We deal with a lot of buzzwords and phrases that saturate the customer service industry, some of which have become a little bit tired. One in particular that we really detest here at Fonolo is “Delight your customer”. Personally, when I hear that phrase, I experience a range of emotions. It seems to be healthy balance between shock (Why in the world would one use that phrase?) and sheer irritation (sort of akin to nails on a chalkboard!).
But, hey, who am I to judge? These things are all just a matter of opinion, right? We all have go-to vocabulary that we either love or loathe. Still, there are two words in particular that I feel everyone should pay attention to. These words hold true sustenance and can dramatically impact the success of your contact center team: customer care and customer satisfaction. The problem is that some companies, while familiar with these terms, really don’t connect with them on a deeper level. How you attend to your customers’ happiness levels and overall satisfaction requires critical thinking.
Let’s spend some time deciphering what these words mean and why they should be top of mind.
The field of customer service is very close to my heart. As a young student I worked as a customer service representative, and as a “young” professional, I’ve dedicated myself to a solution that 
Serving the public comes with its own pros and cons. The cons: It can be super difficult to meet everyone’s expectations. The pros: When you do, it’s incredibly rewarding; nothing is more satisfying than a happy customer. If someone calls you, and you’re able to take them from angry to being pleasantly surprised and thankful, it’s certainly an accomplishing feeling.
Any career that involves working with the public can be tiresome since making customers feel happy isn’t always the easiest task. You’re often relieved when they’re satisfied, while feeling helpless when they’re not. Unfortunately, 66% of 
How long is too long? Standards like 80/20 for the call center industry help to guide average speed of answer but the truth is, acceptable hold-time varies from industry to industry and from customer to customer. Even a second or two can jeopardize the entire experience in your customer’s eyes, and risk the possibility of an abandoned call. Whether your hold times are longer than the prescribed average or you’re hitting the 80/20 mark, it’s important to provide callers with an accurate expectation of wait time and respectful alternatives to waiting on hold such as a call-back. 
Most businesses understand the value of exceptional service and how it can make-or-break customer retention. The truth is, people genuinely remember positive interactions, specifically when phoning into your contact center, and they use those experiences to guide their shopping decisions. Surprisingly though, many organizations still need to be convinced that excellent customer service is essential to their success. They’re clearly stuck in a time when the key to winning customers was solely based on the quality of your product and not particularly in the service you deliver.
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.
Did you know it costs businesses 5 times more to acquire new customers than it does to keep current ones? In fact, reducing customer churn can increase profits by 125%.
Customer loyalty is the backbone of any successful business. It is also the key to profitability. Statistics show that attracting a new customer can cost up to 30 times more than keeping an existing customer, according to The Chartered Institute of Marketing, and most industries 
If you make a list of life’s most important lessons, odds are this one is near the top: “No matter how good you are at something, there’s always someone better“.
