Most companies want to deliver excellent customer service. They do their best to delight their customers, attempting to fix any problems they have. Unfortunately, many companies fail to repair the customer service issues, which ultimately hurts their business. Wouldn't it be nice if somebody could just tell you which problems you should fix to turn things around? Fortunately, the  article "11 Customer Service Fixes A Consultant Would Make At Your Company (And How To Do Them Yourself)" by Micah Solomon has just the advice you're looking for!

To read the Forbes article, click the link below:

"11 Customer Service Fixes a Consultant Would Make at Your Company (And How to Do Them Yourself)" - Micah Solomon 

We’re living in an age where many people only ask a company for help as a last resort. According to Synthetix, 90 percent of consumers look for answers on the Internet before contacting customer support. One way that people look for their answers is through online videos from channels like YouTube. There are thousands of instructional videos on YouTube, many created by companies as a way to serve their customers. The article “How Companies are Using YouTube for Customer Support” by The Economic Voice discusses this topic in more detail. To read the full article, click the link below:

How Companies are Using YouTube for Customer Support – The Economic Voice

Customer loyalty is important for every company, and the best way to get customer loyalty is by providing excellent customer service. One way that contact centers can ensure quality customer service is by providing a good working environment for their employees. If the call center agent is happy, they’ll be more likely to deliver upbeat and patient customer service. In addition to a positive work environment, there are four things contact centers can focus on to build customer loyalty:

1. Soft Skills
2. Active Listening
3. Authenticity
4. Quality Assurance

The article “4 Ways Contact Center Agents can Build Customer Loyalty” by Jodi Beuder (Impact Learning Systems) discusses these focuses in more detail. To read the article, click the link below:

4 Ways Contact Center Agents can Build Customer Loyalty - Jodi Beuder

“Outsourcing eliminates jobs! Outsourcing leads to poor customer service!”

You’ve probably heard those opinions before, perhaps you have those opinions yourself. While it’s true that there have been misuses of outsourcing that have led to job cuts and poor customer service, outsourcing can greatly benefit a company if done correctly. Cost-saving is only one benefit of outsourcing, but it should not be the single reason your company uses it. There are three other benefits of outsourcing, such as the creation of more capacity, the allowance of focus on core capabilities and the generation of savings to re-invest in the company. The article “3 Benefits to Outsourcing, if Done Correctly” by Elliot Markowitz, contributing editor for The VAR Guy, discusses these benefits in more detail. To read the full article, click the link below:

3 Benefits to Outsourcing, if Done Correctly - Elliot Markowitz (The VAR Guy)

Knowing what your customers think is important for businesses, but not everybody is comfortable with asking their customers to provide feedback. While surveying customers is still a good approach to take, there are metrics that your company can track that will provide valuable information pertaining to customer satisfaction. 5 great metrics include: incident volume, first response time, resolution time, abandonment rates, and first contact resolution. The article “5 Customer Service Metrics Every Business Should Be Tracking” by Sreeram Sreenivasan (ChamberOfCommerce.com) discusses the benefits of tracking these metrics in more detail. To read this article, click the link below:

5 Customer Service Metrics Every Business Should Be Tracking

Did you know that there is a difference between customer success and customer support? There is! Customer success involves building relationships with your customers and helping them daily, while customer support involves resolving customers’ specific products and product issues. While customer success and customer support have similarities and must be utilized conjointly, it is important that your organization understands the differences between them. The article “Customer Success vs. Customer Support” by Teresa Becker (ClientSuccess) discusses this topic in more detail. To read this article, click the link below:

Customer Success vs. Customer Support – Teresa Becker 

Patients have started approaching their healthcare as consumers. Because of this, patients expect high quality care not only while they are in the office, but beyond the office as well. But physicians, nurses and staff are extremely busy and do not have the time to be available at all times when patients need communication. A possible solution for bridging the communication gap: nurse-staffed call centers, which can provide many benefits for patients. The article “Call Centers – Filling the Gaps in the Patient Care Continuum” by Daniella Koren (MediaPost) discusses the idea of call centers to assist healthcare organizations. To read this article, click the link below:

Customer service used to be limited to in-person interactions and phone calls, but your options have expanded greatly with the development of the Internet. Common options companies could use for customer communications include email, instant messaging, video chat and social media. But there are other technological advances that can aid your company, such as data tracking and mobile phone tracking such as Directional Audio. The article “The future of customer service is now” by Shep Hyken (Retail Customer Experience) discusses these customer service capabilities. To read this article, click the link below:

"The future of customer service is now" - Shep Hyken (Retail Customer Service)

Abstract

It’s crucial to ensure that your contact center is up-to-date with your company. Some of the things you should do to assist your contact center include: maintaining your website for proper communication standards, ensuring that you provide your customers with all channels communication (phone, mail, email, social media, etc.), and encouraging and following-up with your contact center agents to make sure that they are on board with your company’s goals and culture. The article “Spring Clean Your Contact Centre” by Neldi Rautenbach (Synthetix) explains these ideas and more. To read this article, click the link below:

"Spring Clean Your Contact Centre" - Neldi Rautenbach (Synthetix)