There have already been a lot of predictions that 2012 will be a key year for customer service, with Forrester amongst those that see it as a major strategic priority for businesses. News this week from Microsoft seems to back up this trend. It is partnering with a Silicon Valley company called 24/7, which specialises in using data analytics to predict what customers want. Microsoft is both i...
One of the key trends that is accelerating in 2012 is the use of mobile devices to research, access information and make purchases. New studies have found that more and more people now reach for their smartphone or tablet during the buying process, even if they make the final purchase through other channels.UK figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) show that nearly half of smartphone o...
The majority of times when customers call your contact centre they are looking to get answers to their questions. Provide this information quickly, efficiently and politely and they will finish the conversation happier and better disposed towards your company. That’s the essence of good customer service – and on paper it seems relatively simple.However ensuring your contact centre agen...
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...
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...
The Christmas shopping season is now in full swing across the UK and competition between retailers has never been fiercer.This is particularly true in the electrical and computing sectors, where consumers have a huge choice of online and offline outlets to buy from. Electrical products are also becoming more complex and converged – for example smart, internet-connected TVs are expected to be...
Delivering excellent customer service is a central part of business today, whatever industry you are in. While sectors such as retail may be very visible when it comes to customer service initiatives, improving service can deliver huge benefits in other, more traditional, sectors such as insurance.The perfect example of this is Ageas Insurance Solutions (AIS), one of the UK’s leading persona...
Next year’s London Olympics will put the UK in the spotlight. Millions of visitors are expected to come to the country, providing a much needed boost to the economy. And provided they enjoy the experience many of these tourists could turn into regular visitors, coming back year after year for holidays across the country. Outside the spectacle of the games themselves, what will make the ...
While it has been around for many years, live web chat is definitely an underused channel by companies. Despite the fact that more and more people are using chat channels such as instant messaging or Skype, companies have shied away from deploying it, particularly for customer service. Mainly this is down to the perceived cost of chat, as it requires a real agent to answer questions online. T...