Positive and negative scoring has been the name of the game in CX QA for ages, but it isn’t the only option, nor should it be. Adding neutral scoring metrics to your rubric increases insight without stressing your CX team. Neutral scoring allows both tracking...
There are more Zoomers than Boomers in the workforce now. The World Economic Forum projected that by 2025 Gen Z will make up 27% of working people in the 38 OECD countries and one third of the world population. They are likely to become...
Not only are performers like Harry Styles and Pink having objects thrown at them on stage, your agents have abuse thrown at them regularly. There are ways to support agents even with consumer rage on the rise....
Research shows customers want a better and better experience in exchange for their loyalty. Studies also show that companies are aware of this and want to provide upgraded experiences. AI can help, but companies that can’t handle a complete overhaul wonder where to start...
Reputation inflation is more than useless. It masks problems, ruins data and feeds a culture of fear....
Businesses must evolve as the people who work them and those who buy from them evolve. Changes in CX and EX in customer service have to come at the speed of change in the world as a whole....
Here are some customer experience memes I created based on stats to encourage raising your CX....
Friction is great when trying to remove layers of paint but it will also remove layers of your customers’ patience. Identifying customer friction, aka pain points, is part of the ongoing work of creating great customer experience and enduring customer relationships. ...
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are a necessary part of the business-customer relationship. They need to be created with both your company’s unique needs and the needs of your customers. However, there is little point in going through the trouble of creating these agreements if they...
Streamlining customer experience benefits businesses, their workers and their customers. Generative AI acts as a powerful streamlining tool improving efficiency and accuracy, driving decision-making and fostering innovation....
You know that your business needs to provide great customer service to compete. You also know that you need to allocate your human and monetary resources to tools that provide a great return for your investment. Now CSAT.AI can help your business save more time...
Employee engagement and CX are powerfully connected. Empower employees with information and invest in them as people for great customer experience and business....
Today we’re following up on our improper ticket closing blog. What happens to a ticket before it reaches the closing stage (if it ever does) impacts metrics and CX too. These are six ticket handling problems to avoid. ...
An in-house customer service team that is steeped in company culture sounds great. But it isn’t a practical fit for all businesses. A customer service business outsourcing, or CS BPO, makes sense to save time and money....
Documented customer complaints have been around since, well since the first record of one in 1750 BC (which was much harder a complaint to make than sending an email). Closed tickets are happy customers. Or are they?...
It’s important to effectively escalate the customer issues that need more attention. Whether from self-serve to your agents or from your agent to a manager or other department, a plan for customer service escalation is an important part of your successful support strategy....
Like most industries, customer service has its own jargon - chock full of acronyms (context is everything). Here is a customer service dictionary of 65 common terms and acronyms....
Customer relationships impact the amount of business a company does. To have these great relationships companies need to create great CX. Does your company use these tips?...
QA metrics are important for gauging and maintaining quality and thereby customers. Contact center analytics can track and parse many of these alphabet soup metrics....
In today's highly competitive business landscape, customer service is the differentiator between brands. There are ways to unlock better customer feedback and service agent scoring to keep a competitive service edge. ...
With all the talk of Gen Z vs Boomers or the differences between Gen Z and Millennials, it's important not to forget the most awesome Generation - Generation X. In this blog post, we will discuss what makes Generation X customers different and why...
As a customer service leader you know that providing great customer experience is essential to the success of your business. According to research it’s Gen Z that follows brands most on social media at 61% compared to 53% of Millennials and 36% of Gen X...
The right answer benefits both your business and your customer. It's especially good when that answer comes via the first contact....
With its large population size (over 70 million) and increasing purchasing power ($143 billion annually), of course brands are eager to connect with Gen Z customers. To engage this generation, it's important to unlock these 5 secrets of the CX Gen Z wants from brands....
You can’t stop the AI wave, but you don’t have to get drowned by it. You can get in the water by using accessible AI support apps available on Zendesk that integrate with what you already use. Your company doesn’t need to be gigantic or...
Agile principles are a powerful tool for improving customer service through collaboration, adaptation, ownership and responsiveness. ...
For the customer service industry, how can generative AI tools like ChatGPT impact the future of contact centers?...
The negative nickname of ‘cost center’ applied to contact centers works against the success of quality customer service. Recognize opportunities for contact center revenue and cost reduction. This helps get bosses on board with investing in customer service as a profitable sales tool. ...
