What Will Customer Service Look Like In 2025?

Yukti Verma

Author

Operations

October 19, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Five years doesn’t sound that far away, but it is a long time in terms of customer service. If we think back to 2015, online customer service wasn’t as prevalent as it is today, and physical premises were still very popular.

Social media had its place in customer service, but brands did not expect customers to prefer opting for social and online media as the primary mode of communication.

At Acefone, we pride ourselves on both—delivering excellent customer service and giving our clients the tools they need to do the same. The face of customer service has changed radically over the last year, with COVID-19 forcing businesses to invest in digital solutions and customers needing more from businesses than just 9-5 support.

This article will examine what customer service might look like in 2025, and how by investing in technology you could keep yourself ahead of the curve.

1. Greater use of automation

Many companies are already harnessing the power of AI. In customer service, this technology can resolve simple customer queries without the need for a live agent. AI uses Natural Language Processing to understand the questions and provide relevant and meaningful answers.

Even in its nascent stages, AI is more powerful and popular with larger businesses and easily incorporated in customer service. For instance, aviation businesses are using AI to communicate updates with customers en masse, and advising them on how to claim COVID-19 related refunds online. This reduces wait times and saves agent resources.

In 2025, we expect AI to be much more advanced than it is now.

AI will be able to answer complex queries and take care of many customer enquiries leaving your staff free to deal with the bigger and more pressing issues. This staff time can be put to use by investing in customer experience, giving your customer service team more chances to deliver proactive service, rather than waiting for there to be a problem before they interact with the customers.

How you can get ahead: You can take advantage of your cloud phone system’s IVR system. This system can be personalised to your business and gives customers the chance to choose where they are transferred to before they even speak to an adviser.

This is an ideal opportunity to create an innovative self-service system. We suggest adding FAQs so that customers need not even speak to an agent to get their questions answered.

2. Services will be more proactive

Most customer service interactions are reactive rather than proactive, something we expect to change in the coming years. As AI develops and customers continue to use advanced self-service programs, there are opportunities to invest your savings in new technology.

Companies like Tesla are trialling new technologies which do not even need the customer to have any input whatsoever. For example, A car can identify that it needs service, check its owner’s online records, and book an appointment into a local garage.

This is the ultimate proactive service where the products actually do the work for the customer without even involving them in the process. This, however, is an extreme example of proactive service and may not be attainable in the next five years.

What we can expect is a reduced strain on customer representatives; they will have the time to review customer records and preempt what the customers might ask for. Your staff can build rapport, discuss upgrades, upsells, and even suggest new services based on the customer’s previous purchases.

How you can get ahead: Acefone’s cloud phone system provides several benefits so you can stay ahead of the competition by using the online portal which keeps you up to date with customer accounts and also add notes so you can follow up.

Use this space to keep detailed notes on customers, their likes and dislikes, and anything important the customer might mention which can help you build that all-important rapport.

Although this is not automated, you can create a real relationship with customers by keeping in touch with useful reminders and you can get ahead of the curve and start standing out from the competition with personalised service.

3. Companies will use insights and data to suggest

By 2025, data and insights will be used to make interventions in the customer journey.

In some ways, this is happening even now with remarketing advertisements following customers around the Internet as they browse, with discount codes to encourage purchases. In 2025, however, we expect this to work much more smartly.

Data and insights on customer behaviour, such as purchase history, real-time browsing data, and more can be used to direct customers straight through to the right customer service department and the agent best placed to answer their query.

Systems will use this data to listen to questions from customers and accurately direct them to the right place too, without the need for transferring customers from agent to agent. Businesses can also use this data to highlight relevant products or services and to help sell their special offers to the right customer who has been intricately targeted.

How you can get ahead: Your cloud-based phone system gives you access to a range of amazing analytics through the online portal. These analytics can give you unique insights into customer behaviours and have the potential to tell your customer service team exactly what each customer needs.

Your team can take a look through previous behaviours and purchases and even call recordings and use this to suggest new products or services. While this might not happen automatically just yet, it is definitely worth putting the time in and using your insights wisely.

We believe that no matter what happens in the next five years, your business should keep customer service as a top priority. While AI, data, and proactive service will save your agents time and can make your business more productive and efficient, nothing can replace great customer service when it comes to attracting and keeping customers loyal to your business.

A cloud phone system can give you all the tools you need to deliver excellent service right now, with packages and plans to suit businesses of all shapes and sizes. To find out more, call our team today on 1888-859-0450 .

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Yukti Verma

Author

Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

Mask On: Why You Need Number Masking for Your Business

Acefone Editor

Author

number masking

6 mins read eye

Table of content

We all wear masks to venture anywhere outside these days. Why? To protect ourselves, of course. So, why not extend the same courtesy to our business data?

Just as N95 masks offer the best protection against the spread of coronavirus, number masking technology in cloud communication is the superhero for sensitive business data.

So, what is Number Masking?

It simply refers to a system that conceals the actual contact numbers of the business and the consumer alike. A temporary number, instead, is visible to both parties. This allows privacy in conversation and safeguards personal information. All in all, you can show customers how much you care about their data by taking proactive measures to protect it.

People often get confused between virtual numbers and number masking. These are not, in fact, interchangeable services. Virtual or toll-free numbers are digits permanently reserved for an organization, without external access. They’re adopted to be associated with the business and are highly advertised to be on the clients’ minds always.

On the other hand, in call masking, the numbers are temporary and discrete for every single interaction. In this system, safeguarding information is a priority, and businesses are more concerned with safekeeping sensitive communication than promotion.

Now that we know what the service entails, the next question that arises is…

Why Number Masking?

Needless to say, protecting customer data is crucial for maintaining strong client relationships. Showcasing your trustworthiness and dedication towards consumers goes a long way.

Warren Buffet once said,

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

His insightful quote has stood the test of time as organizations are becoming increasingly aware of customer experience and its importance. In fact, research by Deloitte shows that a consumer will tell 9 people about a positive experience but mention a negative one to 16 peers. This means a single unsavory event can lead to a loss of 16 potential leads.

Negative reviews online or bad word-of-mouth can tarnish your brand image as a whole. And who wants to be associated with a poorly reputed organization?

Building your consumers’ trust will encourage brand loyalty. People are likely to repurchase items from reliable companies that value quality of communication, transactions, and most of all, security. They are also likely to spread positive messages about your products and services.

The root of professionalism lies in proper handling of sensitive customer information. Therefore, companies must adopt number masking to protect their own staff as well as the users.

While we realize how important it is to employ safety measures such as number masking for businesses, it’s just as important to understand how to best make use of these features.

