Crypto-Exchange Client Services
A steady influx of capital, talent, and innovation makes change the name of the game when it comes to cryptocurrency. And while the continuing evolution of the digital asset space allowed for widespread growth and flourishing creativity within the industry, it has admittedly made it somewhat challenging for the layman to keep up.
For an industry striving for increased mainstream adoption, it’s been shocking to see customers and users so frequently left in the dark. Granted, crypto is still an emerging technology, but if anything, that should be a reason to strive for customer support, awareness, and education, rather than neglect it.
However, to this point, customer service has remained an afterthought for companies within the crypto space. Keeping up with developments in the world of digital assets is difficult even for those of us heavily invested in the technology. How can potential adopters and early stage crypto users possibly be expected to succeed with little to no adequate support?
This is where the problem lies – historically cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms fail to embrace or emphasize exceptional levels of customer service and support in ways that can help the average investor feel comfortable using the service. When exchanges don’t prioritize the customer experience, customer confidence shrinks.
So why aren’t exchanges doubling down on customer service?
That’s the million dollar question.
It’s a question we at H2Crypto have asked ourselves again and again. And it’s the reason we’ve made crypto customer service our priority.
What has undeniably been an area of weakness for the industry, we see as an area ripe for innovation and improvement.
A Brief History of Cryptocurrency Customer Service
This section will be short, because, much like the history of blockchain technology, the history of crypto customer support is brief, at best.
Often referred to as the “Wild West,” the early days of most crypto platforms were fraught with both significant reward and substantial risk. When several early crypto exchanges, such as the popular Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, were forced to shut down following crippling hacks, customers found themselves completely in the dark. Their money gone and their accounts shuttered, early adopters were left with absolutely nowhere to turn. Thriving exchanges literally disappeared overnight with users left holding empty bags. And unfortunately, this still happens far too frequently today. Casting an unfortunate shadow of uncertainty and risk over the digital assets industry that frankly, can be fairly easily mitigated.
Luckily, as the crypto industry has grown, so too has public awareness. Many crypto exchanges and digital currencies have been forced to become more receptive to public feedback largely in response to social media’s influence. And yet, the amount of direct communication between customers and crypto companies remains shockingly low.
In order for crypto companies to attract more users, knowledge and support services must be seen as a value added to a platform. Confident customers and investors must be seen as essential to the growth of the field.
The Different Needs of Crypto vs. Traditional Investing
For those cryptocurrency exchanges that have actually considered the customer experience, the trend has been to offer customer support that mirrors that provided by traditional investment companies.
However, the glaring problem here is that unlike traditional stock investing, which operates exclusively within limited hours – Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM EST, cryptocurrency can be traded at any time, day or night. And despite trading happening at any time of day, companies have historically limited customer support availability to normal business hours.
While this may work for traditional investing practices, limiting support services represents an archaic approach to a process dependent on real-time investing.
The Importance of 24/7 Customer Support
So what happens if something goes awry and you have questions outside of normal business hours? What happens if your holdings start crashing and for some unknown reason, you can’t access your account? What happens if it’s after hours when you realize something is wrong with your account?
Should customers really be expected to wait until 9:30 AM the following day to get the support they need? What’s the point of a customer service phone number if it’s offline for more than half the day?
This is why we at H2CryptO believe it is critically important to work with an exchange that has customer support available 24/7, every day of the year. Your investments aren’t going to wait until your “support team” goes online, so why should you?
Having a system in place that can readily and immediately supply customers with invaluable information in the event of an emergency, or even just to explain a minor confusion, shows that a company is committed to its customers.
The Importance of Access to Multiple Support Channels
To truly maximize the customer experience, a cryptocurrency exchange should also offer multiple channels of communication between its investors and its support team.
The simple truth is that many people just don’t have time for a phone call. While others may prefer or require text-based communication. Accessibility must be fundamental to the customer experience.
It’s time to relegate relying on a single channel for the entirety of customer support to the past. Basic questions, easily answered by a chat-bot or quick email shouldn’t require a lengthy phone-in process. A service center that can quickly and easily solve customer issues can be of significant value in ensuring the growth of a company.
Cryptocurrency investors seeking diverse levels of support should not be funneled through identical support processes. Concerns should be addressed when they arise, not when it’s convenient. Optimizing the customer experience and inreasing the likelihood of success requires around-the-clock customer support.
