The Contact Center Blog

Managing Customer Feedback

Customer feedback is important. Collecting this information, analyzing and responding where necessary is equally important to ensure the demanding needs of today's consumers are met.

The traditional channels still exist, but add to it the social media networks and we now have a wealth of useful information to help us make strategic decisions. The challenge is making a conscious effort of managing these well. An article in the E-Commerce Times outlines some best practices for companies to  manage customer feedback:

1. Create clear objectives and garner company support. Objectives for the management of customer feedback should be aligned with the company's overall goals.

2. Actively encourage and promote customer feedback. The more feedback companies receive from customers, the more insights they will have about their business.

3. Offer customers multiple feedback channels. People vary greatly in the way they prefer to communicate, so be sure to give your customers several options in communicating with you.

4. Centrally collect, store, manage and analyze customer feedback. By consolidating all feedback and survey data into a single centralized system and using that system across the organization, feedback managers are able to gain valuable insights into what customers need, want and value most, as well as identify important trends and patterns in the data.

5. Use and take action on customer feedback. Many organizations collect customer feedback, but tend to fall short when it comes to actually using and acting on that data..

6. Resolve outstanding customer issues promptly. Nearly all businesses have some customers who complain about something at one point or another. What's most important is how your organization handles those complaints.

7. Close the feedback loop with customers. Inform your customers whenever your company initiates change as a result of their suggestions or feedback, and let them know what changes you made.

8. Create a company culture that is committed to using customer feedback. To maximize awareness, build an employee rewards program around the positive feedback that your company receives from customers.

"OneApp" Helps Enhance Lower End Mobile Devices

Microsoft OneApp has been in development for a while. The biggest thing that stood out to me was in the first sentence of an article I just read, "Microsoft on Monday announced plans for mobile software that aims to allow people in emerging markets to access various Internet programs using lower-end feature phones." 

The article goes on to talk about how OneApp will let users with older cell phones access the same popular social apps being used today, such as Facebook, Twitter, and MSN Messenger. OneApp makes things virtual, or follows the "cloud" concept - meaning apps aren't stored on the phone but accessed virtually.

I talked about it briefly before, "Cloud Telephony". From a user standpoint, it makes it easier for people's everyday needs (shop, socialize, etc). From a  service standpoint, businesses and companies can take advantage and have another channel to effectively serve their customers. Especially with a market and demographic that can be predominantly found in the virtual world.

First Online Store on Facebook

1-800-Flowers.com is staying well ahead of its competition by launching a store within the Facebook community, allowing visitors to make complete purchases without leaving the page. It'll be intersting to see how many retailers will soon follow, as 1-800-Flower's track record of helping pioneer Internet and telephone retailing proves they know what they're doing.

I personally think that this will be the spark plug and tipping point for others sitting on the fence, to make the decision to move forward with their social media strategies. The longer retailers wait, the more likely they'll be playing catch up down the road.

Read more about this story in the following article.

Bricks and Mortar Still a Strategic Option?

Apparently Microsoft will opening up a couple of retail stores in Arizona and California this fall, which will be their first ones. Their corporate communications director stated in an article: "Microsoft's stores are a way for the company to introduce consumers to its products in person, but they are not meant as a product showcase or a replacement for big electronics stores ... However, Microsoft does want the stores to turn a profit".

It'll be interesting to see how this turns out, especially considering economic timing. Dell's model of having kiosks seems to be successful in communicating it's products in person with distribution still remaining in tact. On the other hand, the obvious trend of consumer shopping and researching online still makes me think about the move to bricks and mortar. 

Time will tell.

Make It Fun!

I was reading an article based on a report by Forrester Research and the National Retail Federation titled, "State of Online Retailing 2009". So far, there I've heard many tips being offered on how to survive the recession, make more out of less, etc. They all ususally overlap and sound the same, obviously with an added advantage which coincidently a product/service provider offers. One recent quote I came across, did stick out though:

“In today’s economy, retailers need to be one step ahead, especially when it comes to attracting shoppers who have money to spend,” says Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. “Companies are investing in their web site to set them apart from their competition and make the shopping experience informative, efficient and fun.”

INFORMATIVE. EFFICIENT. FUN. These are all aligned to grab attention because of the state of the economy, but is also a reflection oftoday's audience. You'll probably notice more and more intelligent channels of customer support (ie:self-service, proactive chat). More information and interaction seem like the way to go, giving the option to keep people engaged and find the information they want if they choose to do so. It's not just website design that needs to be improved, but also strategy and thought process on how to present information, and providing the appropriate tools and channels to address any inquiries. Conversions will come - keep it fun!

Happy 4th of July!

To those celebrating this weekend, happy 4th of July!

Happy Canada Day!

Google Mobile AdSense

Ads and promotions are coming - will this cause an increase in traffic or customer service? Time will tell. Applications for mobile devices keep flowing. As Apple keeps reminding us, what ever we can imagine "there's an ap for that". Traffic and downloads in the mobile world are increasing, meaning more opportunity for advertising views - just not sure if they'll translate the same way as they do on a webpage.

Read more about Google’s Mobile AdSense For iPhone and Android Apps Now In Public Beta in this Tech Crunch article.

Cross-Channel Strategies

Do you have a cross-channel strategy? A true strategy? An article in the E-Commerce times article talks about how multichannel is the path out of recession. A good point it raises relates to cross-channel strategies and how it can increase sales conversions.

Many talk about the importance of having a multichannel approach to customer service, but to expand and benefit from this, you need to utilize them accordingly. It's not just about answering phone calls, emails, etc. How can you use a channel to make the overall customer experience as satisfying as possible?

For example, lets say a customer is shopping for a product online. She has a few quick questions before deciding to purchase - and has them answered through self-service modules on the website. Now that she decided to buy, she prefers to place the order on the phone as opposed to online - where a phone representative will easily fulfill the request.

Two benefits here: 1) The customer gets what she wants through the channels/means she's most comfortable with, and 2) from a service perspective, the handle time of the phone call is decreased and other calls are potentially deflected.

I know this was a very general example - but think about how many other scenarios there are. How can we leveragee a cross-channel approach and how do we optimize it? 

"Cloud" Telephony

I recently came across The IVR Blog by Angel.com, and was drawn to an entry refering to the term "Cloud Telephony". David points out"cloud" meaning, imagery and term being used more frequently. I personally haven't heard the term as much or don't recall seeing many incorporate it into certain imagery (Maybe I have, but just don't notice it). I probably see it more in diagrams and presentations.

Though I'm not familiar with it, I like the concept and agree with David's definition of it:

The notion that cloud represents is, to boil it down as I see it, the ability to access any solution you want, from any where you want, at any time you want — not being tied to hardware or installed software somewhere — and the ability to easily intermingle different types of solutions so everything works in conjunction.

He also points out the increased use of this in the telephony space. I think this holds true with not only this space, but in all spaces as well. To me, products or services of any kind need to have theflexibility to be adaptable and "do it all" with convenience. It reflect today's ssociety demands of wanting and needing things on demand, whatever it may be.

When speaking about "clouds" I immediately think of social media and technology. Think about devices, programs, and applications that are designed to connect together - they all fit somewhere within this theoretical "cloud".