November, 2020

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24 Experts Reveal the Single Worst Thing a Contact Center Agent Can Do During a Call

Callminer

Talking to customers on the phone all day isn’t an easy job; that’s why it takes a special set of skills and characteristics to be a successful contact center agent. Even top-performing agents have bad days, though, and sometimes, things that are considered standard practice can frustrate customers. Hiring the right contact center agents is important, but ongoing agent training and performance management are crucial for customer satisfaction and the success of your business as a whole.

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Align Business, Contact Center and Technology Strategies

Contact Center Pipeline

I’ve been on my soapbox for years touting the importance of aligning the business strategy, the contact center operations strategy, and the contact center technology strategy. Strategies are aligned when: You can map the relationship between business and contact center goals. The center is equipped with (or pursuing) technology that enables both. Operational practices and […].

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The 5 Rules for Designing a Great Digital Experience

Beyond Philosophy

Digital experiences are a crucial part of your Customer Experience , especially during the pandemic. Some organizations are excelling, while others could use some work. No matter where you fall on that spectrum, we have some essential considerations for designing your digital experience in the form of 5 rules. On a recent podcast about these 5 rules, I shared a recent digital experience that was definitely on the “could use some work” side of the spectrum.

Chatbots 405
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The Mike Moment

ShepHyken

We’ve all heard the old adage: “It’s better to give than to receive.” That’s what customer service people do. They give and give and give. They help solve problems and resolve complaints. What they get in return—hopefully—is a nice thank you, which, when you think about it, is fairly insignificant , though appreciated, for the work they do. Yes, they are paid for the job they do, but the people who are amazing at this role aren’t doing it just for the money.

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Reimagine Your Communications With A Unified Platform

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.

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The 3 Reasons Customers Pushback or Ask for a Supervisor, and What to Do About It

Myra Golden Media

If a customer gives you pushback, argues, or asks for a supervisor, one of the three things is going on: The customer doesn’t trust you The customer fears something The customer sees you as a threat to getting what they want. Watch my video to get two powerful techniques you can use to preempt an escalation when you get pushback. Was this helpful?

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25 Indicators of Fraud on Inbound Calls

Callminer

Call center fraud is no laughing matter. Fraud is not only on the rise in call centers generally (jumping by 350% between 2013 and 2019 ), but the spread of fraud in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic means businesses and consumers alike must be more mindful than ever. Organizations need to be prepared to effectively combat call center fraud. Scammers are armed with advanced technology and access to private user data obtained through illicit channels.

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Tips for Onboarding New-Hires Remotely

Contact Center Pipeline

I’m no stranger to remote work. I’ve been onboarded remotely and have onboarded remote employees before. But I have to say I’ve never been a part of onboarding someone fully remote—with my onboarding partners-in-crime also being remote—in the midst of a pandemic. As we are adapting our processes and strategy at LaunchDarkly, it’s moments like […].

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Digital Transformation Didn’t Work: This Is What You Should Do Now

Beyond Philosophy

An organization’s digital experience is vital to their success. We have been getting a lot of clients asking for a review of their digital experience. Many recognize that their digital transformation hasn’t resulted in the experience that they hoped it would be. On a recent podcast, we had our lead on digital transformation Zhecho Dobrev, Principal Consultant for Beyond Philosophy, tell us why that might be.

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Guest Blog: How To Improve the Customer Experience Starting Today

ShepHyken

This week we feature an article from Chelsea Lamb , co-founder and head tech writer at Business Pop. She provides multiple strategies to improve the customer experience in order to gain and retain repeat customers. It’s been said that customer service is dead. Unfortunately, for many businesses, this is true. We live in such an instant gratification world that customers will often simply seek the next best thing if they don’t get the desired outcome to start.

