Category Archives: Customer Experience

[Video] 3 Takeaways from Our Google Hangout on Conversational Commerce

By on
Reply

[Video] 3 Takeaways from Our Google Hangout on Conversational CommerceLast week, Fonolo hosted a very insightful and engaging Google Hangout discussing the future of chat-for-commerce and if Apple is a legitimate threat. This expert panel discussed how messaging platforms are shaping the way we interact, and how businesses and consumers can embrace this new wave of communications. 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: Tobias Goebel from Aspect, Dan Miller from Opus Research, Max Ball from RingCentral, Thomas Howe from Ten Digit Communications, and Shai Berger from Fonolo. Continue reading →

Airlines: Are You Going the Distance for Passengers? [Video]

By on
Reply

Airlines: Are You Going the Distance for Passengers? Every third Thursday, at the beginning of every quarter, is known as #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay. In the name of trying to improve the customer experience, Fonolo takes this time to target specific industries and ask their customers how they feel about doing business with them. Last quarter – during tax season – we asked millennials to tell us about their experiences with the banking industry (Needless to say there is a shared opinion that financial communications and processes need to be modernized).

Now that we’re in the middle of vacation season, it only makes sense that we take this opportunity to focus on the airline industry. Whether you love it or hate it, travelling is all part of the vacation experience, and if your trip involves flying, you’re most likely going to face the woes of airports and airline hospitality (or lack thereof). Additionally, airlines are frequently present on our hold time offenders list, and we think it’s about time we start a conversation about how airlines can make travelling a more pleasant experience for passengers.

Continue reading →

6 Creative Approaches to Improve Your Customer Service

By on
Reply

6 Creative Approaches to Improve Your Customer ServiceA recent report discussing the 2017 customer service benchmark researched 500 companies across the globe. It stated that 41% of companies did not respond to a customer service request, 90% of companies did not acknowledge an email had been received (An automated email confirming receipt of an inquiry.) and, 99% of companies did not follow up with customers (Post service follow up to ensure customer satisfaction). Yet, 56% of global consumers say they have higher expectations for customer service now than just one year ago, and that number jumps to 68% for 18 – 34 year-olds. So to sum up, customers have higher expectations and companies are not delivering.

When everyone’s battling to win the same customers, leaders should be scrambling to think of new and improved ways of delivering service. Here are 6 approaches that will add value to the service you deliver.

Continue reading →

Avaya Chugging Through Chapter 11, But the World’s Not Waiting

By on
Reply

Avaya Chugging Through Chapter 11, But the World’s Not WaitingWe’re now 6 months into the largest bankruptcy event in the history of the call center industry.

Avaya filed for Chapter 11 protection in January. The negotiations among the many stakeholders have happened behind closed doors so it’s hard to assess where we are along the timeline.

Only one significant event has been visible to the public so far: In March, Avaya agreed to sell its networking business to Extreme Networks for $100 million. That move was received positively by analysts and commentators.

But the big question remains: Are we a month away from a resolution? A year? No one knows. As the bankruptcy continues, the patience of partners, analysts and customers wears down. Each day is also another opportunity for competitors to pick away at Avaya’s customers.

Continue reading →

Why Everyone Is Talking About Conversational Commerce?

By on
Reply

Why is Everyone Talking About Conversational CommerceMessaging platforms are fast becoming the most desired method of communication among consumers and businesses thanks to rising comfort levels with virtual assistants and chatbots. In the last year alone, the amount of time spent on mobile messaging apps (Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp) grew by a whopping 394%, surpassing social networks (Facebook page, Twitter). However, as the chat-for-commerce space matures, the unwritten partnership between businesses and messaging platforms raises some serious questions.

In our Google Hangout on Thursday, July 20th at 2PM ET/11AM PT, we ask chat experts Tobias Goebel (Aspect), Max Ball (RingCentral), Dan Miller (OpusResearch), Thomas Howe (Ten Digit Communications), and our very own Shai Berger, about the impact messaging platforms will have on the future of communications in the call center. We’ll also discuss the newcomer, Apple, and if they will dominate the space. Continue reading →

Companies Want a Chat Platform. Apple and Facebook Are Happy to Oblige. What’s the Catch?

