Pauline Ashenden's blog

3 Key trends that will impact the delivery of customer service

Published on: February 06, 2015
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

The quality of customer service and customer engagement delivered by a company is key to how customers view it and helps to differentiate from competitors, as Gartner points out in a recent report about customer service.As part of this, Michael Maoz of Gartner highlights 3 key trends that will influence how customer service is delivered over the next few years: 1. The rise of self-service Whi...

The continuing rise of self-service

Published on: February 04, 2015
Author: Dharmesh Ghedia

In a world that continues to get busier, customers increasingly value convenience and speed when interacting with companies. Whether it is buying from a local shop because it is easier than getting in the car and driving to an out of town supermarket, or banking via a smartphone or tablet, people want a seamless experience that minimizes the time they need to spend on activities.

Smiles and Systems – why good customer experience needs both

Published on: April 04, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

Organisations can find it difficult to deliver a consistently good customer experience across every channel and every interaction. Customer expectations are constantly rising, and the growth in enquiries, often through unstructured digital channels, increases the pressure on businesses to perform, time after time.A good starting point for meeting these needs is to break the customer experience dow...

Booking last minute breaks – exploring the travel customer experience

Published on: May 14, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

With summer approaching (and another bank holiday imminent), getting away from it all is becoming uppermost in many people’s thoughts. And that means turning to the internet, which has radically changed the structure of the travel industry now that the majority of transactions happen online. Whether it is holidaymakers creating their own tailored trip or consumers comparing holiday companies...

Marrying the physical and virtual customer experience: the ‘new normal’

Published on: July 23, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

In most sectors, the customer journey is growing in complexity, spanning interactions across multiple channels with customers interweaving digital interactions with physical (in-store or branch) experiences. Customer service and the customer experience needs to evolve in order to stay on top of these changes.Previously a lot of information people might have needed before a purchase was delivered f...

The changing face of the high street

Published on: August 01, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

We’re used to stories of doom and gloom on the high street. The combination of the internet, out of town superstores and the recent recession have decimated the number and range of shops available in town centres, with many long-standing retail chains going into receivership.However a new report from the University of Southampton’s Retail Research Group points to major, positive change...

Online reviews and the impact on customer service

Published on: November 21, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

Since online reviews became prevalent, championed by the likes of Amazon, their impact has spread widely across multiple industries. This has been driven by three main factors:The growth of ecommerce means that consumers are increasingly buying goods that they’ve not been able to see in person, meaning that they want assurance as to product quality.It gives buyers the opportunity to benchmar...

Cold-calling and the customer experience

Published on: December 11, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

A UK government taskforce has recommended larger fines for businesses that make nuisance calls to consumers. Fines should be up to £500,000 (or 20% of turnover in the case of PPI cold-callers), with company directors held responsible for unwanted phone calls from their organisation according to the report.The Nuisance Call Task Force has also suggested that the threshold for when regulators ...

Customer service and Christmas deliveries

Published on: December 19, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

For many people, online is becoming the default channel for buying Christmas presents, with trips to the High Street relegated to either window shopping for ideas, top up purchases or to pick up Click and Collect orders. Consumer research from Metapack found that 22% of UK respondents planned to do almost all their Christmas shopping online, rising to 29% among the 35 to 44-year-old age group. 85%...

The European customer service dimension

Published on: July 06, 2011
Author: Pauline Ashenden

 It is widely acknowledged that the UK is the largest online market in Europe – hitting £44 billion in 2010, and expected to reach £51 billion this year. However other countries are growing as fast, if not faster, with the entire European population turning to email and web channels. Forty per cent of EU consumers bought goods and services over the Internet in 2010, with sal...

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