Companies and their CEOs understand that the world is changing rapidly when it comes to winning, satisfying and retaining customers. Consumers are now more demanding than ever before, across a greater number of channels, and they increasingly focus on the experience they receive when deciding which companies to buy from.
Customer behavior has changed more in the last twenty years than in the previous twenty centuries! When the internet arrived, many thought that digitalization would remove the need for physical contact. However, in reality, this hasn’t been the case - consumers evolved, adopting technology to become autonomous, but didn’t abandon the real world...
The latest Institute of Customer Service (ICS) UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) has a positive message for everyone involved in customer service. Overall, consumer satisfaction has risen to 77.8, up 0.8 compared to January 2016, marking the fourth straight improvement in results. Satisfaction is at its highest since July 2013...
The original aim of customer service was relatively transactional – a consumer made a query, an answer was provided by the company, the customer was satisfied and the interaction was completed. However, in today’s competitive markets this is no longer enough to win and retain customer loyalty....
As we move into 2017, now is a good time to review last year and use the insight to plan for the future. What were the big trends and how will they evolve moving forward? To help we’ve analyzed all 100+ posts published on the Eptica blog in 2016, and picked a top ten, based on a combination of readership and industry feedback.
Providing consistent accurate information when responding to queries is one of the key elements of good customer service. This is particularly important within regulated sectors such as insurance where - to avoid risk and ensure compliance - you need to be able to demonstrate that you provided customers with the same, approved information however they made contact.
Whether it is to add capacity in specific areas, helping expansion into new markets or bringing down costs, outsourcing is a central part of customer service. According to the Everest Group, nearly a quarter of contact center activities across the globe are outsourced, meaning the market is worth $75-78 billion every year.
Wherever they are in the world, consumers have rising expectations when it comes to the experience they receive from brands. But how does it vary between different countries? To find out Engage Business Media recently surveyed over 3,000 consumers in six European countries (the UK, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Sweden).
Often when describing the customer relationship, companies talk about beating competitors to win and retain consumers. This is obviously true at a basic level – after all, you will be judged against rivals in terms of factors such as speed of service, helpfulness of staff and price of products. However, it can only take you so far....
We’re now well into the holiday shopping season, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us but plenty of shopping days to go before Christmas itself. The trading picture so far this year has been mixed, and for many retailers this time of year is make or break time.