In its short life, the mobile telecoms industry has changed dramatically. From the introduction of brick-like handsets aimed at business people in the 1980s to mass market adoption and the emergence of smartphones, developments have been non-stop. And with 4G networks around the corner, change isn’t going to end anytime soon.The high speed nature of the mobile phone industry could explain it...
The Queen’s forthcoming Diamond Jubilee celebrations have the potential to deliver a much-needed shot in the arm for UK companies. As a one off event they can provide additional revenues, particularly for retailers, travel companies, the tourism sector and anyone involved in creating and selling royal memorabilia. There is even the possibility that the feel good factor of a double Bank Holid...
Whatever sector you are in successfully managing customer service across multiple channels is a key differentiator in today’s competitive business environment. Customers want the ability to contact you – and get answers to their questions – whether they are using the web, email, phone or social media. And they want these answers to be delivered quickly or they will simply go else...
In the past the UK utility industry has had a poor reputation for customer service. This has led to tough action from regulator Ofgem, for example fining npower £2 million and British Gas £2.5m for mishandling customer complaints in 2011.This week the government launched a new raft of planned measures that will tighten protection for consumers even further. These include direct compens...
Whatever industry you are in, customer service revolves around providing fast, accurate answers to customer queries. However ensuring that your agents have the up to date information needed to deliver these answers can be difficult, as it is scattered across multiple IT systems, stored in physical folders or even kept in agents’ heads. The key to delivering excellent customer...
From the BBC iPlayer to YouTube, video is one of the fastest growing ways for consumers to access content on the web. Faster broadband connection speeds and wifi on mobiles make video simple and quick to view wherever we may be.Part of the reason for the growth of video is the power it has to get a message across in a highly visual, simple to understand manner. This makes it perfect for customer s...
In today’s business climate, increasing efficiency while still delivering great service is the central aim of leading organisations. Balancing these two demands can be difficult, but by implementing an Eptica-based knowledge management system, the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has achieved both cost savings and improved customer service levels.NHSBSA’s Sherlock project uses ...
In tough times, customer service can be the best way of giving companies a competitive advantage. That was the theme of this year’s Institute of Customer Service (ICS) Conference, which took place yesterday at the London Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square. Speakers from government, including Norman Lamb MP, minister for employment relations, consumer and postal affairs, joined companies such...
Organisations across the world are now embracing social media, realising that it provides an immensely powerful, completely new customer channel. However social media has some big differences to many traditional channels – it is an open conversation that can spread news and comments incredibly quickly to a huge number of people around the world.But who within an organisation is responsible f...
Online privacy is a topic that is constantly in the news at the moment, with iPhone app makers Path and Hipster the latest companies offering apologies after it emerged that they uploaded address book information from phones to their servers without asking permission. Other brands, including Amazon-owned retailer Zappos and Sony have had to issue apologies after their sites have been hacked and cu...