Customer service and customer experience blog for call center professionals
It’s been a big year for Avaya, probably the most important 12-month period in the company’s long, storied existence. In January, Avaya emerged from bankruptcy with a newly listed stock (NYSE: AVYA); a balance sheet much lower in debt; a new management team; and a renewed focus.
Thus, today’s earnings report was a milestone for the company and it was generally positive. Those of us cheering for a strong and competitive Avaya have a lot to be happy about.
When it comes to the contact center and customer service space, two analyst firms dominate the landscape of thought leadership: Gartner and Forrester. Let’s compare side-by-side what they say about some of the leading issues of the day.
We’ll take a look at some recent opinions given by the top analysts at each firm regarding the topics below and how they affect customer service and contact centers.
Finding new customers is good, but keeping old ones is just as important. Always strive to maintain good relationships with customers who supply profits.
The key is to build a collection of loyal buyers who will encourage referrals and find effective ways to manage your customer base.
Here are 5 tips to help you manage customers for long-term success.
As we continue to gain momentum with new wins, we’re equally proud of some of the press coverage we’ve been receiving. Recently, Shai Berger, CEO of Fonolo was interviewed by Vivian Wagner, a reporter for CRM Buyer/ECT News Network.
Below is an excerpt of Vivian’s article, you can read it in its entirety here.
It’s no surprise that customers will ditch a company when their service is not up to par. Yet, ‘three in ten (29%) consumers think that ‘businesses’ attitudes towards customer service have not changed’. Today, positive experiences are even more crucial. Through social media channels, disgruntled customers have immediate access to spread the word about poor service.
Many trends will dominate the call center industry, each one having a direct effect on consumer experience and employee productivity. For this reason, it’s critical that service leaders understand these trends to better prepare for business success.
Not sure where to start and what will have the biggest impact on your call center? Being able to cherry pick the right options for your company and callers will significantly make this process less intimidating. In this one hour webinar you’ll gain an extensive understanding of the trends affecting technology, processes and most importantly your customers.
The call center is going through an exciting and speedy transformation, quite unprecedented in its long history. Emerging technologies, changing consumer behaviors, and fierce competition present new challenges and exciting opportunities for managers.
The gap between customer expectations of phone-based support and reality is greater than ever. Over 80% of people prefer a phone call for customer service, but only 8% of them feel the service they receive is ‘excellent.’
Be sure to read the following list of call center trends that will help shape your support strategy in the coming year and beyond.
According to Contact Babel‘s 2011 US Decision Maker’s Guide, a majority of call center operations are fully or partially IP-enabled. Over the last few years, that has allowed SIP adoption to reach a tipping point.
For most organizations, SIP comes along by default with a call center upgrade (like moving up to Avaya Aura). For others, SIP is part of a telecom cost reduction strategy. Regardless of how it got through the door, SIP has the power to do much more than just be a part of the unseen plumbing.
A SIP-enabled call center can:
While these enhancements are possible without SIP, SIP makes deployment much easier. I’ve elaborated below on how these benefit the call center operation.
Fonolo is stoked to be hosting our first Google Hangout! There’s a lot to benefit from engaging with industry experts as they discuss new trends and more importantly, SHARE all this information with you.
We strongly suggest you clear an hour from your schedule and hang out with us at 2pm ET today. Not only will you be able to share your thoughts, ideas and comments on YouTube, our industry analysts will respond through conversation to your posts. Why not TWEET at #cctrtrends?
Never ‘hungout’ before? Continue reading
Last week, Fonolo hosted a free webinar, “You Can’t Afford to Put Callers on Hold“. We reached record pre-registration numbers and the activity throughout the event was fabulous.
Here are some of the questions asked from our attendees:
