Cxceed Team, Author at Cxceed

How To Collect & Use Customer Feedback To Improve Your Business

How To Collect And Use Customer Feedback To Improve Your Business

A few decades ago, if a customer had an issue, question, or complaint, they would write a letter, compile an email or call a hotline. This can now all be done within seconds through a few clicks on a social platform.

Customer feedback has never been so accessible for businesses. There are multiple ways to gain it from every customer demographic, from a Gen Z to an old age pensioner. You just need the right tools to be able to collect this feedback.

Having said this, a survey by SnappApp found that 95% of people thought that collecting and measuring their current customer data is their most significant barrier.

How is it that 95% of people feel they don't have the correct tools to gain a better understanding of their customers?

This blog aims to help that 95%.

Here are 8 ways companies can collect and use customer feedback to improve their business, whilst measuring their customer's opinion.

Build a Social Presence

Potential customers are more likely to purchase something if surrounding influencers such as family and friends are saying "Have you seen this?", "Did you see what X posted last night?", or even "Check out the deal I tagged you in on Facebook".

The more followers you have on social platforms, the more trustworthy you look, and the bigger opportunity you have to collect valuable feedback to continue your growth. It's a win-win.

Social influence can be created in multiple ways, and one of the best ways is through responding to customers via social media. Having a presence this way does leave you open to public criticism though, but you have to take the rough with the smooth.

It's a great way to interact with customers listen to their latest needs, as they're often a lot more vocal over social media.

You shouldn't be afraid to ask for feedback either - there's nothing more reassuring for a customer than when they can see a business trying to improve.

The Need For Feedback Forms

Using a feedback form can be looked at like a tennis match.

The company serves first, by sending out an initial feedback form about their company. Customers return with answers to the form, which the business can then use to adapt the service and products they provide.

The process is then repeated - send a form, receive feedback, use it to improve! Every piece of returned feedback offers you the chance to improve an aspect of your business and adapt, so it's important to be able to collect and analyse it.

To make the best use of feedback, you need also need to record customer sentiments regularly and compare results to ascertain if improvements to the Customer experience you deliver are being made. Which is why it's important to benchmark.

Sending out Benchmark Surveys, allows you to do exactly this, allowing you to track any progress made over a period of time.

Don't wait until the end-of-year review to find out your customers don't like what you're doing.

Innovate

Customers are not all 'idiotic bigots', no matter what your support staff may say or think. Some customers can come up with breakthrough innovative ideas the sort that you would be happy to pay your creative team to come up with - but for free!

A perfect example of a company using the power of the customer innovation is Dell, establishing the Dell IdeaStorm in 2007, a platform where customers could brainstorm any ideas they wanted Dell to implement into their products.

They created a platform for their customers to do all the thinking, being able to take the brilliant ideas, royalty-free, without having to give any compensation or credit to the originator!

If that isn't genius, I don't know what is. It just goes to show that it's not just your workforce that has all the good ideas.

Customers are valuable, and at the end of the day you are selling to them, so it's more than worth listening to what they have to say.

Think Big

They say focused data is better data, and I agree to some extent, but disagree in another.

Not everyone has the same opinion. Requesting small demographics can be great for micro-changes and adjustments to meet specific customers needs, but it doesn't give you the full picture.

Using feedback from a bigger catchment creates more scope for improvement, creating a flexible product/service that had many strings to its bow. It's a lot easier to spot patterns and trends when more data is collected.

Show You Listen

It's all about PR. Responding quickly to customer feedback online shows people that you care and value peoples opinion. It's one thing making a statement about how much you value feedback, it's another to actually listen and act on it.

Ask for feedback, act on it, and don't be shy about communicating that you've acted on it. Show off the fact that you listen to your customers! You'll find anyone is much more likely to give honest feedback when they know it will actually make a difference - just like it does when you ask for employee feedback.

Restoring Credibility

Fighting fire with fire doesn't work with customer feedback. A negative comment doesn't need a negative response, unless you're dbrand. Always respond, If you got it wrong apologise, If you didn't and the customer was out of order, don't be afraid to explain your side of the story, but keep it polite, short and sweet.

Negative commentary can be counterattacked by positive feedback, reversing any loss of credibility you would have received from any nasty review.

Everyone expects a company to have negative reviews, and if they don't it begins to a look a little dodgy - like you've got all your mates from the pub to leave you 5 star raving reviews! You just can't win.

Instinctively we always jump straight to the negative feedback on review sites- who doesn't love a bit of drama? However, this doesn't mean you can't show off your positive reviews and testimonials to your website. It always helps to increase credibility and trustworthiness of your products/services when you see a name or company talking about what you offer.

Explore Different Avenues

As mentioned earlier, there are multiple ways to collect customer feedback to measure your customers opinions - below are a few ways that should not be forgotten:

Email isn't dead yet. In fact, most companies still rely on email to receive customer feedback. How do you ask for customer feedback via email, or on the emails you send out? Click here to find out!
Don't be scared of social media, it isn't all full of trolls and hate. You shouldn't be reluctant to ask for feedback on all social media platforms. Want to begin asking for feedback on your content? Click here to find out how you can!
Customers are not aliens. Interact with them face-to-face, which can be done with strategies such as focus groups.
Allow for reviews on your website. This can be either for feedback on the web pages, or on the service itself! To discover how you can effectively do that, click here.
Third-party sites are a good source of reviews about your company, such as eBay or TripAdvisor. Wherever you have collect reviews and feedback from, don't be afraid to learn from it, and show it off!

The more places and areas you ask for feedback, the better the understanding you can get of your customers opinions. You can never have too much feedback!

Use Competitors as a Benchmark

A company shouldn't be embarrassed about looking at how others who are in the same field are dealing with customers.

It shouldn't be seen as copying, but as a comparison to the big hitters in your industry. Since bigger companies are much likely to take a hefty amount of abuse from customers, why not take advantage of this and see how they tackle it? There's no need to try and reinvent the wheel!

