OneReach polled over 60 influencers to get their take on improving customer service. Review the summary here, or download the full report.
Thursday, October 8, 2015
What’s the Best Way to Improve Customer Service?
OneReach polled over 60 influencers to get their take on improving customer service. Review the summary here, or download the full report.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Being creative is like driving a car
By: Diane Morneau
Being creative is in many ways like driving a car on a high speed road...
Practically anyone can drive the car but it requires a certain amount of experience before driving with confidence, particularly on those high speed, more crowded, higher risk conditions.
It is not a question of DNA. Being creative is not a biologic trait that some are blessed with. Anyone can learn and over time, tools and techniques evolve and get shared among adepts. It has become clearly a social experience. Practice does not make perfect but it improves the driver's agility.
The natural self takes over behind the steering wheel. Some car drivers are conservative, others are reckless. Some follow the rules, others don't always care, some challenge them. Some have a great sense of orientation while others less. Some are naturally adventurous while others are very disciplined. Some share the road well but others less. Did you recognize the personality traits of creators or innovators around you?
Anytime you drive a car, you take risks but you accept it and go ahead. Creativity and risks are tightly related. In fact, the acceptance of the risks is key because the brain stimuli of being in uncertainty causes the mind to call on its intuitive creative instinct. Some even say that taking risks is the trigger to creativity. It forces to think in unusual ways, allowing the consideration of options that would otherwise be ignored. While accepting the risks, individuals and companies are able to contain them.
The rewards are only accessible when you take risks. Driving a distance with a car brings you to destination faster than walking... that's the reward of taking the car. Walking on the side of a road to get to the destination is not without risk either: you may bite the dust!
Creativity is important for the survival of companies which nowadays need to get to the destination faster. There are no longer barriers to protect an industry: anyone one can drive this road. Those who don't drive but walk the road, lag behind and eventually... bite the dust.
Road signs warn of dangers and needed interventions. They are particularly a must for the more crowded highways. They make drivers aware of the dangers ahead or needed driving adjustments for a safe drive.
In today's economy, the future has become less predictable. For companies, the road signs were either removed or may be perceived at the last minute. Better get your personal and more reliable GPS turned on to assist you.
Have a creative and safe journey on the road to creativity!
Diane Morneau, M.Sc.
Manager of Communications, Offerings and Knowledge Development IBM
Diane worked for several computer manufacturers, in pre- and post-sales’ positions, supporting technological progress and adoption. People-oriented and actively engaged, she assumed teaching, coaching, management and marketing roles. Achieving customer success through teaming, transferring knowledge and finding creative solutions to challenges are her true motivators.
Follow Diane on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Being creative is in many ways like driving a car on a high speed road...
Practically anyone can drive the car but it requires a certain amount of experience before driving with confidence, particularly on those high speed, more crowded, higher risk conditions.
It is not a question of DNA. Being creative is not a biologic trait that some are blessed with. Anyone can learn and over time, tools and techniques evolve and get shared among adepts. It has become clearly a social experience. Practice does not make perfect but it improves the driver's agility.
The natural self takes over behind the steering wheel. Some car drivers are conservative, others are reckless. Some follow the rules, others don't always care, some challenge them. Some have a great sense of orientation while others less. Some are naturally adventurous while others are very disciplined. Some share the road well but others less. Did you recognize the personality traits of creators or innovators around you?
Anytime you drive a car, you take risks but you accept it and go ahead. Creativity and risks are tightly related. In fact, the acceptance of the risks is key because the brain stimuli of being in uncertainty causes the mind to call on its intuitive creative instinct. Some even say that taking risks is the trigger to creativity. It forces to think in unusual ways, allowing the consideration of options that would otherwise be ignored. While accepting the risks, individuals and companies are able to contain them.
The rewards are only accessible when you take risks. Driving a distance with a car brings you to destination faster than walking... that's the reward of taking the car. Walking on the side of a road to get to the destination is not without risk either: you may bite the dust!
Creativity is important for the survival of companies which nowadays need to get to the destination faster. There are no longer barriers to protect an industry: anyone one can drive this road. Those who don't drive but walk the road, lag behind and eventually... bite the dust.
Road signs warn of dangers and needed interventions. They are particularly a must for the more crowded highways. They make drivers aware of the dangers ahead or needed driving adjustments for a safe drive.
In today's economy, the future has become less predictable. For companies, the road signs were either removed or may be perceived at the last minute. Better get your personal and more reliable GPS turned on to assist you.
Have a creative and safe journey on the road to creativity!
Manager of Communications, Offerings and Knowledge Development IBM
Diane worked for several computer manufacturers, in pre- and post-sales’ positions, supporting technological progress and adoption. People-oriented and actively engaged, she assumed teaching, coaching, management and marketing roles. Achieving customer success through teaming, transferring knowledge and finding creative solutions to challenges are her true motivators.
Follow Diane on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Friday, September 11, 2015
3 Ways to Reduce Contact Center Stress
By: CJ Silva
Stress in call centers
is a big, and expensive, problem. There is a reason why call centers are often
plagued with missing agents and a high turnover rate. Stress can cause a number
of deleterious effects to agents on the job, including decreased
performance, low job satisfaction, burnout, and a decline in general health.
