Difference between revisions of "Michael's Projects"
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Illich's vision of Convivial Tools can also be developed in the realm of customer service. | Illich's vision of Convivial Tools can also be developed in the realm of customer service. | ||
| − | 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 limit the amount of after-sales 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 replaced by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IVR Interactive Voice Response] (IVR). To imagine | + | 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 limit the amount of after-sales 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 replaced by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IVR Interactive Voice Response] (IVR). To imagine 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]]. |
To imagine Total Customer Service you have to suspend the usual criteria of economic rationality. Traditional marketing seeks to make the user dependent, which ensures continued business. The convivial tool or service on the contrary seeks to make the user autonomous, which comports commercial risks. 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. But truly serving the interests of customers implies serving their interests as citizens by aiming to improve society as a whole, rather than simply making a profit for your own company. The question is then how to start from the vision of Total Customer Service and still develop a rational economic activity. | To imagine Total Customer Service you have to suspend the usual criteria of economic rationality. Traditional marketing seeks to make the user dependent, which ensures continued business. The convivial tool or service on the contrary seeks to make the user autonomous, which comports commercial risks. 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. But truly serving the interests of customers implies serving their interests as citizens by aiming to improve society as a whole, rather than simply making a profit for your own company. The question is then how to start from the vision of Total Customer Service and still develop a rational economic activity. | ||