There is the urban myth of the man who worked in the fast-food industry and was tasked by his company to find the best place to put a fast food restaurant in each city. He breezed into each city, found a busy McDonald's then simply wrote a quick report recommending that they should place the restaurant near to it, and then took a few days off. Why? McDonald's spend millions on market research and seem to always be successful.

No, I'm not saying copy everything your competitor does - just use it to help influence some of your decisions whilst creating your unique customer experience. Learn what impresses your customer from the feedback collected and then try to improve on it.

Final Thoughts

Moral of the story? There's no excuse for not being able to collect feedback, use it to discover what your customers really think, and use it to make the changes your business really needs.

You can read more on collecting customer feedback via Benchmark Surveys and Customer Feedback requests by clicking here.

If you have any questions about collecting customer feedback, or have any of your own strategies, let us know in the comments below!

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Uncategorized - 09/25/2020

How Quality Assurance Can Help Manage Your Team

It really doesn't matter if you work in or around customer service, in a contact centre, or maybe in sales. When it comes down to it, nearly every job relates to customer service - everything we do is to help provide a good service to someone else.

We're all constantly searching for improvements and ways to make our jobs easier, whilst at the same time, producing better results.

If only those "Get Rich Quick" emails weren't scams...

When you don't know who your next customer is going to be, it can feel like a raffle to see who gets the next insane customer. Even when your team is going above and beyond excellent, you just need one bad day (or call) to hurt your company's reputation.

So let's see what can be done to minimise the chances of these situations happening!

1. The Importance of Customer Opinions

Discovering ways to progress your company can become difficult after a while - that's when we need to turn to our customers!

When we speak about trying to have not just good, but great customer service, it's important to analyse the small pieces of the puzzle that don't fit perfectly. Checking every piece of the puzzle (your companies' interactions) can be slow and exhausting, and the time and resources expended could be used in better areas.

That's where customers can help - but how? It's pretty straightforward, really.

Ask them for help!

Simple as that. Sometimes we try to overthink things, and forget that some more established strategies that have worked wonders still do just that.

So, we should keep using them. One of the best actions that you can take is to ask the customer for their opinion. Why do they like it? What makes it unique? What could have been done better?

To gain a better understanding, it is helpful to use Benchmark Surveys. Doing so creates a better understanding of your key areas, highlighting what needs improvement. It is recommended to do this periodically to see your progress and evolution.

Now you have an overall idea of your business from a customers' perspective. However, you'd be right in thinking that it doesn't show every error, and how you could solve it. This is where the second step begins:

2. Get Feedback For Every Interaction

Customers shape their opinions of a company based on all the interactions they have with it. They might have received an excellent product, but even the slightest fault in communication with staff can ruin the whole experience.

The opposite can also happen. Excellent customer service can turn around the disappointment created from a poor product.

Do you have the confidence that all of your staff can do the latter?

To find out for yourself, you could listen to every communication your staff have with customers, but the amount of time that it would take would be counterintuitive. That sort of job is far better suited for a robot as opposed to a human - there are better ways to spend your day.

In an ideal world, you should only have to be alerted to customer feedback that is below your standards, or that suggests they've had an 'above and beyond' experience.

You never know when this may happen, so it's important to have the ability to collect feedback after every interaction, whether it be an email, call, letter, or even a video chat.

This is where Cxceed can help, making it easy to automate these repetitive, tedious steps. It collects your customer opinions by automatically sending out feedback requests, as frequently as you like. Through this feedback and our AI, you will only see the interactions that need reviewing - from the poorest performing that will show you the areas to improve on, to the best interactions which show where you need to be.

3. Evaluate With The Team

Now you have all the information, it's time to act on it. In this step, you and your team will evaluate the highlighted communications.

How Can You Get The Most Out Of Evaluating?

Establish rules and be impartial with your team

Biased evaluations will make all your previous effort worthless, so it's vital to ensure every agent is singing from the same hymn sheet. It's unlikely that everyone will achieve this straight away, but it's part of the learning process.

After a handful of calibration sessions, you'll begin to see things move in the right direction, with closer matching scores. This will make you achieve results, whilst helping your staff understand that it is not a personal attack - making them more cooperative.

Offer transparency and be open to communication

The rules for evaluation should not be a secret document kept locked away in the office. They should be an open statement for everyone to know what you are expecting from them when evaluating.

Listen to what everyone has to say because you never know who is going to come out with the next brilliant idea. Two heads are better than one, after all.

A transparent work-environment is more likely to be a happy one, with negativity unable to hide around corners. Happier employees work better, and want success just as much as you do!

Personalised coaching and training

The way to change bad behaviours and encourage good ones is by training, coaching and giving feedback. For this, it is important to bear in mind that "one lesson for all" is one of the worst approaches that can be taken.

Instead, the best practice is to personalise what each individual should focus on to improve. You may decide to separate your teams into groups, based on experience or skill.

Doing so means you don't leave anyone behind because it's too advance, or have employees using toothpicks to keep their eyes open due to how easy it is.

Make feedback one of your daily tasks

While a big, in-depth training session can be very useful to help your employees to improve their performance, short, daily feedback can be equally or even more useful.

As training could happen every X number of months, keeping a constant flow of feedback to your employees will be crucial. It will be essential to notice the strength and flaws of your employees in a timely manner, so you can solve any small daily issues that could help them to improve.

Waiting months to address an issue is just asking for trouble!

Don't focus on the negatives

Sometimes when agents know the service they provide is going to be checked, it can make them feel overstressed and pressured.

Is there anything more worrying than knowing someone is on the lookout for any and every mistake you make?

That's why it is important to not just bombard them with things which can be improved, but also point out when they have done a good job and practice positive reinforcement.

Of course, don't go too over the top or you run the risk of sounding sarcastic!

The Wrap Up

There are many steps that you can do to improve your business, one of which is implementing a quality assurance software.

