6 Ways How Omnichannel Communication Provide Your Customers A Better Experience

Ratnam Sinha

Author

Contact Center

December 5, 2019

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Omnichannel communication is a way to approach the customer across different communication media while maintaining a seamless experience. It means irrespective of the communication channel, the customer is communicating through the voice calls, chat, email, or social media, the agent can continue the same conversation over different channels.

With omnichannel communication, the customer has the leisure to switch between different media of communication while not having to explain the same problem again and again.

According to Accenture, – “There is a clear trend in many industries toward the use of multi-channel approaches to engaging with customers. But in focusing on multi-channel, companies may be overlooking a more fundamental need—for a seamless, omnichannel approach that provides a single, unified experience for the customer across all channels.”

If you think that providing your customers with only voice support or email support is enough, then you are wrong. Customers today like to use multiple devices and keeps switching on different channels. They don’t think twice about using a combination of channels for communication.

For any business, it is essential to provide your customers with the best experience possible. Here are six ways how omnichannel communication will help you provide a better experience to your customers.

1. Convenience for Customers

Every customer will prefer the most convenient way to communicate. With omnichannel communication, no matter how many times the customer changes its platform for communication, you wouldn’t lose any data from the previous time the conversation took place.

It is saved there in the CRM, and the agent can retrieve it anytime they want and connect the customers again at a given time.

In today’s world, the customer is more knowledgeable than ever. They can always compare the features you and your competitors provide and will always choose the one that fits their needs. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure your customers the comfort that they desire and make your business stand out from the competition.

2. Customer Satisfaction

With the option to choose their preferred channel for communication, the customer will be more satisfied with the service, it helps your company to grow its reputation.

The research by Accenture, as mentioned earlier, also reveals that the customers today have a much higher expectation when it comes to communication with the business.

A satisfied customer will most likely refer the company to someone else, and it will lead to saving cost on marketing as your customers will become your marketers. With omnichannel communication, you allow your clients to engage with you in whichever channel they see fit. In this way, you empower your customers and give them a great experience.

3. Insights of Customer

Omnichannel communication is unified communication. It means that you get all of your customer’s data in one place no matter how many different communication media over they interacted with your company.

With all the data assembled in one dashboard, it is a lot easier for your agents to work with the customer. It also means no matter how many times the customer switches the channel of communication, your agent will always be prepared with the client’s data, which will make sure that the client does not have to repeat himself again and again.

It is not only an excellent experience for the customer, but it is also a superior experience for your agents too. With unified communication, you not only save time, but it also increases the productivity of the agents as they can deliver good customer service with all the information handy.

4. Real-Time Customer Engagement

The businesses are continually putting effort into keeping up with the demands of the customers, which are increasing every day. What’s more is that, if you fail to provide your customer’s query with an answer in real-time, the customer will not hesitate to leave.

Omnichannel communication allows you to connect with your customers in real-time with chats & chatbots, voice calls, screen sharing, and co-browsing.
This, in turn, makes the customer stay connected to your company, and they feel being actively involved with your services. The customer will put more trust in a business that will provide them with solutions in real-time.

5. Business Continuity

As omnichannel communication is a cloud-based service, you can take advantage of all of its features even if you or your agents are on the move, provided you are connected to the internet.

This means that your agents will be able to work remotely from any location to provide optimum customer service to your clients. The customer will not have to wait for the office hours to start if he is in an emergency and needs immediate help; your agents can handle the problem from wherever they are.

This will greatly enhance your business productivity and deliver the best customer service possible to your clients, resulting in building a strong and positive name for your brand.

6. Customer Retention

Retaining a customer is essential for any business. A loyal customer is always profitable to the company, will provide better feedback, and will promote your business by word of mouth.

Providing your clients with omnichannel communication makes sure that you retain that customer as you handle all their problems within their comfort zone.

This gives your customer a very positive outlook towards your company, and the customer tends to come back to your services because of the great experience he had before. It helps you retain your client and earn your company a loyal customer.

Summing Up

To generate more conversions, and to increase the revenue of your business, it is crucial to provide your customer with omnichannel communication.

As the customers today want everything done within their comfort zone, not being able to provide communication in the right way to them may lead to the downfall of your business.

With omnichannel communication, you not only provide your customers with the best possible experience according to their convenience, you also make it easier for your agents to handle the tasks.

Every business that is growing fast and aims to lead the industry is already providing its customers with omnichannel communication.
What are you waiting for?

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Ratnam Sinha

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Ratnam is an SEO enthusiast and content writer working as a Digital Marketer with Acefone. He is fond of traveling and new experiences. He is a huge Marvel fan and is always open to learning.

Top 5 Features Of Hosted Phone System

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

4 mins read eye

Table of content

A hosted phone system gives your business access to many exciting features a traditional phone system can’t offer.

If you’re considering making the change to a cloud-hosted phone system but aren’t sure which features could benefit your business the most, we’ve put together some of the top features which can be used with hosted phone systems to enhance your business communications with customers.

Virtual Assistant

If you’re a sole trader or a small business, a virtual assistant can act as a professional receptionist ensuring you never miss an important message from a customer. The virtual assistant will answer your calls when you can’t and will forward any messages or voicemails over to your email address, so you stay on top of incoming leads from wherever you are.

