Inside Customer Service

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

A customer calls your company for service. The survey is intended to evaluate overall customer service and the individual rep's performance. It works by tapping into your existing data to answer a fundamental question: Is the customer happier at the end of the contact than they were at the beginning?

Customer Survey 215

Customer Survey Sentiment Analysis Customer Satisfaction Customer Service 215

Callminer

DECEMBER 7, 2020

Read this blog to learn what can go wrong with self-service systems and how these issues can hinder the customer experience.

Customer Experience 345

Customer Experience 345

Inside Customer Service

DECEMBER 22, 2022

Imagine you had a customer service crystal ball. This crystal ball could magically predict service failures. It would give you just enough time to swoop into action and avoid disappointing customers. Each of these techniques can help you predict when something will go wrong and give you just enough time to prevent it.

Transportation 211

Transportation Construction Sales Customer Experience 211

Inside Customer Service

DECEMBER 30, 2021

As a customer, do you ever feel like you're stuck in an old-timey comedy routine? You’re in the wrong line," he said. Get in that line," pointing to another queue of customers. This is the wrong line," said another employee “You need to be in that line,” pointing back to the line we just came from. "We Get in that line."

Customer Service 148

Customer Service Sales Retail Start-ups 148

Inside Customer Service

JUNE 23, 2022

My first customer service interaction didn't end well. An irritated customer approached and I said the wrong thing. It was a terrible feeling to see a customer literally walk out the door. I've been obsessed with service recovery ever since. What is service recovery? Why is service recovery important?

Customer Acquisition 163

Customer Acquisition Social Media Customer Retention Start-ups 163

Beyond Philosophy

MARCH 21, 2024

Listen to the podcast: Sometimes, things go wrong despite your best efforts. Even the most well-managed companies will have things go wrong. So, it’s not a matter of if but when regarding a customer crisis. Too many organizations do not plan for a customer crisis, and I want to change that.

Customer Relationship 78

Customer Relationship Start-ups Engineering Education 78

Inside Customer Service

AUGUST 5, 2021

A customer had called, upset about receiving the wrong item. The customer instantly went from red to green. It's okay," the customer said. Customers calmed down and became more cooperative nearly every time I sincerely apologized. Why do we apologize to customers? Stop buying certain products or services.

Social Media 177

Social Media Customer Service 177

Intercom, Inc.

JANUARY 31, 2023

And Intercom’s area of focus – customer service – is among those most poised to benefit. The trickiest thing about large language models (LLMs) is that they’re great at appearing plausible, even when they’re wrong. As a manager, being able to instantly summarize a conversation between my team and the customer is amazing.

AI 188

AI Start-ups Technology Technology 188

Inside Customer Service

APRIL 21, 2022

Someone who had never spoken to a customer. What if they say or do the wrong thing? Why are customer service scripts a bad idea? That's the feeling customers get when they like and trust you. Customer: "Hi, my name is Alicia. Agent (sticking with the script): "May I please have your customer id number?"

Customer Service 159

Customer Service Start-ups Customer Experience 159

Inside Customer Service

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Advertising disclosure: This blog participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites. Order confirmations reduce customer effort and make online ordering easier. What is customer effort?

E-commerce 130

E-commerce Start-ups Customer Service 130

Inside Customer Service

OCTOBER 20, 2022

The employee was furious at her coworkers, and she let everyone in the customer service training class know it. One employee failed to meet a single service standard. She was the employee who had failed to meet a single service standard. Her giant ego was crushing customer service. Nobody passed.

Mystery Shopping 215

Mystery Shopping Customer Service Start-ups 215

Customer Think

APRIL 23, 2024

It’s a nearly universal opinion: Today’s customer service leaves much to be desired. But it’s not just customers who are frustrated. Service agents are, too. Many people have suggested that AI and chatbots are innovative, “easy” fixes to customer service challenges.

