#Customer Service
Peak season CX: The value of soft skills and human touch
When competition is fierce, it’s difficult to compete on product or price, but through stellar customer experience, retailers can meet expectations, writes Andrew Fraser
The pandemic has given businesses a new standard for customer engagement
As a direct result of these shifts, businesses need to find alternative, yet meaningful and effective ways to connect with customers, who at the same time are shifting their expectations…
Digital customer experience: How Australian SMBs can up their game in 2021
For many SMBs today, finding new, digital ways to engage with customers is not merely a matter of building a thriving business, it’s about surviving…
How to use intuitive technology to gain customers and keep clients
Imagine calling your favourite business and it knows what you need without you saying a word. Ground-breaking intuitive technology recognises your phone number, remembers your name, your address, what you like and automatically predicts where to place your call. It can let a business know if you are a loyal regular caller or a pest […]
Trust and the role it plays in creating strong customer relationships
Byline: Charles Heunemann, Managing Director, VP Asia Pacific for Natterbox Limited Acclaimed American author Dr Stephen R. Covey argued that in all our relationships we have an “emotional bank account” and our interactions either increase or decrease the balance of trust and connection. “When the trust account is high, communication is instant, easy and effective,” […]
Let’s Talk: The X Factor
Today we’re discussing customer retention and what businesses need to do to in order to achieve the so-called “X Factor” with their audiences. Customer experience is becoming increasingly important as the ability to share positive or negative reviews online is so easy in today’s digital age – and it can be very damaging to a […]
How to take your business to the next level
So, you’ve made the decision that it’s time to take your business up a notch. You’ve enjoyed a relative amount of success so far and wantto expand your enterprise. The problem is, you need some direction. There’s nothing wrong with this, as there are steps to take to solve the problem. Focusing on the future […]
Customer service trends making waves in 2018
As we hit the halfway mark of the year, it’s the perfect time to sit back and reflect on what has unfolded during the first half of 2018. As a business owner you’ll want to use the time to look at how well your business has done, what has or hasn’t gone as planned, and […]
Businesses with multiple service channels are ‘scrambling’ to meet customer expectations
Leading companies across a range of sectors – including finance, utilities, government, education, automotive and telecommunications – need to lift their game when it comes to customer experience (CX), a new study reveals. CX consulting firm, Customer Service Benchmarking Australia (CSBA), studied 3000 customer interactions with 136 companies in Australia, assigning each a score out of 100 […]
Seven Fascinating Facts About Chatbots
Think about your most recent interaction with a business online. Did you chat via message with a person? Are you sure? It’s highly possible you were speaking to a chatbot, a computer program designed to interact with customers using messaging apps and online interfaces. These bots use artificial intelligence to create fast, efficient and helpful customer […]
To succeed, you’ll have to reject customers that aren’t the right fit for your business
I want to talk to you about why it’s sometimes far more important to reject a potential customer or client than to say ‘yes’. In fact, if you are building a business, get used to saying ‘no’ – a lot. Having started my second cybersecurity company, after the successful sale and globalisation of my first one, […]
Why ignoring customer feedback is the most dangerous thing a business can possibly do
In this age of social media and instant communication, customers share their experiences broadly, especially if those experiences are negative. People vote with their feet, taking their business elsewhere based on the comments of friends, peers, and even strangers online. Businesses therefore need to understand that the customer experience is critical to financial success. The […]
Do you inspire loyalty in your customers?
Most mornings I buy my coffee from the same beachside café. While I order the same coffee every morning, the waiters never remember my order nor do they show me any hint of recognition. In contrast, in The Strand next to my city office, my local coffee shop greets me by name, brings me my […]
Friendly and professional: simple pointers to provide better customer service
The duties of a customer service representative are many. They include: finding solutions to customer complaints in person or via phone, email or social media, reaching out to customers to verify information, and assisting with orders, exchanges or refunds. No matter how professional you are, when it comes to customer service there is always room […]
Robot and Human: how to blend the two to create the ultimate customer experience
If you work in a business of any size, form or function, chances are you’re being asked to do more – sell more, resolve customer issues faster, hit targets that are ever increasing. Which is all fine, except you’re not being given any more budget – for training, for recruitment or financial incentives. Please do more […]
Dealing with a vague client? How to mitigate the potential frustration and come out on top
For the most part, people are very good at picking up on the verbal and visual clues that indicate another’s mood. For those in customer-facing positions – whether it is over the telephone, via digital communication or face to face – dealing with clients who aren’t entirely sure what they want is often unavoidable. Fortunately, there are a number of tell-tale […]
When the Human and Digital Worlds Converge
In the past 150 years of telephone technology, there are three landmark dates: 1876, when A. G. Bell first shouted, ‘Mr. Watson, come here’ into a mouthpiece; 1984, when Motorola introduced the first mobile phone; and 2007, when smartphones went mainstream. Smartphones had been available prior to 2007, but they were generally considered the instruments […]
Level-up your customer service in the new year
January is a time for reflection, marking the end of a busy 2016 and heralding an exciting new year. It’s important to use this time to recalibrate your business’s thinking on customer service and plan service goals and objectives for the year ahead to grow and retain your customer base. Questioning your company’s emphasis on […]
Is your small business a leaky bucket?
A business can be like a leaky bucket. Marketing teams work constantly to pour new customers in the top, spending time and money on campaigns, but if there are holes, customers are always going to leave and need to be replaced. Of course, this is not the functioning of an ideal business model; ideally new […]
How to set up a plumbing business and help it grow
If you like the idea of setting up in business as a plumber you may already know that it is a competitive field. If you want to start a business as a Sydney Plumber then you need to be prepared for hard work and some highs and lows along the way. You also need to […]
5 ways for national companies to deliver customer service like the local store
Great customer service is crucial to any big company, as it both captures new business, as well as fosters existing relationships. However, often when larger companies increase their scale they are unable to maintain customer satisfaction as it is hard to streamline effective customer service and grow a business without the right tools. The key […]
An experience to remember: 3 ways to avoid disappointing your customer
Today’s consumers are armed with more choices, more substitutes and more outlets to pursue alternative brands. In a world where our next purchase can be just two clicks away if we’re dissatisfied with a particular experience, providing quality service has never been more important. We harp on about providing a strong customer experience and with […]
A leap of faith: One man’s journey into online retail
With exposure to a wider customer base, lower overheads, greater choice and more competitive prices, the benefits of online retailing are obvious. Online is the birth place for many emerging retailers while the bricks and mortar sector strive to ‘get with the game’. But it wasn’t always this clear. John Winning, CEO of Winning Group, […]
Is customer service a dying art small business can save?
Customer service is a simple concept to grasp. Serve your customers well and they’ll come back, don’t serve them and they’ll go elsewhere. Despite the simplicity the latter is happening. Business is embracing self service to reduce overheads leaving frustrated customers to do all the work. I’m horrified that by 2017 it’s predicted two thirds […]