Pauline Ashenden's blog

Maintaining customer service levels at the busiest times of the year

Published on: November 28, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

One of the most frustrating experiences for consumers is calling a company with a query and being met with a recorded message saying 'we are experiencing high call volumes at present, please hang up and try later'. Frustration can boil over into anger if they receive the same message on numerous occasions, particularly if it includes the advice to check the company website for information ...

Online reviews and the impact on customer service

Published on: November 21, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

Since online reviews became prevalent, championed by the likes of Amazon, their impact has spread widely across multiple industries. This has been driven by three main factors:The growth of ecommerce means that consumers are increasingly buying goods that they’ve not been able to see in person, meaning that they want assurance as to product quality.It gives buyers the opportunity to benchmar...

Social customer service: the benefits and challenges

Published on: October 31, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

As multiple studies show, social media is now a key channel for customer service. A J.D. Power study found that two thirds of customers who contacted a company on social media did so for customer service. Businesses understand this, but delivering the right level of service can be a challenge, particularly when it comes to integrating with other channels and scaling to meet demand. So, what are cu...

Getting senior level buy-in for customer experience

Published on: October 08, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

Senior management in today’s businesses are now much more aware of customer experience (CX) and what it means. However, while they may increasingly understand the term and grasp its importance, ensuring that they actively support programmes designed to change and improve the customer experience in their organisation can still be a challenge.What do you need to do to get senior management buy...

Celebrating 30 years of National Customer Service Week

Published on: October 01, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

Whatever the industry, customers now have more choices than ever before. The balance of power between companies and consumer has shifted dramatically due to increased competition, the ability to share bad experiences instantly on social media as well as higher expectations of service. As a consequence, companies that have built their brands and reputations on rock solid customer service are flouri...

5 Areas to focus on for customer engagement

Published on: September 26, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

This week’s Eptica Customer Day brought together customer service professionals from multiple sectors, enabling them to compare best practice and learn from each other.  It was also a great opportunity to tap into the experience that Eptica has gained working on multichannel customer experience strategies and implementations around the world. My thanks again to all those who attended, i...

Transforming Customer Service with Technology

Published on: September 17, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

Today, businesses understand that they need to engage with customers, whatever the channel, if they want to be successful. Customers are demanding more, across every sector, and, with social media, they have a megaphone to publicise their experiences (good or bad), instantly, around the globe. The number of interactions is increasing dramatically and consumers want faster answers than ever before....

Moving from monologue to dialogue with customers

Published on: September 10, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

Organisations need to radically change how they interact with their customers proclaimed Jo Causon, CEO of the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) in a recent speech.  In her state of the nation address, she highlighted how the balance of power has shifted dramatically from companies to their customers. While many organisations see this swing as a threat, it can actually deliver benefits to t...

6 Top Trends Driving Customer Expectations

Published on: August 27, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

Every business understands that today’s customers are demanding more – and are happy to move to the competition if they don’t receive what they are looking for. However, breaking these demands down into specific areas can be difficult, so those involved with customer experience should take a look at a recent Forbes blog post by customer service expert Micah Solomon as it gives mo...

Being TRUE to your customers

Published on: August 15, 2014
Author: Pauline Ashenden - Demand Generation Manager

In increasingly competitive markets, customers look for experiences that match their expectations and needs. Essentially this means that as consumers continue to become more savvy at researching and comparing brands, companies need to realise that when it comes to customer experience, they need to create a brand promise and deliver on it. After all we live in a world filled with technology-empower...

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