Obviously, a big part
of management's job is to find a way to combat stress. No one likes to see the
falling numbers or to essentially hire a new crew on a monthly basis. The poor
morale caused by high stress affects everyone, not to mention its affect on the
bottom line. Besides being good for business, lowering stress can result in
lowered blood pressure, a slower heart rate, reduced muscle tension, and even a
stronger immune system.
Changing how you deal
with call center stress can change everything entirely. Your agents will be
more productive, have more focus, deal better with callers, demonstrate
increased memory and energy... they may even start to enjoy coming to work. The
key to it all is to train your agents in stress management techniques.
While there are many
ways to reduce or mitigate stress which may work just as well for your call
center team, here are just three that you might want to start with.
Not Taking Things Personally
It goes without saying
that you're going to get some callers who are not especially nice. Many people
call in already angry and frustrated and they have no problems with taking it
out on whoever had the misfortune to pick up the phone. The impulse in a lot of
people is respond in kind, but a well-trained call center agent is polite at
all times, especially when the politeness is not reciprocated. It's important
to teach your agents to remember that any ire is not directed at them
personally, but at whatever problem prompted them to call in the first place.
All too many agents feel poorly because they feel they were the recipient of
rude behavior, when in fact, they had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Talk (or Laugh) About It
Solving a problem that
started with talking with more talking? It can actually work. One of the best
things you can do as a call center manager is to encourage friendships among
your agents. If you have a friend or two down there with you, you have someone
to talk to after one of those calls. Talking
about it helps to get it off your chest without blowing up at some other
customer, or letting it build until the only alternative is to quite the job.
At the least, another agent can be a good sounding board, but at the best the
frustrated agent may gain a new view of the caller.
When the problem is
something that can't be rationalized away or resolved, laughing about it, or
just laughing in general does a lot to release stress. Anyone who's feeling
down can be picked up after a good joke or a silly internet video. You might be
surprised what a few seconds of laughter can do for your mood.
Express Gratitude
Irate callers are one
of the bad things in the life of a call center agent. But that's not to say
there aren't any good things involved in the job, or even beyond the job. Every
agent should have a list of things for which they're grateful, especially if
those things are related to work at the call center. Most people are at work to
do something positive, like make money to get a better house, or pay for the
education of their children. Maybe there's a good friend at work, or the call
center is in a good location. Some call center software allows agents to work from home and that's
something they're thankful for -- whatever it is, make a note of it. Just that
simple act can change an agent’s whole perspective.
Stress is an
unavoidable factor in the life of a call center agent, but that stress doesn't
have to become the dominant factor of life. Taking a few minutes after a
particularly trying call to center oneself and find a way to just get some
perspective can really change everything. Try the above techniques, and look
for others of your own. There's really something for everyone when it comes to
relieving stress.
CJ Silva is VP of Operations at KOVA Corporation.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Listen & Act In Three Tenses
 |
Diane Morneau, M.Sc. Manager of Communications, Offerings and Knowledge Development Diane worked for several computer manufacturers, in pre- and post-sales’ positions, supporting technological progress and adoption. People-oriented and actively engaged, she assumed teaching, coaching, management and marketing roles. Achieving customer success through teaming, transferring knowledge and finding creative solutions to challenges are her true motivators. Follow Diane on Twitter and LinkedIn. |
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Do Not Lose Customers Because Of Lack Of Trust
"How Organizations Are Winning Trust Through Employee Advocacy"
After a brief review of the 2015 Elderman Trust barometer study revealing the credibility issue, Barb Mosher Zinck talks about the Number One challenge behind employee advocacy: employee engagement. With a clear social policy, the next challenge is supporting employees in the creation of interesting content and in building their personal branding. She shares the examples of NASA and Adobe doing well with advocacy. Employee advocacy makes total sense. Isn't a convinced employee your best sales force?
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
9 Ways To Diminish Churn At Your Contact Center
By: CJ Silva
Contact centers are notorious for high churn rates which are not only inconvenient but expensive for companies. The average contact center has an annual churn rate as high as 40%. It is estimated that the total cost of replacing an employee is between $10,000 to $15,000.
The huge churn rate coupled with the high cost of replacement mean it’s well worth it to invest in strategies which will help lower your company’s churn rate. Here are 9 ways you can diminish churn at your contact center:
Hire the Right People
A lower churn rate starts with hiring the right employees from the beginning. Working on the front lines with customers who have difficult problems or are just plain rude is not for everyone. Customer service representatives also have to face stressful and repetitive work days.
You need employees who can handle the demands of the job. Choose people with relevant experience, whether it’s another contact center or a job that required regular contact with customers. Also choose people who have great people skills and are capable of staying calm and polite even in high stress situations. Consider instituting a trial or test for potential new hires to see how they would handle various typical work situations.
Be Flexible
Your employees each have lives of their own. Some may prefer a morning shift that allows them to have the afternoon and evening for their other priorities while others will appreciate a later shift that gives them more time in the morning.
Be flexible and give your employees options so that they can create a schedule comfortable for them. The better they can blend working for you with the rest of their life, the longer they are likely to stay with you.
Prevent Employee Isolation
One of the key reasons for the high churn rate at contact centers has to do with co-workers. Employees either don’t get along with their co-workers or become isolated and fail to bond. This creates for an unpleasant work environment that employees will leave as soon as they get the chance.