Here’s How it Works:

Mr. A calls X Pvt. Ltd. to confirm the status of their order delivery. Their number is mapped with a temporary virtual number by the service provider’s (like Acefone’s) server. The call is then connected to the firm via its own virtual contact. Both parties see made-up digits that are different from the actual details.

Thus, customers don’t have to worry about unwelcome calls from an agent at random times of the day.

This also works the other way around. Your business is able to focus its energy on high-quality leads and customers when unburdened by spam calls.

While security is an obvious benefit of the service, there are several consequential pros to the same:

Your trustworthiness increases, thereby raising brand loyalty. This implies repeat sales and positive reviews. A good experience also leads to peer recommendations by consistent buyers.

People trust companies that do not seek out their personal information. With number masking, you can improve your brand image and attract new customers since.

Showcase your professionalism with highly secure conversations.

When a call is disconnected, the consumer can redial on the same number to connect to the agent again, which increases your accessibility.

Let’s explore the applications of call masking that are currently prevalent in industries.

(1) To Communicate with Drivers Assigned by Car and Bike Aggregators

In the past few years, several apps providing car and bike cab services have been introduced. These apps, ever so important in the dynamic 21st century, don’t compromise on the safety of both the parties.

Think about it, when you book an Uber, you often call the driver to confirm your meeting point or ask about their estimated time of arrival. On the other hand, the driver sometimes calls you to inquire about the address or cancel the ride. Number masking, deployed by the company, avoids any breach of security by the driver or rider. The temporary number is used during the transaction but neither party can reconnect using it.

(2) To Coordinate with Delivery Agents

We have all spent minutes stalking the little bike icon on food applications. And as soon as the delivery guy turns the wrong corner, we feel the need to give them a call. Number masking lets you call the delivery person at once—without any worries or hesitation concerning the security of your number.

(3) To Sell and Purchase on a Marketplace

People are skeptical about discussing monetary issues over the phone. Sellers and buyers securely communicate about deals and rest assured of the safety of their information.

(4) To Ease an E-commerce Transaction

In all lines of e-commerce, a lot of sensitive customer data is required to be shared on an online or calling medium. With masking, the industry flourishes as people can uninhibitedly go about their transactions.

The various use cases of number masking are also supported by several features that add to the appeal of the system.

Firstly, you can record conversations between employees and customers. While you might not give or take contact information, you can still document the necessary details shared in between.
Secondly, you can receive insightful statistics about call duration, volume and logs. This data can later be analyzed and worked upon.
Lastly, you can apply for different numbers for the same agent or the same virtual number for several agents. This allows for consistency in the contact numbers and secures your data further.

At the End of it All…

In the age of technology, maintaining privacy is not an easy task. Hence, it has become important to take active steps towards the same. As a company, your consumers’ security is just as important as your own.

Phone number masking allows you to protect contact numbers of both parties with a temporary veil. This is the path to build a trusting relationship with clients and create the brand loyalty that your business aspires for.

Masks are on everywhere around you already. Take the leap now and join the league of secure market players.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Acefone Editor

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Acefone provides a broad range of cloud communication services to businesses of all sizes, which includes Hosted Phone Systems, Free Phone Numbers, and Cloud Contact Center Solutions. Being the UK's leading provider of VoIP service provider, we always strive to provide excellent customer service and high-quality custom solutions to our customers.

Customer Is King, Indeed. But How Do You Keep One Happy?

Acefone Editor

Author

Customer Service

October 16, 2020

7 mins read eye

Table of content

Over the past many months, as the world has battled a global medical emergency, the changes thrust upon us have not been restricted to any specific sector or aspect of life alone. Business practices and consumer expectations have evolved rather fundamentally and in a very short while. There are two specific aspects to this evolution which merit attention.

First is the fact that the way and the means with which consumers interact with brands has completely changed from what it was just a few months ago. Smartphones are the new storefront and you’ve got to put your best foot forward. This is where an ever-increasing portion of consumers would come to experience, discover, and interact with your brand.

Secondly, it has also taken away the advantage of the location that some businesses have held onto till now. It has levelled the playing field and information has truly been democratised, with customers having access to all of it before they make a choice.

This has birthed a new customer, one who can’t be taken for granted for even a split second. Hence, this only builds upon the criticality of excellent customer service for any business irrespective of size or sector.

Modern consumers do their own research, they’re in control of their own journey, and they also have a social voice which goes far, especially if it pertains to dissatisfaction with a business.

To top it off, there is the reality that service requests placed by consumers these days have evolved to become layered, complex, and sometimes interlinked with the functioning of other verticals of the organisation. This calls for expertise and intervention from across the board.

What does all of the above add up to? Simple––it means that, for doing business the new way, new tools are just as important. Cloud-based systems and solutions make for the perfect fit in such a context, where their advanced capabilities help service all the new and emerging consumer demands and needs in the most cost-effective manner possible.

How to guarantee excellent customer service with maximum efficiency

Following are seven important practices and tools to adopt if you want your business to deliver excellent customer service consistently:

1. Hire right

A company’s employees are its chief diplomats and assets. Via them, an organisation forms and maintains customer relations that keep it in business; theirs is a vital responsibility. Thus, extra care is needed before you take someone on board as a part of your team. Take that extra time while hiring to ensure that the individuals are up to the task.

How do you attract and, then, retain this type of talent? It’s quite simple actually––offer decent salaries and provide other appealing benefits alongside a well-defined path of promotion.

There should be periodic appraisals in the organisation as it keeps the morale of the employees high. Make the job fun-to-do and ensure employee satisfaction. If a business can hire and retain exceptional talent, exceptional customer service will follow.

2. Correctly set consumer expectations

Customers tend to expect nothing but the best, no matter the service/product at hand. But from a business’s perspective, always promising them the world may not be the best tactic to adopt. This is because you will often end up over-promising and under-delivering, the worst combination there is.

A better way is to inform customers what they should realistically expect from the company and then work super hard to make sure you meet and exceed those expectations. Customers understand that your business is willing to walk the extra mile. You don’t even have to worry about damage control for promises unfulfilled.

3. Focus on getting the basics right

Businesses, especially in uncertain times like these, tend to rapidly lose focus. They often, in pursuit of multiple and varying objectives, end up messing with the very basics which got to start in the first place. This has become even more true as customers have become more connected.

Be it communications, service timelines, or responsiveness––it is critical to nail the basics if you want to ensure excellent customer service. If a client has a bad experience, they can easily start conducting business with just about any other competitor—often with nothing more being needed than a few taps on the screen.

4. Maintain focus

There are two aspects to this statement. Firstly, for example, in the aftermath of the pandemic, all sorts of random firms are now making toiletries and hygiene goods.

If it’s a temporary measure then that’s okay, but many are thinking of it as a permanent pivot. Even Kodak is making medicines now! If you decide to make such a sudden pivot, it is important to consider if you will be able to serve the customer base that follows.

