Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.
These three words have collectively become known as the FUD factor.
From a technology standpoint, you can trace FUD all the way back to the mainframe computing era when IBM instilled FUD in its customers to eschew superior products in favor of the old guard. As the saying goes, "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM."
When it comes to self-service, there is a new species of FUD on the horizon. But this time, it's not being waged between technology vendors. Rather, this FUD emanates from the consumers themselves, who increasingly feel alienated by technology innovations that they perceive to hinder human interactions.
Today's consumer often wants it both ways. They demand knowledgeable customer service agents to be at their beck and call. Yet when service is delivered via a new technology — whether it's a touchscreen kiosk in an airport, a virtual concierge service or the self-checkout in your local grocery store — a consumer's initial reaction is often one of trepidation.
We fear that which we do not know or understand.
I speak from firsthand experience. My company,
Experticity, develops technology that delivers live, two-way video interactions between consumers and expert sales agents who can be served up from any remote location. When starting the company, I realized there would be many technology obstacles to surmount: from creating a seamless experience where the nuance and context of real-world interactions could be properly relayed, to the challenge of delivering crisp video over slower retail networks.
What I hadn't fully anticipated was the irrational fear that many consumers instinctively feel when encountering new and unfamiliar technology.
Over the past few years, I've observed three core dimensions to this particular brand of FUD:
1. Terminator syndrome: Yes, that Terminator! Where the machines rise up to brutally enslave humanity. To many, self-service technologies represent the end of "high-touch" customer service and the emergence of a scary new world where people are no longer in charge.
2. On hold, no one can hear you scream. Okay, that's a rip off from the movie Alien but it's a sentiment that most of us can relate to. Where most self-service implementations fall short is when customers feel like they have no option for human intervention, and opt out of the transaction.
3. Is there anybody out there? One of the common misperceptions regarding self-service technologies is that they're ultimately designed to replace real people. In reality, these technologies are meant to augment and support those working the front line, enabling them to deliver superior customer service.
Of course, these fears are often irrational and unfounded. Most fears are. But it's still a problem because, as any good marketer knows, perception is reality. The bottom line is that we as human beings are not accustomed to dealing with change. More often than not, we don't like it, even if it means it will make our lives easier in the long run. But as we have seen with every new technology from the cotton gin through ATMs, fax machines, PCs and, yes, self-checkout, there is a period and process of education and familiarization. Microsoft and Apple recognize this fact. Each time they introduce a new operating system or product, they spend a great deal of money and resources to re-educate their user base because they understand that people don't like to re-learn what they already know.
For purveyors of self-service technologies, fighting FUD is critical to long-term market success. It's less about changing behaviors than it is about evolving attitudes. Here are a few best practices that we've learned along the way that can be applied to a variety of self-service technology scenarios:
1. Prominent signage with clear instructions — When introducing a new self-service technology into a store environment, it's vital that customers understand what the technology is and how exactly it will benefit them. Will it save time? Provide better information? Assume nothing and spell it out in a clear, compelling and consumer-friendly manner.
2. Train the front line — When grocery stores began implementing self-checkout technologies, one of the hard lessons they learned was that customers quickly grew frustrated and upset if there wasn't someone available to assist them. A well-trained front line worker also can be a great ambassador for introducing self-service technologies to help nip FUD in the bud.
3. Know your audience — Gender, socio-economic status and general comfort with technology are just a few aspects that have a bearing on how a new technology will be received and ultimately embraced. One size does not fit all. Spending time upfront conducting small focus groups will help demonstrate how consumers will react to new technologies. (One of the interesting things we discovered when we first began testing our technology was that people had been conditioned never to touch a computer screen. Consequently, we had to make it very obvious that it was okay to touch the screen!)
4. Extend the brand experience — Creating a seamless brand experience — from the store door across the store floor and even once the consumer has got the product home — will go a long way toward ensuring that shoppers engage with new technologies. By working closely with merchandising managers to ensure that branding is consistent, consumers will be less averse to trying something new.
5. Be patient — Rome wasn't built in a day. There's a comfort curve with every new technology implementation so expect that it will take between six and 12 months, on average, before new in-store technologies enjoy widespread adoption. Be sure to test self-service technologies in different parts of the store to better understand where and how customers are most likely to use them.
The next generation of self-service technologies undoubtedly will improve business efficiency. We have found that adding Experticity's live, on-screen person element, expanding "self-service" to "assisted service," not only makes the technology warmer and more user-friendly, but also enables far more effective deployment and distribution of costly expert service. However, what promises to improve the experience for one person might strike fear into the heart of another. Through thoughtful, effective implementation, we can strike a balance and eliminate the FUD factor once and for all.
D.L. Baron is founder and chief executive of Experticity, a developer of live on-screen expert staffing and remote service technologies.