Cxceed will help you to get inside your customer's minds and highlight the positives and things to improve on when delivering a service to your clients. If you want to make the changes that will make a difference to your business, without spending hours searching for it, you can!

Uncategorized - 09/17/2020

How To Deliver a Fantastic Customer Service During a Pandemic

How To Deliver Fantastic Customer Service During a Pandemic

COVID-19 has chewed up, and for the unfortunate ones, swallowed many small businesses. Whilst big corporations have cash reserves and have been able to survive for months doing a reduced amount of business, the average small business owner doesn't have this privilege. They have employees who are reliant on the business to pay the bills to keep a roof over their heads.

But the number one rule of business is...

Don't run out of cash!

It's therefore not only tempting, but sometimes necessary to cut down to a skeleton workforce and reduce costs, so the company doesn't sink.

But reducing staff numbers usually also means that the Customer Service level you provide will also suffer. This obviously risks alienating current customers and at the moment retaining current customers is as important as ever - if not more so.

Here are 6 ways companies can deliver great customer service whilst in a pandemic.

Start With Your Team

Having the team in the office allows for an easy pick me up, with a 10-minute motivational speech. But what about those who are working from home, how can you rally and motivate your troops?

Motivated troops give out better results than ones who are shuffling around, looking at their feet waiting for the day to end, or sat day-dreaming about being anywhere else.

I've come to realise that some office distractions get a bad reputation. Having a little break to talk about your plans for the weekend or poking fun at a colleague's latest disaster of a haircut may be seen as wasted time from a manager's point of view. But these interactions make work humane and allows it to be an enjoyable atmosphere (unless it's your haircut being poked fun at). You even start missing your managers awkward sense of humour when working from home, even if it does come at your expense.

The importance to connect with your team will create a sense of happiness and belongingness that will rub off onto your customers. Step forward tech.

Tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Skype (remember that?) come in very handy when teams are working remotely.

Meetings should be slightly more frequent than in if they were happening the office, to help prevent cabin fever caused from being cut off from the rest of your crew.

No-one will work as well when they think they're isolated from the rest of the team, and this will reflect in the customer service they deliver.

Honesty Is The Best Policy

Setting yourself up with false promises would be an error for any company.

We're in unusual times, and even though we're slowly starting to get back to things with our 'new normal', there are still some factors that cannot be controlled.

The worst thing you can do is pretend you've not been effected, and get your employees to make promises to customers you know can't be kept.

If there's going to be a delay, let your customers know, rather than trying to sound better than your competition. Customers are usually more accepting of a delay when they have been told to expect it, rather than when they've not been given any indication of a problem and their order is a week late.

As the heading says, honesty is the best policy, and goes a long way to helping deliver an excellent customer service!

It's Time To Be More Flexible

Being strict with your staff when they are working at home is not the way forward during these turbulent times. Stress levels are sky-high, so every bit of extra help will be appreciated, especially as they continue to work from home.

Allowing staff the opportunity to work the hours they want (within reason, of course), can be a real mood booster. Some people work better in the early hours, others later on, so letting staff work the hours which will produce higher quality work for you is a win-win.

I know some people that are real grumps in the mornings, and I couldn't image them ever giving a customer a positive experience until they've had their third cup of coffee!

As long as they're able to produce results, does it really matter if they start an hour later or earlier than everyone else?

Adjust Your Plan As Needed

Who would have expected this time last year that we'd go from suits in the office, to pyjamas in the dining room?

Companies that have successfully adjusted to working from home have managed to ensure their customers are still being provided with a great service. Those who haven't will have undoubtedly seen customer satisfaction scores drop.

So, any plan for the future needs to be able to bend, adjust, and twist or any word you want to use, it needs to be flexible.

Customers are in the dark on how you're operating, and to be honest, they don't really care. They just want their goods and services, and they want them now.

Whatever plans you have, you need to ensure that the customers and employees will benefit from them. Cutting costs may help out in the short term, but eventually, your employees and customers are likely to suffer.

Get a fall back plan. If you have more than one action plan, you won't find yourself making hasty decisions that within a week, suddenly don't seem too good.

Special Focus On Your Current Customers

New customers are always welcomed, but loyal ones guarantee repeat purchases. In current circumstances where time and money are at a restraint, you may find customers looking for faster and cheaper alternatives, unless you give them a reason not to.

A quick thank-you email, a special offer, or even a 10% discount can go a long way in showing a customer you appreciate them. Not only does this help strength the customer experience and relationship, they're often great ways of making a little extra money!

Here are some great ideas on how to decide how you will say thank-you to your customers:

Think about what would keep you loyal to a company, and continue to spend your money with.
What have other companies done? A quick check of your inbox will help with this.
Are your competitors giving their customers anything back? If not, this could be a perfect opportunity to show them why you're better.

Don't Be Afraid To Show Off

Don't be shy. During this stressful time, customers want to receive some positive news for once. So, why not share all the good things your company is doing to help improve the situation. (It might even boost their confidence in you as a company.)

Announce your plans on social media, and use numerical data to help show you have substance behind those claims. Social media should never be feared. Even the pandemic has not struck it down - in fact, it has brought people closer together.

Don't Be Distant In Socially Distanced Times

Companies are going out of their way to assist people during the most uncertain of times, so it's important to have a glass half full mentality. View the pandemic as an opportunity to deliver creative customer service, exploring new avenues of what you have to offer.

Customers should never be distant from your company. Just 1 or 2 metres maybe...

These were just some ways companies can continue to deliver a fantastic customer service during such unusual times. With Coronavirus looking like it's here for the long-run, it's more important than ever to ensure your customer experience gives your business a defining "stand-out" factor.

What do you think companies should do to deliver great customer service during the pandemic? Don't be a stranger - Drop a comment below!

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Uncategorized - 09/10/2020

The Importance of Adapting Your Customer Experience To Build Customer Relationships

Maybe the title should read "Why you need to adapt your customer experience to build customer relationships, or your business will fail miserably like the rest before you". But that's a bit too long, and not quite as catchy...

It is true though. If businesses don't adapt the customer service and experience provided to suit their customers, they fail.

It's not as simple as copying and pasting methods used by competitors.

Why?

No two businesses are the same. If everyone's business was the same, everyone would struggle.

Look at the most successful companies in the world: Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google to name a few. What do they all have in common? They offer a better customer experience than the rest of their competitors, for now, anyway.

They all understand the importance of their customers, so they've adapted to suit them.

The best way to understand customers is undoubtedly through building customer relationships. But if it's really that simple, then why do so many companies alienate their target audience?

How they act, how they see your brand, how they interact with you - It's all-important in customer relationship marketing.

Some companies decide to play a personality-less approach when replying to their customers. But playing it safe, is hardly going to make you stand out. Companies that decide to change up the customer experience, often on social media, can build stronger customer relationships than those who don't.

What Is Adapting In The World Of Customer Experience?

Every business is different, and so are their customers. You can't put square pegs in round holes, and the same applies to the customer service plan and the overall experience provided.

There are some excellent customer service teams out there, especially on social media, as we'll see later on. Whether they're serious with robotic-like, immediate responses, or have a bit of fun with their customers, the best companies are in tune with their audience and know what they want from them.

It's not viable for every business to copy and paste the same method when interacting with customers. It's almost impossible to build a relationship with customers doing this. Be the type of company that you and your customers want you to be. Don't try to be another company; be better than them!

There's nothing wrong with being serious and safe, but will it give you the competitive edge you desire? Sometimes, but most times it will not.

What Is A Customer Relationship?

The 'Customer Relationship' is the ongoing relationship between the company and a customer, and is often measured by their customer satisfaction levels.

It's developed through customer service, marketing communications, sales support as well as any other communication a company may have with the customer.

Why Should You Adapt?

Every customer base is different, so it only makes sense to communicate with them all differently. With this in mind, it's a bad idea to generalise your consumer base just because you are similar to another brand.

Sure, a lot of different types of people may interact with your brand, but what do they all have in common? If you can find what it is, then you can find the common ground on how you can effectively interact with them.

Once the style of communication is figured out, it's time to build customer relationships - but with all things in life, it's an ever-changing, on-going process.

It's a good idea to tinker with the way you deliver your messages; some will be a success, some will fall flat. Be prepared to fail, and you'll succeed as the saying goes.

The best customer service is adapted and tailored to the customer's needs, demands, and attitudes. Since they are ever-changing, you should be too.

Some companies can get away with giving an unpersonalised experience, which is fine, but others can't; especially those in a niche market, with a smaller audience.

Don't Go Charging In!

Be warned, though! If you do decide to go for a more personal approach, it is ESSENTIAL to ensure that the tone and language you use matches the customer's expectations.

If one minute you're plain Jane because your customers want this approach, and the next you've turned into a sarcastic, meme-fuelled account, they will be baffled (and probably annoyed).

If they're not into what is being posted, or providing, they'll be put off the company altogether.

So, how do you move on from the boring copy and paste customer experience provided? What better way to learn than from those who've done it best?

1. dbrand: Taking Sassy Customer Service To A New Level

When you know how your customers' act, it becomes easy to align your brand's personality to match theirs.
Everyone loves something they can relate to.

Have a look at dbrand's Twitter account, for example. They are masters when it comes to interacting with their audience.

So, how do you move on from the boring copy and paste customer experience provided? What better way to learn than from those who've done it best?

Can you image other brands getting away with this level of sass?

Put it this way; I'd be shocked if Virgin Media suddenly called me fat. However, with dbrand, it's funny, and it's what their customers have come to expect from them.

There are some even ruder replies to customers, although we decided not to include them in the photo list.

How Do They Get Away With It?

Because they understand their audience, plain and simple! Look at the replies, likes, and favourites they get; everyone loves it!

Thanks in part to showing their 'don't give a s**t attitude' side to their brand on social media, their audience has continued to grow.

Their customers are meme-loving, sarcastic millennials (or Generation Z's); so dbrand get to send borderline abusive messages to their customers, yet they love it! It's a win-win for everyone!

With over 1.5 million followers on Twitter, they must be doing something right, and, every time someone retweets or favourites their sarcastic response, more people see it. Genius.

2. Greggs: A Bakery That's Self Aware

To some extent, Greggs has become a joke (but a very successful one). They've become an iconic and a household name in the UK.

But it's not always been like this; I remember earlier marketing strategies from Greggs being very serious. Since the Greggs 'rebirth', they've taken a different approach to the customer experience they provide, mainly on social media.

Whether you like their baked goods or not, they know how to laugh at themselves.

Those who love Greggs really love it. It's become a staple in the British economy, so why not play on it?

All hail the mighty sausage roll! (Vegan options also available).

Greggs became aware of their iconic status amongst UK culture, grabbed it, and ran!

3. IKEA: A Day Out

Stepping out of the online world, let's take a look at IKEA.

Simply put, IKEA is a furniture store, but it has become far more than that.

The Swedish company quickly realized that their customers didn't just want a bog-standard store - they wanted an experience.

You don't merely spend 10 minutes in IKEA; you spend hours! All that walking around and shopping gives people an appetite; so they introduced cafes!

Perfect, the customer can spend as long as they want in the well-thought-out store, safe with the knowledge they can have a stop for a bite to eat and a drink halfway through.

As they've strived to improve the customer service they provide, they've introduced features like children's play centers. More recently (well, starting around six years ago), they released a phone app so customers can see what furniture looks like in a room before they buy it!

Now, if we do switch our attention to their social media channels, you'll notice it is a lot more serious than the previous two companies.

This is because customers only interact with IKEA online for product and purchase inquiries or complaints.