Avoid this by building comradery through the creation of small teams—complete with team names and even symbols. Incentivize teams to meet work productivity goals. By putting employees into teams that work together toward goals, you’ll prevent isolation and strengthen bonds between co-workers.
Engage Your Employees
Another major problem in contact centers is boredom. When employees are bored too often, they become less productive. Decrease boredom by giving employees the option to cross-train for several jobs or tasks and switching them from task to task. You could also introduce fun workplace games for downtimes.
Make Employees Feel Valued
Employees who don’t feel that their good work is valued are less likely to continue doing good work. Valuing your employees doesn’t have to mean doling out big cash rewards all the time. It can be as simple as daily praise for particular task that an employee handled well. The important thing is that the praise is personalized to each employee and that it happens regularly. Employees who feel valued by their company are more likely to stay with that company.
Incentivize Exceptional Performance
While cash rewards aren’t always necessary, they definitely don’t hurt. Implementing small scheduled raises which are made contingent on meeting specific, concrete productivity goals is definitely cheaper than the cost of replacing employees on a regular basis.
Provide a clear schedule (such as every 3 to 6 months) as well as clear guidelines so that employees know exactly what they need to do in order to qualify for a raise. You can even provide daily positive feedback to help them track their progress.
Get to Know Your Employees
The best way to treat your employees like people is to get to know them as people. Know what motivates them and what’s going on in their lives—just be careful not to pry where you are not wanted. This can help you create personalized incentive programs and make the workplace feel like a supportive community rather than a daily grind.
Cultivate personal relationships through regular conversations, work lunches, and other informal or semi-formal opportunities to get together and talk about your lives outside of work.
Create a Positive Company Culture
Many of the strategies you have read about will contribute to building a positive company culture. This is important because, at the most fundamental level, your employees need to enjoy the place they work if you hope to keep them with you for the long term.
This doesn’t mean you need to become totally laid back. Set clear expectations about work productivity. But also be sure to include time for employee appreciation and just having a little fun as a team.
Take Advantage of Workforce Management Software
Scheduling games, training sessions, and raises as well as tracking employee productivity and results can be a lot to tackle—especially if you’ve got a million other things on your plate. Make this easier by using workforce management software which allows you to track multiple workplace metrics and schedule different tasks and appointments with ease. You can even use it to measure your churn rate and identify trends as well as potential risk factors so that you can tailor these strategies to suit your needs.
Contact centers are notorious for high churn rates which are not only inconvenient but expensive for companies. The average contact center has an annual churn rate as high as 40%. It is estimated that the total cost of replacing an employee is between $10,000 to $15,000.
The huge churn rate coupled with the high cost of replacement mean it’s well worth it to invest in strategies which will help lower your company’s churn rate. Here are 9 ways you can diminish churn at your contact center:
Hire the Right People
A lower churn rate starts with hiring the right employees from the beginning. Working on the front lines with customers who have difficult problems or are just plain rude is not for everyone. Customer service representatives also have to face stressful and repetitive work days.
You need employees who can handle the demands of the job. Choose people with relevant experience, whether it’s another contact center or a job that required regular contact with customers. Also choose people who have great people skills and are capable of staying calm and polite even in high stress situations. Consider instituting a trial or test for potential new hires to see how they would handle various typical work situations.
Be Flexible
Your employees each have lives of their own. Some may prefer a morning shift that allows them to have the afternoon and evening for their other priorities while others will appreciate a later shift that gives them more time in the morning.
Be flexible and give your employees options so that they can create a schedule comfortable for them. The better they can blend working for you with the rest of their life, the longer they are likely to stay with you.
Prevent Employee Isolation
One of the key reasons for the high churn rate at contact centers has to do with co-workers. Employees either don’t get along with their co-workers or become isolated and fail to bond. This creates for an unpleasant work environment that employees will leave as soon as they get the chance.
Avoid this by building comradery through the creation of small teams—complete with team names and even symbols. Incentivize teams to meet work productivity goals. By putting employees into teams that work together toward goals, you’ll prevent isolation and strengthen bonds between co-workers.
Engage Your Employees
Another major problem in contact centers is boredom. When employees are bored too often, they become less productive. Decrease boredom by giving employees the option to cross-train for several jobs or tasks and switching them from task to task. You could also introduce fun workplace games for downtimes.
Make Employees Feel Valued
Employees who don’t feel that their good work is valued are less likely to continue doing good work. Valuing your employees doesn’t have to mean doling out big cash rewards all the time. It can be as simple as daily praise for particular task that an employee handled well. The important thing is that the praise is personalized to each employee and that it happens regularly. Employees who feel valued by their company are more likely to stay with that company.
Incentivize Exceptional Performance
While cash rewards aren’t always necessary, they definitely don’t hurt. Implementing small scheduled raises which are made contingent on meeting specific, concrete productivity goals is definitely cheaper than the cost of replacing employees on a regular basis.
Provide a clear schedule (such as every 3 to 6 months) as well as clear guidelines so that employees know exactly what they need to do in order to qualify for a raise. You can even provide daily positive feedback to help them track their progress.
