Customer Service News

• Are loyalty programs really a ‘must have’? One consumer advocate says no [BNet]
• For our UK readers, why consumer electronics stores are using customer service as a differentiator [Financial Times - requires free registration to view]
• New study finds a rise in Chinese consumers using social media for customer service [Cyber Media]
• Apps for the call center: a look at the top Help Desk and Customer Service apps  [ReadWriteWeb]
• And finally, ‘checkout’ these gadgets that are helping customers and retailers speed up customer service [Video via WSJ Online]

While you might be able to tell me who your most effective supervisors are, it’s probably much more difficult to say just what exactly makes them so good at what they do. Is it their personality? Communication skills? Their experience ? Something unique about the reps on their team? Is it their management style? The list of potential factors goes on and on…

When CCC set out to investigate what makes an effective supervisor, our first step was to try to make sense of all the above variables—and more. And while it’s true that no two supervisors are exactly alike, we’ve managed (with the aid of a few statistical tools) to simplify a seemingly infinite universe into five distinct supervisor personas based common characteristics. Here’s what we found: Read More »

This is a guest post by Andrew Kent, who researches and writes for our sister program the Sales Executive Council.  This post was originally published to the Sales Challenger blog.

The utilities business faces a looming crisis—if not today, then in the decade or two to come.  Simply put, the industry’s current business model is set up such that smarter use of its product threatens its profits, and this tension between supplier and customer can’t go on forever.

But utilities companies need not view this as a threat.  On the contrary, leading utilities are already capitalizing on one of the biggest megatrends in Sales today: the need to make more money by selling less stuff.

The root of utilities’ problem is this: their ability to grow depends on selling more kilowatt-hours each year, but consumers and society have an urgent need to use less—and are waking up to the fact that they actually can.  Read More »

By Kirsten Robinson

“No” isn’t a word that many people like to hear. Think about what happens when someone tells you that they can’t help you or can’t give you what you want. Chances are, you think, “why not?” or, “well, then maybe someone else can do it for me.”

You don’t want frontline reps to elicit this type of negative response from customers. Why? Because your customers’ impression of how your rep made them feel—rather than what the rep made them do—has the greatest effect on their perceived effort.  And high perceived effort results in disloyalty.

But, reps can’t say “yes” to every request. The good news is reps can at least influence the way your customers feel. Using positive language eliminates the negative emotional reaction that occurs when people hear the word “no”—and significantly improves the customer experience.

Osram Sylvania, a global lighting manufacturer, recognized the impact that words have on customer interactions. The company provides frontline reps with predetermined language guidelines that make it easy for them to phrase negative situations in a way that creates the lowest-effort experience.

We had the opportunity to speak with Valerie Jones, VP of Customer Service and Inside Sales, and Sue King, Training and Quality Assurance Manager, both of Osram, who gave us insights to their company’s positive strategy. To help reps implement positive language, they:

1. Identify the most common negative language scenarios.

2. Teach reps how to positively frame customer interactions.

3. Reinforce continuity through monitoring and coaching conversations

CCC members, see Osram Sylvania’s top scenarios for positive language guidelines and read excerpts from our conversation with Valerie Jones and Sue King.

By Matt Hoffman

Commentators disagree about whether Web 2.0 technologies are good or bad for society.  Some people claim that Wikipedia heralds the dawn of an age of mass collaboration.  Others fret about how Facebook exposes children to textual harassment and allege that Twitter makes its users stupid.

There is a similar amount of disagreement about the impact of Web 2.0 technologies on the customer service function.  Since these technologies allow customers to communicate with each other, they might increase the benefits of delivering high-quality service.  If customers raved about their service experiences enough, customer service would be viewed as a strategic partner—not as a cost center.  Alternatively, this might not happen at all.

As many customer are just beginning to adopt Web 2.0 technologies, the question is still open for debate.  Will Web 2.0 technologies elevate the role of customer service?

Below, fellow researcher Coryell Stout and I offer our different takes on this question.

Read More »

• Customer Service News
• Apple uses in-store technology stations to provide customer service. [USA Today]
• Six steps for companies to realize the value of customer service. [1to1Media – free registration to download whitepaper]
• 4 ways for financial services organizations to build customer trust in the increasingly transparent environment. [1to1 Media]
• To help you with making high stake decisions, here are some best practices. [HBR]
• Taking social media to a new and different level? Toyota creates a social network to connect customers. [Mashable]

With all of our available resources, it can be tough to know where to begin—so why not get started with some fan-favorites?

We compiled a list of the most downloaded CCC resources that your peers in the Utilities industry are using to help them excel at their jobs.

Here are a few must-reads to add to your list:

Top 3 CCC Resources for Utilities Customer Service Professionals

1. Coaching Starter Guide

What it is: CCC’s most popular download, this tool provides supervisors and coaching staff with detailed guidelines for conducting coaching interactions.

Why your peers use it: Read More »

As economic recovery remains elusive for certain countries and industries, and companies work to return to growth and profitability, many companies report they still are focused on improving the efficiency of the business.

In fact, a Q1 2011 survey of business executives reports that 66.4% of executives believe cost pressure will be higher in 2011 than it was in 2010.

This focus on efficiency is nothing new for service and support—we have seen a strong focus on cost containment and reduction over the past four years.  Yet because many organizations already have taken advantage of “low-hanging fruit” cost-reduction opportunities, we now are seeing a focus on initiatives that require more effort.

In fact, we find that many service and support organizations are now rethinking their global footprints, and  renewing emphasis on site consolidation, whether due to cost savings or merger and acquisition activity.

Read More »

When I get the chance to spend time with a member company, we usually end up talking about customer effort.  And while the customer effort data is always eye-opening, the crystallizing moment usually comes when I ask folks to:

“Take off your contact center leadership hat for a second and think about your past experiences as a consumer.  Tell me about a time when you had to call customer service that resulted in a high effort experience for you.”

Of course, every one of us is not just a customer service leader, but also a consumer.  Our experiences with our banks, telecom, and online retailer companies are all great fodder that helps us internalize what high effort means to our customers by putting context around the concept of customer effort.

So, I asked members of the CCC research team to talk about their recent high-effort experiences.  And, I not only got quite a response but started to see some interesting trends emerge. Read More »

Customer Service News

• New HBS research suggests that the customers you assume are the most ‘loyal’ might actually be the first to defect when a new competitor comes to town [Harvard Business School]
• Why the proposed federal ‘Do-Not-Track’ laws could negatively impact customer service [CBS Business]
• Report finds that while companies are expanding their social media presence, customer service isn’t keeping up with the pace [PC World]
• Issue resolution cited as a major driver of customer loyalty for wireless providers, with one in three  customers industry-wide reporting their issues weren’t fully resolved [via BusinessWire]
• Speaking of loyalty—despite some high-profile data breaches, customers are still staying with companies [ABC News]