A virtual assistant is great for smaller businesses wanting to look like a larger, more established and professional organisation. It also greatly improves the customer experience as customers are not struggling to get in touch with you; they can leave a message and simply wait for a call back with an answer to their query.

Work Remotely from Anywhere in the World

A hosted phone system doesn’t tie you down to one location, it allows you to work from anywhere in the world – as long as you have a device and internet access, anywhere can be an office.

This also means that if you have an international customer base, you can hire customer service agents anywhere in the world who will be awake to answer calls from customers in different time zones. This means your customer service will be exemplary and might be the deciding factor for a customer using your services or that of a competitor.

Customise Your Phone Number

With a hosted phone system, you can customise your number to suit your business’ needs. If you’d like your business to have a national and professional look, an 0800 freephone number could be perfect for portraying the right image.

If you’d like to strengthen local ties, a local number can be created to enhance trust between your customers, and your business and you have the option to create a memorable phone number to enhance your brand.

With each of these options, calls can be forwarded to agents in any part of the world, so no matter which number you choose you can rest assured that your customers will receive a smooth communication service.

Manage Your Phone System Online

A VoIP phone system allows you to manage every aspect of your telephony from an easy-to-use online portal. From call recordings to call statistics, you can monitor and control every aspect of your telephone system from any of your devices.

This means you can ensure you’re getting the most from your communications; monitoring call time, agent waiting time and much more allows you to take control and gives you the power to make changes where necessary.

You can also monitor your call costs through the online portal, ensuring your calls are within your chosen budget and where you can make changes; additionally, you can access all the features from our online portal adding and removing these where needed.

The online portal is perfect for managing your agents all over the world, from wherever you might be – so you can ensure that you are getting the most from your communication systems.

Collaborate With Your Team

A hosted phone system allows you to easily collaborate with your team, from wherever you are and wherever they might be around the world. Businesses with multiple branches or offices can have staff communicating freely between each other, sharing expertise and knowledge.

This collaboration can help your customer service, as staff will be able to refer customers to the best person possible to answer their query – meaning customers will be more likely to get their query answered on the first call.

Hosted phone systems also have the functionality to hold conference calls, so you can hold staff meetings with employees everywhere – they can simply dial in from whichever device they are using and join in the meeting. This will help you boost staff morale and increase teamwork, creating a collaborative atmosphere.

There are many more features available to users of our hosted phone systems, each suited to a different business need. From call recording to virtual assistants, there are plenty of features ready to add to your phone system, you can take a look through the full list here.

If you’d like to know more about how a hosted phone system can bring an exciting range of features to your telephone systems, call one of our expert advisers on 1888-859-0450 .

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

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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.

How To Choose A VoIP Provider – 5 Things To Consider

Acefone Editor

Author

Voice - VoIP

December 4, 2019

4 mins read eye

Table of content

Choosing a VoIP provider is a big decision for a company, as a phone system is so integral to the day to day running of a business. It becomes crucial that you make the right decision when it comes to choosing a VoIP provider for your business.

So, we’ve put together five things you should consider before signing that business contract with a VoIP service provider.

The level of support provided by the company

Most business owners won’t be experts in VoIP, so a level of support will be needed from your provider – particularly in the early stages of using VoIP services such as a hosted phone system.

A provider who is willing to make themselves available at any time shows that they are committed to their customers. It is critical for businesses to choose providers who are available to support your business communication 24/7 – so no matter when a problem may arise, it can be solved with the minimum of fuss.

Not only you want support available to you at all times, but you also need the person on the other end of the line to be an expert and knowledgeable on your cloud communication system so that you are more likely to get all queries resolved quickly and efficiently.

The features available with your phone system

Different providers will have hosted phone systems with many features. However, you need a phone system that is bespoke for your business’ needs.

You should ensure that when searching for a provider, you take a look through all the available features to find out whether any of them would really benefit your business, and whether these can be added and removed freely or whether you are tied into any contract.

Features will also come at differing costs, so researching into the price of the specific features you would like with your VoIP service is key to getting the best deal for your business.

Reliability and security of the provider’s services

Your hosted phone system has the power to hold your customer’s data, so you need to make sure that data is safe and secure to take care of both your customers and your business’ future. You should ensure that a provider can give you a robust and reliable service by looking into their uptime statistics, checking that they have back up plans in place, and at any security encryption they use to protect your sensitive communication data.

The security of data is imperative, particularly with GDPR regulations being tightened, so you must ensure that your VoIP provider will handle your necessary information securely.

A reliable phone system means better communication and trust with customers, so this part of your research should not be taken lightly, and a right VoIP provider will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have on this.

Cost of the VoIP system

Businesses always aim to keep costs down and profits high, something which all VoIP providers understand. With many providers to choose from, all with different costs and price plans, it’s worth taking some time to weigh up your options.

If you have a budget in mind, you can take this to a provider who will be able to recommend a phone system within your budget and with all the features you need.

The cheapest VoIP provider may not necessarily be right for your business, although the cost is a significant factor in your decision making. You should also compare providers based on many other factors such as support, reliability, and whether the phone system is bespoke to your needs or not.

