Customer Service

Are brands finally getting the message about social customer service?

Published on: August 28, 2013
Author: Epticablog

Despite the fact that millions of people now regularly use social media, many brands have been slow to embrace it as a customer service channel.  But now there are signs that some companies may be starting to get the message about the importance of social customer service.According to a new survey, around 80 per cent of consumers who have contacted a brand through social media received a resp...

Planning for recovery

Published on: August 21, 2013
Author: Epticablog

At long last the UK economy seems to be improving. Figures from the Office of National Statistics show growth of 0.6% in Q1 2013 and the CBI is forecasting an increase of 1.2% over the whole year. Other recent surveys have shown positive results in manufacturing, housing, services and construction.Obviously this is all good news, but how does it affect customer service teams? After a prolonged per...

Making switching easier in telecoms

Published on: August 16, 2013
Author: Epticablog

Over the last ten years customers have become less and less likely to put up with poor service. Social media provides a platform to air concerns and the internet and deregulation of many industries has opened up a much wider choice of providers. So, if you don’t like your existing supplier it is theoretically easier to take your business elsewhere.However while switching in some industries (...

Delivering customer service in a crisis

Published on: August 14, 2013
Author: Eptica

Many customer service teams need to provide fast answers in times of crisis – for example when products or services go wrong. However when it comes to utilities, crises can be much more serious – essentially a matter of life or death when flooding, storms or other natural disasters strike.The perfect example is Western Power in Australia. Headquartered in Perth and with over 1 million ...

Are brands finally getting social customer service?

Published on: August 02, 2013
Author: Epticablog

New research from Social Bakers seems to point to a major step forward in social customer service, with more and more companies answering questions posed to them on Facebook and Twitter. Brands have more than doubled their response rates between Q2 2012 and Q2 2013, up from answering 30% of questions to 62%. Back in 2011 the figure was just 5%.Airlines led the way, answering 79% of queries, follow...

Don’t neglect email in an omnichannel world

Published on: July 26, 2013
Author: Epticablog

As companies embrace fast-growing channels such as social media there’s a perception that these essentially replace older methods of communication. In some cases this is true, but it is important to realise that consumers don’t automatically move to new channels just because they are there. After all, if that was the case no-one would be calling your contact centre any more.What consum...

Dealing with a customer service crisis in a 24 hour world

Published on: July 24, 2013
Author: Epticablog

Modern consumer electronics are incredibly complex – essentially specialised computers that rely on the latest software to function. They need to interact with an increasing number of other devices around them to provide consumers with the experience they are looking for. And to compete with other vendors, manufacturers have to continually develop their functionality, which often means updat...

5 ways to collect customer feedback

Published on: July 23, 2013
Author: Epticablog

Companies now have access to huge amounts of data on their customers. Particularly online, they can see the entire customer journey, purchase history and the channels used across every transaction. The vast majority of companies  also collect customer feedback, which should provide the perfect opportunity to fine tune products and service in order to help the customer experience.But at the mo...

Has UK customer service stopped improving?

Published on: July 17, 2013
Author: Epticablog

New research from the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) shows that customer satisfaction with brands in the UK has slowed over the last year. The overall score in the July 2013 UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) was 77.9 out of 100, down from 78 a year ago. This is the first time since the Index began in 2008 that levels have fallen, albeit by a small amount.The UKCSI is calculated from an o...

Delivering a global customer experience

Published on: July 12, 2013
Author: Epticablog

The web provides the opportunity for completely new business models, enabling small, lean organisations to compete against much larger players. To succeed they have to be able to deliver what customers want and be responsive to their needs. Consequently service and the customer experience are central to how they must operate.A great example of how customer service innovation is driving success is ...

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