Get to Know Your Employees
The best way to treat your employees like people is to get to know them as people. Know what motivates them and what’s going on in their lives—just be careful not to pry where you are not wanted. This can help you create personalized incentive programs and make the workplace feel like a supportive community rather than a daily grind.
Cultivate personal relationships through regular conversations, work lunches, and other informal or semi-formal opportunities to get together and talk about your lives outside of work.
Create a Positive Company Culture
Many of the strategies you have read about will contribute to building a positive company culture. This is important because, at the most fundamental level, your employees need to enjoy the place they work if you hope to keep them with you for the long term.
This doesn’t mean you need to become totally laid back. Set clear expectations about work productivity. But also be sure to include time for employee appreciation and just having a little fun as a team.
Take Advantage of Workforce Management Software
Scheduling games, training sessions, and raises as well as tracking employee productivity and results can be a lot to tackle—especially if you’ve got a million other things on your plate. Make this easier by using workforce management software which allows you to track multiple workplace metrics and schedule different tasks and appointments with ease. You can even use it to measure your churn rate and identify trends as well as potential risk factors so that you can tailor these strategies to suit your needs.
CJ Silva is VP of Operations at KOVA Corporation.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Do Not Lose Customers By Becoming Irrelevant
Tony Zambito explains the importance of Staying Relevant In An Era Of Disruption And Elusive Customer Loyalty
In his thought provoking post, Zambito suggests to engage right now with your customers about their future and to participate to disruption. That's how you stay relevant.
As I read the article, my mind was branching out wondering about our C suite reach, if we are talking enough future or are too focused on the present, what opportunities are we missing... I very much enjoyed one insightful statement in the article:
"(Customer) Loyalty is tied to the ability to accomplish and fulfill (Customer) goals."
Discover other profound reflections and a captivating TED talk by following the above link.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Do Not Lose Customers Over Indifference
Losing Customer Over Poor Service Lessons? Lessons from TD Bank & Big Ass Fans On Overcoming Indifference
Apparently, 68% of customers leave a business relationship because of perceived indifference. Call it impersonal customer service or lack of personalized contact if you will. Indifference can also interfere by being at the client end. You might have been in a situation before where you eat at a restaurant and the experience is average. You decide you won't return but you don't bother expressing your deception. Less than 5% of customers will. There goes 95% of your future business potential.
The article shares the example of TD Bank addressing the perceived indifference by reinventing for a day the acronym ATM from "Automated Teller Machine" to "A Thank you Machine". Videos included in the article show how they surprised their clients, how they rapidly showed or acquired knowledge of their clients to procure them a warm and fuzzy feeling, acquiring loyalty I am sure.
Big Ass Fans put in place a proactive follow up practice to understand their clients beyond the usual simple survey. A Customer Advocacy Manager changed their business through a much closer follow up practice, allowing them to uncover and improve service issues.
Challenged by customers leaving you? Address the indifference, whether it is perceived or real. Follow the link above and get inspired by these great stories.
Monday, August 3, 2015
6 Classic Service Desk Hits That Cloud Is Taking Care Of
|
Diane Morneau, M.Sc. Manager of Communications, Offerings and Knowledge Development Diane worked for several computer manufacturers, in pre- and post-sales’ positions, supporting technological progress and adoption. People-oriented and actively engaged, she assumed teaching, coaching, management and marketing roles. Achieving customer success through teaming, transferring knowledge and finding creative solutions to challenges are her true motivators. Follow Diane on Twitter and LinkedIn. |
Thursday, July 2, 2015
7 Technological Innovations That Are Changing the Future of Call Centers
By: CJ Silva
When people think of the typical call center, certain things come to mind: waiting hours on hold, endless verification questions, and getting transferred at least half a dozen times. On the service end, one might envision rows of frantic agents taking call after call in an overcrowded, incessantly ringing room with angry customers in their ear all day long. Thanks to the trends and innovations of the digital age, however, these once common frustrations are becoming a thing of the past.
Today, call center and customer service technology is evolving faster than ever, and here are seven game-changers to keep an eye on for the near future.
1. Cloud technology
In 2014, call center who have adopted cloud technology have seen their businesses soar exponentially. Because of cloud technology’s ability to store and organize data far more efficiently than any other method on the market today, it is a trend than virtually every tech expert believes will become the universal standard for call centers within the present decade. The advantages of operating with cloud technology are proving to well worth the conversion despite the changes required for CRMs, marketing channels, and the influx of caller data.
2. Social media metrics
With social media presence becoming more of a key component of customer service than ever before, call centers are starting to turn their attention to giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ for tracking customer satisfaction and usage. Now that social media has gained more of a hold on the B2C communication dynamic, many experts are advising call centers to incorporate social media-specific metrics to their operation systems. These specialized metrics include “resolution ratio,” the amount of issues resolved over social media versus privately; and “sentiment analysis,” the ratio of positive reviews to negative reviews of the customer service.
3. Web chat
Not only has live chatting on the web proven convenient and fast for customers, but trends have shown that this form of communication has played a role in filtering customer issues based on their level of complexity. The ease and simplicity of web chatting tends to attract customers looking for immediate answers to short, direct questions, reserving the phone lines for more complicated or personal issues, such as finances and security problems.