Customer Service 46

Customer Service Innovation AI Contact Center 46

Help Scout

MAY 6, 2024

When something goes wrong, that’s not the end of the story. Learn how to turn a negative situation into a positive customer experience with a service recovery plan. Read the full article

Customer Service 44

Customer Service Customer Experience 44

Inside Customer Service

FEBRUARY 2, 2023

Imagine you had to improve customer satisfaction. Increasing service speed Reducing service errors Improving employee friendliness According to data from Intouch Insight , the answer is number three, friendliness. Friendly employees can even help offset the impact of slower service or a higher error rate.

Mystery Shopper 208

Mystery Shopper Customer Satisfaction 208

Shep Hyken

JUNE 22, 2022

Not long ago, I wrote about calling your customer or an employee “honey.” As a society, we may be focusing on the wrong thing. It wasn’t to disrespect, belittle or embarrass the customer. He hired a salesperson, Lila, who, in his words, “Lived only to provide excellent customer service.”?As

Retail 121

Retail Customer Service Sales Customer Relationship 121

Inside Customer Service

MARCH 24, 2022

Many customer service employees automatically offer free or discounted food, products, or services when something goes wrong. As counterintuitive as it might seem, freebies and discounts can make service recovery worse, not better. Why do we give freebies to angry customers? Didn't like your meal?

Start-ups 130

Start-ups Customer Service 130

Inside Customer Service

DECEMBER 8, 2022

Where did you learn your customer service skills? You might even remember specific customer interactions that taught valuable lessons. Yet those lessons often didn't sink in until you tried them out with a customer. Many of my customer service skills can be traced directly to customer interactions.

Start-ups 224

Start-ups Retail Customer Service 224

Inside Customer Service

FEBRUARY 18, 2021

Advertising disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. The CEO announces a service culture initiative. It would be easy to take the wrong turn and get lost.

Customer Satisfaction 284

Customer Satisfaction Start-ups Customer Service Customer Experience 284

Inside Customer Service

MAY 25, 2023

If you want to solve a customer service problem, go and see it. I once worked in a contact center where employees were expected to pitch the company credit card to certain customers. However, you might get some resistance if they believe you're there to catch them doing something wrong. That's a performance observation.

Contact Center 175

Contact Center Start-ups Customer Service 175

Beyond Philosophy

MARCH 15, 2024

You will have a customer crisis. We apologize for being so direct, but the fact is customer crises are inevitable. Most think a customer crisis isn’t going to happen to them or that they will be able to manage it when it does with their business-as-usual approach. They are wrong. Do you have a comprehensive approach?

Start-ups 88

Start-ups Customer Relationship Customer Service Customer Experience 88

Intercom

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

As Intercom’s VP of Customer Support, I have had the opportunity over the last year to lead an AI-driven customer service strategy. There is so much more to be done to leverage AI to transform the customer experience, the employee experience, and the overall health of the business.

AI 98

AI Customer Service Customer Journey Map Engineering 98

Inside Customer Service

DECEMBER 16, 2021

The job description had been wrong for two years. That's what the IT service manager discovered when he checked with human resources. The manager learned that human resources recruited new hires using a job description meant for the customer service contact center. And why they often left so quickly.

Contact Center 148

Contact Center Hospitality Hospitality Retail 148

Service Quality Institute

MAY 14, 2024

.” it is good customer service but NOT Service Recovery. Most organizations never admit mistakes and less than 1% practice Service Recovery. Keeping customers is critical to your growth. Gaining a new customer is expensive. The lifetime value of that customer could be $1,200, $3,500, or even $11,000.

Retail 52

Retail Customer Service 52

Beyond Philosophy

JULY 13, 2021

Sometimes your Customer Experience requires you to outsource a portion of it to a third party. Maybe it’s an installer or a tow truck service, or even an entire call center, but whatever or whoever it is, this part of the experience is not under your control. Unfortunately, customers do not differentiate between the two parts.

Customer Experience 167

Customer Experience Retail Start-ups Engineering 167

Inside Customer Service

APRIL 15, 2021

I think we've fixed everything, but I'll be right here just in case something goes wrong." In customer service, we take this definition a bit further. Empathy means understanding the negative emotions your customer is experiencing and taking action to help them feel better. Why is empathy important in customer service?

