Continued…

Q: Will it be necessary in the future to educate staff so that they can exploit personal relations through the Net in depth?

RB: I think that retraining will become a permanent feature of the Internet with time because the Internet enables change to occur so quickly and getting people to adjust to the change and take advantage of what is provided is necessary to support the rate of change.

On this specific item, we note that some fairly recent technology is improving person to person capabilities through the Net. It began with chat and instant messaging and now we are beginning to see the use of video and also direct software sharing emerging. This is still an early stage development and so much has yet to occur.

However the popularity of chat and instant messaging is so great as to demonstrate on its own the popular desire for a much richer person-to-person capability through the Internet. Naturally this will lead to a better exploitation of personal relations in business and, perhaps, a much more satisfying ability to interact with friends and family – especially across large distances.

Q: You believe that small companies must also bet on new technologies. However is it not the case that they benefit from their more personalised treatment of customers?

RB: This is not really about the size of company but about the type of business or business process. In reality the cost of providing personalised treatment is high and hence those businesses where it is an essential part of the normal business process always charge higher prices for the service they provide. If the customer is willing to pay the premium then the business can prosper.

However, as we have already mentioned, there are technologies that can help to improve this kind of person-to-person interaction (chat, instant messaging, video, computer-integrated telephony, etc.). The companies that invest in such technologies may be able to cut costs and maintain the level of service they provide. Considering appropriateness of such investment is important for companies whether they are large or small.

Also we need to understand that personalisation can be assisted directly through automation – particularly by using profiling software which can accurately predict the preferences of individuals. So there are two factors to consider here.
The first is how possible it is to provide a pleasant interaction for the customer, whether this is automated or not. The second is how well we can get to know the customer using technology to assist us. In the end, for most business the best solutions are likely to come from good blends of technology and person service.

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