The growth in online channels has dramatically changed how customers interact with brands in every sector. They now demand a better experience, across more and more channels, and are far less loyal to companies that fail to deliver what they want. As digital natives, they are empowered by the information they find online and use the internet and social media as their primary means...
Despite the rise of digital channels and the growth of multichannel customer service, the telephone remains vital for businesses and consumers. In fact, while customers are certainly increasing their use of online self-service resources, web chat and social, research from Forrester indicates that 73% still use the phone for customer service. However, one of the biggest issues...
Communications technology is now central to everyone’s lives. Whereas twenty years ago most people just had a fixed telephone line, today consumers rely on a combination of mobile phones, broadband, and wireless data, to communicate with the world, work remotely and stay in touch with loved ones. As the importance of telecoms has grown, so has the significance of the customer service...
Earlier this year Eptica released the 2015 UK Multichannel Customer Experience Study. Covering 10 sectors, it researched the strength of the customer experience delivered by 100 leading brands across the web, email, Twitter and chat channels. Some of the key findings were that:On average UK companies could answer less than half (48%) of all questions as...
Last week UK government body HMRC said that it would spend an additional £45m to improve customer service for taxpayers. The money will be used to employ 3,000 more customer-facing staff, with a further 2,000 existing employees moved temporarily to help with the forthcoming tax credits deadline. The investment follows figures which showed that over a quarter (27.5%) ...
One of the biggest complaints consumers have when they raise an issue with a company is that customer service agents don’t show sufficient understanding or sympathy for their plight. In contrast, when agents apologize and demonstrate that they realize that there is a problem that is causing inconvenience, customer satisfaction rises. This is even the case if the issue can’t be solved...
The reputation of banks with consumers has suffered a dramatic fall in recent years. Branch closures, misselling cases such as those around PPI and, of course, the part that banks played in the financial crisis have all contributed to low consumer trust in the sector. At the same time the UK government has made it much easier for consumers to switch providers, attracting new entrants to the m...
In today’s multichannel world, providing service through the channels that customers want has never been more vital. Obviously you need to deliver a consistent experience across every channel, but with resources tight, how you split agent time can be a juggling act.So it is important to understand what channels your customers are likely to use most. There are a number of factors to take into...
Customer service directors face increasing challenges. They have to deal with a growing number of queries, calls, emails and tweets from consumers, who demand the highest levels of service, irrespective of channel. At the same time, they have to balance their budgets and ensure that they are delivering value to the business through efficient and cost-effective operations.Meeting these two objectiv...
The rise of internet and digital channels has radically changed how people research and buy insurance. It’s now extremely simple for consumers to shop around and get online quotes before renewing their policies – especially since the rise of price comparison websites.