4. Increased Mobility
Mobility has by far been the biggest focus for anything that has to do with technology in the past decade, and now that focus is spearheading innovations within call centers. It used to be that customer service was performed in one primary location, but with the growing demand for flexibility and versatility in today’s fast-paced working culture. Now, call centers have the ability to expand their operations beyond the operations room with the help of apps that enable employees to record calls, receive product pictures and videos, and communicate with customers from any location.
5. Voice biometrics
According to Kenneth Hitches, Founding Director of Sabio, “It’s estimated that traditional identification and verification takes up around a fifth of overall contact center talk time.” This equates to a lot of wasted time and wasted business opportunities for call centers at the hands of the caller security systems in place. While enforcing proper security measures is important for any business or organization, it can be done more quickly and effectively through voice biometrics technology. By analyzing a person’s voice over the phone, voice biometrics software can accurately verify the identity of the respective customer and skip over the mandatory “20 Questions” game that sometimes deters customers from calling in the first place.
6. Multichannel technology
Since every customer’s needs are unique, call centers are scrambling to adopt multi channel software to better service their customers and cut back on time spent re-routing calls and digging for information. Multichannel technology can operate on a variety of platforms, including SMS messaging, email, and web chat, and many multi channel software programs are operational on cloud systems, so business owners and employees can queue customer interactions seamlessly and efficiently.
7. Self-service through omnichannels
As customer service operations branch grow across multiple platforms, more power is being put in the hands of the customer when it comes to contacting and interacting with call centers for assistance. This is where omni channel technology is making leaps and bounds into the future of call centers. By stretching their service capabilities across platforms, from text messages to video chats anytime and anywhere, omni technology allows customers to choose their medium of communication for a more comfortable and customized experience.
With these seven call center trend on the rise, customer service will likely be completely revolutionized for both ends of the phone line (or video chat, for that matter) within the next decade. Also, call center software companies are making conversion and implementation of these technological innovations easier than ever before, so businesses can simplify their B2C operations and keep up with growing customer demands. Remember, technology is one of the greatest investments a business can make, especially when it’s geared toward customer satisfaction and convenience.
CJ Silva is VP of Operations at KOVA Corporation.
When people think of the typical call center, certain things come to mind: waiting hours on hold, endless verification questions, and getting transferred at least half a dozen times. On the service end, one might envision rows of frantic agents taking call after call in an overcrowded, incessantly ringing room with angry customers in their ear all day long. Thanks to the trends and innovations of the digital age, however, these once common frustrations are becoming a thing of the past.
Today, call center and customer service technology is evolving faster than ever, and here are seven game-changers to keep an eye on for the near future.
1. Cloud technology
In 2014, call center who have adopted cloud technology have seen their businesses soar exponentially. Because of cloud technology’s ability to store and organize data far more efficiently than any other method on the market today, it is a trend than virtually every tech expert believes will become the universal standard for call centers within the present decade. The advantages of operating with cloud technology are proving to well worth the conversion despite the changes required for CRMs, marketing channels, and the influx of caller data.
2. Social media metrics
With social media presence becoming more of a key component of customer service than ever before, call centers are starting to turn their attention to giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ for tracking customer satisfaction and usage. Now that social media has gained more of a hold on the B2C communication dynamic, many experts are advising call centers to incorporate social media-specific metrics to their operation systems. These specialized metrics include “resolution ratio,” the amount of issues resolved over social media versus privately; and “sentiment analysis,” the ratio of positive reviews to negative reviews of the customer service.
3. Web chat
Not only has live chatting on the web proven convenient and fast for customers, but trends have shown that this form of communication has played a role in filtering customer issues based on their level of complexity. The ease and simplicity of web chatting tends to attract customers looking for immediate answers to short, direct questions, reserving the phone lines for more complicated or personal issues, such as finances and security problems.
4. Increased Mobility
Mobility has by far been the biggest focus for anything that has to do with technology in the past decade, and now that focus is spearheading innovations within call centers. It used to be that customer service was performed in one primary location, but with the growing demand for flexibility and versatility in today’s fast-paced working culture. Now, call centers have the ability to expand their operations beyond the operations room with the help of apps that enable employees to record calls, receive product pictures and videos, and communicate with customers from any location.
5. Voice biometrics
According to Kenneth Hitches, Founding Director of Sabio, “It’s estimated that traditional identification and verification takes up around a fifth of overall contact center talk time.” This equates to a lot of wasted time and wasted business opportunities for call centers at the hands of the caller security systems in place. While enforcing proper security measures is important for any business or organization, it can be done more quickly and effectively through voice biometrics technology. By analyzing a person’s voice over the phone, voice biometrics software can accurately verify the identity of the respective customer and skip over the mandatory “20 Questions” game that sometimes deters customers from calling in the first place.
6. Multichannel technology
Since every customer’s needs are unique, call centers are scrambling to adopt multi channel software to better service their customers and cut back on time spent re-routing calls and digging for information. Multichannel technology can operate on a variety of platforms, including SMS messaging, email, and web chat, and many multi channel software programs are operational on cloud systems, so business owners and employees can queue customer interactions seamlessly and efficiently.
7. Self-service through omnichannels
As customer service operations branch grow across multiple platforms, more power is being put in the hands of the customer when it comes to contacting and interacting with call centers for assistance. This is where omni channel technology is making leaps and bounds into the future of call centers. By stretching their service capabilities across platforms, from text messages to video chats anytime and anywhere, omni technology allows customers to choose their medium of communication for a more comfortable and customized experience.
