When it comes to customer service and social media it is very easy to focus on the potential issues it causes for brands. Aggrieved customers can now complain quickly and vociferously to the entire world if they have a bad experience, with tweets or Facebook posts going viral in a matter of minutes. However there is another side to social customer service, where companies are using these channels ...
Despite the increased focus on customer service, it is actually getting worse in the UK. That’s the depressing headline of a new survey, which found that two thirds (66%) of UK homeowners think customer service has either stayed the same or deteriorated over the last three years. 1,400 people were surveyed, with only 25% seeing an improvement in standards.According to the YouGov survey carri...
Travel is a sector that has undergone major change in the last decade, with a combination of the internet and low cost airlines dramatically increasing competition and ensuring that companies have to focus on customer service to survive.In this tough climate, AirAsia is the perfect example of a company that is growing fast by understanding and responding to customer needs. By deploying Eptica Self...
Companies have been talking about getting the customer experience right for many years, but 2012 could be the year that companies move from paying lip service to the customer experience to actually putting in place a strategy and action plan to improve it. That’s the view of analyst Forrester in its 2012 Customer Experience Predictions. Customer expectations of how they are treated are ...
The Christmas shopping season was bruising for some retailers, with high street names such as Hawkins’ Bazaar, La Senza and Black’s Leisure all plunging into bankruptcy. Overall sales were up by just 2.2% on December 2010 according to the British Retail Consortium, while e-commerce continued its rise, with online sales up by 30% compared to the previous year.One of the key trends highl...
We’ve talked a lot in the past about the emerging importance of social media to customer service and how companies across all industries need to incorporate networks such as Facebook and Twitterinto their strategy. Businesses must understand the opportunities and threats that social media brings to customer service and then put in place the systems to listen and act on what their custom...
With 2012 now firmly upon us, what will it bring for customer service? The combination of the ongoing recession, increased reliance on the internet and the continuing growth of social media are the three major challenges that customer service needs to address.Here are Eptica’s views on how these trends will impact customer service in the year ahead:The recession Clearly there is no immediate...
Given how close we are to Christmas Day, we thought it would be a good idea to scrutinise the customer service practices of Father Christmas himself. While this might risk us not getting any presents here at Eptica, what lessons can those running customer service departments learn from the man in red?We’re rated Father Christmas against some common customer service benchmarks to see how he d...
Delivering consistent, accurate and fast information to customers, across multiple channels, is at the heart of excellent customer service. The results are double - not only are customers happier as their query is dealt with more quickly, without needing to call back, but operational efficiency is increased, as queries are dealt with first time, faster and with a consistent approach.The quest to b...
Customer service is a serious business – do it right and it delivers increased sales and customer satisfaction. Do it wrong and it can destroy a brand in the eyes of customers. However there is definitely a lighter side to the profession, as the Top 20 Funniest Customer Service stories of 2012 shows. Collected by Henley Business School for CDC Software and appearing in mycustomer.com they de...