I moved to DC a little more than a month ago, and I can’t even tell you how many different bars, restaurants, and salons I’ve tried. And who’s to blame me? With dozens of Groupon-like deals flooding my inbox every morning, my attention and loyalty are at an all-time low. But what happened to the idea of being a “regular” at an establishment? Has that gone out the door in this era of large data and choice, or am I alone in my unfaithfulness to stores and brands?

Interestingly, research conducted on customer loyalty shows that my behavior is a part of a larger trend: loyalty varies widely by demographic, and a person’s age and occupation can be a strong predictor of their purchasing behavior. Knowing this relationship—and more importantly, understanding its causes—can have important implications on how you engage with customers.

So here’s what the research said:

More mature age groups are significantly more loyal than younger counterparts.  When behavioral loyalty (as measured by the number of other like-service providers the customer visited in the past two years) and repurchase intention are considered among a diverse age group, those who are more mature (ages 35-54 and 55+) exhibit significantly more loyal behavior than those who are younger (18-24 and 25-34). This finding can be attributed to three age-dependent reasons.

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In the world of B2B order fulfillment and technical support, nothing matters more than issue resolution and case closure.  Quite literally, time is money—both for customers and for the company.

Now there are many ways to optimize issue resolution and case closure, something CCC has researched extensively: measuring resolution more effectively, improving the knowledge base, and even revising staff incentives, among other strategies.  Admittedly, though, all of these are difficult to change and require investment to optimize.

But we recently surfaced an opportunity we believe most companies have overlooked.  The idea comes from a U.S. operations of a global manufacturing conglomerate, which recently decreased time to resolution 33% and improved issue resolution 26% over one month.  (Yes, you read that correctly.)

What the company realized is that it’s not that staff aren’t motivated to resolve issues, it’s that they don’t always know how to resolve issues.  And even with an effective knowledge base, sometimes it’s hard for staff to know where to start.

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By Corey Stout

Companies increasingly turn to remote reps to improve employee engagement, enhance the customer service experience, and achieve cost savings. Thirty six percent of companies surveyed by CCC in 2010 (n=98 companies) reported that they use remote reps – and this number is expected to continue to grow.

As a result of the sustained interest in this topic among our member companies and across the industry, the CCC team has pulled together our collective insights into a portal dedicated to all things remote reps. These new web pages will provide you with rich insights that will help you incorporate the right variables when making the decision to launch a remote rep program as well as develop effective on-going remote rep support.

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Customer Service News

• The ‘Customer Aggravation Index’ (not to be confused with the Customer Effort Score)—an alternative to predicting loyalty using customer surveys? [Business Finance Magazine]

• Flexible work arrangements lead to increase in productivity—and not just for call center representatives [InSing News]

• A sign of things to come? Amazon expands its presence in South Africa with new customer service operation [Tech Central]

• The pros and cons of mobile apps, and why they may not be in the best interest of the customer experience [eConsultancy]

• And finally, as Steve Jobs steps down as CEO of Apple, a look back at his personal commitment to customer service [Xconomy]

It’s always exciting to start a fresh project here at CCC, and I am very happy to announce that we will be starting next week on new research regarding measuring the customer experience. 

What about measuring the customer experience, you ask?

Well, we are planning to explore many different facets of this topic, so I think there will be something for everyone!  And one of the best things about new research projects in my opinion is that there is always an opportunity for our member companies to help guide the direction of our insights.  Sure, we have a general plan for what we would like to create and share with you, but so much of it depends on what we hear from you.  Where do you struggle?  What would be most valuable to your organization?  Where have you tried and failed?  Tried and succeeded?

I’m hoping that you’ll leave us a note in the comments section with some thoughts.  To get your creative thinking going, here are a few early ideas on our minds: Read More »

By Kirsten Robinson

Did you miss our webinar featuring what you need to know about social media?

If so, worry not—we’ve compiled key ideas and takeaways discussed during our Q&A with Cindi Freeburn, Director of Community at QVC, and Joanna Howard, Head of Strategy at BT. Cindi and Joanna told us how their companies are using social media as a customer service channel, including insights covering:

-Using social media to provide technical support

-How to measure the ROI of social media activities

-Whether reps should specialize in one channel or work across platforms

-Lessons learned and advice for using social media as a service tool

CCC members, find out the key insights you missed and learn how QVC and BT use social media as a customer service channel.

• British Airways is attempting to improve customer service by equipping cabin crew with iPads. [WebProNews]
• A twitter post now coined as “the greatest customer service story” ever told. [BusinessInsider]
• Study shows more customers would use social media for service if they knew exactly what was available to them. [1to1 Media]
• Six social media myths that service organizations must debunk. [CRM Magazine]
• A podcast discusses the importance of remaining transparent when dealing dissatisfied customers. [Freakonomics]

CCC has partnered with Iconoculture to bring you the latest in global consumer trends.  Below is our bi-weekly update featuring the latest Iconoculture insights available now on the CCC site.

Recently, environmental consultant Dr. Matt Prescott developed Energy Pet- an initiative that helps kids in the UK become more conscious about energy consumption. This tamagotchi-style cartoon is designed to pick up on real-time energy readings and respond accordingly, making environmental indicators emotionally and readily accessible to a future generation of consumers. This reflects a growing awareness and concern among consumers about energy efficiency and consumption reduction.

While this may seem to bode poorly for energy and utility companies, it is actually beneficial for these businesses to embrace this trend. In a shifting landscape where consumers and society aim to use less, these businesses need to capitalize on this change and reframe their product as an outcomes-based service, not a commodity. By reframing their business in this light, utility companies can offer energy products that are efficient and environmentally conscious– traits that initiatives like Energy Pet are instilling in kids today.

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I’m a visual leaner, which means that I learn best by seeing or watching how something is done.  And a quick Google search tells me that about 2/3 of the population falls into this category of learners, so there are quite a few of us out there.

So imagine my disappointment when I tried to find some visual assistance (read: how-to videos) to repair my washing machine and only found the product manual on the company Web site.  I’ll get back to my washing machine in a minute, but first why don’t companies have how-to videos on their sites for customer support?

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During my recent search for a new bank, I discovered that several banks now offer a mobile feature that allows customers to make deposits by taking a picture of an endorsed check and sending it to the bank using a smartphone banking app.

And that’s not all.

Banking customers can also use smartphones to pay bills, receive updates and take actions via text message, make transfers, and easily reach service reps.

And although the global mobile banking industry has doubled in recent years and is projected to reach 1.1 billion customers by 2015, sources point out that customers are still very reluctant to adopt mobile banking apps.

A Javelin Strategy & Research report outlines two specific reasons for this:

1. customers don’t see the full value in these apps and
2. they have concerns around information security.  (In fact, between 2009 and 2010, the number of customers who rated mobile banking apps as “unsafe” increased by 54%.)

Does this mean that mobile banking apps are doomed?  Not necessarily.  Banks just need to change the way they position apps to customers to ensure that they give customers what they want.  After all, it wasn’t so long ago that we doubted the staying power of online banking – but the 60% of consumers who now bank on the Web prove that self-service shifts are inevitable.

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