Organisations today understand that customer service is everyone’s job and cannot be solely left to agents in the contact centre. However, in a multichannel world consumer expectations are high – they want to receive consistent, personalised service no matter how they make contact and certainly don’t want to have to repeat themselves when they move between channels. Customers don...
2014 was an extremely busy year in the customer experience market. The combination of more demanding consumers, new contact channels and increased regulation drove innovation and increased investment in customer service departments as organisations aimed to differentiate themselves from competitors and boost revenues. This increased focus translated into record numbers of visitors to the Epti...
For retailers, the peak Christmas trading period is fundamental to their revenues. However it is also the most competitive time, with everyone looking to increase their share of the £36.5 billion Britons were expected to spend on Christmas shopping. Add in that every year consumers are demanding more, and you can see how difficult it is to deliver the right experience to customers across eve...
The New Year always bring a plethora of predictions as companies and analysts look at what is likely to happen in the next twelve months across the customer experience market.
The rise of Millennial Generation - also known as Generation Y – is having a far reaching effect on how companies deliver customer service. If your company has not already started adapting to the requirements of this group, you might be in danger of being left behind. Born between the '80s to the 2000s the Millennials are characterized by a collection of core values and beliefs that...
Back office activities may be unglamorous, but they are vital. Whether ensuring that customers receive the right paperwork, taking payments, making amendments to accounts or organising the dispatch of products, failures lead to frustrated and angry customers, and additional strain on the contact centre.From a customer point of view, requests to the back office appear simple and straightforward. Ex...
A recent report from Hypatia Research Group highlights how Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software has become business critical to every organisation. However, the study, Next Generation CRM: All about Business Process Excellence points out a key issue with many existing CRM implementations. Essentially, while they act as a database for tracking customers, what they have bought and what th...
One of the most frustrating experiences for consumers is calling a company with a query and being met with a recorded message saying 'we are experiencing high call volumes at present, please hang up and try later'. Frustration can boil over into anger if they receive the same message on numerous occasions, particularly if it includes the advice to check the company website for information ...
With 144.8 billion emails sent every day, it continues to be a vital channel for customer service. Indeed, the rise of mobile devices, which allow consumers to quickly email wherever they are, means that the number of messages companies receive is actually growing.With many midsize organisations receiving over quarter of a million emails every year, coping with email customer service can be a stru...
Since online reviews became prevalent, championed by the likes of Amazon, their impact has spread widely across multiple industries. This has been driven by three main factors:The growth of ecommerce means that consumers are increasingly buying goods that they’ve not been able to see in person, meaning that they want assurance as to product quality.It gives buyers the opportunity to benchmar...