Category: Customer Experience

The monthly consumer confidence ratings published by the British Retail Consortium have not made for pretty reading in recent months. Time after time, the announcement has seen retail sales slide. It’s presenting a gloomy picture for an industry still finding its feet after years of pandemic adjustments.   Yet, as we approach peak season, companies need…
The post The significance of retention and delivery during economic crises appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.

The retail sector was perhaps one of the most affected in terms of employee turnover within the last two years. From transitioning from brick-and-mortar, to eCommerce, to struggling with staff retention, retail business owners need to start isolating the gaps in their workflows. It’s time to notice if a toxic working culture could be the…
The post How to ensure your retail employees don’t work in a toxic culture appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.

Cars aren’t like companies. Most cars on the road will be sold, again and again, until they end up as parts. Companies usually start and end with their founders.

Sometimes, a small, stable company is sold to an individual operator, usually for a multiple of the expected annual profit. It’s an investment in future cash flows, but it can be fraught, because, unlike a car, you can’t take a company for a test drive, and they usually need more than a periodic tune-up and charging station visit.

The market for used companies isn’t as efficient or reliable as the one for used cars, as surprising as that might sound. The individual who seeks to buy and operate a used company is rare, and doesn’t often have access to significant capital.

The company sales we hear about tend to be more strategic, where the buyer believes that the purchased company offers synergy (1 + 1 = 3) with their existing businesses. Perhaps the buyer has a salesforce, investment capital, systems or structures that make the combination of the companies far more successful than they would be alone.

One way to look at this is the think of the assets you’ve built. They could include:

Patents, software and proprietary systemsMachinery, leases, inventory and other measurable assetsBrand reputation (including shelf space at retailers)Permission assets (which prospects and customers want to hear from you)Loyal, trained staff

More elusive than some of these are things like:

Reliable, turnkey business model with low dramaNetwork effect, proven and workingForward momentum (the idea that tomorrow is almost always better than yesterday around here)Competitive threat (most big acquirers are simply finding it easier to buy a competitor than compete with them)Story to investors (if the dilution of acquiring a company is less than the stock price will rise, the acquisition is free. See Cisco’s history for details)Defensive bolstering (when a big company’s competition enters a new field, buying a smaller entrant in that new field is one way to jumpstart the organization’s forward motion)

Some of these things can be predicted and patiently built. Others are easy to see after the fact, but they’re more opportunistic than intentional.

Perhaps the single best indicator of whether a company will be considered for a strategic acquisition is that it has investors and board members who have done this before. Because these acquisitions are rarely simply rational calculations on a spreadsheet, there is often a need for cultural fit and a shared reality distortion field to create the conditions for them to get put on the agenda.

Someone said that to me the other day and it was heartbreaking.

The number of tasks in our culture that require someone who was born with off-the-charts talent is small indeed.

Just about everything else we need people to do is the result of effort, practice and care. It’s true that variations of that work are easier for some folks, but no one finds all of it easy going.

The correct thing to say is, “I don’t care that much.” I don’t care enough to do the reading, to fail along the way, to show up, to make a promise, to learn as I go, to confront failure, to get better at the work.

All of that might be true.

But you’re almost certainly smart enough.

When abundance showed up, first in manufactured goods, then in information, it all seemed like a simple win. More of what we want, thanks.

But of course, more of too many things is too much.

We are leaving the age of information and entering the age of choice.

Not just choosing what we’ll consume, but who we will become. Who will we connect with, lead, trust, honor, dignify, isolate or believe?

And how will we choose to walk through the world and what will we leave behind…

My boyfriend and I went to jersey mike’s tonight and the employee greeted us and we said hi. She was helping another customer and asked if she had any fun plans this weekend? The customer was in a wheel chair and was older and didn’t quite understand and said “I’m not sure what you’re trying to ask.” It was a little awkward but my boyfriend and I were talking about his trip coming up and I gave her my order and the whole time she made my sandwich she stared at me and sneered/ smirked. I would look away and talk to my boyfriend about very casual things like the cookies there or something about our cat and everytime I looked at sandwich or at her she would have this nasty expression. Afterwards she asked me if I was ok. I speak calmly and neutrally, pretty laidback and this hasn’t happened to me before. I said yea and she stood by the other cashier while she rang us out and stared. This isn’t a big deal but it was an uncomfortable experience to say the least. submitted by /u/blackwildfire777 [link] [comments]

On Wednesday 19th October at 3pm GMT, CXM have the privilege of hosting a free online webinar with Webex by Cisco. This exciting new learning opportunity will be looking at ‘How conversational messaging is transforming CX’, with speakers David Creasey-Benjamin from Webex CPaaS Solution, and Ephraim Muvirimi, Global Contact Center Lead at MSI Reproductive Choices. What is conversational messaging?…
The post Upcoming webinar with Webex by Cisco – looking at conversational messaging for CX appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.

Happy Friday! We’re bringing you the latest roundup of industry news. This week, we’re looking at Cisco’s newest report on consumer privacy, new tools to enhance customer service calls within the call and contact centre industries, Optimizely’s new tool for customer personalisation, and the latest updates from the cost-of-living crisis’ business impacts. Key news In case…
The post This week in CX: Cisco, Royal Mail, and Optimizely appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.

That’s what it said on the side of the tractor-trailer on the highway. Since 1924, they’re almost 100 years old.

But it’s unlikely that it’s everyone’s favorite.

Being everyone’s favorite is such an attractive goal, and almost impossible to achieve.

