CRM News: Customer Service

Speak to Me: Natural Language and CRM Applications

Friday - May 9, 2008

If you could clone your best agent hundreds or thousands of times over, you could ensure that each and every customer calling your contact center receives the same high-quality, friendly and informed response. In reality, natural language speech self-service is probably the closest and best alternative to delivering cost-effective and customer-friendly service -- especially when the product or services mix is complex. When properly designed and implemented, natural language speech recognition can reinforce your brand message and help lock in customer loyalty. [More...]

Optimizing the Contact Center as a Profit Center

Thursday - May 8, 2008

Traditionally, the contact center has been a cost center. However, with the contact center transforming into a profit center, the selling of products and services has emerged as an opportunity for the center to improve agent and customer interaction. Yet the challenge will be balancing customer satisfaction goals and driving profits. [More...]

Confessions of a (Former) IT Scoundrel

Tuesday - May 6, 2008

Thinking of doing business with my company? You should proceed with caution. I've made mistakes, and some of my clients have suffered because of them. My 10-person firm sells popular business software and then provides services such as consulting, training, support and customizations. We have more than 500 clients. Most are happy, but some are not. The unhappy ones are not to blame. [More...]

Meltdown to Breakout: Financial Services Overhaul Customer Service

Sunday - May 4, 2008

Who would have thought the meltdown in financial services could fuel the overhaul of the industry's customer service departments? Actually, it's just one of several factors driving companies to put customer service initiatives on the fast track in pursuit of compelling business advantage. [More...]

Better Banking Through Technology

Saturday - May 3, 2008

Teller-line capture. Customer relationship management software. Real-time alerts. Threat detection and recovery, branch automation, in all its flavors, is here to stay, and community bankers are increasingly embracing it. Atlantic Southern Bank, decided to automate the way it reviewed its financial numbers by signing on with Banker's Dashboard. The results were immediate. [More...]

The Shopping Cart Experience: Some E-Tailers Just Don't Get It

Friday - May 2, 2008

I am an unadulterated, unabashed shopper. I shop online and offline. I window shop, make lists of things I would like to buy, and am on intimate terms with the latest online retailers, from Amazon and Endless.com to Woot.com, eBay and beyond. The frustrations the typical e-commerce sites present when it comes to the checkout line are many, but easily rectifiable. [More...]

When Customers Recycle Electronics, Sam's Club Picks Up the Tab

Thursday - May 1, 2008

Sam's Club warehouse stores are starting a new online recycling program for electronics that will pay for some of the items that customers want to discard. Under the program by Sterling, Va.-based New Customer Service Companies, Sam's Club will help its members dispose of older small- to medium-size electronics. The company has a link to the program on its Web site. [More...]

Content Integration: Cure for the Common CRM

Thursday - May 1, 2008

Pharmaceutical companies manage large quantities of content about their product lines. However, unlike other industries, the challenge of managing this information is exacerbated by regulatory and compliance demands and the need to manage information from multiple "touch points" across a diverse customer base including patients, healthcare providers and others. [More...]

eFashion Solutions Chief Ed Foy on Giving Customers the CEO Treatment

Wednesday - April 30, 2008

It's all about image in the fashion world. An apparel or accessory designer's brick-and-mortar stores must appear ever so alluring to the passerby, and its magazine ads should leave readers pining for the latest fashions. Then there's its online store, which visitors expect to be faultless and continually impress them with eye-catching design, an endless inventory and top-notch security. [More...]

Yahoo Rings Up Jajah to Manage Messenger Phone Functions

Tuesday - April 29, 2008

Yahoo is outsourcing the Internet telephone functions of its instant messaging program to the startup Jajah. Jajah will connect the calls to and from users of Yahoo Messenger and handle billing and customer care, the startup said Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not announced. [More...]

Call Center Comeback Could Be Springboard for IT Boom

Monday - April 28, 2008

A striped beach ball bounces over cubicles at ListenUp Contact Solutions while workers talk on telephone headsets, some walking, others leaning into computer screens. Suspended from the ceiling are two big traffic lights. Yellow's lit, meaning call volume is high enough that workers should ask before taking a break. Green means just go, red means don't even think about it. [More...]

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