Their real, unique customer experience is in-store, and everybody knows that. After all, IKEA is known for its stores, not their social media accounts!

A perfect example of a company not trying to be something they're not.

4. Trello: Not Just Another Automated Reply

Trello is all about making life easier for you and your team. If you haven’t heard of them, they offer an online work space in which colleagues can manage anything from small tasks to big projects.

Not only do they want to make your life easier, but they’re not ashamed of how they make their life easier – through automation.

When you apply for a job with Trello, they don’t try trick you into thinking you’re getting a personalised response from the top dog, or send you the boring, standard “Thank you for your application. You will hear back from us soon”.

Have a quick read of part of the email they send you (whilst it may not be strictly customer service, it’s still something we should take note of:

"Hurrah! We have received your job application. At least, we think it’s yours. It is possible that someone who thinks very highly of you is forwarding around your resume while pretending to be you. That’s not a bad thing, is it?

In any case, this is an automatic email, sent by a mindless robot, to let you know that we’re absolutely thrilled that you would be interested in working for Trello. We’re very honored.
Even though this is an automatic email, it’s not the usual blah blah, so please read on!

First of all—what to expect? Well, it may take a week or ten days (or even three or four as our volume of applications have increased) before a developer gets around to reviewing your application. We’re a small company, and to be honest sometimes eating lunch seems more important than reviewing resumes. But we will assure you that a real live human being, not an automated computer zapper program, will review your application carefully, and only after drinking plenty of coffee and getting lots of sleep and exercise, and under no circumstances will we reject your application because you lack ten years of experience in a technology that was invented only last year."

What’s not to love about this email? It’s honest, it’s funny, and it’s totally different to any other application response I’ve ever received or sent. Before you even talk to anyone about the job, you feel like you’re friends with them – this isn’t just another corporate, cold company. This is a company you could go for a beer with at the pub.

Even if I didn’t get the job, I’d be happy I just got to see the email they sent me!

The Take-Away

The moral of the story? Understand your audience before you attempt to build-up customer relationships.

It may sound a fun idea to go for an approach similar to dbrand, or even Greggs, but be careful before you do! This is not guaranteed to work for every company and can do a lot more harm than good if executed poorly.

Making a competitive advantage for your company can be hard enough; so don't give yourself a disadvantage. Analyze your business, look at your audience, carefully test, repeat.

No matter how much you want to make jokes and poke fun on your social media account, sometimes the IKEA approach is best. Keep it simple online, and create the real difference in-store.

So how can you start to understand what your customers think of the service you provide? By straight-up asking them!

Cxceed automatically sends out benchmark surveys and feedback requests so you can keep a close eye on how satisfied your customers are with the customer experience you provide.

Why not check it out, and start improving your customer service today!

Have anything to add or want to start a conversation about one of the points raised? Leave a comment down below!

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Uncategorized - 08/14/2020

How Can Businesses Hire New Staff During COVID-19?

When we went into lockdown, everyone’s daily life came to a halt – but life must go on.

Businesses still need to continue to better themselves, and need the staff to do so. Many companies came to a stand-still on Monday 23rd of March, but a few weeks later, and they have begun to gear back up to return to business life as normal (well, as normal as they can be).

To continue to improve, develop, and expand a business, it takes skilled employees to do so. This is where a problem comes in – the hiring and recruitment becomes a lot harder when you can’t meet up with them.

Or is it?

The answer is no. In fact, hiring new staff has never been easier for businesses that are prepared to adapt to remote working.

In this blog, we’re going to discuss just how any business can continue to recruit new staff during these uncertain times.

Remote Working

From what used to be a distant dream for some employees has suddenly become a cold-hitting reality. We’re well into the lockdown now (hopefully nearer the end than the start), and the majority of businesses have been able to adapt to working from home.

Now that businesses have had time to put the necessary infrastructure in place, it’s a lot easier to onboard new employees. Whilst the first couple of weeks were a mad rush enabling current employees to work from home, at least we all know how to do it now.

Before you can even think about hiring new staff, you need to be able to set any newcomer up to work from home.

So, you’ve got the infrastructure in place, and you’re ready to start finding your new star employees, let’s have a look at how you can do it.

The Job Advert

We’re not going to be in lockdown forever (hopefully), but ask yourself – is this a job they could do from home even after this is all over? If so, it might be a good idea to not worry about where the candidates are applying from?

Not only does this mean your office won’t be getting any more crowded, but it also means the pool of talent you choose from, has just increased significantly.

After all there’s no such thing as having too many good applicants apply.

The Interview

You’ve found a potential candidate, it’s time for the dreaded interview. A chance for you to look them in the eye, into their soul and see if they’ll fit into the puzzle you’re completing.

There’s nothing quite like sitting a meter or two away from them as you separate the bullshitters from the honest, hard workers.

When you’re miles apart, it’s harder to do this, so you’re left with two options:

Telephone

The classic, and you don’t have to worry about what you’re wearing when you take the call (unless you’re already in the office). This can be harder for both you and the interviewee that opposed to face-to-face. As an interviewer, you can’t see their list of prepared answers, and the interviewee often doesn’t know whether or not to keep talking. Body language is a wonderful thing!

A positive from the phone interview is that everyone knows how to use a phone. If they don’t, question why they’ve made it this far.

Video Chat

Thanks to technology you don’t need to be in the same room as someone to see the whites of their eyes – depending on the quality of connection and webcam.

This adds a much more personal touch as you can see the interviewee presents themselves, and make sure they’re 100% focused.

However, because of internet speeds, you often lose out hearing everything that’s said, as well as beginning to talk when the other does. In these video calls there’s often lots of “Oops, go on… Sorry, say that again?”.

Of course, not everyone is as well adapted towards using the computer as you and me. Is it always worth the hassle? I’ll leave that up to you and your faith in their abilities.