The second aspect of this is to first make a choice of all the platforms that your consumers are present on and likely find to be relevant. Then double down on your presence on these platforms. This brings up a problem though––how to gain a certain amount of coherence in management of all these platforms and your presence on them.

This may be one reason why many organisations now choose to use world-class contact center solutions in order to manage all their customer service requests. This actually makes a whole lot more sense than maintaining a half-done, poorly-maintained presence on all possible platforms with nothing to gain out of such a practice. This also takes away focus from the one thing which truly matters––customer satisfaction.

5. Constantly collect data

Data is considered to be the holy grail of effective customer service. The idea is that instead of a customer having to enter all their details every single time they have a service request, brands should proactively be able to identify them. This will help shave off all the extra steps and time both for themselves and the consumer as well.

Over the last few years, businesses have been internally generating an insane amount of data on their customers. This is obvious in fact, given the reality that every single interaction which an individual makes with an organisation generates multiple data points on a number of indicators. Organisations, of course, store that data, process it, and use it to gain insights and improve their ways of functioning. This surely adds on positively to their overall service levels as well.

6. Be where your consumers are

The world of consumer service and engagement has expanded vastly beyond the traditional one that we’ve always known. Even short video platforms like TikTok are spaces where brands go to conduct serious business these days.

This often props up as a challenge for businesses as they have more platforms than ever to engage with their consumer base. But then, they also have more spaces where they can make errors, let consumers down, and deteriorate their brand image more broadly.

From legacy telephones to mobile devices, to social media, and anything beyond, an omnichannel customer service setup will show your customers that you care enough to be present wherever they are instead of them having to shift to a platform of service of your choice.

7. Customise and personalise it

The capture and processing of data by businesses help them customise and personalise service delivery for individuals customers. However, this can only be achieved by using structured, advanced tools geared for doing so. This is exactly where Customer Relationship Management or CRMs step up to the task.

CRMs allow businesses to essentially develop a profile internally for each customer, that too at scale. It allows for data gathering, analysis, tracking, etc. It also allows for collaboration within the organisation basis this data across multiple platforms and for different use cases.

This enables organisations to transform their existing archaic practices into modern, personalised customer service delivery platforms. There exists, of course, a definitive linkage between reliable service and consumer loyalty. This isn’t something any business can afford to skimp on at all.

Wrap Up

In the world that we would emerge into post the pandemic, all existing trends which businesses have been trying to come to terms with would be vastly more solidified. Conditions and contexts of operations and service are evolving faster than it ever has before.

Organisations have to mandatorily adopt and adapt, as well, if they are to thrive and grow within the context of new business realities. Delaying it instead would bring about redundancy and decay.

Check out Acefone’s services to boost your customer service. Call 1888-859-0450 now or drop an email at [email protected].

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

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Here’s Why You Should Integrate UCaaS and CCaaS For Your Business

Yukti Verma

Author

Operations

October 15, 2020

6 mins read eye

Table of content

In this era of steady digitisation across industries, cloud-based solutions like UCaaS and CCaaS have gained much-deserved prominence.

These services offer a host of benefits while being cheaper to operate and maintain. Before we delve deeper into this set of comparisons, let us take a look at what exactly the two terms mean.

What are UCaaS solutions?

If we turn our gaze away from all the communication that businesses do externally, with their customers, suppliers etc.—one would notice that businesses deal with a huge amount of internal communication too. Any organisation ultimately is an amalgamation of all its employees working towards a common goal. These employees have a large amount of communication and collaboration needs.

Earlier, these needs would be served at an interpersonal level by using text messages or calling or sometimes even productivity software. But these are all sharply distinct platforms with no scope of integration and collaborations between them. This can add a barrier to steady functioning and growth of the company.

Unified Communications as a Service, or UCaaS, is exactly the service which helps solve all these issues. The general construct here is that all of the disparate communication tools used by businesses for internal communications are integrated thoroughly by UCaaS on a single platform.

It functions as an advanced, cloud-based service which allows for unlimited communication and collaboration within an organisation hence driving massive efficiency gains for the business.

Financially speaking, organisations no longer need to purchase different services from multiple vendors anymore. They can simply opt for a UCaaS platform from a single vendor and get everything up and running in no time without the need for an extensive internal IT team.

What are CCaaS Solutions?

CCaaS stands for Contact Center as a Service. It is a cloud-based, digital contact center service with a range of capabilities. How it differs from UCaaS—while UCaaS solutions focus mostly on internal communications, CCaaS solutions are wholly oriented towards external communications and customer engagement.

It also offers a whole set of features including seamless integration with Customer Relation Management (CRM) technologies. Additionally, CCaaS solutions allow businesses to build contact center capabilities in a gradual, steady manner without costly capital investments on infrastructural setup.

A play on the same is cloud phone systems, which are designed to revolutionise business communications. This system can open up an organisation to a number of different opportunities for customer relationship building, relationship management, and more.

These solutions are usually deployed by IT departments to modernize legacy, premise-based phone systems, and rapidly streamline internal workflows. They are also designed to support mobility, virtual work, dispersed workforce, and interoffice collaboration.

With advanced features like call routing plus forwarding, conferencing, virtual receptionist, voicemail to email transcriptions baked into the service, CCaaS thoroughly enables multichannel communications for business via a single cloud-based platform.

“The old rules of the game do not apply anymore. It’s a new world, an evolved market. Cloud-based phone systems can aid hugely in ensuring first-class consumer service and engagement each time and every time.”

Benefits of Integrating CCaaS and UCaaS solutions

Following are the five main ways in which integrating UCaaS and CCaaS solutions can result in a win-win for businesses and organisations.

1. Aids superior consumer experience

Businesses around the world are out to woo a completely evolved and transformed set of consumers today. Their demands from the brands have changed; as have their needs in terms of goods and services.

Customers today are vastly more empowered and informed. Owing to countries embracing the market-economy model, customers have a plethora of options and alternatives to choose from as well.

These fundamentally alter the way that brands need to operate and function. Legacy setups based on incapable platforms are no more up to the task. Cloud-based systems and solutions such as CCaaS and UCaaS remain the only sustainable and cost-effective options which allow for an organisation to service its multiplicity of needs and sustainably tackle evolving demands as well.

2. Allows for a reimagining of customer engagement

Legacy, premise-based internal communication, and contact center platforms are fundamentally separate by nature. However, UCaaS solutions and CCaaS solutions are cloud-based, modern, and technologically-flexible. They can be easily integrated and allow all organisations to become customer-facing. But, how?

Take this for an example: You run a software firm, and the contact center agent cannot resolve a customer’s issues. With UcaaS, the agent can now transfer the call to those with the right expertise inside the company, while staying connected with the customer, externally.

