Difference between revisions of "Michael's Projects"

Illich's vision of Convivial Tools can also be developed in the realm of customer service. The application of Illich's ideas to commercial relationships implies customer empowerment. Traditional marketing seeks to make the user dependent, while the convivial tool or service seeks to make the user autonomous. But this comports risks from a commercial point of view. As the effective life of appliances increases, the sale of new models declines. In the long run you might even help the consumer to make their own tool, thus cutting the vendor entirely out the process.  

The ideal of unlimited customer service is inherent in the marketing of a convivial tool. Designing a household appliance that its owner can easily repair implies designing the whole after-sales cycle, including long-term availability of spare parts, usable documentation and online assistance. But from the vendor's point of view, commercial constraints always intervene to limit the amount of service one can offer. For example, telephone assistance is costly, so it is often made a paying service, or delocalized to overseas [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_center call centers], or is replaced by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IVR Interactive Voice Response] (IVR). To imagine a limitless improvement in customer service in the face of real-life economic constraints, we have to go outside of the box of commercial logic with the help of an abstract ideal which I call [[Total Customer Service]].

Total Customer Service implies dropping economic rationality. To truly serve the interests of customers you should aim to improve society as a whole, rather than to make a profit. Companies that provide outstanding customer service are generally animated by a social vision, such as Zappos for example.