There’s a lot of talk around the work from home and return to office debate. What’s fueling it and where it’s happening is part of the discussion. But does this debate apply to the contact center work from home model? ...
Digital customer service options are able to help manage the support challenges businesses are facing. The question is, should they be the only options customers have? ...
The new year brings new trends besides inflation, staffing issues and severe weather. The contact center and customer support industry continue to evolve. Data and customer service professionals have insight into 2023 customer service trends and the reasons behind them....
You survived the holidays and you’ve got new customers! Now what? To make the most of these new relationships use segmentation of holiday customers to your advantage....
The holiday season is rife with customer service horror stories from both customers and workers. But there are the wonderful ones that keep the seasonal spirit alive and well. Here are happy holiday tales of customer service heroes to draw inspiration and good vibes from...
A customer first policy is not always best, even for the customer, when it’s missing key components for success....
Streamlining saves money and time in contact centers or customer service departments just like in any other area of business. That time is more profitable when spent on value-added activities that improve customer experience and product offerings or on efficient actions that support these. ...
Research released in November found 45% of businesses are having trouble staffing contact center and back office roles. For the 2022 holiday season customer service staffing it’s critical to keep the agents you have during your most profitable season. ...
It’s Thanksgiving week! Time for family get-togethers, big meals and Black Friday. You can help your agents feel valued. In a time where retaining quality employees is vital, remember to thank your customer service agents, now and all year round:...
Customers are leaning into automation and 95% of contact center leaders are using or plan to use automation in the next year. If you’re one of them make sure you’re using quality automation in your customer service strategy....
Knowing your brand, knowing your consumers, understanding customer segmentation and tracking changes helps you make informed decisions. You want that knowledge before you’re hit with a difficult situation you have to respond to quickly. ...
Times, they are always a-changing. No longer silently taking poor treatment, employees and customers have pushed back against companies: employees via the Great Resignation, and customers with changing brand loyalty. Inflation in the US is at a decade high on the heels of two already...
Per The Quality Assurance & Training Connection (QATC) 2018 study, turnover in US contact centers alone is "between 30-45% which is more than double the average for all occupations in the U.S." Intense. There are many reasons why there is so much turnover in call centers. ...
Phrase based models use natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning which allow AI to derive meaning from human language. This is a powerful customer service technology in multiple ways....
What goes into a quality QA process? Updated October 2022 (Originally posted February 2019) Grab a cup of tea, coffee or liquid of choice and let’s talk quality assurance. It’s not the most exciting topic but a vital one to your company’s longevity. There are...
Nudges don’t remove freedom of choice, they make a certain choice more attractive. The aim is to make those preferred choices beneficial to the chooser. We’re not focusing on negative nudges or those meant to manipulate for the benefit of another party. In the case...
As we’ve stated CSAT and NPS are two often talked about (and argued about) metrics. Let’s go deeper into a few more customer success metrics. The following KPIs help you plan your strategy and monitor your revenue and costs of customer success. ...
Connecting with your customers on a personal level is important to building lasting relationships. But individuals only really hold one focused conversation at a time. Conversational AI (CAI) helps with the scaling of personalized customer attention and interaction sought across industries....
Both customer success managers and customer service exist to make and retain money while servicing the customer. For our first post concerning customer success roles, we’ll focus on what makes them different from customer service and how they support each other....
The industry has trained customers to be rude with a cycle of lies in customer service and poor handling of issues. If you don’t watch your words you train your customers to do the same. ...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their newest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) yesterday. A new report but not much new movement: minimal change in openings, hires, and separations (which include quits, layoffs and discharges) for July compared to June 2022. However, in...
For customers seeking resolution, the direct experience of another customer can be more helpful than a company’s poor, time-sucking service merry-go-round. Your customers turn to places like Reddit when they can’t (or fear they can’t) get resolution through your company support channels. ...
Customers want you to know how they feel. They don’t want to be blindsided by an epic survey full of non applicable questions that interrupts them trying to get their issue solved. The key is smarter surveys that give you usable customer service data, while...
According to a Salesforce report from February 2022, 71% of agents have considered leaving their jobs in the previous 6 months with 86% saying they require more from their companies in order to stay. Are you using the following methods to reduce agent churn and...
Lego receives in excess of 4 million customer calls per year. Many of those calls are for replacement pieces that customers have lost. Even though these are not the fault of the company, Lego does their best to accommodate and with style. These happy customers...
