We’re now part way through National Customer Service Week (NCSW), which provides the industry in the US and UK with the chance to take stock, celebrate success and share best practice. However, as well as celebrating current successes, NCSW provides a chance to pause and to look forward - what will customer service be like in the future?
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.
Christmas is a stressful time. It is stressful for consumers buying last minute presents or chasing up a missing delivery, but it is also stressful for the staff in stores and contact centers with the many customer enquiries that follow the season. The number of queries companies receive is enormous, and every single one matters to the consumer that sent it
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.
Organizations today receive a growing number of incoming emails and social media messages from consumers. At the same time the range and scope of these interactions is also expanding – essentially consumers today want to be able to have conversations with brands, on their channel of choice, in order to find out information, solve problems and to give feedback.
With customer service being at the top of the business agenda for organizations, what are the trends that are impacting contact centers? To find out, analyst ContactBabel surveyed 216 UK contact center managers and directors. Reading through the results, six key conclusions stand out..
Like many industries, insurance is being disrupted by digital technology. Nearly 80% of consumers want to use digital channels such as the web, email, social media and chat to interact with insurers – yet under a quarter of businesses say they are fully digital, according to Accenture. Traditional insurers face major challenges...
National Customer Service Week (NCSW) will soon be celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic. Running between October 3-7, it highlights the importance of customer service to every organization, and provides the opportunity to learn from best practice and to celebrate success across the sector.
People use a whole range of different words to refer to your products – many will differ from those words that your organization uses internally. For example, research found that there are 57 names for the humble TV remote control, including the flipper, the changer and even the doofangle. This wide range of language can create problems for customer service...
Companies understand that meeting customer needs is central to business success. But it can be more difficult to find out what consumers value most when it comes to the overall experience – and what drives them to switch to rivals. New research from the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) therefore provides some vital insight - read on to find out more...