VoIP providers know that a hosted phone system is a significant investment for your company, and providers are often happy to work with you to find the best solution for your business.

Scalability of your communication system

Your business is growing, and you don’t want to be held back by a rigid phone system. When choosing a VoIP provider, you should make sure you discuss the options for scaling your phone system.

This will ensure clarity between you and your provider from the beginning, and you can clearly understand the costs involved in adding extensions to your phone system or the addition of any features you might come to need in the future.

In doing this, you will also be able to find out how the provider is set up to upgrade your phone line to make it grow with your business and whether there are enough features to help with this growth or not.

Here at Acefone, we know that you want the best VoIP system for your business, and we are happy to answer any questions you might have about the day to day running, costs, features, or anything else! If you’d like to discuss your options for creating a bespoke communication system, call one of our advisers on 1888-859-0450.

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What Are The Cost Benefits Of Switching To A Hosted Phone System?

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

November 22, 2019

4 mins read eye

Table of content

A hosted phone system doesn’t just give you access to plenty of amazing features to benefit your business, they also save your business money. There are plenty of ways that investing in a cloud phone system can help your business cut costs, while never needing to compromise on quality.

Call Anywhere, Anytime For Less

The benefits of a hosted phone system include saving money on both local and international calls. Depending on your plan, you can either have unlimited local and international calls or pay a much lower price per call than a traditional phone line.

As hosted phone systems operate over your internet connection, time and distance don’t matter, you can communicate with anyone you need to the same way you would over any other messaging service – the difference is you’ll be doing so over a crystal clear, professional phone system.

You won’t pay any distance charges with a hosted phone system, so you will be able to carry out business freely with anyone in the world. A hosted phone system provides the infrastructure your business needs to conduct business worldwide at a very low cost.

Hire Remote Workers With No Costly Premises

There’s no need to spend your profits on costly office premises with a hosted phone system. You can hire staff anywhere in the world, with staff easily able to work from their own homes or wherever they need to be.

Hiring staff from multiple countries based on your client’s needs not only provides excellent customer service, but also will help save you money as you won’t need to set up offices in these different countries to accommodate staff.

With a hosted phone system, you can add as many extensions as you like to your telephone system – so you’re only expenditure will be to run your phone system. You won’t need to worry about utility bills, buildings insurance and many more inconvenient bills with a hosted phone system.

No Downtime, Just Install And Go

Downtime can be costly to a business, so with a hosted phone system you won’t experience any. Cloud-hosted phone systems are simply “plug in and play”, meaning you’ll have your new phone system up and running in no time and won’t miss out on any important calls from customers.

A hosted phone system gives you the chance to start saving money right away, as you’ll be able to start adding extensions and connecting your staff straight after the expert installation. Once your phone system is installed, you’re at a much lower risk of future downtime in comparison to a traditional phone line.

As your telephony is hosted in the cloud, you can rest assured that should something go wrong, your phone lines can quickly be transferred to a backup server or can be switched onto another device – so you can continue delivering great service to your customers and remain completely accessible to them too.

Feature-Rich Phone Systems At A Low Cost

A hosted phone system gives you the capacity to add on plenty of exciting features to enhance your business’ profile and customer service at a very low cost compared to adding these features to a traditional phone system.

For example, you can add a virtual receptionist to take messages when you aren’t available, you can create a memorable branded number, add a freephone number and create a custom hold message/music (among many other amazing features).

These features are worth a lot individually and adding these to a traditional phone system could prove extremely costly and time-consuming – however, these can be added to your hosted phone system with the minimum of fuss and cost.

Protection In The Event Of A Disaster

Disasters can strike at any time and businesses should be prepared if they don’t want a costly bill afterwards. If your premises or phone system is lost to some kind of disaster, you will be able to access all your data and customer information right away through an online portal, and will be able to make and receive calls through any devices you need to, so even in the event of something going wrong business can continue as normal.

There are plenty of ways a hosted phone system can save your business money and help you to make more money. From amazing features to stopping the need for costly office premises, switching to a hosted phone system could be just the boost your business needs to grow.

To find out more about hosted phone systems, contact a Solutions Consultant on [email protected] or 1888-859-0450

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4 Ways A Free Phone Number Can Improve Customer Service

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

November 20, 2019

4 mins read eye

Table of content

A free phone number is an ideal way to break down barriers between you and your customers and ensure you can always give them the best possible service. If you have a premium number and your competitor has a free phone number, you may find valuable customer enquiries going to your competitors; something which a hosted phone system can help avoid.

We’ve put together four ways in which a free phone number can help elevate your customer service to the next level.

Free phone numbers help improve customer engagement

A free phone number makes your business much more accessible to customers, encouraging them to actively engage with your brand as they have nothing to lose.

Opening up these lines of communication means that customers with issues are more likely to pick up the phone and give your business the chance to resolve them, giving less opportunity for negative reviews or customers being left with bad feelings when not being able to get their issue with your product/service resolved.

A free phone number shows that you value your customer communications, and that your business actively encourages customer engagement – during the customer journey, ease of communication and finding information is a crucial part of the decision process so a free phone number could be the deciding factor between you and another company.

