SQM Group

APRIL 18, 2023

Learn about call center technologies that can help companies transform the way they deliver customer service more efficiently and effectively.

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Call Center Technology Customer Service 86

Fonolo

APRIL 18, 2023

Is your contact center staying on top of advancements in AI and automation ? There’s a lot to learn, but these sophisticated new tools can improve your operations in so many ways. New KPIs offer next-level insights into operations. Real-time agent assist helps agents understand customers’ emotions. Chatbots and call-backs create rewarding self-service experiences for customers.

Contact Center 81

Contact Center Self service Chatbots Scripts 81

Playvox

APRIL 25, 2023

Let’s confess — we’ve all nodded off during on-demand remote training sessions. The recorded talking-head, one-to-many format is a surefire way to put even the most highly caffeinated employees to sleep. How can you spice up remote agent training at your contact center to make it the most engaging and effective it can be? Here are five winning strategies. 1.

Contact Center 79

Contact Center Contact center software Gamification Feedback 79

ShepHyken

APRIL 11, 2023

The other day I was having breakfast with 11 of my friends. The server came over, introduced herself, and said, “I’ll be taking care of you.” She took our orders, and a few minutes later, a different server dropped off three of our meals. Then, two more servers brought a few more meals a moment later, and another server showed up just after that with the rest of our meals.

Customer Service 356

Customer Service Employee engagement 356

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A high-quality customer experience creates loyal customers for years to come and makes for an easy win against businesses that are competing on other factors like price and quality. We partnered with ContactBabel to uncover the biggest hurdles businesses face when trying to improve CX and offer practical suggestions to overcome them.

Technology

Real Blue Sky

APRIL 17, 2023

The contact center is the primary hub of contact between your organization and your customers. Ken Blanchard is credited with reminding us to “Take care of your customers or someone else will.” It is critical that contact centers operate effectively to efficiently meet customer expectations. Continuous improvement is essential for customer operations to remain competitive in today’s fast-paced omnichannel environment, yet in practice, we see organizations are not applying a continuous i

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Contact Center Metrics Technology Self service 98

Calltools

APRIL 5, 2023

Financial service call centers are responsible for both inbound and outbound calls that deal with sensitive information. Often, these financial calls are time-sensitive as well. As such, financial service call centers must employ the right tools to allow their agents to reach clients most effectively. A predictive or preview dialer service can help improve efficiency for specific financial call centers.

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Call Center call center software Banking Sales 98

LiveVox

APRIL 10, 2023

CIOs are feeling the heat to deploy digital technologies faster to stay ahead of the competition. As companies strive to create meaningful connections with their customers through more interactive and engaging experiences, the lack of qualified IT workers is limiting how quickly they can execute their plans. By Patrick Summe, Chief Technology and Engineering Officer, […] The post Contact Centers and IT Must Partner for Transformation: Starting with the Agent Desktop appeared first on LiveV

Contact Center 86

Contact Center Engineering Technology 86

MiaRec

APRIL 21, 2023

As you see Voice Analytic solutions promote their Topic Analysis capabilities, you start to wonder what is so special about organizing calls by topics. Because Topic Analysis is such a versatile tool, it is hard to give a simple answer on how to best use it. It can boost agent morale, reduce customer churn, catch potential problems before they happen, and so much more.

Contact Center 98

Contact Center Morale Analytics 98

Callminer

APRIL 25, 2023

Product innovation is critical for companies to stay competitive. Read this blog to learn more about product innovation, the various types of strategies, and best practices for success.

Best practices 69

Best practices 69

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Workforce challenges are accelerating, and leaders must be prepared. According to Gartner, “Executives today face a volatile business environment, sustained talent shortages, rapid technological advancements and intense change fatigue in the workforce.” 1 In 9 Future of Work Trends for 2025, Gartner reveals nine critical workforce trends that will define 2025 – from AI’s impact on productivity to evolving leadership roles and talent shortages.

Technology

ShepHyken

APRIL 4, 2023

The other day I was at the airport and ordered a chicken sandwich from one of the “to go” restaurants. When it came time to pay, they didn’t ask me for a tip. For a moment, I thought, “Did I go back in time?” This is just my opinion, but the concept of tipping is getting out of hand. I go to a fast-food restaurant and order a burger and fries. The person behind the counter takes my money and gives me my food.