Don’t underestimate the power of the empathy metric in customer service. To get the most out of this metric though, you need to manage empathy fatigue and avoid using inauthentic empathy that backfires....
Putting two important metrics in perspective and understanding why they are both measured with 5 examples each of CSAT vs NPS®....
You want to be the best in your industry. Listen to the advice of some of the best. Here are some aspirational customer service quotes from the pros on practices to aim your business for the stars. ...
Building customer trust requires follow up and understanding your customer preferences....
Jimi Hendrix loved to fling his guitar around to get weird and wonderful sounds from the feedback.” Jimi Hendrix and his guitar virtuosity aside, we are focusing on their business use of the word feedback: information about something such as a new product or someone's...
Latency, language differences, awkward auto-corrects, improper use of emojis (no, the poop emoji is not chocolate and 'LOL' doesn’t mean lots of love): there are many challenges for communication in contact centers with omnichannel customer access. Upgrade your approach to communication. ...
An unhappy customer service agent is more than a meme, they are a person with difficulties that have solutions.Customer service whether it is as a content moderator, contact center agent or customer sales rep is emotionally taxing....
You’re eager to get back to your long delayed project and then get hit with a survey. Even worse, you’re hit with a survey while trying to get your answer.The point is surveys suck and here are five reasons why....
An abusive agent is detrimental to a company, and so is an abusive customer. Is booting the bad ones, lik Uber is, good customer service? ...
Ann started her day with a double espresso and a quick lap around the block, but by 2pm she has been staring at the same customer service ticket for ten minutes and can’t remember what her last action on it was. She’s so tired she...
The chatbot. These digital interface tools have become a familiar, sometimes funny, sometimes maddening part of online customer service. Even with the growth of AI there are many bad bots, but they do not have to crush good customer service. ...
Do you want to be known throughout your industry as the absolute worst in customer service? Are you eager for the kind of negative reputation that vitriolic customers can give you? Is being sued by your customer base one of your top goals? If so,...
Yeah, we know. Relationships are hard. But human beings (and businesses) don't do well on an island alone. Build your CX and EX together....
There are many aspects to leading in customer service success. Depending on the company, customer service can conjure anger and disappointment or warm fuzzies and devotion. Today we’re looking at: Industries known for great service; Companies that are setting the standard; What makes a great...
Remote and offshore work is a growing field with projections of growth to $19.5 Billion by 2025. Let’s look at the reasons, benefits and challenges of offshoring contact center operations in a multilingual world. ...
The 2021 holiday buying season is riddled with post-pandemic challenges including. Let’s look at the current crazy state of affairs....
QA is, in part, meant to align customer facing service with company goals. An effective CX Quality Assurance workflow reflects those goals with respect to company size and resources. Questions to consider when developing these workflows include:...
Research shows it’s not worth sacrificing quality for speed, though. Average Handle Time (AHT) as a tool to organize and estimate rather than to motivate agents is more advantageous. This HBR article by Pete Slease, Rick DeLisi and Matthew Dixon argues that AHT is the...
Customer service that stinks leaves a lasting impression. The Automated Menu Goes Round and Round Repetition may have been fun when you were three. “Play the song again, Dad!” As an adult trying to solve a problem it is maddening. In a post-COVID world the companies...
Another group that was shown to be lost in the shuffle of remote work is Gen Z. The Microsoft report revealed this group was more likely to feel isolated, struggle with making a quality home work environment and feel less connected with work. As the...
Updated 2021 (originally published Sept 2019) Machine learning based tech is becoming more sophisticated with virtual influencers, robot assistants, AI making appointments by phone. Talking AI in customer service, it's not ironic to mention feelings, because it's humans that this tech is meant to support....
I called AAA to get a car towed last month, the subcontractor who moved the car was fantastic - everything that I could possibly want in a tow-truck driver on what was (obviously) a bad day. After he had backed the car into my narrow...
Businesses must evolve as the people who work them and those who buy from them evolve. Changes in CX and EX in customer service have to come at the speed of change in the world as a whole....
Make managing your remote customer service team easier with CSAT.AI....
When we put out our blog last week on facing changes we didn’t yet know how big they would be. This week we are in a new paradigm due to COVID-19, where remote work is a necessity. For some of you this may be new...
Using soft skills like humor, creativity and empathy in customer service, agents are able to change a mediocre customer experience into a memorable one. ...
Do you love your customers? Do they know it? Customer love nurtures your B2C relationships....
