Year in Review: Our Top Customer Service Blog Posts of 2018

From new insights into the benefits of outsourced customer care to news about what’s going on in our community of clients and associates, 2018 proved to be memorable here at the Working Solutions blog. And in case you missed any of our top stories, we’re pleased to offer this special month-by-month review of the most-read customer service blog posts from the past year.

2018 in Review: Our Top Customer Care Blog Posts, Month by Month

January: Working Solutions Lands on FlexJobs’ List of Top 10 Companies for Remote Jobs

For the third straight year, our industry-leading, on-demand customer care services earned us a spot in the FlexJobs Top 10 Companies for Remote Jobs. We’re proud of the honor, and believe it reflects highly on the quality of the customer care that agents deliver.

“Those high scores reflect candid comments and assessments by [our] employees, as well as agents who work for the company as independent contractors,” as our senior vice president of Business Development Troy Hesselgesser pointed out in his announcement of this important honor. “Working Solutions welcomes such third-party views, including Glassdoor’s four-plus star rating and 92% CEO approval of Kim Houlne posted there.”

February: Call Center Security Tips

In today’s interconnected and information-driven era, data security tops the list of priorities for any contact center. And in this blog post on call center security, Working Solutions vice president of Information Technology Billy West lays down some proven best practices on just how this should be done.

“For me, four words sum up call center security best,” Billy writes. “Start smart. End secure. Software security isn’t like a fine wine. It doesn’t get better with age. It has to be updated to correct vulnerabilities in current and older versions.”

March: Myths vs. Facts of Call Center Outsourcing

In this blog post—one of our most popular ever—Working Solutions Chief Marketing Officer Gail Rigler debunks some of the most persistent myths surrounding call center outsourcing. From concerns about data security to the mistaken belief that an outside source can’t deliver the same brand experience as in-house agents, Gail dispels these misperceptions, one by one.

April: Gavin Woody Goes the Distance — and Then Some

Gavin Woody excels in extremes: A West Point graduate and former U.S. Army Ranger, Gavin is also the former vice president of Operations at Working Solutions client, A Place for Mom. He has integrated his experiences competing in high-altitude trail races around the world with business management best practices. From avoiding negative thinking to keeping your wits about you in tough situations, here’s how Gavin’s racing experience translates into valuable lessons for today’s business leaders.
 

May: Working Solutions Showcases New Dallas HQ

2018 was a year of milestones for Working Solutions, including the relocation of corporate headquarters from our long-time home in Plano, Texas, to the bustling business arena of Dallas proper. In this blog post, we invite you to view photos of our new HQ—a setting that not only better reflects the times we live in, but also the distance we’ve come since our founding more than 20 years ago.

June: What’s the Difference between Customer Experience and Customer Service?

“While almost everyone understands the importance of customer service, not as much is understood about the other side of the equation, namely customer experience. And wait—don’t those two terms mean pretty much the same thing?”

So writes Working Solutions CEO Kim Houlne in an insightful look at the difference between customer service and customer experience, and why that distinction is so important. “Delivering exceptional customer service means offering a superior customer experience,” she explains. And to do that, “you must first fully understand exactly how your customers experience your business.”
 

July: 7 Reasons to Choose Onshore Call Center Outsourcing

It’s become clearer than ever in 2018 that, for most businesses, offshore call center outsourcing has simply lost its allure. Today’s leaders understand that to truly connect with customers in a meaningful and satisfying way requires enlisting agents with a shared cultural background and real communications savvy. “Customer satisfaction and the prioritization of technological expertise now take precedence over simple cost savings,” writes Gail Rigler in this breakdown of why more businesses are choosing onshore service providers for their call center outsourcing needs.

August: How to Boost Close Rates by 30% and Add-On Sales by 20%

Can your call center ramp up 300% or more—with an hour’s notice or less—and then scale back down again just as quickly? In an era when holiday sale seasons are more important than ever, and when escalating natural disasters are disrupting communications on a larger scale than ever before, this is no idle question. In this blog post, our experts explain how an on-demand contact center workforce can help you achieve the quick-turn flexibility needed to succeed in the 21st century.

September: Hurricane Recovery Checklist: A Step-by-Step Guide for Contact Centers

Hurricane season is a stressful time for almost everyone, but especially for businesses with call centers in storm zones. As April Wiita, Working Solutions vice president of Program Success, explains in this blog post, creating a workable hurricane recovery plan is essential for companies to ensure smooth operations in the face of such challenges.

From the importance of training your staff on how to respond to a worst-case scenario to fully safeguarding your facilities and infrastructure, April walks us through the best practices for making sure you’re set for hurricane season. And if this all seems overwhelming, or, as April writes, “it’s simply outside the scope of your business,” then it may be time to call in professionals. In other words, a dedicated, outsourced contact center partner that can help ensure you’re prepared to weather any storm, with no downtime (or damage to your customer satisfaction).

October: Reliability and Resilience: The Most Essential Benefits of Call Center Outsourcing

Consumers are increasingly using non-traditional channels to engage with businesses and brands. Maintaining the technological footprint necessary to meet this demand is more of a challenge every year— even for businesses with vast resources, but especially for smaller businesses without them. For this reason alone, many companies are turning to contact center outsourcing to ensure they achieve the reliability and resilience essential to provide truly exceptional customer care, as our experts explain in this popular blog post from October 2018.

November: How to Reduce Call Center Overhead Costs with On-Demand Customer Care

Maintaining a functional and efficient call center—one that not only meets your operational needs but also ensures the highest possible levels of customer loyalty and satisfaction—is no easy task. And as consumer technology continues to evolve, it’s only becoming more complex.

Fortunately, there’s a way for businesses of all shapes and sizes to meet these important goals while keeping costs low. In this blog post, our experts discuss how outsourced, on-demand contact center services can provide customized solutions tailored to: 1) meet a company’s precise customer care needs; 2) reduce overhead costs and remove the burden of managing a contact center; and 3) offer access to the nation’s finest customer care agents.

December: Podcast: Whether Wildfires or Hurricanes, Businesses Should Always be Ready

The wildfires that devastated California in November 2018 were unprecedented and truly tragic, with a toll on infrastructure and human lives that echoed recent storm-related catastrophes on America’s eastern seaboard. They also highlighted the fact that, no matter where your business is located, disaster could be a breath away.

This blog post showcases April Wiita’s recent appearance on The Big Bid Theory podcast, where she shares her experiences running on-demand contact center operations during natural disasters and explains how a distributed agent workforce can help businesses stay out of harm’s way.

At Working Solutions, we strive to not just provide the industry’s best outsourced contact center services, but we also to ensure that everyone in our network is well-informed about what to expect in the ever-changing world of customer communications.

Every week here at our blog, we offer an expert take on topics, ranging from data security to disaster prevention, with highlights from our team member and community of clients, and quite a bit more. Don’t miss out—bookmark us now to stay in the loop. And thanks for helping us achieve an amazing 2018. Here’s to another year of excellence.