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Self service Customer Service Personalization 316

Beyond Philosophy

APRIL 29, 2023

If you have been listening to us for a while now, you probably know about our “I’m in a Pickle” podcasts and the “5 Rules” series. If so, and you’re a fan, today is your lucky day because this podcast is a mash-up of both series. Not only that, but we also added in 5 more bonus rules for 100% more rules. It seems that quite a few people in our audience have a pickle.

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Consulting Consulting Customer Experience 195

CCNG

APRIL 26, 2023

As we continue to navigate the post-COVID waters, one aspect is clear, hybrid work models are not going away. Employers learned, that in many cases, working from home can be very cost effective for business. Benefits to the employer include: - Co-workers can work longer shifts - Less absenteeism - Not having to maintain brick and mortar overhead costs Hybrid conditions offer perks to co-workers as well: - Flexible schedule - No commuting - Cost savings due to elimination or reduction in childcar

CCNG 195

CCNG Coaching Education Best practices 195

Steve DiGioia

APRIL 3, 2023

Sure. Coming out of the COVID pandemic, many businesses are still having difficulties hiring enough employees to properly service their customers. I understand that. But, if that’s the case, at least find a few seconds to acknowledge the customers who enter your door, regardless of how busy you are. Example: The other day, my family and I entered a restaurant for a late lunch.

Surveys 162

Surveys Customer Service 162

Advertiser: ZoomInfo

As prospects define their problem, search for solutions, and even change jobs, they are generating high-value signals that the best go-to-market teams can leverage to close more deals. This is where signal-based selling comes into play. ZoomInfo CEO Henry Schuck recently broke down specific ways to put four key buying signals into action with the experts from 30 Minutes to President’s Club.

Best practices

Myra Golden Media

APRIL 11, 2023

A whopping one-third of contact centers have laid off employees in the last 12 months, reducing their headcount by about 33%. Despite fewer resources and fewer employees, contact centers are expected to achieve the same or better results. With customer expectations rising and budgets tightening, contact centers are under pressure to deliver excellent service while reducing costs.

Average Handle Time 156

Average Handle Time Contact Center First call resolution Analytics 156

Callminer

APRIL 27, 2023

NLP, ML and AI are everywhere in everyday life, and most people have encountered these technologies in action without even being aware of it. This blog shares 25 examples of NLP and ML.

Technology 182

Technology 182

ShepHyken

APRIL 25, 2023

One of my favorite concepts to cover in my customer service keynote speeches is to act like an owner. I originally wrote about this in 2011 and shared the story of an 18-year-old server at a pizza restaurant who took so much pride in his work that the guests thought he owned the restaurant. In preparing for an upcoming speech, I worked with Anthony Demangone, CMO of the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions.

Sales 272

Sales Customer Service Marketing Personalization 272

Beyond Philosophy

APRIL 27, 2023

One of our podcast listeners has a pickle, which, for those unfamiliar with it, is our term for a business problem. Our listener did their research, which gave them projected sales that made them proceed with their product launch. However, the sales after the launch haven’t been what the study predicted. Understandably, they want to know why. So, I figured we would also discuss our thoughts here since some of you had a similar problem.

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Sales Surveys Marketing Personalization 39

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This comprehensive report explores the evolving landscape of customer and business expectations, with five key trends that will help you understand your customers and stay ahead of the competition. Discover how your peers are implementing AI to improve customer experience with granular insights into their CX investments and specific AI use cases. For the first time, customers prefer digital channels when interacting with a business.

Customer Experience

CCNG

APRIL 19, 2023

Does your contact center jokingly reference certain teams as “Bad News Bears”? I may be dating myself, but this 1976 movie depicts a little league baseball team of rejects and misfits that possess little work ethic and pride. They are a careless and lackluster team with a sarcastic coach who grows frustrated with the responsibility to produce a respectable team.

Contact Center 195

Contact Center CCNG Coaching Call Center 195

Steve DiGioia

APRIL 17, 2023

An old boss said this to me once. He was pissed at my “continual complaining” about “so many issues”. That was his take on the matter. Mine was different. I was pissed off too. He refused to address the many nagging problems that my team had to deal with every day. Service suffered. Morale suffered. We were refunding money back to customers for mistakes that could have been avoided.