Welcome to CSAT.AI for customer experience and quality assurance, your new best friend. With this innovative tool QA monitoring is automated, covering all of your chat and email interactions. CSAT.AI supports your agents with real time feedback enabling them to provide excellent customer experience....
Futurism: “concern with events and trends of the future, or which anticipate the future.” ...
Conceptual photo illustrating burnout syndrome at work...
It was destined to happen. The Wild West of digital media, with its international reach, enticing freedoms and little regulation, could not last without standards of regulation....
Let’s get clear on empathy, what it means and how it fits into creating great customer experience and your company culture....
High stress, low wages, abuse. We’re not talking about indentured servants, we’re talking about customer service. Unfortunately, customer service agents are often treated badly. It’s time for businesses to take responsibility for the environment their employees work in by reducing employee harm....
Business challenges are like levels in a game. The more tools, skills and tricks you have (especially if you’re a noob), the more successful you will be. You can power up your customer service with a Quality Assurance strategy for a successful business campaign. ...
If your customer service avenues are more hidden than the mummy’s tomb you are likely to lose repeat business....
Humanity loves to ask questions. Our curious nature has taken us as far as the moon and as deep as the quantum world. Some of our questions are much simpler, like how do I turn this thing on? (Admit it. We’ve all asked that question.)...
Humans are innovative creatures: the internet, AI, cold brew coffee. Innovation means change and change is bumpy....
One of the things I feel most strongly about is that customer service professionals should never ever be sworn at, demeaned or abused...
Happy Customer Service Week! Last week in prep for #CustomerServiceWeek2019, we celebrated customer service successes. This week we are celebrating the power of employee engagement with The Ritz-Carlton. Employee Engagement Experts and reports agree, treating employees well is linked to business success. As Micah Solomon states in...
In Hubspot’s recent The State of Customer Service in 2019 report, they mentioned the earliest recorded customer complaint from 1750 BCE. Wow. This industry has some history. What about the feel good moments? In preparation for Customer Service Week we’re celebrating some customer service successes...
Are your customers caught in a customer experience time loop? Your customer facing AI solutions, like chatbots, never tire of repetition. However, your customers and agents do....
A history of lies makes it hard to build a lasting relationship. How do you build an authentic customer relationship in a business climate known for manipulating customers? ...
Gender inequality and unequal pay have come to light with the help of things like the #MeToo movement and detailed worldwide studies on the state of gender disparity. These issues are common in the call center and contact center sector. How do we go...
Customer service agent support is key. Agents have a tough job. Let’s be honest, the work is repetitive and dull. These are human beings tethered to a headset at a desk for hours listening to people complain. There are many demands from supervisors and executives....
There is the doom and gloom approach that AI will take over jobs and dehumanize the experience. When used strategically, AI enhances CX, and shows human and machine are best together. ...
Abuse is not high on the list for most job seekers, customer service employees included. Though there are many reasons for agent turnover in contact centers, one cause is harassment from customers. Here are three ways contact center agents are abused and tools to improve...
There are many challenges to outsourcing to a contact center. One of those challenges is channeling the company vibe so the customer service experience fits the brand. There are key tools that help make brand voice come through in your customer service experience....
Is AI still predicted to be contact center doom or boom? It depends on where you’re standing. Is AI Killing or Changing Contact Center Jobs? How about this inflammatory post title: Bots and AI continue their march toward call center obliteration. Really? Sounds like a sci-fi logline. Industry...
Contact Center speak may sound like a jumble of letters, but these QA metrics and terms represent important data. That data empowers you to create great customer experience and save on contact center costs. ...
If you make customers feel good they are likely to stay and more likely to share, like, subscribe, re-post and buy more....
Beth contacted her wireless provider via chat to ask about data upgrade options for her phone plan . The customer service rep, Dale, answered her question with ease. Beth thanked him, they talked about how cool the most recent “Game of Thrones” episode was and...
We’ve heard the term “me, me, me generation” and that millennials are lazy and self-obsessed over and over again. The major news outlets quoting stats hasn’t helped. Hasbro even made a Monopoly for Millennials. Not everyone was amused though. Whether you buy into the stereotypes...
Captain Marvel is not only a powerful super heroine, her catchphrase has business applications - higher, further, faster. Take some tips from this superhero’s motto and raise your customer service game....
Millennials and Gen Z are the largest customer base in history and their habits are pushing for more than just a rainbow unicorn latte. They want customer service on their terms. Could Millennials and Gen Z be the death of the call center? ...