Ask someone about their favorite pie and they’ll talk about the one they ate as a kid, or one that a grandparent bakes, or perhaps, one from the bakery down the street.

To collate all of these favorites into one singular popularity contest is unlikely to yield much success.

It might be America’s most convenient pie, or the bestselling one. It might be the best value or the easiest to obtain. But none of those things mean “favorite.”

Often, when we set out to do our work, we focus on popularity and breadth at the expense of the magic and singular experience that could create a favorite. Something we’d miss if it weren’t there.

I wonder if seeking to be someone’s favorite is more satisfying than trying to be popular to everyone.

I’m sure that if you want to be the most popular, the way to do that is not to seek to be the favorite of everyone (unless that is a side effect of being popular.)

Reducing call center shrinkage sounds like a no-brainer. If you schedule enough staff, give them the tools to do their job, and ensure they stick to a schedule, your problem is solved, right? Not so fast. For starters, everyone knows call center agents work very hard — but no one can be at their desk 24/7.
At any given moment, your scheduled staff may be attending a meeting, taking a break, or arriving late because their kid missed the bus and they had to drive them to school. Life happens. And a certain amount of shrinkage is baked in the cake for every business. But when shrinkage levels get too high, it’s a problem you’ll need to address.

DID YOU KNOW?
A shrinkage rate of 30-35% is considered to be acceptable in the contact center industry, and you should plan your staffing with this number in mind.

Why Does Shrinkage Matter?
When shrinkage starts to creep up, it can create a domino effect that has a negative impact on your call center operations. If too few staff are answering phones and helping customers, the agents who are at their desks are affected.  Stress levels go up and KPIs like First Call Resolution and Average Handle Time are impacted. When agents can’t do their best work, the customer experience suffers.
If you’ve staffed appropriately but shrinkage is still a problem, these tips can help turn your ship around.
What is Call Center Shrinkage?
6 Ways to Reduce Call Center Shrinkage
1. Measure Your Shrinkage
First up, you need to calculate your shrinkage rate to confirm whether your numbers are indeed too high. To calculate shrinkage in hours, you’ll need two figures:

the number of hours employees are scheduled to work in a week and;
the number of hours they spend away from their desk, for any reason, during that time.

Divide the time an employee spends doing other tasks by the total hours they were scheduled to work, and you’ve got your shrinkage rate.
Let’s say a part-time agent is scheduled for 20 hours in a week, and spends 4 hours doing other tasks: the shrinkage rate for that person is 4/20 or 20%. (Not bad.) Look at these numbers in weekly, monthly or annual blocks to spot larger or seasonal trends.
2. Track Schedule Adherence
Schedule adherence is an area where your workforce management (WFM) tools can be very helpful. You can track adherence in real-time, cross reference against other employees’ behavior, and gain a deeper understanding of factors affecting schedule adherence such as meetings running overtime or inadequate break scheduling. Share your data transparently with staff so they can be aware of their own performance—especially the pain points—and work together towards correcting them.
3. Address Absenteeism
Unplanned absences are part of your shrinkage metric. This includes agents taking unexplained leave or extended breaks, and overusing sick leave or personal days. Absenteeism can be caused by issues like work stress, employee burnout, or repeated scheduling issues. To reduce absenteeism, start with great communication. Don’t ignore unauthorized leave and be sure to discuss it with your agents immediately. This can help you address problems quickly and also identify any larger issues that may be bubbling up.  Make sure your absenteeism policy is up-to-date, and discuss it with your agents. Working to improve your workplace culture can help, too: more on that below.
4. Engage Agents and Offer Incentives
Agent engagement makes employees happy, and that’s great. But it becomes very powerful when helps agents feel involved in their company, committed to their work and enthusiastic about their role in your call center. It affects shrinkage, too. Engaged agents are more likely to be open to conversations about schedule adherence and less likely to make a habit of unplanned absences.  That’s why it’s important to prioritize agent morale by offering real incentives such as flexible work scheduling, health benefits, appropriate training and the opportunity for career advancement.  
Short-term incentives can help, too. Everyone loves winning something and call center games are a tried-and-true way of nurturing agent engagement. But if you’re offering rewards as an incentive, be sure that they are meaningful. You could also consider letting agents choose from a selection of gifts. Some ideas include:

Professional sports tickets
A spa day
The latest mobile device
Gaming systems

5. Create Excellent Work Culture
Offering a competitive salary and creating a supportive, healthy workplace that people enjoy being in goes a long way to incentivizing behavior. We’ve already discussed the merits of offering employees a health benefits package and flexible scheduling. You can also work to improve the physical workplace with upgrades like improved lighting, ergonomic chairs, and a comfortable break room.

DID YOU KNOW?:
60% of contact center agents say their companies have not given them the right tech to address CX challenges.

6. Support Agents with the Right Software
If agents have the tools they need to succeed, your KPIs will improve, and so will your shrinkage rate. It’s a simple as that. With the right technology in place, your call center can operate more efficiently, scale more easily, increase productivity, and deliver memorable customer experiences. Full-service CCaaS or Call Center as a Service software includes a suite of tools to improve CX and agent engagement. And specialized software like Fonolo Voice Call-Backs and Visual IVR are two great tools that improve agent morale and CX by helping agents deal with call spikes and offering customers the opportunity to schedule a call-back at a convenient time.The post 6 Ways to Reduce Call Center Shrinkage first appeared on Fonolo.