With increased customer engagement from a free phone number, you’ll have even more opportunities to build rapport and create loyal, repeat customers who recommend you to their friends and business associates; just from something as simple as a telephone number.

Build trust between business and customer

Potential clients or customers probably won’t know much about your business when they first come across your website/adverts, so getting across your business’ ethos and purpose quickly and efficiently is essential to capture customer’s attention and encourage them to enquire.

A free phone number is viewed by customers as professional and trustworthy, so why would you not add one to your phone system?

If you are competing with larger national businesses for clients, then a free phone number can increase trust in your brand and encourage customers to call. This then gives you plenty of opportunities to deliver excellent customer service each time a customer call.

By putting customer’s minds at ease with a free phone number and making them feel secure with your lines of communication is already giving a great impression of your business to customers and giving them great customer service at the same time.

Free phone numbers are easy to recall for customers

Your customers and clients want to be able to get in touch in the simplest way possible, and are usually busy and short of time. A free phone number is much easier for them to remember quickly, saving them the time and effort of having to search around for the correct number to reach you.

With hosted phone systems, you can add as many extensions as you want to your hosted phone system so calls can easily be transferred to the correct department in your business with no extra effort from the customer – they can simply dial your free phone number, choose an option and get in touch with your customer service team.

This ease of communication gives a great impression of your business to customers as a business who really care about giving customers the best possible experience.

Free phone numbers show your customers you’re willing to invest in customer service

Having a free phone number means that customers incur no costs when speaking with your customer service team but shows them in no uncertain terms that you are willing to invest your money into receiving their calls. The fact that you are willing to invest in your customer service speaks volumes to customers, making them much more likely to call your company and give you their business.

With your business spending a relatively small amount taking these calls, you can potentially gain much more business as a result of the improved service – meaning you will have a great return on your investment and customers will be more likely to recommend you to their friends and business associates.

Overall, a free phone number can take your customer service to the next level. Showing customers you care enough about the service they receive to take any cost away from them and open up all lines of communication so they can reach you with ease. If customer service is your business’ priority, a free phone number is a great way to elevate your service and enhance your brand – this can be done quickly and easily with a hosted phone system.

To find out more about hosted phone systems and see how a free phone number could enhance your customer service, call a solutions consultant at 0800-084-3663.

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How HR Department can Enhance Hiring Process with IVR?

Acefone Editor

Author

IVR Service

November 19, 2019

4 mins read eye

Table of content

The consistent growth of worldwide interactive voice response (IVR) market suggests enterprises from various industries leveraging the automated telephony system to accelerate customer service delivery and reduce the customer service cost. An IVR system helps businesses to automate customer service delivery by interacting with callers through both voice and DTMF tones. The self-help options provided by IVR system allows callers to collect information, accomplish routine tasks, and resolve customer service issues on their own. At the same time, the IVR solution enhances first call resolution by transferring the incoming call to the best-suited department, employee or extension.

IVR system also enables businesses to simplify and streamline important operations like human resources (HR). Many businesses already use IVR services to boost various services provided by the HR department – recruitment, employee relationship management, and job analysis. They further customise the IVR to automate other HR operations. The HR departments can use IVR service to automate and modernize the hiring process in a number of ways. Let us look at 9 ways in which IVR systems can modernize the hiring process.

1. Organize Walk-in Interviews

Often enterprises organize walk-in interviews to hire skilled employees in a short span of time. It is important to make it easy for candidates to access important information beforehand. This ensures that only eligible and skilled candidates show up for walk-in interviews. Many enterprises take advantage of IVR solutions to enable candidates to access the information required for attending the walk-in interview.

2. Organize Multiple Job Interviews

It becomes difficult for companies to provide correct information to the candidates while conducting interviews for multiple job openings. They can solve this problem with the help of multi-level IVR systems. The candidates can get the required information by navigating through the self-help options provided in the system. It is important to mindfully design an IVR for its success.

3. Optimize Data

Collecting, storing and organizing candidate’s data is a lengthy and time-consuming yet unavoidable task that every HR needs to perform. All these 3 tasks can be easily put on autopilot my making use of IVR service. Companies can collect all the required information from the candidate through multi-level IVR system that will also help in easily organizing the data. All this can be performed without needing any human interference.

4. Accelerate Resume Screening

Sometimes organizations recruit employees for multiple posts. The HR managers need to explore ways to categorise the applicants based on specific job openings. They use resume screening as a robust technique to review candidates and shortlist the eligible ones. A free ATS resume checker can assist in this process by quickly filtering through resumes. IVR solutions also help HR professionals streamline and speed up resume screening by asking job-specific questions to the candidates, making the process more efficient. The managers can review the conversations recorded by the IVR to conduct the first round of interviews without putting extra time and effort.

5. Connect Candidates to the Right HR Executive

Multiple corresponding interviews are a common thing for today’s companies. While the method can be time and cost-effective it can sometimes lead to a few problems. Humans are prone to errors and can get confused while communicating to candidates. This small mix-up can lead to major consequences. Whilst using an IVR this problem can be avoided. Candidates can either be provided information through the IVR.