Training and Monitoring to Make Sure They Do Their Job Properly

When you hire someone, no-matter how much you like them, or what experience they have, you can never guarantee that they’ll be doing the job right. It’s important to be able to monitor what they’re doing, whilst making sure you don’t look like an over-paranoid, micromanaging boss.

This is especially important with “customer facing” employees that can make or break your company’s reputation depending on how they respond to a situation. But it’s no good waiting until you get a complaint to look into matters – the damage is done then!

With Cxceed, you can monitor, control, and improve what your employees are saying to your customers, whilst keeping them involved in the process. Whether they’re in the office, or working at home, our software seamlessly integrates with your telephone and email systems. No complicated installations are needed – just log into our online software, and you’re good to go once it has been set up.

You can assign your employees previous conversations to evaluate, which not only gives them a taste of what to expect, but can also give you an idea of their current standards.

As well as this, you can assign a percentage of their communications for evaluation, which helps keep a close track of progress they’ve made whilst at your company.

If you’d like to read more about the benefits of Cxceed, you can click here.

Not only this, but it's now possible to make training courses for your employees. Applications like Coassemble allow you to easily create training courses, which can include a multitude of questions and tests to make sure they're learning what they read and see.

Meetings

It’s never been easier to host meetings with your team thanks to the wide variety of applications and programs out there. From Zoom (link), Skype (link), Microsoft Teams, to even conference calls using your VoIP system.

Meetings are a vital part of keeping the team together and singing off the team sheet. Even if you’re only having a meeting once a week you can use this to catch up on your employee’s thoughts, ideas, as well as what they’ve been doing.

Having these online/over-the-phone are just as good as face-to-face meetings, as long as everyone’s Internet holds up!

Keeping Them Involved

It can be hard being on the outside looking in.

If you have hired someone that’s outside of a reasonable travel-to-work time frame, it’s important to keep them involved and feeling part of the team.

Whilst we are in lockdown, there is no easy solution, apart from keeping them involved in meetings, encouraging groups to work together, as well as making sure you always invite them to any online events your business is having.

Once we are out of lockdown then, whenever your company is having any events, make sure you always invite them, even if you don’t think they will be able to come. If you have a few employees away from the central office, you could always hold an event that is more accessible and local to them.

Continue To Better Your Business

We may be in testing times, but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to better our businesses with new recruits.

This doesn’t have to stop when the pandemic is over either. As devastating as COVID-19 has been on our society, we can take what we have learnt to pave a path for a better tomorrow. One where you can hire talent from across the country, or even the world, safe in the knowledge that you operate just as, if not more, effectively than you can in an office.

Why limit yourself to hiring the closet fit from your city, when you could find someone better a little further away?

Let us know what you think, and how your business is recruiting in the comments below.

Improve Your Business Today

Discover how Cxceed can help improve your customer experience and boost your profit.

Tell Me More!More Blogs, Please

Uncategorized - 06/24/2020

Effective Employee Engagement Tactics

Having employee engagment in the workplace is vital, and its importance cannot be stressed enough. As a famous (and very successful) man once said, "Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients."

It was Richard Branson if you were wondering and he's not done too badly for himself, so it might be wise to take note!

Employees that feel looked after and needed will be more engaged in the workplace.

What is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement is the emotional commitment a member of staff has with their organisation.

When they have this engagement, they see the workplace as more than just a place that pays them. They want the best for the organisation and will work hard to ensure the goals are met.

Why is Employee Engagement Important?

The end result of increasing employee engagement isn't just about keeping workers happy (although, this should be a big focus!). It's about improving efficiency and profitability for the company.

A recent study showed that employers experienced an increase in profitability by around 21% when their employees felt more engaged. Imagine being able to turn £1,000,000 into £1,210,000 just by making your employees more engaged.

There are much harder ways to increase profits that's for sure. No matter the size of your company, this percentage is a huge improvement and highlights the importance of employee engagement.

How Does This Increase Happen?

It could have something to do with employees working 4.6 times harder when they feel their voices are heard, or disengaged employees costing organizations up to $550 billion a year. It could also be down to nearly two-thirds of workforces feeling burned out due to their employer's practices.

I'm not just throwing random numbers at you here for the sake of it. Improving employee engagement doesn't just improve one aspect of the business, it improves the whole business.

Let's take a look at some employee engagement ideas that can make a real difference in the workplace!

Be The Change You Want To See

In the past, I've seen many managers failing to practice what they preach.

"I'm open to any suggestion", shortly followed by ignoring all suggestions. "No idea is a bad idea..." That's correct - only, they won't get used.

As a manager, supervisor, or business owner, you have to believe in what you're telling everybody else. It's easy to go around preaching that you want employee engagement, but it requires dedication to implement it when you get it.

Don't let staff ideas pile up in the corner of your office desk; your staff will begin to notice their ideas falling on deaf ears.

When actively giving your all, and acting upon suggestions by involving your staff - they will follow suit.

I've seen so many managers destroy their business from being set in their ways, despite declaring they are open to change.

Oh, and also, if someone's idea gets used, don't be that guy and take all the credit. Go on... make them feel good.

Give Help To Those Who Need It

Unfortunately, not everyone is able to perform at the top of their game all of the time, and occasionally everybody needs a little guidance or support.

More often than not, staff know when they're not performing well. It can make them hide in their shell, as they continue to fall down an unproductive well.

I'm sure we've all been there at one point, but you can't engage with a company (or anything for that matter) that you're hiding from.

Offering them help with their workload if they need it, or a one-on-one talk can make a huge difference. Make them feel loved (not too loved though; you might have another issue or employee grievance pop up).

When help is given to those who are struggling, it not only benefits the individual, but it shows the rest of the company that it's okay to seek help.

It also shows you're a great boss who makes time for their employees - that Boss of the Year award is yours! (It doesn't matter that you're the only one in the company who can win it, it's still yours!)

Employees are scared of making mistakes when working for a boss that won't give them the time of day. They're less likely to try out something new, staying safe and boring; but this won't get anyone to where they need to be.