You can teach employees a slogan or a marketing soundbite, but what company culture truly is beneath the polish is the foundation upon which the company soars, or falls. It is what people feel about a company and how they talk about it when the...
Slow like an LA rush hour or fast like a New York minute, change is inevitable. Companies that have passed the century mark realize that change is good, like new ice cream flavors. They are embracing the connection between longevity and customer experience, so they...
45% of agents don’t feel they have sufficient tools for success. Why is that? How can you support your customer service agents and improve customer experience?...
“Too much information, running through my brain…” The Police have it right. We're drowning in the amount of info available to us. However, what use is data that isn’t sifted or that comes too late? In customer service it means loss of clients and...
“I’m sorry, that is not a valid entry,” is not the most empathetic response to a customer inquiry. Yes, AI and automated menus can streamline the customer service process, but don’t forget the human touch of empathy. AI Everywhere It is amazing how far artificial intelligence has...
The call center has evolved into the contact center through a variety of technological innovations that followed the trusty telephone. (I have mine right here, in case I’m hit by a food craving) The net, IoT, the cloud and AI have and will continue to...
It may not change fast enough for some (“your estimated wait time is 27 minutes…”), but call center communication has come a long way, baby. Imagine having to write an actual letter, on real paper with a stamp and everything, to get an issue addressed. That...
Customized ads, website suggestions, ‘people you may know’, every move online is watched. Common customer service tools like typing previews in chatbots and call monitoring are meant to improve the customer experience by making it more targeted. However, when do customer monitoring tools benefit from...
The ancient philosophers understood challenges. Customer service QA challenges don’t have to ruin KPI. Instead, they can be a call to action....
Isn't this the dream for every company? Gone the days, when you do your best customer service without knowing if your customer was satisfied. Introducing CSAT.AI - The real time Analytics tool which enables you to analyze your service agent's response while they type so...
Despite her best performance, the customer service script Jessie was required to use didn’t win her an Oscar and it didn’t answer the customer’s questions. Though they have some useful applications there are reasons not to use a script in customer service....
Sick of hearing about the gig economy yet? If you haven’t heard the term likely you’ve been living under a proverbial rock. Is the gig economy rising? That depends on which source of data you read. Still, the customer service gig is rising. Tell Me What You...
Goals. When QA goals are met both customers and businesses score. These scores lead to cost savings and cheers. Customers cheer when they feel that they matter. Treat your customers like valuable members of your team! Here are some QA goals in contact centers to...
If your customer has been through the online FAQ, searched the product manual, tried finding a solution on Youtube but still needs help, their next step is a call to your customer service team. The quality of agent service they receive reflects directly on your...
“Have you tried turning it off and on again?” The phrase spoken by many IT pros and made even more famous in the Britcom The IT Crowd. The character Roy has repeated this question so much he made a recording of it that he plays...
“The Buck Stops Here”. Former POTUS Harry S. Truman had that saying on his desk as a reminder that when it came to ‘passing the buck,’ (an expression that means passing the blame) he was the very last stop. Where businesses are concerned, contact centers and...
Customers. They are the heartbeat of all business. After all, businesses without customers don’t stay in business. They are the gas to the engine. The sunshine to the garden. It is vital to keep and grow your customer base. That means providing an exceptional experience with customer service. Product...
Like sun and water to a crop, call centers are a necessary part of success providing important data to secure and build business over time. But, how much do call center costs sting? Call center costs depend on many variables, much like the final cost of...
There are 26 calls in the queue, 70 calls in progress and Dee’s target is for her 85 Reps to address their clients’ issues in 5 minutes or less and make 7-12 sales each by the end of the day. That is just a small...
Remember, customers want to connect with your business for more than. just solutions. here are three other reasons your customers contact your contact center....
It is lurking. When everything is going well we forget it’s slumbering presence, waiting to be awoken. One broken part, an incorrect billing or multiple fails and it awakens, sometimes with enough force to take down a business. It is the beast known as Customer...
Mention Artificial Intelligence (AI) to many and it still conjures images of sci-fi films with robots plotting to take over the world. AI is changing the current customer service sector, but AI has been around longer than most people realize. We Already use AI Artificial Intelligence as...
Real-world use cases that demonstrate how artificial intelligence can help you gauge customer sentiment and which customers are at risk for cancellation are here. But, it isn’t that easy. You have to be already gathering customer data in a relational database. In addition to good...
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