With these seven call center trend on the rise, customer service will likely be completely revolutionized for both ends of the phone line (or video chat, for that matter) within the next decade. Also, call center software companies are making conversion and implementation of these technological innovations easier than ever before, so businesses can simplify their B2C operations and keep up with growing customer demands. Remember, technology is one of the greatest investments a business can make, especially when it’s geared toward customer satisfaction and convenience.
CJ Silva is VP of Operations at KOVA Corporation.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Rewards and Challenges of Customer Service
By Diane Morneau:
Customer Service has its ups and downs, its rewards and challenges. For the performer, it is often an altruist quest to help and improve the customer experience, whether this customer is internal or external. Inspired by the popular snakes and ladders board game, I share 15 tips for the service performer for a sustained delivery.
Diane Morneau, M.Sc.
Manager of Communications, Offerings and Knowledge Development IBM
Diane worked for several computer manufacturers, in pre- and post-sales’ positions, supporting technological progress and adoption. People-oriented and actively engaged, she assumed teaching, coaching, management and marketing roles. Achieving customer success through teaming, transferring knowledge and finding creative solutions to challenges are her true motivators.
Follow Diane on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
7 Steps to Customer Recovery
By: CJ Silva
Customer recovery. Nobody in business wants to hear those words, though everybody needs to have those tools in their personal skill set belt. By acting quickly and being confident in your decisions, you can turn a customer nightmare into a customer dream come true. Here are seven vital steps in the process of customer recovery.
Listening is Vital
At a call center, it’s vital that you listen to what the customer is saying. They perceive that there’s a problem with your service and it’s up to you to piece together what the problem is and resolve it. Sometimes, clients will be so stressed that they’re not focusing on solutions, they’re focusing on making sure that you understand.
Put Yourself in the Customer’s Shoes
Empathy is a key trait for any call center worker. The ability to look at where a customer is coming from and see why they are upset helps to shape the solution for the problem. With that empathy, the customer is able to see that there is a human side to the company.
Take Responsibility for Your Actions
When a situation occurs, it’s necessary to take responsibility for your actions. You personally might not have made a mistake, but the customer is talking with you, so you are now the face of the company. There is nothing which will serve to infuriate your customers more than to say that it’s not your responsibility.
Apologize
It’s difficult, but apologizing means that you need to admit that something went wrong in the first place. Don’t offer excuses through the course of the interaction, apologize for the fact that it did happen and see how the issue can be resolved. Anything less is short-changing your customer.
Find a solution together
If the solution to the problem is not immediately forthcoming, talk with the customer to discover a solution together. What can you, as the representative of the company, do to make it right? Sometimes, the solution that the customer arrives at is much more lenient than the internal one that you came up with. By using callcenter recording software, you’ll be able to help others within the organization arrive at similar great solutions.
Follow through
This is one of the most important steps in the process. Make sure that you’re able to follow through on whatever customer recovery measure that you’ve decided on, then follow through. Your customers will appreciate your honesty and commitment to their satisfaction.
Validation and feedback
Make sure that the solution that you came up with together is the right solution for them. They need to feel that the problem has been taken care of, and that you’ll do everything in your power to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Your goal is to get complete satisfaction, and you should stop at nothing less.
While you might not want to be known for your customer recovery skills, they are still useful tools to have in your personal skillset. By establishing a procedure beforehand, you’ll be able to display confidence to your irate customers and quickly calm them down. The sooner you calm them down, the better chance you have of turning them into brand advocates.
CJ Silva is VP of Operations at KOVA Corporation.
Customer recovery. Nobody in business wants to hear those words, though everybody needs to have those tools in their personal skill set belt. By acting quickly and being confident in your decisions, you can turn a customer nightmare into a customer dream come true. Here are seven vital steps in the process of customer recovery.
Listening is Vital
At a call center, it’s vital that you listen to what the customer is saying. They perceive that there’s a problem with your service and it’s up to you to piece together what the problem is and resolve it. Sometimes, clients will be so stressed that they’re not focusing on solutions, they’re focusing on making sure that you understand.
Put Yourself in the Customer’s Shoes
Empathy is a key trait for any call center worker. The ability to look at where a customer is coming from and see why they are upset helps to shape the solution for the problem. With that empathy, the customer is able to see that there is a human side to the company.
Take Responsibility for Your Actions
When a situation occurs, it’s necessary to take responsibility for your actions. You personally might not have made a mistake, but the customer is talking with you, so you are now the face of the company. There is nothing which will serve to infuriate your customers more than to say that it’s not your responsibility.
Apologize
It’s difficult, but apologizing means that you need to admit that something went wrong in the first place. Don’t offer excuses through the course of the interaction, apologize for the fact that it did happen and see how the issue can be resolved. Anything less is short-changing your customer.
Find a solution together
If the solution to the problem is not immediately forthcoming, talk with the customer to discover a solution together. What can you, as the representative of the company, do to make it right? Sometimes, the solution that the customer arrives at is much more lenient than the internal one that you came up with. By using callcenter recording software, you’ll be able to help others within the organization arrive at similar great solutions.
