Contacting your customer services line via email, SMS, MMS, chat, visiophone or visiting a website where you can manage your own account ("self care") are initiatives that are likely to develop rapidly to :

• Reduce bottlenecks in mobile stores and call centres
• Lower the costs of customer support
• Optimise the profitability of the companies that deploy them

Self care enables a company to manage all new customer contact with no direct human intervention and appears to be the future of customer relations. However, before it can operate effectively, self care may require a substantial investment that only a large number of efficient uses and contacts would offset. The dehumanisation of customer contact could also, in some cases, sever the link with the brand.

In this context, Novedia Consulting can help you manage the multi-channel aspect of your customer relations :

• Should the number of in-store sales personnel be reduced when changes to your product range force you to provide more training ?
• Your product range will evolve and may grow more complex; should you consider training programmes for your customer advisors ?
• The competitive balance of your market is disrupted (arrival of a newcomer, marketing efforts of an existing player, etc.); would you risk basing your entire customer loyalty policy on a web interface ?