That isn't a problem when employers engage with their employees, so be proactive, and look around the workplace to identify any issues before it's too late.

Promote Open Communication

It isn't as simple as saying "feel free to discuss anything you want with me".

Communication can often be a large barrier in the workplace, which undoubtedly impacts employee engagement levels.

Similarly, to the previous tip, staff want to be able to see that you're happy to listen. They don't want to feel like they'e causing their boss an inconvenience by coming to them with ideas or concerns.

Once one or two members of staff begin to openly discuss, the rest will feel confident enough to follow suit. If you're surprised by what you hear, that's probably a good thing! No-one needs an office full of yes-(wo)men; let everyone challenge everything - respectfully, of course.

Keep Them Involved

From the evaluation process to searching for new ideas; keep your employees involved in every step.

Remember how we said employees are likely to work 4.6 times harder when their voices are heard? This is where you can give them one.

No-one wants to be a silent cog in the machine, every employee should want to help make a difference and bring more success to the company. When you're looking for a bit of creative genius, or need some comedy gold to add into an article, ask around - you never know who might surprise you.

If you get something, great! You've improved their day, and yours; if nothing is found, it's a shame, but at least everyone knows you're open to their ideas.

As for the evaluation process, no-one likes been given feedback when they don't have a clue how it was worked out. When this happens, staff get defensive and disengage from said feedback, reducing the likelihood of improvement.

So, how can managers get them involved in this process?

Why not let them evaluate their own performances as well as other colleagues? Not only can they identify where to improve first hand, but they also see how their co-workers handle similar situations.

It keeps everyone in the loop and has many more benefits than just increasing employee engagement.

If you want to do this, you're on the right website! Take a look around after you've finished reading this blog, to see how we can help you.

Don't Let The Workplace Become Stale

Keep your business like a bakery - fresh.

When you lose interest in the working environment, you begin to just 'go through the motions'. Each day blurs into another, you can't remember what you did the other day... sound familiar?

Start work at 9, lunch at 12, leave 5. I'm yawning just typing it!

Add a bit of spice into the workplace, whether meeting with colleagues to discuss ideas, team building sessions, using different parts of the office, or even just going out for lunch now and then.

Get your staff to actively use their brains, and they'll use them! No-one likes the same old boring routine in their life, so why have it in the workplace?

Give Your Employees Dynamic Roles and Responsibilites

No, I'm not just using dynamic as a buzzword to make it sound cool.

Don't just have one set of goals and responsibilities, and leave it for a few weeks/months. What happens when they easily reach the goal within a few days?

You should add to or change employee targets and responsibilities based on their performance and progress, so they're constantly working towards something.

Do this within reason though. Don't have your employee's sprinting after an impossible goal and burning themselves out. Regular bite-size changes will keep everyone moving at a pace that suits them, without becoming too relaxed or stressed!

Additional responsibilities also keep employees engaged as it shows you are trusting them beyond their daily tasks. If you put someone in charge of an area you enjoy, you can bet they'll take pride in doing it.

Don't Keep Your Employees Under Lock and Key

I'm not suggesting you force your employees to work for you, but it can feel like that for some due to a lack of control over their own work.

A lot of managers want things done in a certain, exact way - if it's not done their way it's wrong.

Don't be that manager. Give your employees the freedom to complete the work in ways they see fit. You can give them guidance, that's great, but don't be breathing down their neck.

As long as the work is carried out in a timely (and cost-efficient) manner, does it really matter if they're not doing it the exact way you want?

If they fail, it's not the end of the world. Instead, it can be made into a learning opportunity for everyone. Every negative can be turned into a positive with the right mindset!

Make sure you deal with any failures in the right way (don't go in red-faced, all guns blazing and raising hell).

Make The Change

Keep your employees engaged, and the chances that your business will flourish increase!

It's very unlikely that you'll be able to make all these improvements in one go. Instead, it's best to deal with them in bite-sized chunks to keep things simple and easy for everyone.

It's all about the margin gains: improve one small thing at a time and you'll see big improvements. You can read more about marginal gains and its impact on businesses in our whitepaper.

Do you have any tips for driving employee engagement? If so, let us know in the comments!

Uncategorized - 06/10/2020

Google Isn't Fit For Purpose

Yes, you read that title correct. Google isn't good enough, and it no longer has you (the user) at the heart of its operation.
I'm not on about Gmail, Google Scholar, YouTube, or any of their other services. We're talking Google Search, the original service that has achieved God-like status.
To reaffirm just how popular Google is (as if I need to tell you), around 63,000 searches are done on the platform, per second.
Take the phrase "just Google it", what do you think? Have a quick search and find the answer straight away, in the first result? I think we all do.
When in doubt, Google it! The answer will be at the top of the page for you.
That's not the reality, though. An answer will be there, but the chances of it being one which isn't best suited for you are high.
In this article, I'm going to go against the grain and delve into why Google just isn't fit for purpose anymore.
*Please note that as with all things in life, Google is ever-changing. The results and ordering is more than likely going to have changed when you're reading this. The concept is still the same, however.

It's a Rich Man's (Or Woman's) World

Money is a language we all speak, none more so than Google. They hold 76% of the search engine market for a reason.
Google Ads have been a revolution for businesses. No longer do they have to spend months working on the Search Engine Optimization (SEO), crafting perfectly formed webpages, with highly ranked keywords.
Instead, they can just throw their bank card at Google, and they'll put them to the top of the pile. The more money the better.
It doesn't matter whether you offer the best value for money or customer experience. If you spend more money on Google Ads than your competitors, you will be higher in the rankings.
Let me show you what I mean.
Image you're a UK business and you need DBS certificates for your employees, so naturally, you search "DBS Check" on Google.
What do you want out of this?
A quick, reliable service.
A company that knows what they're doing.
If you're doing multiple checks, you want affordability - every penny counts!