Follow through
This is one of the most important steps in the process. Make sure that you’re able to follow through on whatever customer recovery measure that you’ve decided on, then follow through. Your customers will appreciate your honesty and commitment to their satisfaction.
Validation and feedback
Make sure that the solution that you came up with together is the right solution for them. They need to feel that the problem has been taken care of, and that you’ll do everything in your power to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. Your goal is to get complete satisfaction, and you should stop at nothing less.
While you might not want to be known for your customer recovery skills, they are still useful tools to have in your personal skillset. By establishing a procedure beforehand, you’ll be able to display confidence to your irate customers and quickly calm them down. The sooner you calm them down, the better chance you have of turning them into brand advocates.
CJ Silva is VP of Operations at KOVA Corporation.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Looking for some magic to motivate the troops?
By: Diane Morneau
Even before considering gamification tooling, managers have at their reach inexpensive magic to motivate the troops: exploiting collective passions. With a presentation software, we can associate a project to a trending topic - a sports event, a rising Internet game, a TV show, etc. - and create an ambiance for a project. People get mobilized and connect with each other in a collective passion. Why not spice up a project through the thematic?! Let me share some examples.
We are currently running Olympics to support a global enablement effort. We thought a little competition would be stimulating for this time sensitive delivery - we have 4 continents in the race. As the number of staff differs between locations, the targets are expressed in percentages of the local team, not to create Davids and Goliaths. Using multicolored graphics to report regularly on progress, interest picked very rapidly. Relevance of choice is important. The Olympics model was ideal for this two phase project: the preliminaries focused on the practice while the competitions are focused on the delivery. With the appropriate choice, the model helps the planning and the running of the project: things fall in place more easily.
In the next example, we wanted to enable everyone with knowledge that a few acquired through dealing with critical situations. We wanted the postmortem findings to reach contributors across the globe. Rather than deliver the lessons “dry”, we organized Jeopardy games. We used the data from the post mortems to feed the questions for the game. The games helped reinforce and spread the learning. While two teams faced each other competing for a day off, the game-show format extended the fun and learning to the entire audience.
The thematic can also be used for the sole purpose of creating interesting reporting. A few years back, I used the then-trending "Tiny Tower" game to model the reporting of a five phases re-engineering effort. We built a storyboard scene of a six stories building: the lobby where all participants appeared, one floor per phase and the roof. The participants were Bit-characters dressed in their country flag. During the project, we followed the bitizens progress through the floors, all the way to the much coveted roof. Each country wanting their bitizens up on the roof first, this lead to friendly peer pressure and alliances.
Rewards are most often Corporate provided - merchandise points, time off, or other items alike. Variety helps. In a world where Open badging is picking up in popularity, virtual rewards are increasingly given consideration and may be of interest. In my previous role, I lead a team of account managers who have great autonomy to find ways to personalize their service to bring value to their customers. To celebrate success and inspire others in their actions, I started each team meeting with a Superman slide where bullets highlighted accomplishments to which the contributors would speak. This was the most appreciated part of the meeting. I extended the metaphor by rewarding quarterly a top contributor with a collector comic’s book.
There are a myriad of events with global visibility that managers can choose from. Knowing your team members and their interests outside of work may help set the mood for the magic, else, the wisdom of the crowd can help identify trending topics. Even temporary, this little extra can go a long way to support the team members in developing their relationship and in their project delivery. Create and enjoy the moment!
Diane Morneau, M.Sc.
Manager of Communications, Offerings and Knowledge Development IBM
Diane worked for several computer manufacturers, in pre- and post-sales’ positions, supporting technological progress and adoption. People-oriented and actively engaged, she assumed teaching, coaching, management and marketing roles. Achieving customer success through teaming, transferring knowledge and finding creative solutions to challenges are her true motivators.
Follow Diane on Twitter and LinkedIn.
We are currently running Olympics to support a global enablement effort. We thought a little competition would be stimulating for this time sensitive delivery - we have 4 continents in the race. As the number of staff differs between locations, the targets are expressed in percentages of the local team, not to create Davids and Goliaths. Using multicolored graphics to report regularly on progress, interest picked very rapidly. Relevance of choice is important. The Olympics model was ideal for this two phase project: the preliminaries focused on the practice while the competitions are focused on the delivery. With the appropriate choice, the model helps the planning and the running of the project: things fall in place more easily.
In the next example, we wanted to enable everyone with knowledge that a few acquired through dealing with critical situations. We wanted the postmortem findings to reach contributors across the globe. Rather than deliver the lessons “dry”, we organized Jeopardy games. We used the data from the post mortems to feed the questions for the game. The games helped reinforce and spread the learning. While two teams faced each other competing for a day off, the game-show format extended the fun and learning to the entire audience.
The thematic can also be used for the sole purpose of creating interesting reporting. A few years back, I used the then-trending "Tiny Tower" game to model the reporting of a five phases re-engineering effort. We built a storyboard scene of a six stories building: the lobby where all participants appeared, one floor per phase and the roof. The participants were Bit-characters dressed in their country flag. During the project, we followed the bitizens progress through the floors, all the way to the much coveted roof. Each country wanting their bitizens up on the roof first, this lead to friendly peer pressure and alliances.
