electricity (Photo credit: Terry Freedman) The utility sector has often struggled with customer service but new figures seem to show that performance is improving. The latest quarterly statistics from Consumer Focus found that overall complaints about the six major energy companies fell by 7% in the first quarter of 2012. This meant that the average number of complaints was 77 per 100,000 cu...
In an era where new channels such as social media and mobile are receiving huge attention, email customer service can sometimes feel a little last century. After all as a channel that has been around for a while, companies must surely have implemented a strategy to successfully cope with email – and nowadays people are all migrating to other channels aren’t they?Unfortunately for anyon...
With the Olympic Games nearly upon us, there’s going to be a significant impact on customer service teams, not just in London, but across the UK.Essentially the Olympics will affect customer service in three major areas:Games venues themselves The world (and media) will be watching closely for any issues with the games themselves – whether that is overlong queues to get into venues or ...
When it comes to crisis situations social media is now the front line for customer service. Issues spread quickly on Twitter and Facebook (and company message boards) and are visible to the entire world, drawing in other people who might not even be affected by the original problem. So the risk of damage to a brand’s reputation amongst potential customers and the general public is extremely ...
More and more of us are using mobile devices to interact with companies online. The combination of the ease of use of tablets and the fact that we always have our smartphones to hand, mean that for many it is fast becoming the default way of accessing the internet. Backing this up, consultancy IDATE predicts that by the middle of next year more people will get online through smartphones and tablet...
Successful retailers understand that knowing your customer is a key part of delivering a tailored experience. In the offline world that can be quite straightforward – you can see the people coming into your shop, ask them questions about their needs and provide the right answers and products.Online it is more difficult – while you can look at the customer journey, it can be hard to bui...
Delivering the best service is often about understanding what makes your customers tick – recognising them, knowing their likes/dislikes, what channels they prefer to be contacted by, and even on a basic level whether they prefer to be addressed formally or informally.In theory the huge amount of personal information now freely available online provides companies with the chance to deliver t...
In an era where organisations are looking to reduce expenditures wherever they can, it is vital that they don’t make cuts that actually lead to increased costs – or cause valuable customers to take their business elsewhere.This is particularly true when it comes to customer service – after all it is easy to believe that cutting corners in the contact centre won’t affect how...
christmas 2007 (Photo credit: paparutzi) It seems strange to be talking about Christmas in mid-summer, but plans for the festive season are well under way at most retailers. Decisions about key products are being currently made and programmes of store refurbishments are happening now as companies seek to be ready for their busiest time of the year. Current poor economic conditions really do ...
Customers increasingly want to interact with companies through social media. Whether that’s getting their issues sorted quickly, asking basic questions or sharing their experiences of good or bad service/products, for many social media is now the channel of choice. Speed and ease of use are some of the factors driving this - our own 2012 Eptica Social Customer Service Study showed that 26% o...