By on
Reply

Companies Want a Chat Platform. Apple and Facebook Are Happy to Oblige. The “chat” style of communication, where two parties type text back-and-forth, is wildly popular with consumers. Companies are eager to embrace this popularity because A) it’s smart to communicate in a way your customers like and B) it’s less costly than call center agents.

Facebook, Twitter and, as of last month, Apple are all happy to provide a platform for that kind of business-to-consumer chat to take place. (We’re going to talk about Apple’s new offering in our live panel discussion next week. Be sure to tune in and direct questions to our panel of industry experts.)

These platforms are free for any company to use. But is there a catch? More precisely: Is the agenda of these for-profit platforms perfectly aligned with a company that wants to use them as a channel to talk to customers? Read on for discussion of that question and two related ones.

Continue reading →

3 Tips for Handling Difficult Customers in the Call Center

By on
Reply

3 Tips for Handling Difficult Customers in the Call CenterWhat does customer service mean to you? One might think the answer to that question is universal, but that’s not necessarily the case. People will define customer service in different ways. A retailer might think it means ensuring customers quickly find what they need online or in-store, and a financial institution might think it means ensuring that they respond to customers in a timely fashion. Since Fonolo is a solution built for the contact center space, I started to think about what customer service means to a call center agent. The first thing that came to mind was handling a difficult customer. For a CSR to be successful they have to understand how to deliver customer service in the most challenging of situations – with an irate customer.

To make things easier, we’ve compiled some tips for handling difficult customers. Here they are in no specific order.

Continue reading →

Top 10 OnHoldWith Offenders this Quarter

By on
Reply

Top 10 OnHoldWith Offenders this QuarterEvery quarter we head on over to onholdwith.com and countdown which companies are being called out by the customer service Twitter police (aka consumers) for long hold times. You can view the results from last quarter here, and do some of your own comparing and contrasting from this quarter’s offenders.

In just a quick glance, it’s not too hard to tell which organizations have worked hard to improve hold times over the last few months, while others continue to fail time and time again. If we could place bets, we suspect some of these reoccurring offenders still haven’t nailed down the whole “call-back” thing yet. Continue reading →

See Fonolo Reveal the Secret to Eliminating Hold Time on Worldwide Business

By on
Reply

See Fonolo Reveal the Secret to Eliminating Hold Time on Worldwide BusinessRecently, Shai Berger, CEO of Fonolo had the pleasure of speaking with former model turned entrepreneur, Kathy Ireland, on Worldwide Business. The interview aired on FOX Business Network and Bloomberg International, and gave Fonolo the opportunity to share how it’s revolutionary technology is fixing the problem of waiting on hold. The company has helped to alleviate some of the most universal challenges in the contact center, such as: reducing abandonment rates, smoothing out spikes in call volume, and lowering operating costs. In turn, Fonolo’s solutions have transformed the customer experience and the way many call centers do business today.

The segment also includes Fonolo customer, and this year’s Customer Experience Excellence Award Winner, Nutrisystem, and the success they’ve experienced using Fonolo call-backs. Continue reading →

Voicemail in The Call Center? 5 Reasons You’re Gonna Regret It

By on
Reply

Voicemail in The Call Center? 5 Reasons You’re Gonna Regret ItAlmost every contact center has to develop a strategy to deal with spikes in call volume. For some, spikes are a regular part of their traffic pattern. For others, spikes are unpredictable. Either way, the approach you take to deal with having more calls than you can handle says a lot about your company and – more importantly – sends a strong message to your customers.

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about the best the way to deal with spikes (hint: automated call-backs). That’s not the only solution though! You can, for example, increase you staff, or divert more calls to self-service options. However, with all the different strategies you can consider, one that is always wrong is sending callers to voicemail.

Continue reading →

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. ...
  10. 46