Confident Customers Benefit Everyone.
Lack of confidence is one of the biggest hindrances to investment.
The perceived complexity of digital currencies as well as the current volatility of the marketplace have combined to form a significant barrier to widespread adoption of digital asset technology: an uncertainty and hesitance by the public to get involved.
Create a Confident Customer Experience
Anxiety is enough to slow or even halt future investment when dealing with problems like:
- Trouble with account login
- Trouble updating personal information or payment methods
- Questions about the user interface
- Difficulty verifying your identity
- General questions about cryptocurrencies and how to purchase them
By offering easily accessed, reliable, around-the-clock support to customers, we believe we can encourage confident customers to engage more with the technology. This increased engagement can help dampen volatility. While diminished volatility will then encourage further engagement and adoption. A rewarding snowball effect initiated simply by improving the customer experience.
Especially for those new to trading, having reliable support can make a world of a difference in the crypto investing experience. After all, why should anyone invest in a system that doesn’t actually seem to serve them?
The Market Is Admittedly Volatile
Meanwhile, a volatile market requires flexibility and responsiveness. When it comes to their money, customers want to know what’s going on.
Your crypto-knowledgeable friend or neighbor can only answer so many questions from friends and family members trying to figure out what’s going on. Having no one to turn to in situations like these can make the average investor skeptical about investing in crypto. This perceived risk dampens the eagerness that many once had to enter the crypto market.
Imagine someone wanting to get involved but knowing they will have nowhere to turn should any issue arise… Issues are going to arise! Crypto is still an emergent technology! Many of the companies people are entrusting their money to are newly created!
Investment is no guarantee of success. But at the very least, companies can provide some kind of response to those who choose to invest with them. Knowing why something is happening won’t necessarily stop it from happening, but it will certainly allow for better decisions to be made in the future. Again, the value of having someone online and available to connect with during a time of stress is invaluable.
Offering customers around-the-clock support services helps manage the uncertainty involved in participation. And providing resources for crypto knowledge should be a given for crypto companies. The long term success of your customers depends on them understanding the business they’re getting involved in. Companies should look to fuel interest in the space by encouraging education and awareness.
Customer Confidence Can Encourage Safer Trading Platforms
The customer’s pleasurable experience while funding their account and executing trades is only part of the value of customer support. Cryptocurrency exchanges are foregoing data that is critical to identifying and addressing security issues or vulnerabilities. Heightened customer support improves the user feedback loop, ultimately leading to quicker identification of programmatic deficiencies or errors and user-related risks such as phishing opportunities.
Although the list of development-related threat types is long, some of the most common include unpatched software and misconfigurations. Some of the most heralded dev teams in the world create software that was attacked or was at risk of attack through these vulnerabilities. The good news is that user feedback helps identify these sooner.
Any scalable user-facing application is routinely updated as microservices, plugins, and platforms are updated. Issues arise because the effect of an upgrade on one part of an application may not be realized on a seemingly unrelated part. Some of the best QA for finding a vulnerability is the well-intentioned use of an unsophisticated customer. The unsophisticated user submits a ticket stating they ended up on a black screen that says “/user/lib” and a potential crisis is averted. As user feedback increases, insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the code and architecture increases.
The users themselves often present opportunities for bad actors to breach security measures. By making user feedback easy and responsive, users can leverage reliable and secure methods of communication to verify and question correspondence that seems fishy. On the other hand, when user questions and feedback go unheard, the bad actors have a lot more runway to target victims. A customer service focus is critical to thwarting these types of attacks.
Final Thoughts On Crypto Customer Support
When you’re vetting a cryptocurrency exchange, the customer experience should be a leading consideration along with security and stability. This is especially true for those new to trading cryptocurrency. Having support through funding and executing those first trades can help alleviate doubts otherwise likely when dipping one’s toe in crypto trading.
No one creates an account on a cryptocurrency exchange anticipating problems. No one thinks “Once I create my account, I’m going to have tons of problems and this will be great.”
But the fact of the matter is, problems do happen – no matter how incredible your chosen exchange is. And when problems happen, you need to have confidence in your crypto platform to provide the support that you need.
You’re trusting the platform with your investment. Make sure it’s providing the customer experience you deserve.
