Contact center managers are, at their core, problem-solvers. One of the most challenging problems they often face is dealing with unpredictable spikes in call volume. Sometimes the causes of call spikes are understood, even anticipated. Yet, in many cases, these periods of peak call volume come as a real shock to everyone in the contact center. For example, a marketing event promoting a product sale would be an easy predictor for an influx in calls, whereas an unexpected power outage or sudden bout of the flu in the contact center isn’t something that can be readily planned for. Or is it?
This guide will tackle those questions, and more, head on! Continue reading
This post has been updated for 2020.
It’s that time of year again, the holidays are creeping in, and before you know it frantic shoppers will be soaking up those Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals; soon enough everyone will be in shop till you drop mode. Whether you’re purchasing for your first cousin twice removed, or your Rolex wearing manager, the holiday season usually requires a great deal of customer service support. With so many people in the same boat, at the same time, it’s important that businesses have the necessary life preservers to make it out of the holiday season alive. Even retailers that staff up during the holiday season need a little help keeping pace, especially as the demand for ecommerce grows.
Having an omni-channel contact center is becoming increasingly important as channel options are diversifying and consumers are using more touch-points to interact with companies. Consequently, 
The multi-channel customer experience has raised a number of questions about how call centers should effectively measure the customer journey. More than ever before customers are moving across channels and devices to find support and purchase products. Whether it’s the phone, chat, social media, web, messenger or any number of channels, customers are doing a lot of things, in a lot of different places. Are all these touch-points working in synchrony, or are your customers pulling their hair out when they navigate from one to the other? That’s where customer journey tracking comes in; businesses can begin to understand their customer’s behaviors and uncover details that they otherwise wouldn’t catch. It can also measure how well each of these channels are working both individually and holistically.
“Ten years ago there was no web chat, smart phone apps, social media, and very little email. Today, digital interactions account for over 
Something serious has come to our attention: Some organizations still don’t know the difference between customer service and the customer experience for the contact center. Let’s start by saying, we know there’s a linguistic confusion, and we can go ahead and blame the English language for that. However, the function of customer service and the customer experience (although they often work together) are two very different business strategies. Here we’ll decode these often-confused terms so that your organization can learn to prepare and strategize for both properly. And even if you’re well-versed on these two subjects, it’s important to remember that technology has made them ever-changing and they might be worth a quick refresh.
Are you ready to shift your customer experience management (CXM) into high gear? Customers are more demanding than ever, and with endless channels to vent their frustrations (and applauses) through, it’s your job to stay sharp and navigate the customer journey effectively. In addition to this, 
The customer experience is integral to the success of any business, but with competition stacking up across every industry, improving CX has become more important today than ever before.
