Call Backs

Are You Prepared for Unpredicted Spikes in Call Volume? [Slideshare]

By Drew Wilkinson on October 24, 2019

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While today’s tech-savvy consumers are using more non-voice channels to connect with businesses, the act of picking up the phone to quickly and verbally resolve an issue (complex or otherwise) isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The problem with this? According to an Accenture study, consumers’ top two complaints were:

Having to contact customer service multiple times; and
Being kept on hold for too long.

This consumer pet peeve is exacerbated by the fact that contact centers routinely face expected, and unexpected, spikes in call volume. Expected spikes can be a result of seasonality and promotional events, and unexpected spikes can stem from product recalls or natural disasters.

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Cleaning Up a Customer Relationship Mess: Going Back to Basics

By Drew Wilkinson on September 5, 2019

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People like shiny new things.

The same cannot always be said about pesky new software updates and releases to the platforms and apps that have become fixtures in both our personal and professional lives.

Good-natured developers and designers may have the best of intentions, arguing that their changes take us to a new, higher state of being where everything and everyone is better.

The problem is that these changes are often unpopular, sometimes to comedic levels – except that for the customer, it is no laughing matter.

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New Survey on Service Level: 80/20 Is Still Going Strong

By Shai Berger on September 4, 2019

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When it comes to metrics for tracking call center performance, service level is the undeniable king of the hill. It’s a measure of how quickly calls are answered by agents. The most typical target is “80/20” which means 80% of calls are answered within 20 seconds.

Although many industry experts criticise this target – no one even knows exactly how it was originally chosen! — it continues to be the default. A new survey from Call Centre Helper confirms that the reign of 80/20 continues, but there is more to the story.

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Who are you #OnHoldWith? The Top On-Hold Offenders in the Retail Industry

By Samantha Mehra on September 3, 2019

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Build a deck. Outfit a room. Fill a prescription. Get a birthday card. Purchase a television. Scoop up school supplies. Order a couch. Snap up a subscription. Spend. Spend. Spend. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

In every facet of a customer’s life, there is at least some encounter with the retail space, an investment of their funds in DIY projects, in personal healthcare, in family activities, in leisure, or in bare necessities. The retail industry is buoyed by this reality and is much obliged to exchange a customer’s hard-earned dollars for goods and services, but oftentimes is ill-equipped to serve the masses of consumers when they things go wrong with a product, service, or delivery. And make no mistake: Things always go wrong.

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Four Strategies to Help Your Team Resolve Customer Service Complaints Quickly

By Jessica Suezin on August 27, 2019

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Want to order pizza for dinner? It will be at your door in 30 minutes. Looking for a date? An app can help you find that special someone. Need some work done around the house? You can summon a handyman that same day. In today’s world, we don’t have to wait too long for just about anything.

Today’s consumer doesn’t just want same-day delivery, they want same-day resolution to any inquiry or complaint they make with a company. According to a report by HubSpot, consumers want service that is both fast and personalized. This means that customer service teams and call center agents are tasked with rapidly resolving tickets without letting the quality of their service drop.

Here are a few strategies that can be implemented to ensure that customers experience a resolution that is both quick and satisfactory.

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3 Ways to Prepare Your Retail Contact Center for the Holiday Rush

By Samantha Mehra on August 20, 2019

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Here’s a sad (but true) story: The dog days of summer are almost at an end. As customers and clientele begin to re-emerge from their sun-soaked vacations, and step firmly back into reality and back-to-school or back-to-work shopping, contact centers in the retail industry and beyond will no doubt see a sharp influx in customer inquiries, emails, messages, and phone calls. Their volume will rise on every channel, and callers will be expecting exquisite and timely customer service regardless of the demands of the busy season. And, too, the numbers don’t lie: Last year, Black Friday yielded over $6 billion online, with Cyber Monday surpassing that number at $7.8 billion. (To say that customers are active during these shopping days is a gross understatement.) As we mentioned in a recent article, “calls to businesses rose more than 375% over the past two holiday seasons.” Continue reading →

Customer Service is not a Destination, it’s a Journey: Lessons from Ryanair

By Drew Wilkinson on August 15, 2019

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In the age of disruption, Ryanair may best encapsulate the contrarian, rule-breaking streak sometimes required to conquer an antiquated industry. Just before the turn of the millennium, Ryanair was a tiny, impoverished Irish airline competing with the national carrier, Aer Lingus. As recently as 2017, it was the most profitable airline in Europe, operating 2,000 daily flights from 86 bases. Although the blue and saffron airline has recently hit a spot of turbulence largely thanks to Brexit – announcing 900 job cuts and a 21% drop in quarterly profits – the airline offers a fascinating case study in customer service maturation. This is the oft untold story of how Ryanair cleaned up its notorious customer service reputation by putting the customer first.

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Four Podcasts Every Customer Service Manager Should Listen To

By Jessica Suezin on August 13, 2019

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Retail is transforming at an increasing rate, and more than ever. Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are changing interactions between customers and brands and are allowing many of these processes to become automated. However, despite these rapid changes, many customers still prefer interacting with an actual person, whether it’s in store with a floor representative, or on the phone with a call center agent.

But how do we educate ourselves on current customer service practices when the rate of change is near impossible to keep up with? Well, podcasts are a great way for managers and retailers to keep up with the latest trends and strategies in the service vertical. Here are a few suggestions of customer service podcasts we love, and you will, too. They present the latest in customer service research in clear and comprehensive ways, and provide guidance on how to apply this research to improve the experience for your consumers.

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How to Prepare Your Call Center for Seasonal Call Spikes: Utilities [Guide]

By Drew Wilkinson on July 25, 2019

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It’s no secret that once upon a time, utility companies could get away with less than stellar customer service. Nowadays, increased competition means that customers have more alternatives than ever before, and are willing to switch providers if they are unhappy. Even utility companies that operate in a de facto monopoly have regulators mandating certain customer service levels with corresponding CSAT scores.

While utility companies can certainly do their best to control customer service metrics like CSAT, they do not control the weather. Hot or cold, call centers in the utilities industry experience drastic spikes in call volume due to seasonal weather changes and unforeseen weather events. A widespread outage caused by a winter storm or a heatwave can completely overwhelm your organization’s customer service department and its phone lines.

While it would be easier to neglect the customer experience in favor of the “just get it done” mentality that stems from such a drastic increase in call volume, it’s important that your call center aims to please, especially during the busiest seasons of the year. After all, this is how customer relationships are made or broken.

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The Heist: Telecommunications Companies Taking the Power Back

By Jordan Maxwell on July 24, 2019

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Let us tell you a story.

Back in May, a Canadian company — Fido Solutions, which is owned by Rogers Communications Inc. — took steps to charge a small fee for its customer support services at its call centers. Yes: A service that used to be provided for free when customers paid their monthly bill just became billable. The new service fee, which costs $10, charged customers for simply calling in to make a payment, update contact information or payment method, or reset a voicemail password.

The decision to turn this unpaid service into a premium one was seen largely as a cost-saving measure, and as a way to improve customer service at call centers when overflow was occurring during peak periods. With most of those services available online, the company believed that it was easier to make small changes to customer accounts online as opposed to calling in to speak to an agent to handle them.

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