Thanks to emerging customer support channels like social media and live chat, as well as evolving technologies like speech recognition, there are more ways than ever for customers to initiate (and resolve) a service inquiry. And when they have options at their fingertips, customers are showing a growing preference for self-service options using automated IVRs, […]
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The North American economy is hot right now. With Canada, the United States, and Mexico expected to grow by 2.5%, 3.4%, and 3.9% respectively, if you’re one of the many companies that are riding this economic growth wave, you will most certainly have more customers to support this year. As any company grows and scales […]
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In today’s highly connected world, businesses everywhere are facing the reality that more and more consumers are turning to social media to voice their questions and concerns regarding a company’s services and products. So this raises the obvious questions: What exactly is the current state of social media customer support? Who should be responsible […]
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You’ve conducted your “experience audit” and walked miles in your customers’ metaphorical shoes. You’ve labored over reworking processes and playing diplomat to keep the management team in alignment on the customer experience strategy. You’ve trained your teams to deliver on the company’s “experience” vision. You’re measuring key metrics tied to the customer experience to keep […]
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The National Retail Foundation is forecasting that Americans will spend $600 billion this holiday season. This annual mad rush to prepare the contact center for the holiday season inevitably presents a challenge for contact centers nationwide. Massive spikes in demand mean massive potential for interruption to customer service operations. Unquestionably, holiday madness can also impact […]
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What’s the big deal about Big Data? It’s a topic on every industry conference and it’s a theme that seems to be streaming endlessly through our collective Twitter feeds – and yet there are so many different opinions about what Big Data actually is and how it should be leveraged. We put together this primer […]
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We have all been there. We call the toll-free number and are greeted by the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system: “Welcome to XYZ Corporation. Para Español oprima numero dos….” Okay, so we know we are not talking to a real person, but we are still optimistic that with a simple yes or no and a […]
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It is an exciting time in the customer contact industry. When you think about where contact center technology started, it can be traced back to the invention of the telephone. For decades, the voice channel was the only channel available for customers to receive speedy resolutions and attention to their needs. Boy, has that changed. […]
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If you have a business, you have customers – otherwise, you won’t stay in business very long. And if you have customers, they will inevitably need support. And that costs money. This leads some businesses to think of customer support as a necessary evil, something you’d rather not have to deal with, but can’t avoid. […]
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If you live anywhere in the Northern United States or Canada, one phrase you would love to have stricken from your vocabulary this past winter is “Polar Vortex.” In addition to being the coldest, bone-chilling temperatures ever recorded across hundreds of cities in North America, Mother Nature supplied multiple blizzards that crippled transit and travel […]
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