Businesses today operate globally, but need to provide a local service if they are to deliver the customer experience that consumers rightly demand. That means providing information, answers and support in local languages, at the time that customers want it, and of course through their channel of choice.Managing global customer service is therefore a challenge, particularly for web-based businesse...
Delivering a compelling customer experience to people paying income tax is always going to be difficult. The combination of complex forms and cost mean that many consumers rate the experience as marginally better, but financially more painful, than having a tooth removed.For HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the UK, the scale of its operations also provides a logistical challenge. In the 2011/12 fi...
With the discovery of horse meat within a number of processed foods, it is no exaggeration to say that the European food industry is facing one of its biggest challenges since the BSE epidemic. While horse meat itself is safe to eat (unless the horse had been treated with particular drugs), consumers believed they were buying beef-based ready meals and burgers from reputable suppliers and supermar...
When contact centres first opened they focused overwhelmingly on the telephone channel – indeed most were referred to as call centres for that very reason. As customer service has developed and become multichannel, email, web, chat and now social media have been added to the customer service mix, all normally handled by the same contact centre.However, the growth of multichannel service does...
In the run up to Christmas shoppers naturally expect a high level of customer service from retailers. In store they want helpful staff, sufficient stock and no queues at the checkouts. Online they want a straightforward ordering process, a clear acknowledgement of their purchase and to be kept informed about delivery progress.As we’ve already found not all retailers are managing to provide t...
Today, the customer really is king. The combination of ever increasing competition and greater customer expectation mean you need to deliver higher and higher levels of service, whatever sector you operate in.And, to be fair, most organisations understand the importance of customer service but many are failing to deliver what consumers actually want. This could be down to a lack of budget, not lis...
A recent check of retail UK websites found that more than a third could be breaking the law. The research, by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) uncovered issues at 62 of 156 sites, ranging from unlawful restrictions on refunds, failure to notify buyers about additional charges such as for delivery and not providing email contact details.Following the survey, the OFT has asked sites to change t...
Organisations today operate in a multi-channel world. Consumers want the freedom to be able to contact them through a whole variety of channels – the web, email, phone, social media, chat and letter. And they want to be able to use different channels for different interactions – so they might ask a general question on a company website and call or email with a specific enquiry about th...
The financial services industry is currently facing major issues when it comes to customer service. Following scandals such as the misselling of products such as Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) and major technology problems at RBS, consumer confidence is at an all time low. No wonder that an increasing number of customers are looking to take their business elsewhere.As part of its remit to prot...
Good customer service should have two aims. Obviously the first is to satisfy customer questions and solve any problems that they may have. Failing to do this means you will lose customers and revenue as well as negatively impacting your brand.The second, and ultimately even more important, objective should be to use customer service information to improve your products and services. Customer serv...