This opens a whole new world of troubleshooting for businesses and brands. A business can now engage with its customers in ways it couldn’t even have imagined earlier.

3. Massively cull back on duplication and wastage of resources

One of the most important things that UCaaS and CCaaS integration allows is immense efficiency gains. There are two ways it can do so.

First, all your employees can be customer-facing. It removes a number of duplications in terms of systems, human resources, processes etc. that you might have needed if UCaaS and CCaaS were not integrated.

Secondly, it eases the load and requirements for an in-house IT team! Once integrated, CCaaS and UCaaS are very easy to deploy, manage, run, and make use of. They’re easier to navigate for the end-users as well. Moreover, their cloud-based nature allows you to deploy these solutions at a pace that suits the organisation, starting off with a limited feature set or just for certain departments initially before scaling it up.

Importance of preparing for a post-COVID-19 world

COVID-19 has worked exactly like a time machine as far as elevating the urgency of deploying UCaaS and CCaaS solutions is concerned. For any business right now, there are just two main priorities: the flexibility of operations and conserving cash. The integration of UCaaS and CCaaS will definitively help in achieving both these aims.

Firstly, entire businesses relevant to the sector, say BPOs for example, have started remote work literally overnight. They’ve invented newer models like BYOD or Bring Your Own Device for their workers, for instance.

All of this essentially mandates that services like UCaaS and CCaaS be adopted wholesale, since premise-based solutions don’t even make sense here in the first place.

Secondly, a dispersed, cloud-based remote workforce massively expands the hiring pool for businesses and allows them to hire in small towns at much more competitive salaries as well. This helps ensure massive operational efficiencies throughout the setup.

UCaaS and CCaaS integration helps enable data integration as well

One of the biggest pain points for businesses and organisations of various sizes and scope has been the siloing of data. We know that businesses generate a huge amount of customer data every single minute of them operating.

But till date, it’s been quite a challenge for them to collect, organise, and make use of this data since owing to legacy systems, it all existed in silos within departments.

Now, with the integration of UCaaS and CCaaS solutions, this is now a possibility, leading to massive gains and newer analytical possibilities overall.

In the short run, integrated communications data implies that teams across departments and functions can operate on the same page. In the long run, it also allows the organisation to leverage sophisticated data analytical tools, IoT, AI, automation of certain processes etc.

There’s never been a better time to adopt these latest advances in technology, grow your business with Acefone, and develop a steady consumer base as well. UCaaS and CCaaS solutions will truly enable it all! Contact us today at 1888-859-0450.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Yukti Verma

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Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

Innovative Ideas To Boost Your Outbound Contact Center Performance

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

October 14, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Time and again businesses have found setting up a call center tedious.

Contact centers, as the frontline to serve customers round-the-clock, are major touchpoints for organisations. In fact, they are often called ‘cost centers’ in businesses. Their performance is hugely judged by the numbers they show; so the industry is considered highly competitive.

The performance of your outbound contact center depends on several factors. This starts with tracking key performance indicators like duration of calls, quality parameters like how calls were handled, where they were transferred, and feedback from the customers.

With so many things to get a hold of, is it not that easy to boost your outbound contact center performance. So, here are a few ways you can do it effectively!

1. Motivate your agents

Undeniably, your call center’s performance majorly depends on your agents. Only when your representatives are equipped with the right call etiquettes, will they be able to handle calls appropriately.

Moreover, you should ensure that your agents remain motivated. To accomplish this, make sure that you recognise them for their efforts. Whether it is going the extra mile to handle a frustrated customer or handling difficult situations with ease, hard work should always be rewarded. When your agents feel noticed and involved, they rise up to their responsibility and align their goals to match yours.

Furthermore, you must include team building activities and gamification as a regular part of work. This will help your agents break through the mundane routine and help them stay motivated and refreshed.

2. Focus on aggressive monitoring

The monitoring of processes is cardinal in a call center environment. This should include parameters like the average call handling time, the way agents have approached the customer, the customer’s readiness to share details, and any kind of feedback about your products and services.

Close tracking of these factors will help you identify glitches in your processes promptly. This may include improvement of organisational issues or poorly performing representatives who need supervision and training. Following this approach will help boost the overall performance of your outbound call center.

3. Stimulate self-monitoring

Monitoring is pivotal in improving call center performance. This begins with the enhancement of agent performance. Though it is possible to track agent performances individually, it is best to inculcate the habit of self-monitoring among your agents.

Consider the current situation wherein businesses are required to work remotely. Here, despite the state-of-the-art monitoring tools in place, the impact of a face-to-face review or feedback session with the agents is unmatched.

Instead, if you have established self-monitoring KPIs, your agents will take ownership of their stats and numbers along with the customer feedback they obtain.

Moreover, irrespective of the location of the team, there is no need to micromanage them making them more responsible yet comfortable with their work.

4. Strictly follow a feedback and training routine

You should take customer feedback seriously. But what about feedback from your agents? Feedback should be a two-way process, allowing your agents a platform to raise their issues adds an integral part of your work culture.

Remember that your agents are the first ones to identify any technical glitches. You should make sure that they are aware of how important their feedback on processes and improvements is.

Again, invest and include regular training sessions to maintain an updated workforce. Offer information and guidance about tackling difficult customers, give them a glimpse into the nuances of using updated tools and keep them updated with industry news.

This will help them to remain proactive at work and thereby positively impacting your call center performance.

5. Invest in updated software

According to a survey by 24-7 Pressrelease, 80% of respondents felt that 20% and more of their customer tickets were repetitive.

Use technology competently. Invest in tools and software that help free your agents from redundant work. For example, you may develop a personalised IVR system that can handle simple customer queries without transferring them to agents. This will ensure that your agents don’t spend time on attending simple queries and can focus on other complicated issues.

Again, maintain an updated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. Having such a centralised repository of information will equip your agents with detailed information about returning customers. They will be able to handle these calls effectively and contextually thereby positively impacting your call center performance.

6. Periodically review key performance indicators

When did you last re-asses your key performance indicators? Do you measure KPIs with a purpose or just for the sake of it?

One typical KPI for a call center is the average call handling time. This refers to how fast your agent was able to resolve the customer query to be available for the next call on the queue. This KPI, essentially, points to the speed of the agents.

Often, it may lead to agents addressing issues in a hurry without paying attention to the quality of customer service provided. In this scenario, though the KPI for the average handling time is accomplished, other KPIs like Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and First Call Resolution (FCR) may take a toll.

It is therefore important that you take the time to evaluate every KPI metric along with the purpose behind it to ensure that they provide the best to improve your call center performance.

