Customer service metrics are like puzzle pieces. A customer satisfaction survey (CSAT) surfaces opinions about individual interactions with your support team. Net promoter score (NPS) reveals customer sentiment—and satisfaction—around your company and product on the whole. Both metrics are valuable, but they don’t form the full picture. They may even get too much credit. According […]
Working from home is no longer a luxury for the modern business. Whether by choice (to attract talent) or necessity (responding to a global pandemic), businesses across the globe are quickly adopting flexible remote work policies for their employees. For companies that have already embraced collaborative technology to connect their employees and customers, shifting to […]
(Editor’s note: This post was originally published in May 2018. It has been updated with relevant information and additional context) In today’s world of indirect, text-based communication, many conversational skills are underdeveloped. However, the telephone is still a vital business tool, critical to both sales and customer service professionals. To truly excel in these careers, […]
Working in customer service is usually seen as straightforward and repetitive: Customers ask questions, get answers, and say goodbye—that is, until something else comes up. Many customer service scenarios are routine, but on an average day, customer service reps also deal with challenging and often unexpected situations. To bridge the gap, some managers give their […]
What makes us shy away from sharing feedback with our bosses? Do we avoid it because we fear it will fall on deaf ears? Or is it because we worry it will make us seem unhappy in our roles? According to HBR, it’s a bit of both. In a study of nearly 200 individuals from […]
You’re ready to take your customer relationships to the next level, connecting faster and more seamlessly than ever before. The problem is, your contact center isn’t quite keeping pace with your vision. Maybe you’re still researching software options that can provide the streamlined customer service your customers expect. Or maybe your in-house software is overdue […]
As a manager, it’s easy to get complacent. You give your team flexibility around where to work. You aim to be as transparent as possible about upcoming business shifts and team pivots. You even got your boss to sign off on paying agents above market rate. What more could they want? As it turns out, […]
Anyone who’s worked in customer service knows high attrition rates are the norm. But the conversations around turnover usually center on one thing: how hard it is to talk to people all day, to inherit negativity and complaints, to turn the other cheek. What’s not discussed is the lack of professional development that accompanies these […]
There’s a problem with customer service recruitment. Once someone in leadership gives the green light to hire new agents, support managers respond by filling seats as quickly as they can. They move fast to meet growing customer service needs. They move fast because they believe a role in support is something anyone can handle. But […]
Despite being around for less than two decades, Black Friday is as ingrained in the holiday lexicon as pumpkin pie and mistletoe. Cyber Monday, its more recent relative, has also enjoyed a quick climb by catering to those who’s ideal shopping experience involves skipping the lines and searching for deals from the comfort of their […]
Your credit report has changed. That’s the subject line of an email you receive from a popular credit monitoring service. Expecting praise for aggressively reducing your debt, you’re surprised when you open it. The email reads: “Hey Customer, It looks like there is a change to your TransUnion credit report. You fell behind on payments […]
If customer service is important to your business (of course it is!), you’re probably well acquainted with agents being inundated with calls. With just a basic phone system in place, this is probably more than they can handle. That’s where an automatic call distributor (ACD) system comes in. Automatic call distribution systems, otherwise known as […]
Picture it: Your desk, 2020. After considering several software solutions, your team concludes it’s found The One. Before you can commit, you need to know how it connects with your existing tech stack. When demo day arrives, your sales rep leads with enthusiasm: You’ll save time! Double revenue! Become a king among men! The future […]
Retail has come a long way in the last few years. With more people doing their shopping online (and numbers expected to keep growing), having the right tools in place can be the difference between success and failure. Thankfully, when it comes to picking an eCommerce platform, there is something for everyone. From large enterprises […]
You finally did it. After eyeing those Facebook ads for weeks, you decide to book a week-long stay at a fancy resort for several hundred dollars below market rate. There’s just one catch: The rate you saw applies to a different property. You don’t discover this until you hit the landing page where your comparatively […]
In an era where most people prefer shopping online, the phone carries significant weight. Today’s shopper wants their questions answered with the same level of ease they enjoy when making a purchase. But some eCommerce support teams still struggle to deliver. From disconnected systems to lack of agent autonomy, many factors can get in the […]
Building a support quality assurance program is a big but worthy mission. From the beginning, it lays the groundwork for a uniform support experience. As it evolves, QA fuels continuous improvement, helping organizations understand the ROI of customer service. But quality assurance is also challenging. You can bake all the right policies into your rubric […]
The phone system for modern business
