Posts tagged ‘Multichannel’
SOCAP Symposium 2013 – Key Takeaways
24-7 Intouch and Social Herd have just returned from SOCAP International’s 2013 Symposium in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they gathered alongside over 350 participants to experience three days of fantastic networking opportunities, and amazing sessions focusing on the critical issues facing the customer care profession. The content and conversations were outstanding, and our team is excited to share their key takeaways from this year’s symposium:
1. Data is only useful if it is actionable
Big Data will continue to be a popular focus for many this year, but there is no use in taking the time to collect the data if you don’t plan on putting it to use. All of the analyzing and planning will mean absolutely nothing if there is no follow through. A continual feedback loop, which includes profiling customers, standardizing processes on all levels, understanding and consolidating data, making connections, determining action, following through with the strategic plan, and continuing to monitor and adjust the strategic plan as you go, will be the only way to continue to stay ahead of the curve. The outcome of taking these steps will be an accurate representation of data on all levels of the brand which will increase efficiency, CSAT, enable smarter business decisions to be made, and allow for an authentic view of the brand to shine through to consumers.
2. The consumer chooses the channel
It’s important to remember that consumers will communicate with your brand in whatever channel they prefer and what works best for them at that given moment. For example, if they’re waiting on hold after calling in to make a complaint, they may get tired of waiting and post the complaint to your Facebook or Twitter page. For this reason, it is important to be prepared and be able to take strategic action and engage with customers in every channel. A multi-channel approach using voice, chat, e-mail, social media, sms, self-service, and brick and mortar locations is an all-encompassing solution, but going a step further than this would be to develop an omnichannel business model. Omnichannel means that brands are present in all of the key channels, but also ensure that all of their channels seamlessly integrate with each other.
3. Urgency wins
Competition is fierce and the longer you wait to seize opportunities and take strategic action, the less likely you are to create a loyal community. If you want to deliver a unique customer experience, one that will not only keep current customers happy and coming back for more, but entice new customers to become fans of your brand, than you have to have a strategy and stick to it. Don’t wait – make maintaining the highest level of customer service your top priority.
24-7 Intouch and Social Herd presented in the Business Partner Showcase at the conference and Matt Cockell, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at 24-7 Intouch also participated in a speaking session alongside Linda Grover, Consumer Affairs Supervisor at McCormick Canada. The session, titled, “Managing the Brand – Business Partner Relationship,” focused on the importance of cultural alignment and transparency in an outsourcing partnership. Our team is excited to use the knowledge gained at the symposium, and are eagerly anticipating SOCAP’s Annual Conference, October 27-30, 2013 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Frost & Sullivan Customer Contact 2013, East
Our team has just returned from last week’s Frost & Sullivan 9th Annual Customer Contact 2013, East: A Frost & Sullivan Executive MindXchange in Marco Island, Florida. In addition to meeting and networking with amazing leaders in the customer service and customer care industry, they also had the opportunity to participate in a multitude of thought-provoking sessions and discussions. Our team came away with so many exciting ideas to share; here are just a few of our key takeaways:
1. Agent Experience – Is it more valuable to provide agents with coaching focused on scoring systems or on making them better, taking advantage of agents unique skill sets?
2. Creating Customer Delight – It takes only seconds to create customer delight and positive memorable experiences.
3. Big Data – Understanding and using the enormous volume of data available today to create customized experiences that exceed expectations.
24-7 Intouch and Broadridge to Present at Frost & Sullivan’s Customer Contact 2013, East
WINNIPEG, Manitoba. March 27, 2013 – Matt Cockell, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at 24-7 Intouch, will be leading a Fireside Chat Breakout Session at the 9th Annual Customer Contact 2013, East: A Frost & Sullivan Executive MindXchange. The event takes place April 14-17, 2013 at the Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort in Marco Island, Florida. More…
Using VOC to Create the Ideal Online Experience
Digital communication is changing consumer spending habits and online behavior. Leveraging the Voice of the Customer in these channels is the best way to ensure that you have a consistent and efficient engagement strategy. The increased interactions from a multichannel communication strategy will fuel your data, analysis and decision making.