7. Add the right talent to your workforce pool

As the performance of contact centers boils down to the capability of individual agents, you must hire the right candidate. You should ensure a thorough screening of agents’ capabilities before recruitment.

Every wrong hire results in poor productivity, reduced morale, and higher absences. Also, this may hit hard on your sales and customer satisfaction ratings.

It is therefore important that you identify the right candidate with a suitable attitude, soft skills, and work ethics to contribute towards the improvement of your call center performance.

Wrap up

Working to improve your contact center performance is a challenge. It depends on how proactively you identify glitches, rectify them, and create an environment for the skill enhancement of your agents. Hopefully, the above-mentioned points will offer a sneak-peek into effective ways to boost your call center performance.

To optimise your call center further, contact Acefone’s expert team at 1888-859-0450 now!

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Reimagine Remote Work With Advanced Voice API Solutions

Yukti Verma

Author

Contact Center

October 13, 2020

5 mins read eye

Table of content

The quality of customer service your business delivers depends not only on how seamlessly your agents can resolve issues but also on the availability and precision of the services you offer.

During this COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have been pushed to create a smooth remote environment for their employees. Therefore, it has become difficult to have a dedicated on-premise contact center. Moreover, stakeholders have been forced to explore options to facilitate work from home.

Though there are several tools and software that support remote work, one of the most prevalent is the use of voice APIs.

Let us delve deeper to understand them.

What are voice APIs?

As the name suggests, voice APIs are applications or a software connection that enables making and receiving voice calls. Voice APIs come with significant advantages as they can be easily embedded into the organisation’s applications, software, and network over the Internet without depending on a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) connection.

So how does voice APIs help businesses to set up a remote ecosystem? Here’s all it is capable of:

1. Effective call controlling and recording capabilities

Call monitoring is important for customer service. Tracking and monitoring help gauge agent performances and also keep a hold on key performance indicators such as average call handling time and rate of customer satisfaction.

This may be difficult in a remote or distributed environment and the absence of tools and software used on-premise. With the use of voice APIs, businesses can easily monitor calls even in a remote ecosystem.

Call escalation and transfer may seem simple when working on-premise. Agents even have the option to clarify doubts in person and transfer calls based on agent availability. Voice APIs ensure that agents are provided full control over the transfer of calls, including information about the availability of agents in a remote setup.

2. Allows voice broadcasts

Keeping your customers informed is pivotal. In a typical call center setup, one thing customers dread is waiting in call queues indefinitely. This may result in a higher rate of abandoned calls that hits the performance of your call center.

One effective way to tackle this is to inform your customers about the average wait time based on the call queue. These voice broadcasts can be easily created in your office facility. Voice APIs support voice broadcasts, enabling you to inform customers about key announcements.

Furthermore, the broadcasts can include information or updates about your products and services. You may also utilise this medium to keep your customers engaged while they wait to get connected, feeding them with inputs about your brand.

3. Enables responsive IVR

Yes, you heard that right! Voice APIs let you create a responsive and customised IVR system. Instead of a press-1 campaign, you can use voice APIs to deliver highly interactive responses that sound real.

This system can be used to resolve simple issues of the customers, for example, if a customer visits your website then the IVR can handle the request without any interference. This helps agents focus on other core tasks and more complex issues.

In a remote environment, your business may face difficulties due to an insufficient workforce. Engaging your customers with smaller issues may lead to a bigger loss with complex, more urgent queries. Voice APIs help you over this challenge proactively.

4. Supports comprehensive analytics

Voice APIs come with comprehensive reporting capabilities that may otherwise be difficult to obtain in a remote working environment. The call tracking capabilities develop interactive reports while recording and capturing critical business performance data.

These reports provide intuitive insights about the type of customers who have called, call duration, and customer feedback if any. This data can be used to identify glitches in process workflows and ways to rectify them promptly.

You can also try and advertise your virtual numbers in marketing campaigns even though your team works in a remote set up. This factor may help you earn a competitive edge in the industry. It also helps to showcase your brand as a reliable and responsible one.

5. Aids intelligent agent routing

Voice APIs understand the importance of being available to customers. In a remote setup, agents may be available across the globe. Voice APIs identify the availability of agents and route calls accordingly. Again, calls transferred to particular agents by this API purely based on their skills and expertise.

Consider a scenario where the customer has an issue with accessing his account and needs to contact the technical team. The customer will get agitated if he is routed to the wrong department. There are higher chances of this kind of error in a remote setup due to a lack of communication.

However, incorporation of voice APIs eliminates the possibilities of these errors. Your calls are not misdirected, resulting in higher customer satisfaction.

Furthermore, voice APIs ensure that customer information, the fuel for businesses remains confidential. Information including contact numbers and the chat details are not exposed and are masked to maintain security.

Wrap Up

Streamlining workflows in a remote work setup is a critical and challenging task. Voice APIs deal with these challenges effortlessly. The above-mentioned points on-call monitoring capabilities, developing an IVR system, and creating comprehensive analytics are key competencies of voice APIs. These features of voice APIs will help businesses perform seamlessly in a remote ecosystem.

To know more about Voice API and how it can work for you, contact our sales team at Acefone today.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Yukti Verma

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Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

Running A Startup From Home? Here’s Why You Need A Cloud-based Phone System

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

October 12, 2020

7 mins read eye

Table of content

COVID-19 has forced work-from-home upon the unlikeliest of candidates. Organisations of all sizes, scales, and specifications have adopted completely alien strategies and mediums in a bid to continue running their businesses.

In this scenario, one of the most affected players have been startups, and it is they who’d benefit the most from adopting cloud phone systems. Let’s take a look at how.

What are Cloud Phone Systems?

A cloud-based phone system can be thought of like a hosted website. It is hosted on the cloud, meaning there is no need for premise-based legacy systems. The hosting and maintenance are also done by a third-party which means that this is not something you need IT teams to look after.

Instead of you having to set up complex phone communication systems for your business, you can set up a cloud phone system which will forward all calls directly to a line of your choice.

For example, many startups choose to route calls directly to their smartphones. This is a brilliant option for those who have a dispersed setup or don’t have a fixed office space as yet.

Organisations, both large and small, are going through digital transformations, moving away from legacy technologies and shifting to cutting edge cloud phone systems. As teams move into the digital world, they can quickly become overwhelmed with the sheer number of options of not only vendors but also different cloud solutions.

These days, even service providers have come to recognise that an increasing number of applications and platforms—from Cloud PBX tools to CRM to data analytics and so on—have become difficult to integrate, harmonise and manage.

This is especially so when they’re installed and operated by different vendors. If businesses leverage a cloud phone system, then by combining all of these processes and functionalities into a single platform, organisations and businesses can very easily manage their communications, contacts, and all related information.

Plus, this can happen on the same application, provided by the same vendor, under the same terms of the contract, and charged on the same invoice as well.