6. Convey Written Test Results

Most organisations these days shortlist talented candidates by conducting written tests initially. A candidate needs to technical and HR round interviews only after passing the written test. IVR service helps the HR department to convey written test results to candidates automatically. A candidate can know the written test results simply by selecting the appropriate self-service option provided by the IVR solution.

7. Identify Areas of Improvement

In addition to measuring the performance of recruitment programs, the HR managers must focus on establishing an effective recruitment process. They cannot make the recruitment process effective without identifying the areas of improvement. The IVR solutions help HR professionals to identify the measure required to boost the recruitment process by recording every incoming call. The decision-makers can review the recorded conversations to decide how to keep the recruitment process effective in the long run.

In a Nutshell

In addition to modernizing HR operations, cloud-based IVR solutions enable businesses to set up HR call centers without incurring huge infrastructural cost. A business can easily modernize and streamline important functions provided by the HR department by customizing and extending the cloud-based IVR services.

Reach out to us to know more.

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5 Benefits of Cloud Call Center for Travel Industry

Ratnam Sinha

Author

Contact Center

6 mins read eye

Table of content

Travelling has been on the rise for the past few decades. It has become more of a hobby for many people nowadays. While on the one hand, a greater number of people are willing to travel, on the other hand, the travel and hospitality industry is experiencing a boom!

According to Adobe Digital Insights, the travel industry is expected to hit $98.02 billion this year. Thus, the industry is growing at a rapid rate, and the need to upgrade your business to stay in the competition is increasing.

Gone are the days when if someone wanted to travel, they would go to an agency and explore their brochure. Now, all that information is available on the web. As the reach of the consumer rises, the competition in the industry also increases. But what exactly do you need to connect better with your business prospects? A simple answer to this is getting a cloud-based call center for your business. But before we get to the benefits of it, let’s first try to understand what the traveller wants and why a cloud call center is beneficial for the business.

What Today’s Traveller Need?

These days, customers don’t visit a travel agency and book tickets or do inquires physically, they do it online, or over a phone call.

For many people, travel has become second nature to them. It means that the customers want more in-depth information about the service that they are going to get. Although there are many options available on websites for different travel packages, and the do-it-yourself websites are also available, they are time-consuming. It takes a lot of time to browse through the websites searching for the perfect package for their travel needs.

The customers are looking for a more convenient and faster way to plan their travels. They need to talk to someone who has more expertise in the industry and who can build a good package for them. This is where the role of agents comes in. They provide the best advice and make the research work easier for the traveller.

If you are still in doubt about why the travel and hospitality industry needs a cloud call center, here are the top five benefits that it offers.

1. Enhanced Communication

It is important for the traveller to get as much information as possible before deciding on a travel package. Although a lot of information is available there on the website that he can browse through, but nothing compares to having a conversation with a real person.

An efficient call center agent knows how to convince a customer. Before planning a trip, the customer would want to explain all the possible packages he can get. An agent can help him pick the best deal according to his requirements and budget, and a customer appreciates that.

2. Better Customer Service

The travel and hospitality industry thrives on good customer service. Successful hotels, airlines, and agencies offer a superior customer experience. Travellers today tend to connect on various communication channels to get the information.

With a cloud-based call center you can have omnichannel integration to serve your customers better.

Also, customers connect to the support center for multiple reasons like to get real-time updates on their bookings, get expert advice, get any issue solved, etc. Being always available to cater to the client’s need give them an optimum customer experience.

A client always looks for getting real-time updates for his bookings, which you can provide with a cloud call center.
When the customer gets a great experience with a company, they often come back for future bookings and even recommend it to others, which is of great importance for the business as the competition is rising each day and every new customer count.

3. Increased Productivity

With a cloud-hosted call center, you can keep track of all the calls. This will indeed help you draw out better marketing campaigns for your business.

With more satisfied customers, productivity is bound to increase. A traveller who has had a good experience before will return to the same company when he decides to make new plans. As he has already had all his requirements fulfilled, he will have a higher trust value for your organization.

Moreover, he will recommend it to other people willing to travel. With a hosted call center, agents can also work remotely. As long as they have access to the internet, they can use all the features of the cloud call center on various devices. With such flexibility, they spend more time with the customer dealing with their problems.

4. Saving Customer’s Time

Always keep in mind is that a customer is calling because he doesn’t want to put in hours into browsing the website for the ideal package for him. Thus, valuing the customer’s time is very important.

With a cloud call center, it is possible to provide quick and efficient solutions. If you integrate a CRM software with your hosted phone system, the agents will get all the necessary information about the client he’s dealing with.

When the agents have relevant data about the customer, they can add a personal touch to the service which the client appreciates. Additionally, the agent will not be wasting time gathering basic information about the customer because he will always have them on screen. Thus, saving the customer a lot of time.

The booking becomes easier for the customer over the call as they don’t have to search through the website looking for the right plan, but the agent will guide them to the ideal package for their travel needs.

5. Improved Features

Getting a cloud-hosted call center means you can fully utilize all the features of the cloud like IVR, integration with different software, multichannel communication, high scalability and portability, etc.

