cookies are used responsibly and can be trusted at secure websites.  Many websites require visitors to accept cookies in order to execute simple browser tasks.

One of my favorite new business processes changes involves the combination of great customer service and browser observation.  After placing a ticket on hold at American Airlines, a small interactive box popped up on the screen asking if I wanted a representative to contact me regarding my ticket purchase.  Amazed that they can dial my telephone number and talk to me, I took them up on the offer a couple of days later.  Sure enough, my phone rang and a representative was soon discussing my travel arrangements.  Talking about reaching out to touch someone!

I hope that meeting industry suppliers are already adopting this innovation.  How nice it would be if a registration representative answered housing and schedule questions.  Show organizers would see immediate return on investment as registration revenues are accelerated.  I am predicting that this functionality will be standard in most online registration systems within the next five years.  You heard it from me first.

Posted by Stephen Nold on July 25, 2007 | Comments (0)