“Startups by their very nature are businesses with a very distinct set of needs and demands. Same goes for their consumers as well, given their fickle nature. These need to be factored in before any service decisions are made.”

The unexpected challenges that cloud phone systems can help startups tackle:

COVID-19 has thrown open a can of worms, a completely new set of challenges, if you may, for businesses, especially smaller ones like startups operating out of homes. Following are the three primary obstacles they’re facing owing to the pandemic –

1. Massive burden on communication pipelines –

There’s been a rapid increase in digitisation and multiplication of use cases of the same, literally overnight. What this has done is, it has put tremendous amounts of strain on legacy, traditional, capacity-constrained phone systems.

Call drops, delays in replies, poor communication quality, etc. have shot through the roof and a usual voice call seems like a burden on most days. This adversely impacts the productivity of the organisation and may drive away customers as well. This is why most people have frequently started to use cloud-based services.

The Internet and the digital infrastructure more broadly have held up rather well, and this has only accelerated this trend and provided an impetus to an inevitability. This is a big reason why most businesses are finally making the complete switch to digital.

2. Uncertainties of operation –

There is tremendous business uncertainty all around, no matter which industry your organisation might be dealing in. One of the most important things right now, for anyone running a business, is flexibility.

The most vital part of it is the fact that they should have the ability to scale up and down at a moment’s notice. Plus, this should be done without too much investment being required, or it will go to waste in case of a scale down.

Businesses around the world pay huge amounts of money in buying new hardware while expanding. However, a cloud phone system is very, very flexible and it grows effortlessly as per a business’s needs without incurring any extravagant upgrade charges. Same is the case when scaling down business operations.

3. If a startup has international clients –

A lot of present-day startups, especially in the services space, have a sizeable base of overseas clients and customers. And they need to be in constant touch with them for a number of reasons. Doing this on any premise-based legacy system would rack you up to massive bills, something out of bounds for startups especially.

A cloud-based phone system allows you to get local free phone numbers of almost any country across the globe. Using these free phone numbers, businesses can make international calls at very minimal costs. All that a start-up needs then is a high-speed internet connection.

In what ways does a startup benefit by adopting a cloud phone system?

Sheer variety of services and possibilities. Do you need a feature like call forwarding? It lets you fix a phone number and then forwards your calls to that number. Startups find this useful because forwarding to a phone keeps them mobile.

Call scheduling allows you to program the forwarding to reach separate numbers at varying times of the day and to forward via a series of numbers up till the time somebody answers. Then there are other features like custom greetings as well.

Following are three specific ways in which cloud-based phone systems can be of immense utility to startups –

1. If you work on the go

Any startup working on its own domain of service, especially those at a relatively early stage of functioning, functions pretty much round the clock.

More than that, these organisations often don’t have a fixed, traditional office space and their workforce is working from a wide variety of places and spaces as per their own convenience.

Because cloud-based phone systems allow calls to be easily forwarded to your phone, you can answer them even on the go––whether you’re in the car, at home, or anywhere else.

2. If you have a remote team that is spread out

Another classic COVID-19 trait of working these days is that businesses have workforces that are dispersed and working remotely as well in fact.

In such a scenario, having a cloud-based phone system becomes more than imperative in fact, given the nature and kind of communications that an organisation comes to need, both internal and external.

Every employee can have their own extension that forwards calls to their personal lines. All employees can be clubbed under a single phone number but they can answer calls on their cellphones as well. This saves costs for the business and makes it rather simple for both customers and employees.

3. Reliability of services and access –

The defining feature of cloud-based phone systems is, well, that they are hosted on the cloud. This is very distinct from legacy, premise-based setups of the yesteryear.

What this leads to is massive gains as far as reliability of services and managing of downtimes is concerned.

Because the different components of such a cloud-based phone system are not all hosted in the same location, the providers can ensure a low amount of service downtime and very few operational disruptions.

Another piece of this puzzle is the fact that such a system also has crucial redundancies built-in. What does that mean? That means that if you use a cloud-based phone system, there’s a high likelihood that your service provider has servers across multiple locations. What that leads to is the fact that if the data hosting on one server fails, the operations can be simply routed via some other server.

Having a cloud-based phone system is a question of when, and not if, for startups at this stage, especially in a post-COVID-19 era. Businesses can make the call, introduce massive efficiencies into their operations, save costs, and meanwhile upgrade their customer experience as well while at it.

To find out more about our hosted phone systems, call our expert team at 1888-859-0450 now! Come on board!

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Virtual Numbers: All Questions Answered

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

October 8, 2020

7 mins read eye

Table of content

With consumer bases scattered across the globe, a local number just doesn’t cut it anymore. Businesses need to have a strong communication network, whether within the city or from Delhi to Dubai—customers should never feel the physical distance.

How do you achieve flawless conversations anytime and anywhere? With the use of cloud-based tools, of course. Enter the world of virtual numbers and see how modern businesses use modern solutions.

What is a Virtual Number?

Virtual numbers, also known as cloud numbers, virtual landline numbers, or virtual mobile numbers, are simply phone numbers that don’t require a physical telephone wire or SIM.

These numbers are located on cloud servers and hence, offer a wide range of benefits to the users.

The status quo has pushed all businesses to operate remotely and tools like virtual numbers and cloud technology have played a major role in supporting this transition.

Do I Need a Specific Infrastructure?

Virtual numbers need no extra hardware to function—just a stable Internet connection and your preferred device. You can use any mobile phone, tablet or desk phone for all your communications.

In fact, you can even juggle personal and professional conversations on a single device. It saves you the hassle of bulky wires and telephone lines.

What are the Different Types of Virtual Numbers?

Toll Free Numbers

These numbers are free for customers and the call charges (which are minimal) are borne by the company itself. Since they’re free of cost, customers are encouraged to reach out to businesses. Therefore, toll free numbers are often deployed for customer support.

Vanity Numbers: Virtual Mobile/Landline

Have you ever come across a contact number that you’ve remembered for a long time? Surely we all have, especially, when the said number was catchy! Repetitive digits or easy-to-remember patterns stay ingrained in our memory for a longer time. Businesses deploy vanity numbers for a simple purpose—their high recall factor. When you’re on the customer’s mind, they’re likely to call you up.

What are its Features?

You may be wondering how cloud numbers differ from regular ones, and why should you choose the former. Well, it’s simple. Cloud telephony offers a plethora of benefits which traditional service providers don’t.

Let’s understand a few of them:

IVR

(Interactive Voice Response) IVR is a service that greets callers with an automated prerecorded message and presents a navigable menu with keypad inputs to streamline client concerns.

It’s a very common tool for organizations now, as it escorts customers through their journey with limited human intervention.

