In a recent Forbes article, I wrote about the top 10 customer service and experience (CX) companies based on a survey of more than 1,000 consumers in our annual customer service and CX research sponsored by Five9. The company ranked 10th on the list was Google, which turned out to cause a bit of controversy. To my knowledge, Google isn’t known for its customer service reputation, good or bad. However, the comments came in within minutes after the article went live.
The gist of most comments was that Google doesn’t deliver customer service. So does it?
I agree that Google doesn’t provide an experience similar to Chick-fil-A, Amazon or other iconic brands known for amazing service, such as Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Nordstrom, etc. In the article, I even stated that Google making the list intrigued me “mostly because they have very little to no customer service.”
But you can’t argue that it is open 24 hours each day, seven days a week. The search engine never sleeps, and it pretty much always works. And with 40,000 Google searches every second, which comes out to more than 1.2 trillion searches yearly, that’s a lot of searching, and one can only imagine (unless you work for Google) how much computer and cloud power that must take.
So, here are some of my answers and responses to those who asked, “How did Google get on the list?”
1. I didn’t make up the list. I just asked a lot of people (over 1,000). So, it became a popularity contest, and Google rose to the top—at least the top 10.
2. Google works—pretty much all the time!
3. Many people (I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say most people) depend on it regularly—even daily (often multiple times throughout the day). So, its popularity and flawless search-engine experience earn Google its reputation for a great CX.
Those three comments should suffice, but I’ll add more.
Most people responding to the study use Google only as a search engine. So, as mentioned, most users find the experience to work all the time. They depend on it, and Google doesn’t let them down. But Google also has paying customers. That’s where it gets interesting.
I have used Google AdWords for many years. My experience has included proactive Google experts reaching out to help me optimize my results without spending more money. I’m sure they would have loved to upsell me to spending more, but I believe they were trying to have me continue with my existing account by getting me the best results possible.
I also subscribed to Google Workspace (formerly G-Suite), which includes Gmail, Calendar, Docs and more. At one point, I needed help and ended up talking to a customer support agent. I’m unsure how Google supports its paying customers today, but my experience a few years ago was acceptable.
So, I Googled “Google Customer Service.” (How ironic is that!) There were many results—over 25 billion of them! On the first page, the responses varied from “Google’s agents are knowledgeable, patient and polite” (Laptop Mag, Aug 24, 2022) to “Why is Google’s customer support so horrible?” (Reddit).
Along with this search, I found phone numbers, addresses and links to answer just about any question I might have about Google’s products. I didn’t try the numbers, but the comments indicate that you can get a satisfactory answer if you talk to someone from Google’s customer support department. Furthermore, there is a self-service digital knowledge base that can answer just about any question related to its products.
Then I got specific with my prompts. I asked the search engine questions about Gmail and Google Docs. There was no shortage of answers, including many from customers sharing their solutions. And if reading doesn’t work for you, jump to YouTube, which happens to be owned by Google, and ask the same questions. You’ll get video tutorials on some of the most complicated issues within seconds—or less.
So, if you ever have a question about any of Google’s products, just Google it! I bet you find the answer. After all, it’s Google!
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