Rewards are most often Corporate provided - merchandise points, time off, or other items alike. Variety helps. In a world where Open badging is picking up in popularity, virtual rewards are increasingly given consideration and may be of interest. In my previous role, I lead a team of account managers who have great autonomy to find ways to personalize their service to bring value to their customers. To celebrate success and inspire others in their actions, I started each team meeting with a Superman slide where bullets highlighted accomplishments to which the contributors would speak. This was the most appreciated part of the meeting. I extended the metaphor by rewarding quarterly a top contributor with a collector comic’s book.
There are a myriad of events with global visibility that managers can choose from. Knowing your team members and their interests outside of work may help set the mood for the magic, else, the wisdom of the crowd can help identify trending topics. Even temporary, this little extra can go a long way to support the team members in developing their relationship and in their project delivery. Create and enjoy the moment!
Diane Morneau, M.Sc.Manager of Communications, Offerings and Knowledge Development IBM
Diane worked for several computer manufacturers, in pre- and post-sales’ positions, supporting technological progress and adoption. People-oriented and actively engaged, she assumed teaching, coaching, management and marketing roles. Achieving customer success through teaming, transferring knowledge and finding creative solutions to challenges are her true motivators.
Follow Diane on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Intraday Automation: Modernizing the Contact Center
By Kyle Antcliff
Contact center directors and the
analysts who cover issues and trends relevant to the contact center and
customer service are aware of the need to modernize and make contact center
operations more efficient. So why does it seem that too often business unit
leaders, including in marketing, IT and up to the c-Suite and board of directors,
do not make the connection between the level of customer service the contact
center provides and revenue growth? The answer can be as simple as the
traditional role of the contact center has been to only field customer
questions after marketing has launched its campaign and generated leads.
However, not only have customer interactions become more complex, the contact
center now collects volumes of information that can be invaluable to the
marketing department during the planning stages of a campaign. Implementing the
approach of intraday automation into contact center operations automates
monitoring and uses the data to trigger a host of real-time workforce
adjustments in response to changing conditions. The result is a real-time
workforce that is more productive and delivers a better customer experience vis-a-vis
competitors.
Customers expect to be able to
interact with the frontline in a store, on the phone, in an online chat window,
via email, and across social media platforms expecting immediate help with their
questions. Trying to manually oversee interactions across all these channels
and raise or lower staffing levels to meet customer demand wastes time, money
and is prone to errors. In other words, the frontline has fallen behind the
times. The entire operation of contact centers remain reactive and understaffed
with undertrained operators. Not surprisingly, according to the Temkin Group,
only six percent of companies rate themselves as customer service leaders.
In addition to preventing the
frontline from providing excellent customer service, these taxing pressures breed
unsatisfied employees, which raises attrition and increases the operating costs
as new employees are constantly vetted and trained to replace the steady stream
of employees who leave. The contact center needs a new normal that optimizes operations
and frontline responders.
Forrester reports that 77 percent
of US online adults say that valuing their time is the most important thing a
company can do to provide them with good online customer service (Forrester),
so it is critical to focus on improving an agent’s performance, service
delivery and efficiency.
Intraday automation technology
delivers a means of turning the mountains of data that come in at high-speeds into
real-time workforce adjustments.
Forward-thinking companies once
trying to outrun challenges in the contact center can now overcome them and
observe the following upsides via intraday automation:
·
Optimization:
Today’s manual monitoring and reactive process impacts costs, agent morale and
engagement, and the customer experience. With Intraday Automation, frontline workforces respond in real-time to optimization
opportunities. For instance, periods of lower or higher call volume, imbalance
across interaction channels, overstaffing, understaffing, and individual
adherence issues. A more agile frontline
workforce can adjust throughout the day to deliver a more consistent customer
experience.
·
Training:
In most contact centers, training and coaching are the first things pulled from
an agent’s schedule. With intraday automation,
training is accomplished in response to a dip in customer volume. In this new mode, a portion of unproductive
idle time gets converted into usable time for training, coaching or even back
office work. Agents are prompted to work
on assignments but redirected back to customers should demand come back to
forecasted levels. Insurance provider
The General used intraday automation and turned what was unproductive idle time
into two and a half hours of training time per agent per month without adding
headcount or having to manually schedule it.
·
Reduced
costs: Overall, businesses face the risk of losing staff and lowered
profits in the long-term. A more agile frontline workforce can adjust
throughout the day to deliver a dramatically better and more consistent
customer experience, at a lower cost. By acting smarter they can allot their
financial resources more efficiently through staffing, training, and decreasing
agent turnover.
Before intraday automation, contact
centers were incapable of responding to the influx of data. As contact centers
begin to manage multiple interaction channels, including chat and social, the
proliferation of data only increases. For the first time, Intraday Automation
enables contact centers to take advantage of the many optimization opportunities
that exist throughout the day.
For businesses, the results
directly affect business success by creating a sustained, improved level of
customer experience, while saving time and money.
Kyle is a thought leader on how a real-time workforce delivers a better customer experience. Before joining Intradiem, Kyle was Chief Operating Officer at TALENThire (workforce management) where he led the company’s growth and recognition as a Georgia Top 40 Technology Company. Prior to TALENThire, Kyle served as Vice-President International for Marketworks (eCommerce) where he played a key role in the Company's 65% annual growth and acquisition. Kyle graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems and holds an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
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