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The Verint Experience Index: Retail

Reports of the death of in-store shopping have been greatly exaggerated. This year’s retail survey found that more than 60 percent of consumers start and end their journey by visiting a store. Retail customers value price above everything, but the importance of other factors varies for different brands. In-store shopping is valued highly by grocery and home improvement customers Technology retail customers place less importance on in-store experiences – for them it only ranks sixth Digital exper

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This Tip Will Reduce Agent AHT by Moving Customers Out of Venting

Myra Golden Media

Twice in the last week, Contact Center Agents have reached out to me for help on reducing Average Handle Time (AHT). I’m listening, and I have an answer. I say “an answer” because I’ll be sharing more solutions in the coming weeks. You can move customers out of venting, rambling, and storytelling using Reframing Statements. Reframing Statements shift conversations with challenging customers from focusing on the problem to what you can do about it.

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Interview with CX Ambassador Matthew Phillip

GetFeedback

Interview with Matthew Phillip, Marketing Automation Manager at Mylo, a Lockton company, the insurtech leader revolutionizing insurance shopping, about his career in the customer experience space.

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The State of Remote Workforce Compliance

Callminer

Read this article to learn how organizations can achieve and maintain legal compliance with a remote workforce.

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20 Empathy Statements to Show Stressed-Out Customers That You Care

Contact Center Pipeline

These are difficult times, and our anxious customers need us more than ever. Some of them need help with a simple task, like: “How do I add a new driver to my auto insurance policy?” Others need help solving a problem: “Why was I charged twice for inflight WiFi?” All of them need our empathy. […].

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Strategic CX: A Deep Dive into Voice of the Customer Insights for Clarity

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.

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What Do The Pioneers of Customer Experience See for The Future

Beyond Philosophy

What happens when you get three Customer Experience Pioneers together to discuss the past, present, and future of Customer Experience? This episode of The Intuitive Customer, for starters. Recorded in celebration of the recent CX day, Colin joins fellow experience experts and champions Lewis Carbone and Joe Pine to talk all things Customer Experience.

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Thanksgiving Week Special: A Recipe for Amazing Customer Service

ShepHyken

As we approach Thanksgiving, I can’t stop thinking about turkey and stuffing—and all the different ways to prepare them. Always thinking about how everything in life ties to customer service, I wondered, “What is a good recipe for customer service?” So, I’ve listed some of the essential ingredients. I’m sure you’ll have a few more to add to this list.

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What do you do when you can’t give the customer what they want?

Myra Golden Media

I created a worksheet to help you practice the Feel, Felt, Found Method so you can apply it in your specific situations. Grab the worksheet here. I was working with a client that sells food products. A frequent question they get from customers is, “What ingredients are in this yogurt?” for example. When a customer asks for ingredients, it’s usually because they or one of their children has a food allergy, and they’re trying to make sure the product is safe for them.

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How to Coach Your Contact Centre Agents

Call Design

If you want to facilitate an environment for your contact centre agents to succeed, you need to start coaching. Coaching is a great way to encourage, enable, and empower your agents to not only want to be better at their jobs but perform better. Coaching is also a great opportunity for your agents to learn new skills, get feedback on the work they are doing, and resolve the problems they might be having with calls.

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SME Relationships: Proven Solutions for Seamless Collaboration and Success

Speaker: Tim Buteyn, President of ThinkingKap Learning Solutions

💢 Do you find yourself stuck in never-ending review cycles? Are you wondering if your Subject Matter Expert actually got that last review request? Are you having trouble trying to decipher impractical or conflicting feedback? 💢 If any of these scenarios sounds familiar, you may benefit from a crash course on managing SME relationships!

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24 Experts Reveal the Single Worst Thing a Contact Center Agent Can Do During a Call

Callminer

Here are the top mistakes made by call center agents that frustrate customers and impact customer experience.

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2021 Outlook: AI, Knowledge Automation and the Evolving Role of Remote Agents

Contact Center Pipeline

Already experiencing pandemic change, contact centers can expect even more in 2021, at a more rapid pace. Call and ticket volumes continue to rise, and the remote workforce will remain, at least partially, distributed as the new norm. As CX organizations continue adapting, some are still second-guessing critical technology decisions, which can cause additional friction […].