Furthermore, you can save all your data on the cloud, which means you will never have to worry about losing the data of even a single customer. You can provide omnichannel communication to your clients so they can connect with you through any communication media they prefer, making you always available to connect with them, improving productivity.

Expanding or relocating your travel business will be uncomplicated. As hosted call centers do not require any hardware, you will not only save money but will always be ready to move or grow whenever you want.

Conclusion

The travel and hospitality industry is evolving rapidly. As the world is moving towards digitization, the clients are going to demand even more personalization in the future. To keep up with the pace, the travel industry needs to adapt to new technology to stay in the competition. Providing your customers with multichannel communication and quick service will lead to great customer service. With a cloud call center, you can drive your business to success!

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

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Ratnam Sinha

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Ratnam is an SEO enthusiast and content writer working as a Digital Marketer with Acefone. He is fond of traveling and new experiences. He is a huge Marvel fan and is always open to learning.

Top 9 Customer Service Methods To Make Your Business Stand Out

Swastika Dhakal

Author

Operations

November 18, 2019

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Do you think that you will stand out from your competitors by following the same business strategy as theirs’? There are thousands of businesses that offer the same products or services like yours. But the challenge is, how can you make your business stand out from your competitors? What extra mile can you go for your customers so that they choose you?

If you want to start a business and are afraid of its survival or if you already have a business but can’t figure out how to stand firm against your competitors, this infographic will help you.

9 Ways to make Your Business Stand Out From Competition - Infographic

Let’s explore in detail.

1. Be Different from Others

In order to innovate, the first thing that you should do is to focus on what additional features you can add to your products or services that others are already providing.

Ask yourself a question – Why would people choose your business over the established and well-known brands?

If you have to offer the same as others, then there will be no differentiating factor. Lack of individuality or uniqueness is one of the reasons why many businesses fail. Your unique individuality will grab customer’s attention towards you.

2. Excellent Customer Service

HubSpot research states that 93% of customers are more likely to repurchase with companies that offer excellent customer service.

Customers are more likely to be a client of a business that delivers 24/7 excellent customer support. It is completely false if one thinks that a business requires customer service only for sales. Your customers will need support even after they will buy product or service from you.

Contact centers help deliver personalised assistance to the customers before purchase and can address the after-sales issues.

3. Connect with your Customers

Every business looks for a steady customer base; thus, it is essential to connect and start communication with your probable customers, and it is equally important to stay connected with existing customers as well.

Social media is a great platform for you to stay connected with customers. Respond to comments immediately as it will show that you value their thoughts and suggestions. If a comment is negative, understand the customer issue empathetically.

Also, cloud communication such as hosted phone system and toll free numbers can give you the better mobility and flexibility to better connect with your customers.

4. Identify your Audience

If you run a service-based business and you are targeting everyone, then you are actually serving no one. For a business of this type, it is necessary that you narrow down your target audience and focus on the right audience.

Hence, clearly define your target audience so that you don’t waste your time and efforts on customers who don’t fall in the domain of your business.

5. Stick to What you Claim

Offering guarantee attracts customers, but you have to be careful with it, do not make false promises if you are not confident about your potential already. When you fail to fulfil your commitments, customers will lose trust in you, and you also lose a loyal customer.

Sometimes when you fail to meet the claims you make, for example, if you claim a one-day delivery and aren’t able to do so, then it’s better to reach out to the customer and honestly accept your fault. There are fewer chances that the customer might continue with your services but ignoring and lying will make the condition even worse.

6. Introduce Valuable Deals

We all are familiar with the power; the word “SALE” has on us. Words like discount, limited, guaranteed, and free attracts customers. Provide your customers with valuable deals that they can’t turn down.

Create valuable deals that the customers will enjoy and simultaneously ensuring that your business still makes a profit.

7. Pricing Matters

As much as the quality of a product or service matters, so does value for money matters. It is not about offering your products or services at a lower price than your competitor’s, but what matters is: Is it worth the price?

If your services are as good as your competitors and you are offering them at a better price, then customers will not let go off this deal.

8. Be Innovative

The best way to stand out from others and get attention is by discovering or innovating new technology, products, or services. Trust your employees and give them a chance to come up with new ideas.

Assign research work to them, who knows if one might suggest a brilliant idea. To be innovative, you have to come out of your comfort zone. A spark for learning and discovering should be present in a business. Innovation does not mean discovering; it can be an idea that brings something new on the table, which adds value to the product or service.

9. Act of Social Cause

Sharing a little from your profit can help change the world. Many businesses have started donating a part of their revenue to social causes. This also makes customers want to join you in a good cause by purchasing products from your business.

What do you think about these tips? Please share in the comment section below.

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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Swastika Dhakal

Author

Swastika Dhakal is working with the Digital Marketing team at Acefone. She is interested in technology and likes to write on it. She loves to explore historical places, as well.

How To Improve Customer Service In 2024: 10 Easy Ways

Swastika Dhakal

Author

Operations

6 mins read eye

Table of content

A business runs through its customers. Customers must be the top priority of any business organisation. Customer service helps in achieving customer’s trust by filling the communication gap between the business organisations and its customers.