Legal 250

Legal Customer Service 250

Help Scout

AUGUST 22, 2023

A great service experience can save the day when things go wrong. Use these 5 steps to treat your customers to a 5-star experience. Read the full article

Customer Service 80

Customer Service 80

Intercom

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

You satisfy your customers, but can you satisfy our curiosity? With Kelsey VanSleen, Customer Success and Implementation Specialist at Billy. I am on the Customer Success team, helping our partners to implement the software, and then supporting them after implementation to ensure they are successful. Ryan Reynolds. Be curious.

Construction 97

Construction Compliance Start-ups Customer Service 97

Bill Quiseng

DECEMBER 13, 2021

Customer loyalty is not by offering discounts, upgrades, or subscriptions to repeat customers. Real customer loyalty is built on service so great that customers return again and again, raving to others along the way. What’s better than gaining a new customer? Why Does Customer Service Impact Retention?

Customer Retention 173

Customer Retention Customer Service B2C Customer Loyalty 173

Logicalware

MARCH 14, 2022

If you want to connect with a customer support agent, press 2”. This can be incredibly confusing and frustrating for customers, especially if they accidentally choose the wrong menu option and are routed to the wrong call queue. Traditional IVR systems can be difficult for customers to navigate.

Start-ups 96

Start-ups CRM Sales Technology 96

Inside Customer Service

MARCH 3, 2022

Our phone lines rang throughout the office whenever a customer was holding for more than a minute. The president thought it was my job to stop the surge since I was the customer service manager. It's something I think about every time someone conflates customer service with customer experience.

Customer Service 190

Customer Service Customer Experience Start-ups Customer Feedback 190

Intercom, Inc.

MARCH 16, 2022

To achieve our mission of making internet business personal and scaling to support larger and larger customers, we have been continually, thoughtfully, and carefully investing in our people, systems, and processes to maintain Intercom’s high standards of availability. We manage risk and respond instantly when things go wrong.

Engineering 118

Engineering Technology Technology Education 118

Zendesk

AUGUST 17, 2021

“The customer is always right.”. If you’ve ever worked a day in the service industry, you’ve seen this slogan plastered on a break room wall. The idea was coined by a turn-of-the-century retailer, and it’s so common that many businesses make it a mandate for their customer service teams. Here’s why. No returns allowed.

Retail 98

Retail Legal Customer Service Customer Expectations 98

Shep Hyken

AUGUST 11, 2021

“We love our customers, and they obviously love us. Not to be a “downer,” but we shouldn’t confuse a repeat customer with a loyal customer. Don’t get me wrong, I love repeat customers, and we absolutely want them. Repeat customers are very desirable. There are a number of reasons customers might come back.

Customer Loyalty 145

Customer Loyalty Retail Customer Service 145

Steven Van Belleghem

JANUARY 26, 2022

But an outstanding customer experience happens when you figure out how to improve the level of human service using technology. You cannot expect customer service staff to remember every detail of every individual’s history with the company. Many companies just never seem happy with what they achieve for their customers.

Customer Service 135

Customer Service Entertainment Manufacturing Gaming 135

Beyond Philosophy

MAY 11, 2023

In the past five years, we have talked about the Cleveland Browns, a struggling team in the NFL, several times but we haven’t discussed customer engagement once. So, to remedy that, today we will focus on what customer engagement is and what you can do to promote more of it in your experiences. This first one is from HubSpot.

Social Media 157

Social Media Customer Relationship Customer Experience Management Customer Experience 157

Uniphore

JULY 23, 2021

But it’s actually the everyday reality at the contact center, according to Gartner’s recent report “Rampant Employee Disengagement is Driving Turnover and Harming Customer Outcomes.” Lean in and learn why we should listen to our customer service employees if we truly cared about customer experience. Check it out!

Contact Center 246

Contact Center Social Media CX Customer Experience 246

Inside Customer Service

MAY 6, 2021

Two recent studies from goMoxie reveal how chatbots are sending customers to the competition. Your customers are struggling online It's 2021. You'd be wrong. Here's the scary part for businesses: 62 percent of customers abandoned the purchase after encountering the first struggle. This is a growing problem for businesses.

Retail 215

Retail Customer Experience Customer Service 215