I remember when AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) first launched in 1997. The idea of live online chat already existed, but AIM made it easy, fast, and widely accessible. It allowed me to keep in touch with friends from afar – and unlike e-mail, these conversations happened in real time. It was like a phone call, with the added benefit of multi-tasking. (Service leaders: does this sound familiar?)

If AIM was the “grandfather” of social networks, there is no shortage of (arguably better) alternatives today. I haven’t used my old AIM handle in years, but I often chat with my friends on Google, Facebook, and Skype. Here at CCC, we’re constantly talking to each other on Microsoft’s Office Communicator.

It’s no surprise then that companies have felt the need to invest in web chat to communicate with their customers. Since customers are chatting with one another online, it only makes sense that they should be able to chat with organizations as well.

A word of caution:

CCC finds that despite web chat’s two-way interaction and timely responses, less than 10% of customers use web chat specifically for issue resolution. And of these, only half ultimately achieve issue resolution. Read More »

With Facebook set to go public in the coming weeks, recent buzz about newcomer Pinterest, and continued momentum on Twitter, it’s pretty clear that social media isn’t going away anytime soon.

To answer some frequently asked social media questions, we recently revealed some surprising findings about customers’ actual service expectations on social media, and wrote about how to differentiate service strategies for social media and mobile apps.

So, now you know what customers expect on social media and you have a better strategy for serving them, but how do you know if it’s working? How do you measure success in social media? Read More »

The past few weeks here at CCC have been rather busy – we’ve been heads down putting the finishing touches on our 2012 study, due out at the end of the month. Roughly speaking, we are looking at steps companies can take to keep up with changing customer expectations and growing customer demands.

One concern we’ve heard from our conversations with companies over the past few months is that customers contact companies in a number of new ways – namely, through social media and mobile apps.

Lara recently blogged about customer expectations in social media (hint: they’re not as high as you might think!). And while we know that very few people use emerging channels, what exactly are those people using them for? Read More »

A candidate’s job search is fairly straight-forward: send a resume, attend an interview, and provide references. In today’s digital age, however, employers are relying on new and creative methods to gauge candidate fit.

In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, some companies have completely stopped asking candidates for their resumes. Instead, they rely on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles, and online tests to better understand employees’ skills and measure cultural fit. For example, Union Square Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm, asks candidates to submit videos demonstrating interest in an open role. Colorado-based StickerGiant.com makes resume submission optional, and instead uses online tests to determine whether an applicant would be a good fit.

Companies that have embraced these new hiring processes claim that resumes are not a good way to identify best-fit candidates.

Contact centers are not immune to the challenge of finding best-fit applicants for frontline roles. In fact, as rep jobs have become more complex in recent years, identifying “best-fits” has become more difficult than ever.  Customers are demanding more personalized interactions, and agents have much more to learn thanks to new channels and more complex offerings. As a result, new hires must be able to adapt easily to evolving job demands. Read More »

Last week’s New York Times Magazine explored how Target used analytics to predict if a customer is pregnant and direct marketing efforts accordingly.  The article generated debate about whether the tactic was creepy, invasive, or downright brilliant – but one fact cannot be denied: customer data is easier than ever to obtain, and there’s more of it out there than ever before.

Some of the available customer data is based on behaviors – for example, purchasing habits of pregnant women in a Target store.  But the really interesting component for customer service is the second half of the data equation: information provided by customers themselves – in other words, voice of the customer. Read More »

By now, we have all heard about Netflix’s infamous 2011 blunder. When the company announced a 60% price hike last July, customers were furious. Many voiced their frustrations on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter; others called customer service to complain and flooded the corporate website with comments. The company faced a huge cost spike (increased call volume) and an even greater hit to revenue. In fact, more than 800,000 subscribers left completely in just three months.

The message of the Netflix example is clear: in today’s world, companies are more vulnerable than ever. Netflix probably didn’t do itself any favors by announcing the price increase abruptly – with little forewarning or customer outreach to cushion the blow.

So how can companies stay head of the game to mitigate customer frustrations in risky situations? And specifically for service teams – how can companies proactively address customer concerns to avoid call volume spikes that often accompany these situations? Read More »

Customer interest in reducing energy consumption is higher than ever.

In fact, “80% of US households recently [invested] in some form of energy-related improvements for their home,” according to Stuart Sikes, President at international research firm Parks Associates.

Many are also interested in the potential cost savings of energy efficiency. Parks Associates research found that while “80% of customers don’t know the price they are paying for electricity, 62% strongly believe that saving energy and lowering their utility bills are desirable.”

So with national attention focused on the need to reduce energy consumption and budget-conscious consumers paying attention, what role can utilities’ service organizations play in engaging consumers in energy management? Read More »

When it comes to segmentation, choosing the right scheme is just the beginning. You must then make it work.

Over the past four months, I spoke with service leaders across industries to understand their challenges to segmentation. Many were concerned about executing a chosen strategy:

Would it require extensive – sometimes impossible – resource investments?

Would they need complex CRM or routing technologies?

Is it even possible to deliver segmented service without rep specialists or tiered staffing models?

Much of the time, these concerns are valid. Segmentation can be expensive. Take, for example, a segmentation approach that tailors service to customers’ value to the company. High-value customers are often routed to better-skilled (or even dedicated) agents, offered personalized web features, and bumped to the front of call queues. To provide this level of high-touch service, resource investment is surely required.

So what happens if you’re constrained by budgets? Are you out of luck if you don’t have the time or money to put into a scheme like that? Read More »

Note: this is the second post in a three-part blog series on business-to-consumer segmentation. In this post, we will address the importance of setting goals for segmentation. Read the previous post on common B2C segmentation schemes and stay tuned to learn how to resource against segment needs.

Effective customer segmentation helps B2C companies achieve a number of service goals, such as:

• Increase revenues by driving customer retention
• Improve the customer experience
• Reduce costs by reducing call volume and/or callbacks
• Strengthen customer relationships
• Identify and maximize cross-sell and up-sell opportunities

Given all these potential benefits, it might be tempting to jump right into a segmentation scheme.  Sounds like it could only help an organization, right?

Not so fast.

Our latest research on B2C segmentation finds that many companies dive into segmentation without first defining the goal of their efforts. As a result, many fail to see the ROI of their programs – or worse, they segment customers incorrectly (and actually harm the customer experience) or increase their own costs to serve. Read More »

Note: this is the first post in a three-part blog series on business-to-consumer segmentation. In this post, we will address the five most common B2C segmentation strategies. Stay tuned in the coming weeks to learn more about the importance of setting goals for segmentation and resourcing against segment needs.

This fall, we introduced you to CCC’s latest research initiative on business-to-consumer (B2C) customer segmentation strategies. CCC members, the wait is over—we’re happy to announce the publication of this new research on our website.

Though segmentation has traditionally been a sales and marketing tactic, we find that many customer service organizations also started to segment customers to differentiate support offerings. B2B service organizations led the way, but B2C companies are not far behind. Read More »