Morale 147

Morale Sales Personalization Management 147

Myra Golden Media

APRIL 6, 2023

Breaking bad news is one of the most challenging aspects of customer service. It’s always challenging to tell a customer that their product is out of stock, their order is delayed, or their service is canceled. However, as a contact center representative, it’s your responsibility to deliver this news in a way that’s sensitive, empathetic, and effective.

Contact Center 156

Contact Center Best practices Accountability Management 156

Contact Center Pipeline

APRIL 11, 2023

Area of expertise: I am a plain language writing expert. I help customer care organizations improve the quality of their written communications with customers. I help customer service agents write better email, chat, social media, text, and chatbot content. I help companies create useful, readable knowledge content for internal and external customers.

Customer Care 26

Customer Care Chatbots Customer Service Customer Experience 26

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Cut complexity and boost efficiency while empowering your customers with Nextiva's unified communications platform. Nextiva streamlines workflows and centralizes customer interactions, all while simplifying business collaboration, increasing productivity, and reducing employee burnout.

ShepHyken

APRIL 28, 2023

This week, we feature an article by Marcelle Santos, a copywriter at TextExpander , a software that helps individuals and teams communicate efficiently and consistently with their customers. She shares why customer standards matter and how your organization can meet them. Want to stand out from the competition? Raise your customer service standards.

Customer Service 166

Customer Service Accountability Self service Customer Support 166

Beyond Philosophy

APRIL 22, 2023

One of our listeners has a pickle. They did research that told them a product was just what their customers wanted, so they developed and launched it. But now, there are no sales. They want to know what went wrong. We suspect we might know. Research is a double-edged sword. It has the power to give us answers we want but not always the answers we need.

Surveys 39

Surveys Sales Customer Experience 39

CCNG

APRIL 12, 2023

Demand and customer expectations are on the rise across all industries and those in the contact center industry can feel it. For an industry already facing labor challenges and the need to evolve the pandemic accelerated the need to overcome those challenges. Customers, with no other choice than to contact companies in any fashion other than face-to-face, found new ways to engage with businesses.

Contact Center 195

Contact Center Business Process Outsourcing Average Handle Time outsourcing 195

Steve DiGioia

APRIL 10, 2023

When 2 “hospitality guys” get together, there’s bound to be many stories and CS/CX secrets to share. Thanks, Tony Johnson for having me as a guest on your podcast. Click here to listen. Some topics discussed: Be specific with your recognition Leadership isn’t about position, it’s about influence and impact Make sure that you work to train and empower your new managers The post Leading Teams To Deliver Exceptional CX Podcast appeared first on Steve DiGioia Customer S

Customer Service 29

Customer Service Management 29

Speaker: Nicholas Zeisler, CX Strategist & Fractional CXO

The first step in a successful Customer Experience endeavor (or for that matter, any business proposition) is to find out what’s wrong. If you can’t identify it, you can’t fix it! 💡 That’s where the Voice of the Customer (VoC) comes in. Today, far too many brands do VoC simply because that’s what they think they’re supposed to do; that’s what all their competitors do.

Customer Experience

Myra Golden Media

APRIL 5, 2023

When managing phone calls, signposting can make all the difference between a smooth and efficient conversation and a frustrating and confusing one. Signposting is the art of guiding the conversation using clear and concise language to let the caller know what to expect next. It’s a crucial skill for anyone who frequently takes calls, such as customer service representatives, salespeople, or receptionists.

Best practices 156

Best practices Call Center call center software Healthcare 156

Contact Center Pipeline

APRIL 6, 2023

The idiom “in demand” is defined as “greatly sought after, designed, or required by many people. Sometimes it is used with the modifier “high” before or in the middle of the phrase. I don’t know about you, but I am very happy to use “in high demand” when it comes to Contact Center agents!

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Contact Center Management 130

ShepHyken

APRIL 24, 2023

Each week, I read many customer service and customer experience articles from various resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too. Spring Cleaning For Business: How To Embrace It In Customer Experience by Dan Gingiss (Dan Gingiss) Whether you have a Chief Experience Officer and official customer experience team or not, it’s important to periodically look at the entire customer journey from start to fin

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Customer Service Sales Customer Experience Technology 33