Author Archives: Daniela

An Easy Approach to Managing Contact Center Peak Times [Slideshare]

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An Easy Approach to Managing Contact Center Peak TimesWe’re here today to talk to you about *cringe* peak times.

Peak times tend to be a touchy topic for call centers. Almost every center experiences them, and most don’t know how to handle the volume without adding more agents.

Every contact center is different, which means that peak times can take on various forms. Some experience the surge on certain days of the week (typically Mondays), others surge during specific times pf the day, and some only experience surges on holidays. It really comes down to the type of business your contact center is supporting; but, regardless of the variety of industries, the solution to the problem remains consistent – and it has nothing to do with workforce management (WFM).

 

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How to Successfully Handle Call Volume During Peak Times [Webinar]

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How to Successfully Handle Call Volume During Peak Times [Webinar]Every call center faces the problem of unpredictable spikes in call volume. Sometimes the causes are understood, even anticipated. However, in many cases these peak periods come as a shock to the system. The reality is that voice remains the most preferred channel for customers, but its popularity comes at a price: long hold times.

Unfortunately, the effect of this on the customer experience is significant: 60% of customers will abandon a call after just one minute of waiting on hold. If you want to improve customer loyalty and keep your CSAT scores healthy, you’ll need to make sure you have the right safety nets in place. Continue reading →

3 Takeaways from Our Live Discussion on Top Call Center Metrics [Video]

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3 Takeaways from Our Live Discussion on Top Call Center MetricsLast week, Fonolo hosted an insightful live discussion on the top call center metrics you need to be tracking . This expert panel discussed NPS for customer satisfaction, popular call center metrics, the future of the voice channel, and so much more! To save you some time, we’ve extracted video snippets showcasing highlights from the discussion.

First, let’s take a quick look at the panel of speakers: Daniel Hong, Jon Arnold, and Shai Berger.

 

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10 Trends That Will Disrupt Customer Service in 2018 [White Paper]

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10 Trends That Will Disrupt Customer Service in 2018“I feel the need, the need for speed!”

In Top Gun, the 1986 classic, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s famous phrase effectively summed up the future of customer service (CS). While it wasn’t intended to evoke the relationship between business and consumer, over 30 years later, it speaks directly to the state of CS today.

Speed is arguably the most significant benchmark for every single customer service interaction today.  Businesses can never be too fast to reply, react, or resolve an issue. As channel choices continue to stack up, and consumers navigate through them with swift precision, the expectation to be ‘ready and waiting’ at all times of the day is now the gold standard in customer service.

Despite this, recent reports reveal that the average time to handle a customer service request is 15 hours and 17 minutes – a far cry from first-class service expectations. But of the 12 industries that improved customer satisfaction in 2016, nine of them had something in common: They each sped up First Response Time (FRT). When issues are resolved in the initial five minutes of first contact, the average customer satisfaction score is 90 (on a 100-point scale). If resolved in six to 10 minutes, the satisfaction rating drops seven points to 83, and continues dropping steadily as additional time passes. Therefore, responding quickly will help to stave off declining satisfaction.

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The Secret Sauce for Increasing Customer Happiness [White Paper]

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The Secret Sauce for Increasing Customer HappinessIf you run a call center, change is familiar. The functionality and technology is more advanced than ever before. Beyond that, the expectations of service, the metrics that gauge success, and the channels customers can use to maximize their efforts and minimize their wait times are very different.

Today, most changes to call centers are a response to consumer behaviour, rather than an effort to advance business initiatives. After all, customer happiness and engagement are amongst the most significant drivers behind the image, culture, and success of an organization. In fact, 82% of consumers surveyed by Zendesk in their annual Benchmark Report said they stopped doing business with a company because of bad customer service from call centers. Continue reading →

Top Call Center Metrics You Need to be Tracking [Live Discussion]

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Top Call Center Metrics You Need to be TrackingEveryone knows how important it is to monitor metrics, but do you know how to pick the right ones, and implement an effective strategy? The trick to successfully manage metrics is to specifically identify which data points are relevant to you, and to analyze what that data means to your organization. What makes this task so daunting for contact centers is the sheer number of metrics to choose from: Service Level, Customer Satisfaction Score, Abandon Rate, First Call Resolution, Average Speed to Answer, and the list goes on.

Ultimately, tracking the right numbers is essential to managing a well performing contact center. However, as call centers serve an increasing number of channels and agents are stretched into new roles, the act of choosing the right metrics becomes even more confusing.  Continue reading →

Join Fonolo at ICMI’s Contact Center Expo & Conference

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Join Fonolo at ICMI’s Contact Center Expo & ConferenceTradeshow season is upon us! What better way to start the action than by exhibiting at the highest rated event for contact center professionals? Join Fonolo at the Contact Center Expo & Conference, May 21-24, 2018 at the Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, Florida. Produced by ICMI, a trusted advisor in the industry, the Contact Center Expo & Conference educates and motivates professionals looking to further their knowledge in an industry undergoing constant change. Continue reading →

Quick Tips to Help Call Center Agents Survive in 2018

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Quick Tips to Help Call Center Agents Survive in 2018I read countless articles on how to reduce stress in the call center and often wonder, “why is the contact center environment so traumatic?” Well, there are a few reasons for this. The first is quite obvious: Most call center horror stories feature an angry customer, venting their frustration about a faulty product or terrible service. Dealing with angry customers is difficult! Other causes of stress in the call center are less noticeable, ranging from a lack of social support, to feeling undervalued, to role conflict between employees.

Realistically, there are always going to be angry customers, but isn’t it interesting that all the other stress-inducing areas are internal to the contact center? What this means is that we can potentially solve these problems.

Every leading organization understands the importance of having happy people in their front-line staff. Here are some tips for call center managers to help agents survive the year, and ultimately reduce stress in the workplace.

 

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Incredible Lessons About Customer Service from Movie Clips

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Incredible Lessons About Customer Service from Movie ClipsYou may think that watching movies and television shows is something you do for sheer amusement –  providing little educational value. Well, think again! I know I recently spoke about the importance of reading vs. watching television in my latest blog on the top customer experience books, but let’s not completely underestimate the power of the tube. You’ve likely learned some real life lessons, long after the popcorn and peanut M&M’s had been devoured. So to the customer service folks who are ready to take more away from TV and movies then simply an entertainment fix – this one is for you.

Below I’ve illustrated seven lessons about customer service we can all learn from TV shows, movies, and even cartoons!   Continue reading →

Top Customer Experience Books You Need to Read

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Top Customer Experience Books You Need to Read

Even if you’ve only read one really great book in your life, you probably understand the satisfaction one gets after turning that last and final page. It feels good to know you didn’t waste hours in front of the television; instead, you gave yourself the opportunity to explore your imagination.

If you’re an avid reader, I’m sure there have been times where you haven’t quite reached this sense of accomplishment. I used to believe that you should read each book until the very end, even if you don’t like the contents of the storyline. But a wise reader helped me to change my approach. If a book isn’t speaking to you, it’s ok to put it down and move on to the next one. You might lose that feeling of satisfaction, but you’ll be content in moving forward to a better read.

In any event, reading provides a slew of benefits. It gives you knowledge, improves memory, develops imagination, and also translates to better writing abilities. These are all great skills for any customer experience leader. We’ve listed six solid reads below; take some time to peruse this book list and pick the ones you like. You’ll be sure to obtain valuable insights from CX experts and anyone working in a customer facing role!

 

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