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What Do The Pioneers of Customer Experience See for the Future: And What Should You Do About It?

Beyond Philosophy

From time to time, I participate in speaking engagements and, in the time of COVID-19, virtual speaking engagements. I recently participated in a Customer Experience Day webinar with two other leaders in our field, Joe Pine and Lou Carbone. I learned a few things that I would love to share with you, and discussed on my most recent podcast , regarding where we are now with Customer Experience and, perhaps more importantly, where we are heading.

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Guest Post: A Guide to Training Employees to Deliver Outstanding eCommerce Customer Service

ShepHyken

This week we feature an article from Pawel Lawrowski, Head of Growth at Tidio. He shares six tips and strategies to share with your team for improving the eCommerce customer experience. Poor customer service costs businesses over $75 billion a year in lost profits. It can turn into hundreds of negative reviews and bad word of mouth, which spreads quicker than a wildfire.

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Contact Center Dialers Demystified

Dive into the realm of contact center dialers with our infographic! Explore the various types – Preview, Predictive, Automatic, and Progressive Dialers – and unravel their roles in boosting call center performance.

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Contact Center Trends 2021: The CX Watershed

Fonolo

After assessing how the pandemic had changed the call center in 2020 , we decided to peek over the parapet at 2021. We asked the contact center industry’s top influencers and business leaders what they thought the most significant contact center trends in 2021 would be. Read the Full Industry Report Here: Contact Center Trends 2021. Here’s what they said.

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The Best Customer Service Phrases That Will Help in Any Tough Situation

Win the Customer

Being an exceptional customer service representative comes with specific requirements. One of them is understanding the effect of using service phrases. Your goal as a customer service employee is to hear problems and bring solutions. As long as you know how to solve the issues arising, you’re successful. However, communicating well 24/7 can be difficult.

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100 Call Center Management Tips: Expert Insights & Advice for Hiring & Training Call Center Agents

Callminer

Managing call centers today involves much more than scheduling agents to staff the phone lines.

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Coaching During Covid-19: Six Remote-Coaching Tips For Contact Centers

Contact Center Pipeline

Now that call centers have transitioned to working from home, many managers and supervisors are finding coaching remotely to have its challenges. Managers often go into “survival mode” and put coaching on the back burner, or worse, turn to “command-and-control mode” in an effort to maintain business as usual. However, one of the things that […].

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The New GTM Playbook: 18 Ways to Future-Proof Your Sales Team

Longer sales cycles. Increasingly discerning buyers. More meetings. Intensifying competition. Economic uncertainty. Go-to-market teams of every size, in every industry, are grappling with these challenges firsthand. Thankfully, there’s an answer. We’ve developed an entirely new way for GTM leaders to identify and execute proven, data-driven strategies that drive revenue.

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Diagnosing Customers’ New Behavior During the Pandemic

Beyond Philosophy

The last time you looked up product reviews, which ones did you notice first, 5-star, or 1-star? Also, how many 5-star reviews does it take to offset a 1-star review? Probably more than one. Today, I’m talking about why that is, and it comes down to two words that describe our instinctive behavior: Negativity Bias. We discussed Negativity Bias on a recent podcast.

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Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

ShepHyken

This is a crazy idea, but hear me out. When I was a kid, we had home-cooked meals almost every night. I thought my mom was the greatest cook in the world. She could make the best chicken. As a matter of fact, she made chicken almost every night. It turns out she could follow a recipe and had bought a book that had 365 chicken recipes—one for each day of the year.

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Why You Should Hire Agents Based on EQ Not IQ

Fonolo

When hiring new talent, it’s easy to get caught up in qualifications and work experience. However, customer service professionals need more than smarts to be successful — especially when working in a contact center. Empathy is one of the hottest topics in the industry right now, with the pandemic revealing how important genuine human connections are.