Everyone understands the importance of the customer experience to increasing loyalty and attracting new business, but how do UK brands fare in practice? Not that well, according to the first Forrester UK Customer Experience Index (CXi). Most of the 2,000 UK consumers it researched rated their experiences with 28 leading brands between ‘very poor’ and ‘OK’ – and no bra...
Over the years the importance of celebrating Mother’s Day has grown, and it is now one of the busiest periods for sending flowers outside Valentine’s Day. Britons spend an average of £12 each on gifts for their mothers, although research shows that this rises to £53 in Liverpool.However, there is one major difference with other celebrations such as Christmas. Mother’s...
In an increasingly competitive economy, delivering the best customer experience is crucial for organisations looking to win new business and retain existing customers. However it has never been more difficult. Customers are demanding more, across an increasing range of channels and are swift to punish those that don’t deliver – either via social media or by moving their business elsewh...
A generation ago, financial services products were primarily sold face to face, either in branches or door to door, with documents manually filled in and posted to their destination. Customer service was dealt with through the same, physical, channels. This has changed radically, with the introduction of first the phone, then the web, and now social media, as sales and support channels. Managing t...
Wearable technology is increasingly blurring the lines between the real and virtual worlds. Existing augmented reality apps add extra layers of information, such as descriptions, when you point your smartphone at particular buildings or objects. Wearables take this a step further, removing the need to use a phone or tablet as you can automatically receive information or access services through sma...
Over recent years, we’ve seen organisations focus heavily on customer service. Greater competition, even in mature markets, and increasingly demanding consumers have moved service and the customer experience up the business agenda. The rise of social media has also provided a global channel where customers can quickly share their views, redrawing the relationship between consumers and brands...
The UK insurance market is one of the most competitive in the world. The rise of comparison sites, increased regulation, low customer loyalty and an explosion in distribution channels have all combined to decrease margins for insurers. Recent research from Accenture found that UK home and car policyholders are amongst the least loyal in the world, with 57% looking to switch provider in the next ye...
Since they were first implemented contact centres have changed dramatically. Originally call centres that solely answered incoming telephone calls, they have expanded to cover multiple channels, from letters and faxes, to emails, social media and increasingly web chat.However, the speed at which new channels have emerged has caused problems within many contact centres. New systems have been added ...
We Britons have a reputation for politeness, which extends to not complaining when we suffer poor service. According to this stereotype, we just mutter under our breath and then ensure we don’t visit that particular restaurant or shop again.However it has been clear for many years that things have changed. As in other countries, Britons are complaining more and demanding a better experience ...
Eptica customer L’Occitane has been recognised for the strength of its customer service, ranking first in the prominent 2014 Qualiweb/Stratégies index for email and fourth in the category for social media. It is the only brand to feature in both categories, demonstrating the strength of its multichannel service and consistency of its approach. Running since 1998 and organised by independent...