Put simply, high trust is a dividend; low trust is a tax. In fact, in our increasingly low-trust world, trust has literally become the new currency of our global economy. — Stephen M.R.Covey Digital innovation has transformed today’s business world: it has changed business environment and performance, as well as the whole landscape of customer choice. Today’s customers are more demanding, knowledgeable and selective, and the ways how they connect with brands nowadays largely define the key dimensions that shape up business relationships of the new digital era.
Continue readingAuthor: Julia Lewis
Julia is passionate about customer service excellence, and has more than ten years of experience as a Customer Service Representative. Julia is also a writer and blogger on topics related to customer experience, customer service innovation and live chat support service.
The Importance of Critical Thinking in Customer Service
Customer service jobs require a composite mix of soft and hard skills for success. To positively interact with customers and team members we need social and emotional intelligence, and self-regulation skills. We also need lots of technical expertise, general industry and product knowledge to handle everyday customer requests effectively. In our blog we have already published a series of articles highlighting skills for being awesome at customer service. Following those posts I would like to add up another skill crucial for service industry employees — critical thinking. This blog post also puts together some helpful techniques that foster this skill. I hope that these tips will help you grow personally and professionally, and let you progress to the next level along your career journey.
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Will AI Take Humans out of Customer Service in The Near Future?
As the new technology keeps booming, innovation in customer service follows. Many of us take the time to reflect on the milestones achieved in the past, and also look ahead to what the future has in store. How many changes will it bring about for those in customer service? Are chatbots and virtual agents likely to replace humans any time soon? And if so, what does the future hold for human CSRs and what will be the role of AI in customer service then? 2017 has seen a proliferation of innovations in customer service featuring AI-powered chatbots and virtual agents for a wide range of purposes from engaging at a pre-sales point to assisting with billing transactions and making post-sales service appointments. With the obvious increase in use of AI technology, let me briefly summarize some of the recent trends shaping the role of AI in customer service.
Continue readingWhat Your Customers Hate and Love Most About Your Live Chat Support
There’s no doubt that in this increasingly digital era Live Chat has become the number one support tool for many businesses from different fields and industries. Small start-ups, mid-sized companies and major corporations use it to handle customer communication. Whatever the company size, they enjoy greater results in terms of customer satisfaction, mainly driven by high user adoption and minimum support needs. What makes Live Chat so compelling to customers and why do more and more people prefer it over phone and email? And still, why do so many online consumers rate their typical live chat experience as poor? Let me share with you the top 3 pro arguments and top 3 worst attitudes to avoid. Look to these indicators to figure out how Live Chat can come in handy for your business, and what you should definitely bear in mind if you opt for this support solution.
Continue reading5 Tips for Effective Leadership in Customer Service
Customer service team success is most significantly influenced by service-focused culture that starts at the top and works its way throughout the company. In today’s highly competitive marketplace, the most popular businesses attribute a large part of their success to having a customer service mindset that has the power to build a strong brand image and product differentiation. To develop and cultivate that mindset, every company needs to put effort into refined hiring process, constant employee training and growing leaders who will set the tone for other team members to follow. Here on our blog, we’ve highlighted many ways you can enhance customer service agent hiring process and training. In one of my previous articles, I have also touched on the topic of Servant Leadership in customer service. Today in this blog post, I would like to delve into another couple of points related to leadership in customer service and put together some inspiring food for thought.
Continue reading6 Reasons Why Smart Employees Underperform, And How That Can Be Fixed
“Dispirited, unmotivated, unappreciated workers cannot compete in a highly competitive world.” – Francis Hesselbein A company’s employees are often referred to as its most valuable assets. If you have clicked through to this post, most likely you are a business owner or a customer service manager, already well aware of the importance of keeping your employees engaged and motivated. Many of us realize that it’s critical to enable employees to reach their fullest potential, and leverage their skills and talents in the best company’s interest. According to ACCOR Services, 90% of business leaders think an engagement strategy has an impact on business success, but barely 25% of them have a strategy.
Continue reading10 Signs of a Company That Really Cares About Customers
Did you know that there’s such a thing as International Clients’ Day? Although I’ve been in customer service for more than a decade, I first learned of it last week through a special offer email that I got in my inbox. Did you happen to hear about it too? Whether or not, the fact is that this informal holiday has not been around for that long. Actually, it was proposed (and celebrated for the first time) by Lithuanian and Russian businessmen on March 19, 2010 as an opportunity to show gratitude to their customers. Since then, the occasion has been supported by many organizations and businesses in Western Europe, and it’s constantly expanding, with more companies joining the initiative year by year. Would you join the club too?
Continue reading7 Tips for Getting More Chat Calls from Your Website Visitors
Lots of businesses today use Live Chat software for their online customer communication needs. From small start-ups to major corporations, companies choose Live Chat as another customer service option for its high speed of resolution and incredible ease of use. Whether you are selling software, clothes, gifts, machinery, parts, books or any other type of product, Live Chat is a must to ensure consistently great customer service and high customer satisfaction rates. Yet, it takes time and experience to use it the right way and utilize its features to the fullest. If your website visitors seem reluctant to start a chat with you, check out these tips that are easy to apply and proved to be very effective. I hope they would help you unlock its full potential and enjoy a greater rate of customer engagement.
Continue reading7 Tips for More Effective Communication with Customers And Coworkers
Strong communication skills have always been critical for career success. In customer service, an ability to communicate clearly and effectively with customers is more than just a nice skill that is desired to have. In fact, it’s an essential that ultimately defines the whole team productivity and customer satisfaction. Most customer service reps realize how important their communication styles are for creating a strong company image to their customers. They do their best to communicate clearly and professionally. And yet, sometimes they still fail to effectively do it. This blog post is aimed to take you to the basics and help you understand how, why, and where communication can break down. Use these tips to improve the quality of your everyday communication with people at work
Continue readingWhy to Apply The Servant Leadership Approach in Customer Service?
The business age we live and work in today is often called the Age of the Customer which means that shifting the focus on the customer now matters more than any other single factor like product innovation and technology racing. No surprise, these days we often hear that customer experience is the new competitive battlefield. Brands that consistently deliver better customer service and customer experiences enjoy sustainable growth and business success, and set new standards for their markets.
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