Auto-Attendant

As the name suggests, this acts as a virtual receptionist, so you do not have to worry about your off hours or holidays. A personalized recording like, “Thank you for contacting us. We will get back to you shortly. Our working hours are so and so.” can help you disseminate the right information to your customers.

It’s simple yet makes a lasting impression on callers who might be contacting you for the very first time, albeit during post-work hours.

Voicemail

This technology gives your callers another medium to voice their concerns urgently. Subscribers can directly receive these voicemail messages on their emails, so they always stay notified.

It’s nice to give your callers multiple alternatives to reach you. This fosters trust and credibility and hence, improves customer relationships.

Reports

Virtual number services are accompanied with a robust online dashboard that can be accessed via a smart-phone app too. The dashboard is automatically updated with your activities and progress and generates insightful reports.

In fact, you can tailor the fields and columns to fit your evaluation needs.

Call Recordings

Verbal conflicts between customers and agents are common and usually a result of miscommunication. Call recordings come to your rescue in such times and act as a source of transparency for both parties.

The dashboard lets you access these recordings and hence, improve your quality of service (QoS).

Auto-notification SMSs

Virtual numbers also let you stay on a customer’s mind by sending them auto-replies in the form of text messages, triggered as soon as the call ends. The aim here is to build recall even after the problem is solved.

Customers will remember your brand if you pop-up in their inboxes with an attractive and personalized template, sharing website links or discounts.

What are the Benefits?

The features of virtual numbers are beneficial for organizations across sectors. Let’s explore this in detail.

Never miss a call

You can add multiple extensions to your virtual number, unlike in traditional telephony. This reduces your chances of missing a call significantly.

All missed call details are updated on the dashboard, so you can call back at your earliest convenience and turn the missed call into a potential lead.

Tracking and Monitoring

With thousands of choices given to contemporary consumers for each buying decision, the only aspect that can make you stand out from the crowd is quality.

The way your agents respond to customer queries sets the standard of quality you offer. With holistic supervision of how your agents are dealing with the clients, it becomes easier to evaluate and improve your strategies.

Virtual numbers help you with just that. Call recordings provide an in-depth analysis of the conversations and facilitate quality management.

Hassle-free Implementation

The installation and implementation of virtual number solutions is effortless and swift. And why is that? Because there is no hardware to set-up. All you need to do is be ready with your KYC documentation and IVR script, and voila! You’re good to go.

Centralized Communication

Virtual numbers act as centralized numbers—you don’t need to deal with different numbers for varying locations. A single virtual number is all you need, and you can add the local or toll-free code of your choice to it.

Customers, too, don’t have to sieve through various numbers for different departments in your firm. They can be redirected to the appropriate department within the centralized system by using an IVR routing feature.

Cost-Effectiveness

A penny saved is a penny earned! Virtual numbers allow you to enjoy all these features at a nominal cost, as opposed to conventional phone systems, which have a lot of hidden charges.

Moreover, in a traditional set-up, infrastructural requirements like telephone wires, PBX boxes and headsets add to the capital expenditure. Virtual numbers, on the other hand, ask you to only pay for what you use.

Flexibility

Since flexibility has become more of a lifestyle rather than a benefit, your business solutions need to reflect that. Virtual numbers are tailored to fit your specifications and hence, offer a high rate of flexibility. They can be used from any device anywhere in the world without any hassle.

Additionally, you can also seamlessly integrate your routine software like a CRM or ERP into the cloud phone system.

Scalability

You can add or remove agents as per your preferences with this service—instantly and anytime you want. You can even upgrade or downgrade these plans just like a magazine subscription. With businesses that might have seasonal demand, this benefit is crucial!

You can go for higher plans for the busier months of the year and lower plans for the rest of it. Cloud solutions literally grow with you!

Can I use my Personal Number?

Let’s break this myth once and for all. A lot of people might think that opting for a new number service would lead to loss of callers and hence, revenue. That needn’t be the case at all.

You can convert your personal or existing work number into a virtual number. This saves you the cost of marketing and advertising a new number. All you need to do is port your number to the service provider’s company.

How to Get a Virtual Number?

Procuring an Indian virtual number is a smooth process. The only work that needs to be done is the evaluation of various cloud service providers. Of course, the evaluation process needs to be thorough, and you may use the above-mentioned points as criteria.

KYC documentation is another important prerequisite for the implementation of virtual number solutions for your business.

To get yours, talk to the experts at Acefone.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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How to Use Customer Data to Help Customers?

Yukti Verma

Author

Operations

4 mins read eye

Table of content

The world runs on numbers. That’s why it comes as no surprise that customer experience has also become largely data-driven. Rising user expectations demand more than just routine conversations from contact centers—businesses are under pressure to proactively gauge consumer needs and interests.

To achieve this, you need to gather sufficient data about the target audience. However, people do not relish filling long forms; and don’t like sharing their private information for the fear of misuse and security breaches.

To bridge this gap, you need to build a strong sense of trust with your clientele. Focus on developing customer-centric services. You must deliver true value to your users through their information, rather than simply using it to target them as prospects.

According to a survey conducted by Econsultancy and Adobe, 65% of the respondents agreed that improved customer data analysis helped them better understand user needs and was key to deliver exceptional customer service.

Let’s explore a few effective tips that help businesses proactively utilise customer details.

1. Use the available data to benefit customers

Collecting user information is an important process for any business. We can’t deny that a large portion of target audience data remains unused. Stakeholders need to appropriately utilise this information to help their customers.

Let’s take an example. Imagine you’re a company selling car insurance. Usually, collected information is used to target best-suited prospects—an approach called product-centricity. Instead, if you focus on creating awareness about the importance of safe driving, you become customer-centric. This helps build credibility and establish a trusted relationship with consumers.

Data derived from client interactions are an important source for building buyer personas. Once you have a better idea of these profiles, you can accordingly make changes in your offerings. AI-based algorithms empower you to align your operations to user preferences.

2. Deliver value to customers throughout the sales life cycle

This step needs a major shift in focus. Adopt a broader perspective; don’t just focus on targeting people for sales. Your product needs to be valuable in the longer-term, and your support should extend beyond the sales stage.

Imagine this: You run a supermarket. A customer comes in to buy chicken, cilantro and yoghurt. Delivering true value means more than a seamless shopping experience—go the extra mile and offer personalised cooking suggestions for the products. For example, if you offer a recipe that involves leftovers of the purchased products, you’ll create a lasting impression.

3. Redefine personalisation

Earlier, our idea of personal touch was limited to emails or newsletters with the client’s name and address. However, the current competitive scenario demands much more. It’s no longer enough to save your customer’s name and phone number in your CRM.

