January, 2021

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Unexpected Lessons from the 2020 Contact Center

Contact Center Pipeline

About a year ago, I tried something that we would all agree now was a bit foolish: predict what the 2020 contact center would look like. Before the COVID-19 pandemic sent agents home on a massive scale, before economic disruption reinforced the need for consistent, digitally enabled customer experiences (CX), I outlined several ongoing trends […].

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What is Customer Perception of Service?

Fonolo

Customer perception of service is a key component of customer perception. How well you service and support your customers will distinctly impact how your customers feel about your brand, product, or service. How to Improve Customer Perception of Your Brand. That said, it’s important to know the difference between customer perception of service, general customer perceptions, and customer satisfaction.

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The Light At The End of The Tunnel: Reimagine Your Customer Experience

Beyond Philosophy

It is not often in life that you get the opportunity to reset things. However, as the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out, we have a chance that is, dare I say, unprecedented to reimagine Customer Experience. We have been through a shocking year of change. Now, we can decide what parts of the change we want to keep to respond to what customers want now. We’ve been doing some work with one of our clients recently who will be doing some research.

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Shep’s 2021 Top 10 Business Predictions

ShepHyken

Every year I write my customer service and customer experience (CX) predictions in my Forbes.com column. This year, I thought I would share a brief version of them with our Shepard Letter subscribers. So, here are my Top 10 Predictions for 2021: Customers continue to get smarter. This has led to my list of predictions for several years. Our customers keep getting smarter about customer service and experience.

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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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Regain control of a conversation with a customer using the jump rope technique

Myra Golden Media

Continue the training with me? Join me at De-escalation Academy. This tip is from my De-escalation Academy. In De-escalation Academy, your employees go from feeling overwhelmed and powerless when they have to give customers bad news, to feeling confident, firm, and in-control as they bring down the temperature in interactions and guide customers to next steps.

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25 Things Chief Compliance Officers Want Every Contact Center Agent to Know

Callminer

See how maintaining contact center compliance requires cooperation between CCOs, contact center agents and an entire organization.

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McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case and the Customer Experience

Steve DiGioia

We all know that the coffee McDonald’s sells is too hot to drink when served. If you put it to your lips, you’ll most likely receive a burn that will be far worse than anything most people have ever encountered. So why do they make their coffee so hot? And how does this affect the customer experience? By now you must have heard about the famous “McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case”.

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Celebrating Tony Hsieh's Contribution to CX

CX Accelerator

by Jeremy Watkin and Community. The all-too-sudden and tragic passing of former Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh has sent a ripple through the business world, and the customer experience (CX) community is no exception. In the past, I’ve often chuckled upon reading about Zappos in a book or hearing the name mentioned in a keynote address as a model for customer-centricity.

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Small Improvements in Customer Service Create Big Wins

ShepHyken

Little successes added together make for large success down the road. Small successes add up. To put it in baseball terms, you don’t need to hit a home run every time it’s your turn at bat. So, here’s the question to consider: What small change will enhance the experience for the customer, even if it is just by 1%? My friend and client, Jason Bradshaw of Volkswagen in Australia, was tasked with improving the customer experience for the VW dealerships.

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The Open CCaaS Advantage Report

Over the next 12 months, what do you think will have the biggest impact on your CX automation efforts? When asked the same question, only 10% of CX leaders surveyed by Verint chose telephony. It’s no longer the engagement channel leading CCaaS conversations. The customer engagement challenges facing organizations have changed – so a new approach is needed.

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4 Things Chat Agents Can Do to Move Chat Interactions Along Faster

Myra Golden Media

Here are four things you can do to move your chat interactions along faster. One. Check for understanding early on and as often as it takes. Don’t assume you understand what the customer is saying. Just ask the customer what they mean. Like this: “You’re asking me how your employees can add an avatar to their eLearning profile, correct?

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Vital for 2021 – Digital Nudging Will Revolutionize Your CX

Beyond Philosophy

As we all interact more online than we ever have before, digital experiences are becoming an essential part of your CX. Like a physical experience, digital experiences should center around customers and focus on what they want so you can get what you want, customer-driven growth. However, there is also nothing wrong with giving people a little Digital Nudge in the right direction.

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International Contact Centre Operations Tips & Best Practices

Callminer

Learn how international contact centres can approach agent management optimisation, procedural improvements and more.

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What Does Management Want From You?

Steve DiGioia

Safety, security, and peace of mind. Nice calming words they are. They come with little worries and little stress. Every employee wants this. But what does management want from you? For many in the customer service industry, there is little room for advancement and few opportunities to make “change” – a change that is meaningful, impactful, and which enhances the customer experience.

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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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The New World for Contact Centers May Be Where We Were Already Headed

Contact Center Pipeline

2020 was nothing short of challenging for businesses. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March, we all scrambled to adjust to the new state of the world. Virtually overnight, hundreds of thousands of agents transitioned to working remotely and the approach, management and infrastructure of contact centers were completely restructured. In the months following, we […].

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of January 25, 2021

ShepHyken

Each week I read a number of 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. “I Wish the CEO Would Try and Open This F@#!* Package” by Chip Bell. (Real Leaders) The title of this story is a line we use at my house when a product or service is unusually challenging.