Customer service has evolved over the last decade by the introduction of various technologies like contact center software, IVR, and features like auto attendant, call transfer, and voicemail to email. If you are running on outdated trends and technology, then you might soon lose your potential customers.

It may lead customers to look for products or services from your competitors who are providing better customer service. No business would ever want that. Quality customer service is the one that respects and values the time of its customers.

Customers nowadays consider the quality of customer service as one of the factors to choose their services from a business. Your product or price is not the only deciding factor for the final purchase from your customers. Customers look for before and after-sales support as well.

It’s 2024, and if you are still practising the traditional methods of customer service, then It’s the right time to adopt new technologies and ways to improve the quality of your service.

In this blog, you will find the techniques that will help your business to stand out from the rest. After all, seamless customer service leads to excellent customer experience.

Here are ten strategies for you to improve your customer service in 2024.

1. Shift To Cloud

Cloud contact center has minimised the need for maintaining a technical infrastructure of office space. Agents can connect with customers from anywhere.

Cloud contact centers support remote login and agents can deal with customer queries on the move. It improves the agent’s productivity. Such facility helps them to work from home during bad weather days or during other unfavourable situations.

You can also ensure 24/7 support for your customers if your business is spread across different countries. With the help of remote login, there is always an agent available for the customers with different business hours.

2. Respond On Social Media

“You can use social media to turn strangers into friends, friends into customers, and customers into salespeople.” – Seth Godin

With the increasing popularity of social media and the power that it holds, business is also taking a step ahead in connecting with customers through it.

According to a report by ValueWalk, 95% of customers’ complaints on social media don’t reach companies. It clearly suggests that the companies are not able to respond to the customers efficiently. Any company that responds to the customers is undoubtedly ahead of others.

Consumers share their reviews or experience with the company on different social media platforms. Some of these are complaints regarding how the business’s customer service has treated them and have not solved or fixed their problems.

The company needs to address them by apologising to them and solving their problems or queries without any further delay.

3. Provide Excellent User Experience

A user-friendly experience is way more result-oriented than a complex one. Your website should be as user-friendly as it can be. Visitors won’t like it if they have to invest time and effort in finding a click-to-call button due to slow page loading.

Bad user experience may make them unwilling to visit your website again; also, there are high chances of conversions from an excellent user experience.

4. Invest In Self Service Tools

Customers expect an immediate response. Some of the frequent problems do not really require human intervention. Self -Service tools such as chatbots and IVR not only save money but also minimise human effort and time.

These AI-based tools provide customers with faster and round the clock support. As per the CNBC report, chatbots are expected to cut business costs by $8 billion by 2022.

5. Include Real-time Assistance

Live chat is one of the most preferred channels to communicate with customers. It helps to guide and provide the customers with the required information. Agents can resolve any confusion or queries of the customers right away.

It also increases the chances of conversion of sales. Co-browsing is another option that offers live support. Through it, agents can access the customer’s screen and solve their problems in real-time. Customers can only enable the pages that they want to share with agents. Hence, it is safe and secure.

6. Observe Customer Feedback

Do not fear to provide your customers to share their feedback. In fact, feedbacks if carefully observed and implemented can help your business for the better. It helps you to know the area which requires improvement.

It develops trust in customers by making them feel that you want to resolve their problems. Take negative comments positively. Address them right away.

7. Refer & Earn

“If you want more customers, then be so good that your current customers tell others.”

– Shep Hyken

You can earn more customers through referrals. Your existing customers will earn a reward through it by referring it to their friends and family. It is a tried and tested method of getting new customers.

Loyal customers are likely to refer in return for the reward. Also, people do believe in word-of-mouth, especially getting the reference from people they trust. The customers earned from referrals are more likely to be loyal, just like your existing customers.

8. Cross-Sell Wherever Possible

Cross-Sell is the best way to increase your sales without spending costs on disinterested people. It is an act of encouraging customers to purchase related items or services along with the product of their interest.

It is better to market your products through cross-selling as it is relevant than to make calls randomly to people who are not the target customers. Make sure to do this practice in a healthy manner. Agents should have the right skills and information for it.

9. Make Use Of CRM Software

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a software that helps to manage interactions and maintain relationships between a company and its customers. It is helpful in many ways, like tracking leads and provides insights into the customer’s journey.

You can efficiently use this information to understand their needs and adopt the right measures to accelerate sales. It stores customer details in a database and is accessible from anywhere and anytime. It boosts agent productivity as it eliminates manual tasks, and the saved time can be spent on other important activities.

10. Do Not Afraid To Experiment

Try and test every trend & technology and then implement the one which works for your business. Innovate, experiment, and do not afraid to take risks.

You might make mistakes, but it will help you to learn and grow. Keep track of your competitors and see what they are doing differently from you. Plan how you can stand out from them and what more can you offer to your customers.

We hope that the above ten tips will improve your customer service in 2024. Keep your customers happy and lead your business to success.

Do you have anything to add here? Please share in the comments section below.

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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Swastika Dhakal

Author

Swastika Dhakal is working with the Digital Marketing team at Acefone. She is interested in technology and likes to write on it. She loves to explore historical places, as well.

What is a Virtual Phone Number and How to Get One in India?