Today, personalisation means catering to individual consumer needs. You may have a wide target audience with varying interests, all of which need to be satisfied.

For example, a buyer may require different products in different seasons. Your information bank needs to proactively identify changing trends, and modify production and supply accordingly.

A 2018 survey by Evergage showed that the top benefits of brand personalisation include improved visitor engagement (55%), better customer experience (55%), a higher rate of conversions (51%), and elevated lead generation (46%).

Brand evolution must be in tandem with changing consumer preferences. This gives you a competitive edge while also winning clients’ hearts.

4. Keep modifying operations

We’ve already established that it’s imperative to adapt to shifting buyer needs. These changes not only impact your output but also change your internal operations. Use customer details to reassess business procedures and deliver tailored experiences.

5. Make privacy a priority

Considering how data-driven the world is, it’s only natural that privacy concerns are on the rise. With cases of misuse becoming rampant, it is essential to adopt privacy policies that guarantee the safeguarding of critical consumer data. This includes maintaining regulatory compliance and high-end security practices.

Privacy controls should be an integral part of your design and IT systems, network infrastructure, and business workflows. Following these practices stringently will help you win client confidence, and encourage them to share information unhesitatingly.

Parting thoughts

Properly utilising customer information to deliver valuable experiences is as important as collecting data for sales. The mammoth task of safeguarding sensitive details lies with businesses, with the added responsibility of using it holistically. People are willing to share their details only when they feel it’s beneficial to do so.

Hopefully, this article has provided a peek into the different ways client data can be used to offer greater value. Learn more by contacting our sales team at 1888-859-0450 anytime!

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Yukti Verma

Author

Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.

Women Are The MVPs of The Customer Service Game in 2020

Yukti Verma

Author

Expert Opinion

October 5, 2020

8 mins read eye

Table of content

Customer service is more important now than it’s ever been. In a world of uncertainty, the experience you can deliver to your clients is what makes them hold on to you, now and for the future.

There are plenty of ways in which you can invest in customer experience (CX)—for example, through a feature-rich cloud phone system—but one surefire way to ensure excellent support is by having the right person lead the way for your staff.

Traditionally, men took leadership roles in larger companies. However, there has been a shift in our business ideals and practices over the years. More women are now taking the reins in large enterprises, and very successfully so.

Let’s look at a few women leaders of the customer service industry and how their achievements are shaping this industry.

Catherine Blackmore

GVP of Global Customer Success at Oracle Marketing Cloud

With over 20 years of experience in customer service, Catherine Blackmoor is a powerhouse of the industry. She fuels her innovation with real-life experiences that allow her to operate a first-class CX strategy.

Named one of the top 50 influencers in the industry, she has written a variety of blogs, ebooks, and whitepapers concerning customer service to help others shape their strategies. She has also held a number of prestigious roles at companies (like Salesforce) and often shares her vast knowledge through her role as a speaker.

Catherine is passionate about turning customers into advocates for your brand. She has time and again stressed on the fact that when customer service is done right, your clientele can become your fans and biggest supporters.

They advocate your brand and become marketers rather than just buyers. In one such speech, Catherine asks, “What are you going to do to turn them into raving fans?”—a question she encourages businesses to ponder over for optimising their operations.

Tiffani Bova

Global Customer Growth and Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce

Tiffani Bova was named one of the “Most powerful and influential women in California”, and it’s not hard to see why. Tiffani describes herself as a business anthropologist and is a well-known strategist, adviser and influencer.

She has worked with numerous high profile companies which gives her a strong understanding of the nuances of customer engagement, so it is unsurprising that she has been awarded such a title.

Tiffani’s experience is far-reaching, and she has worked with businesses of all kinds—from startups to multinational corporations. Having delivered over 500 keynote presentations to over 400,000 people in six continents, she is highly sought-after and her expertise is coveted worldwide.

Tiffani Bova’s incredible insights can be found in publications such as Forbes and HBR, and she also hosts her own podcast, What’s Next! which explores the future of business innovation and growth. If you own a business and are looking to the future and wanting to keep innovating and developing your customer service strategy, Tiffani Bova is the person to follow!

Denise Lee Yohn

Brand Leadership Expert, Thought Leader, Keynote Speaker and Author

Denise Lee Yohn is a customer experience thought leader who is the go-to expert for media outlets such as CNBC and FOX Business TV. She is also in demand as a speaker and consultant, is a highly influential writer and the author of bestselling books.

Previously the VP of Brand and Strategy at Sony with contributions to Forbes, Lee Yohn’s credentials are impressive and set her apart as another thought leader to follow for anyone interested in taking their CX to the next level.

Denise takes a more personal approach when speaking or writing her books, while still challenging the audience to make real and achievable changes in their businesses. She’s a popular speaker for several high profile events.

Christy Wyatt

Chief Executive Officer at Absolute

Christy Wyatt is the Chief Executive Officer of Absolute, a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions. Absolute provides more than 12,000 customers with security, always-connected visibility, and real-time intelligence.

Christy has held executive positions in a range of leading global brands including Apple, Blackberry, and more. Her customer experience credentials are impressive and she draws on an extensive background in security and analytics and is delivering innovative solutions to customers every day.

She is one of Inc. Magazine’s top 50 women entrepreneurs of America and Information Security’s CEO of the year. As one of the Fierce Wireless’ ‘most influential women in Wireless’, it is easy to see why many people in the industry look to Christy for inspiration and guidance.

Annette Franz

Customer Experience Consultant, Keynote Speaker, Author

Annette Franz boasts almost 30 years in the customer service industry. She is the founder and CEO of CX Journey Inc., a company dedicated to helping businesses put the “customer” in customer experience and at the heart of their operations.

Annette is also a recognised thought leader, business coach, and keynote speaker. She’s written a book titled Customer Understanding: Three Ways to Put the “Customer” in Customer Experience, which has proved to be an essential guide for businesses looking to improve their CX strategies.

Annette strongly believes that employee culture and good customer service go hand in hand. She helps businesses improve their employee culture so that the staff can deliver exemplary service to clients. She also runs workshops and consulting to give businesses the tools they need to elevate their service.

Takeaway

While these are just a few of the top women leaders in the field of customer service and customer experience, we can learn a lot from each of them. Clients should always come first and these women are blazing a trail for other businesses to follow, with innovative solutions, on how your business, whatever its size, can have top customer service.

Take the first step into elevating your customer experience with a feature-rich cloud phone system that opens up all lines of communication. Equip your staff with all the right tools and watch them shine. Call 1888-859-0450 now or drop an email at [email protected].

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

Write an email to

[email protected]

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Yukti Verma

Author

Yukti is a content marketing enthusiast with a soft spot for Saas. She loves weaving complicated concepts into simple stories. When not at work, she is found reading books or watching movies.