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How to Use Psychological Priming to Get Customers to Accept Your Word As Final

Myra Golden Media

Some of you know my undergrad degree is in Psychology. I taught college psych several years before jumping into the customer service space. I apply psychological principles to all my work in de-escalation and call control. In last week’s super-fantastic 4-day De-escalation Academy , I taught my students how to use psychology to get angry customers to back down and accept their word as final.

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This is the One Thing to Improve Your Customer Experience in 2021

Beyond Philosophy

We recently spoke to Customer Experience experts who shared an interesting insight. They all say they wish people understood that there was no one thing to do, no silver-bullet-solution for Customer Experience. We couldn’t agree more. We believe that the best way to improve Customer Experiences is to do a lot of little things that add up to significant improvements.

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ABM Evolution: How Top Marketers Are Using Account-Based Strategies

In times of economic uncertainty, account-based strategies are essential. According to several business analysts and practitioners, ABM is a necessity for creating more predictable revenue. Research shows that nearly three-quarters of marketers (74%) already have the resources needed to build successful ABM programs.

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25 Experts Reveal How Companies Can Use Omnichannel Technology to Improve Customer Service

Callminer

Read this article to learn how omnichannel technology can enhance customer service.

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Here’s 2 Sure-Fire Tactics That Have Never Let Me Down – Tip #25

Steve DiGioia

Most people have a few go-to strategies that they follow during times of need. They’re comforted knowing they have a tried-and-true method that works for them and have tactics that have never let them down. I’m no different. Experience has shown us the way and we are better off because of it. So, what tactics work for you? Oh, you don’t want to give up your secrets.

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Leading with Empathy: Demonstrate Understanding, Care and Compassion for Customers and Employees

Contact Center Pipeline

Everyone could use a little more empathy these days. The desire to feel heard and understood is a basic human need, and one that has a proven impact for companies. Numerous studies have linked empathy in the workplace to increased revenue and higher employee and customer satisfaction. It’s no surprise then that the demand for […].

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Guest Post: How to Nail Automated Customer Service Email Writing

ShepHyken

This week we feature an article from Jessica Fender , head of the content team at Alltopreviews.com. Sh e provides tips and examples of how to improve the customer experience with automated support emails. Email automation is a way to keep your customers happy. With automation, you improve the quality of communication and keep customers updated in a timely manner.

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The Rise of the AI Coaching System: Powering the Empathic Enterprise

Contact center leaders understand that frontline agents need in-call guidance to manage complex calls and drive higher levels of employee and customer experience. Real-time agent assist technology is enabling leading contact centers to accomplish these goals.

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How to De-escalate in Chat and Email

Myra Golden Media

We kicked off De-escalation Academy yesterday, and a student asked a question that I think is important for us to discuss here. His question was: “Our team is working 99% by email, will we able to apply everything that we learn here and translate it into a purely written environment? Any advice is appreciated.” Customers escalate in chat and email interactions intensely!

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8 Simple Ways to Improve Agent Performance in the Call Center

Fonolo

Ready to level up your call center team this year? Improving agent performance can seem overwhelming at first, and you may find yourself wondering, “Where to start?” Don’t fret — these eight simple methods are all you need. With some hard work and a little luck, your team will be reaching new heights of operational efficiency ! Set your KPIs. You can’t change what you don’t measure.

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3 Contact Centre Trends for 2021

Call Design

Is your contact centre prepared for success in 2021? Now is the time to shake ourselves free of the challenges from 2020 and embrace new trends and technologies for the new year. Equip your agents and staff with the tools and technology they need to focus on what matters most: your customers. Utilize Real-Time Transcription. Real-time transcription can be used to study and enhance agent engagement, service, and information delivery with innovative artificial intelligence.

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Sometimes You Get the Hiring Right – Tip #26

Steve DiGioia

Yesterday my wife and I did a little shopping after work and stopped into our local Eddie Bauer clothing store. We were greeted by a mature woman with the biggest smile who showed a sincere interest in helping me find the exact pair of pants I wanted. With patience, poise, and grace, she asked the right “ qualifying questions ” to determine my needs, wants, and desires.

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The Innovator’s Guide to the Digital-first Contact Center

In the contact center industry, first-generation digital channels like email and web chat have seen significant adoption, along with video chat and co-browsing capabilities. However, customers are rapidly moving beyond these channels, seeking next-generation options. Social platforms are now becoming mainstream contact center channels. Download this guide today to learn how to help your business adapt to this evolving landscape and leverage the power of next-generation digital customer service.

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Moving Forward: What Will 2021 Bring for Contact Centers?

Contact Center Pipeline

Welcome, 2021! The new year always brings hope for new beginnings. Although COVID-19 is still the central focus of our everyday lives, the contact center industry appears to be moving forward with optimism, lessons learned and plans for delivering customer service in a business environment that looks nothing like the previous years. As Einstein once […].

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An Empowerment Lesson From the Ritz-Carlton

ShepHyken

If you’ve been following my work, you know I’m a huge fan of the Ritz-Carlton. I was recently on a Zoom presentation with Horst Schulze , first president and co-founder of the Ritz-Carlton chain. When Horst speaks, I listen and take lots of notes. One of the questions he was asked had to do with empowerment, specifically about the $2,000 the Ladies and Gentlemen – what Ritz-Carlton calls its employees – are allowed to spend to ensure a guest has a great experience.

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The top trends that will shape CX in 2021

TELUS International

What can you expect from 2021 when it comes to digital customer experience (CX) trends? Two TELUS International executives share their predictions and advice.