Consumers are becoming more opinionated when it comes to their online expectations, and they’re quick to abandon your website if their experience is not up to par. Providing digital channels to the right customer, at the right time, also means giving your customers the luxury of communicating with your brand in their preferred medium. More…
Contact Center Recipe for Success
Finding the correct balance in your complete customer care strategy, that delivers both customer experience and ROI, can often be difficult. In order to manage the constant evolution of customer care in a multi-technological, multichannel, results driven environment, contacts must be properly assessed, segmented, and analyzed to develop the most appropriate strategy. There are endless approaches, but some common recipes do exist that can be applied or altered to fit many different scenarios. More…
The Importance of Meaningful Connections
In our webinar, “Make Your Online Connections Count,” panelists Lawrence Solis from LivePerson and Maya Kotecha from Social Herd, spoke on how to create meaningful connections in their respective fields. Lawrence explored the controlled realm of live chat, while Maya, the uncontrolled social media space. Although live chat and social media are different platforms used to engage customers, similar steps can be taken for both to ensure rewarding interactions.
By leveraging insights from technology and VOC information gathered from calls, chats, e-mails, etc., you can get to know your customers, their motivations, and desires. A survey from Cone Communications states the top three things consumers want to get out of an interaction with a brand is to be offered incentives (77%), to have their problems solved/customer service (46%), and to be asked for feedback (39%). The thing consumers wanted least from a brand interaction is to be marketed to (21%). So not only do you want to get to know your customers, but you want to engage with them and develop a long-lasting relationship. A meaningful connection involves more than just making a sale; however, some may have a hard time knowing how to get there. More…
Live Chat Integration – Part 1
Consumers lead increasingly busier lives with each passing year. Between work, meetings, family, friends, hobbies and socializing (if we’re lucky), balance often seems difficult to maintain. Due to this time constraint, shoppers are utilizing channels that fit into their schedules in the most convenient way possible. In addition to convenience, perception also impacts which channel a customer chooses to reach out to the brands they like. Where one may prefer the telephone, another may love e-mail.
One thing that most customers have in common today is the desire to receive the answers to their questions as quickly as possible, with as little work required. They want things done right the first time and to feel appreciated. Competition is so high amongst businesses, that if a customer does not find what they want with one brand, they will simply move on to the next. Any sort of customer dissatisfaction could have a direct impact on brand loyalty. More…
Contact Center Slang – You Said What? – Part 2
I recently returned back to work from the Astute Solutions 2012 Customer Conference. After spending a few days with industry experts, I felt it was time to write the second installment of Contact Center Slang.
Here is a list of 10 Commonly Used CRM Slang Words – so you can decipher the code.
CRM – Customer Relationship Management
- This is the tool that your agents use to record all of the contact data.
- Note: With a powerful CRM, you can have multichannel contact types all stored together.
Multichannel
- Refers to the different channels your consumer affairs may deal with; voice, email, chat, letter mail, social media (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, etc.).
- It is important to know if your CRM allows you to be multichannel integrated, or if it simply handles multiple channels.
- Multichannel integrated means that the CRM tool provides data, analysis, and reporting that is integrated using best practices across all channels to optimize them. This reduces your AHT across all channels.
Voice Of The Customer – 2012 Trends
MyCustomer.com, which provides topical CRM and customer management content, has predicted 2012′s Voice of the Customer Trends. The four part blog series can be found here.
2012 VOC Trends
- Unstructured Data Analysis
- Maximising insight from existing info
- Becoming Proactive
- Making customer insight part of the brand experience
- Data Rich Environments
- The right channel for the right customer at the right time
- Measures and Questions
- Full Service Suppliers
- Increased speed of insight collection and analysis
- Making it fit with the people in the organisation
- Becoming part of Company Strategy
- Making Sense of Social
Real Live Chat
I read an article this morning by Brian Cantor, a contributor for Customer Management IQ, who posed the question, “Why Bother Having a Live Customer Service Rep?”
Cantor discusses the importance of integrating live chat as a multi-channel communication strategy and having the right people behind it. Many people choose chat as their preferred method of communicating, so it is important for brands provide them with quality support. More…