Acefone Editor

Author

Contact Center

November 7, 2019

5 mins read eye

Table of content

Customer behaviour has drastically changed over the years. Consumer expectations have grown tremendously, and therefore, price is no longer the only differentiating factor—communication has become an integral part of customer experience.

In this article, we will discuss the main points to keep in mind while procuring an Indian Virtual Number. But first, let’s understand the functioning of virtual numbers and how they fit into a business.

As the name suggests, a virtual number has no physical identity attached to it. When deployed intelligently, these numbers aid in revenue generation and improve customer loyalty. Unlike wired telephony services, virtual mobile numbers operate through the Internet and can route calls to a variety of telephone numbers like landlines and mobile.

Google’s recent market research found that 31% of customers will definitely call businesses while making a purchase. Even though customers are willing to pay more for a better experience, they won’t hesitate to abandon the purchase if they face poor interaction.

Presently, Indian businesses employ centralized virtual numbers to boost their communication and manage high volumes of incoming calls economically.

Cloud telephony offers a wide range of solutions and products. Since the cloud isn’t limited to the product portfolio, it offers a myriad of features alongside virtual number solutions. An efficient Interactive Voice Response (IVR) can be easily paired up with your number. This is the perfect combination for any size and type of business.

Although virtual numbers are generally packed with features, the variety offered fluctuates across service providers. Needless to say, businesses are advised to opt for numbers that present robust features like IVR integration, auto-attendant, comprehensive reporting and automatic SMS alerts.

Virtual phone numbers are easy to procure and easier to implement with the ‘right’ service provider. Here’s what you need to look for in your service provider:

Assess The Type of Virtual Numbers

Cloud telephony providers offer a variety of contact solutions—local, toll-free, and vanity or premium numbers. Local numbers help you overcome geographical barriers by creating a presence in varied locations across the globe. For example, you can buy a local number for Rajasthan while operating your business from Delhi.

Further, customers are motivated to call toll-free numbers as they are free of cost; the charges are borne by the business instead. These numbers usually begin with “1800” and are deployed specifically to encourage people to call businesses. Vanity or premium numbers have an even greater recall value. For example, 9988776655 is a promising number, albeit at a higher price.

Focus on Maximum Automation

The main objective while searching for a suitable service is always for smoothened workflows and accelerated automation. Therefore, your virtual number solution should also offer features such as IVR or automatic SMS alerts, allowing you to gather information and resolve queries. Moreover, the intelligent AI can aid in first call resolution through skill-based routing. With a multitude of features available, why settle for mediocre service? Make sure you opt for a combination of power-packed features for streamlined operations.

Aim for Better Call Management

If your virtual number solution is packaged with the right features, it acts as a sophisticated call-management suite that can better equip you to manage heavy call flows. A robust IVR lets you transfer, route and forward incoming calls in multiple ways—saving your agents’ time and energy. Managers can also evaluate customer interactions using the analytical dashboard, and thereby, aim for higher service quality.

Explore Ways to Track Missed Calls

Every missed call is a missed opportunity for your small business telecommunication solutions. While comparing service providers, you should cross-check if the solution is backed by a tracking tool for missed calls. Coupled with automated SMS service, you can receive timely intimation of missed calls and improve your communications.

Employ Comprehensive Reporting

With the advent of omnichannel customer communication, call analytics have become imperative for smoothening your business processes. The dashboard allows you to access every little detail of the virtual number, including call recordings, missed calls and even the quality of answered calls. It also lets supervisors assess their agents’ interactions in real-time, and through comprehensive reports that provide useful insights to improve CX.

Continue Using Your Existing Number

The option to convert your existing business number into a virtual number helps achieve a better work-life balance, and also creates a strong brand identity that customers feel confident to reach out to. Additionally, you save on the marketing cost for a new number and you’re able to maintain a certain volume of calls since your number is already saved by the customers. Multiple extensions can be added to the line to streamline the channels further.

Pay Attention to Post-Purchase Support and Assistance

Even with a variety of features in your favour, customer support remains a crucial differentiator for your brand. Offer unlimited customer support by using multiple communication channels—calls, emails and chats. A pleasant CX also implies maximum uptime, ideally no less than 99.99%.

Summing Up

Given the huge demand for cloud telephony solutions in the marketplace, there’s a wide range of service providers to choose from. You can benefit from a virtual number in many ways. However, it is imperative to mindfully choose the best-suited solution since it will act as a single point of contact for your business and facilitate centralized communication. In addition to features, the appearance of your virtual number is also a vital point to be kept in mind while opting for one.

Discover more about virtual numbers with Acefone.

If you're interested in improving your business communication solution

Give us a call on

1888-859-0450

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Acefone Editor

Author

6 Ways How Omnichannel Communication Provide Your Customers A Better Experience

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1. Be Different from Others

2. Excellent Customer Service

3. Connect with your Customers

4. Identify your Audience

5. Stick to What you Claim

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7. Pricing Matters

8. Be Innovative

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1. Shift To Cloud

2. Respond On Social Media

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4. Invest In Self Service Tools

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7. Refer & Earn

8. Cross-Sell Wherever Possible

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