"Follow the Leader", Featuring Jenny Dempsey

How can social media be used to better engage customers?

Social media is an excellent tool to engage with customers on a personal level. You get to hear their gripes (whether you want to or not) and celebrate their successes. As a business, you then have an opportunity to respond to these comments, both positive and negative, showcasing your brand voice but also showing how much you care about the people who spend money on your service or products.

The simple act of replying isn't all, though. You'll need to be consistent with replies, write in a tone that is compatible with your business and make sure you follow through on any issues that you address with a customer via a social channel. Marketing may post updates and customers may comment, which means that marketing and customer service can often go hand in hand. Clear communication between departments is going to be necessary, if possible.

Jenny Dempsey is a customer service and social media professional with experience providing exceptional, consistent customer interactions.

Follow the leader: LinkedIn | Twitter 

#CustServ #QOTD

Customer Service Changes its Face. The Journey Will Never Be the Same.

By Anna Sabryan

We in customer service know how important our role is. Many companies compete to have the best service, and periodically innovate to catch up with ongoing changes. Customer 

service, at times, changes at a rapid pace. Customer service via social media used to be a very important part of online activities. However today, many intelligent assistants, or bots, can deliver many services. I'd never imagined I could be interacting with a chat bot, and feeling happy with the service and ease of the experience. 

Bots Impact on Humanity

Years ago Amazon announced Alexa, its intelligent personal assistant, including lots of commands and skills. Amazon Echo sales reached 5M in two years. Good for Amazon.

You can have some real time information, like providing weather, traffic info, music playback, to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks. Alexa is easy to set up, taking just 10 minutes and a few clicks to get it going. It seems perfect for any busy family.

Imagine the expression on my face when my friend asked her son a mathematical solution, and the child turned to Alexa for help. Bots and AI are now a source of learning! I have another friend who wakes up each morning, and asks Alexa the time. In contrast, I open my eyes and check my phone for  the time. While these examples seem minor, it shows the impact, and our adoption.


Customer Service by Bots

Bots are helping brands to deliver new levels of customer service, as they can handle simple, recurring requests, at a very low cost. Equally important, it is being delivered very fast. However, they will never completely replace human interactions. More complicated requests, and issues requiring deeper discussions, will always be escalated to an agent. Additionally, people still value human interactions. However, bots are a great tool to have as you strive to provide excellent service. They make customer service better.

Anna Sabryan is an experienced Social Media & Digital Marketing Professional and blogger. She is passionate about customer service, digital marketing, and social media.

Follow Anna on Twitter or on her blog.

#CustServ #QOTD

#CustServ #QOTD

A Leadership and Service Lesson Via a Breakfast Sandwich

By Sean Hawkins


I woke up late and was pressed for time. All I wanted to do was get into the office at a decent hour! As I was preparing myself for work, one of my team members sent a text with a breakfast request. This is not an unusual request, and I really enjoy doing this from time to

time. The way I see it, the investment will pay for itself. So, I guess I'll be getting breakfast on the way to work!

When I arrived someone jokingly stated, "that's great service boss". I wondered to myself what was so great about what I had done. Was this just the cliché thing to say in the contact center environment?  Perhaps this was her way of expressing gratitude and thanks. However, before I could think on it too long, I received my answer. "You would go out of your way for us." Well, THAT made my day! Perhaps, I was destined to be late, so this moment could happen. It does sound much better than being late due to oversleeping.

I suppose the response I received, sums up leadership and service quite nicely. We must be willing to assists others, go above and beyond what they may expect, and do so with sincerity. What I most appreciated about this experience, is that I was able to show my team in a practical way, what good leadership and good service looks like. This teachable moment was the result of a breakfast sandwich, and oversleeping! Who would have thought?

I have over 15 years of progressive call center leadership and experience in the public, private and government sectors.

I have led or consulted contact centers of various sizes across numerous industries. Additionally, I’ve implemented new technology and products, while maintaining award-winning contact centers.

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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