Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones

THIS IS NOT YOUR GRANDFATHER’S CUSTOMER SERVICE

It seems that the very nature of customer service has been wholly transformed with technology at the core. While being able to call a personal Steinway customer-service agent is terrific, wouldn’t it be better if an iPhone application helped you self-tune your piano?

Nationwide Insurance does just that with an app that leads consumers who need to document an accident through an interactive walk-through and step-by-step guide. Although any consumer can complete the process—which allows input of accident and driver details, uses the gadget’s ability to locate itself via GPS, and takes photos of the accident (Figure 10.3)—Nationwide customers can hit a button and submit the claim THERE and THEN. Now THAT’S progressive!

Off the bat, there are several key differences—or new ideas—that distance themselves from older versions of customer service, to form an entirely new paradigm:

Figure 10.3 Nationwide’s iPhone App

Source: © Nationwide Insurance. All rights reserved.