So, Let's Have A Search

We searched on Google for 'DBS Check', and this is what we were shown:

Great, the first four results are all DBS Checking services!
What is not so great, however, is that these four results which take up the whole screen, are all adverts.
To any unsuspecting individual, these appear to be the best companies to do DBS checks with - after all, the cream usually rises to the top.
Since time is money, and money can be better spent on Google Ads, we're going to use the price, and any information on the website to make a judgment on the company, their service and its value to you the customer.
Here's how they're broken down:

Advert 1:

dbscheckonline.org.uk

Basic Checks £70 +VAT ...Ouch!

No mention is made that individuals should apply for a Basic DBS directly via the DBS service.

The Government fee for the Basic DBS is £23, so it is assumed this company's admin fee is £42 per person.

For companies, there is also a £20 (+VAT) set-up fee. This is the only one on the list to charge you for pretty much just entering your details! But you then get a reduction and only have to pay the £65 per application for Basic, Standard and enhanced Checks - well worth it then!

Total Basic DBS Cost (and set-up): £85 (+ set-up VAT)

Advert 2:

ddc.uk.net

Admin fees range from £10 to £18 (plus VAT), per person.

Then add on the Basic DBS fee, which is £23.

Total Basic DBS Cost: £35 (including VAT)

At the bottom of their page, ddc do mention that individuals should apply directly to the DBS service but don't provide a link.

Advert 3:

crbdirect.org.uk

This company offer two services: standard, and then fast track, for which they claim to prioritise and try to submit to the DBS within one day.

Standard Admin Fee - £42 (including VAT) + 23 Basic DBS Fee = Total Basic DBS Cost: £65

Fast Track Admin Fee - £52 (including VAT) + 23 Basic DBS Fee = Total Basic DBS Cost: £75

Basically, they charge you an extra £10 for giving you faster customer service, a service that they should be providing fast anyway.

At the bottom of the page CRB Direct do mention that individuals should apply directly to the DBS service but don't provide a link.

Advert 4:

disclosurechecks.org.uk

Only do Basic DBS checks

For some reason, this company claims that a Basic DBS still costs £25, that's £2 more than the actual Government fee.

Their admin fee is £40.

Total Basic DBS Cost: £65.

No mention is made that individuals should apply for a Basic DBS directly via the DBS service.

Research Your Companies!

After sifting through the true returned results (the ones who got to the top on merit, not buying their place), Aaron's Department DBS, appears to be the cheapest overall package, whilst still claiming a quality service.

Their admin fees start from as little as £3.97, and then when that is added the £23 their Total Basic DBS Cost is from: £26.97.

And they have a bold section advising individuals to apply directly through the government website.

So, that's £23 (after searching around) or £85 (top of Google) for the exact same Basic DBS Check - almost a £60 difference!

So, if you're not much of a bargain hunter or are unaware how Google Ads work, you will end up paying anywhere between £35 and £75 for a Basic DBS.

Ouch! - and that's PER applicant!

To get to the top of the page, (even if it is artificial) these four companies have had to join the Google ad space auction and fork out major money on Google Ads. The only way to get to the top is to pay more than the company below you. But this advertising fee has to be recovered from you the customer.

Google knows which it wants you to go for, and it's not the one that is the best value for money for you!

As a customer, why would you pay double, in some cases, triple, the amount when you can scroll down, click through a few websites and find a much better deal?

Being at the Top Doesn't Mean They're the Best

After the adverts, it's all down to SEO. Who has used keywords to their advantage to land the best spots?

It's all about being tactical; you can offer the worst service in the world, but if there's an SEO genius behind your website, to the top of the pile you go (underneath the adverts).

When doing a search of DBS check, there were a total of seven adverts on the first page, which meant there were nine spots up for grabs. However, four of these were taken up by the Government website containing information on checks, and the fifth spot taken by Reed was an information guide. This left a measly four spots available (on the first page) for companies that provide DBS Checks.

You'll find that the companies that occupy these spots changes order pretty much every day, depending on how Google see fit. Looking at these companies, some are good, some make false claims and some twist the truth.

Rich Snippets Are Not Independently Checked

Feature snippets are meant to give people a quick answer without having to click on any links.

How does your website become a featured snippet for a website? By giving the answer Google thinks is best. Extra emphasis on the world thinks.

Since we're on the theme of DBS checks, shall we have a look at how long one lasts?

Here's what Google shows:

The main big, bold, "look at me" answer it gives is 3 years, which is wrong! The actual answer is as long as the employer wants it to last, or until you perform a new check.

When you actually read the snippet, it says "Some authorities suggest a new check every 3 years." Google has done whatever Google does, and somehow used its algorithm to put this to the top of the pile.

I'm sure there are many more examples of Google dishing out misleading information. Who was it that said "Fake News has never been so fake"? Oh yeah, maybe not too wise to quote that source...

Being a Featured Snippet Can Be a Bad Thing

You've done all the work, and finally made it into the snippet. All is well and good, isn't it?

Actually, no - being a featured snippet can actually cost you clicks.

The snippet is designed to give all the information the user is looking for at a glance, so there is no incentive to click onto the webpage it is from.

If you've made an excellent snippet, then you'll have definitely told the user the key facts, and you've got nothing to show for it.

I often use the featured snippet as a reference point, and will click on the links below it to double and triple check.

If people are clicking on other links more than yours, Google will assume that there are better snippets out there than yours. Back down the rankings you go, unless you fancy getting your credit card out...

New Starters Have No Chance

As mentioned, to get to the top of Google, you need to either invest heavily, or build your SEO over time.

Where does this leave new websites? At the very bottom.

Building a webpage which is featured in the single digits of Google results can take time - something new businesses don't have enough of.

If you're asking me what can be done to make it fair for everyone, I don't have the answer.

I just know that the current situation shouldn't be the final one. You better get the cash and false claims ready if you're in a hurry!

The Wrap-Up

Is Google good? Yes. Will it ever be overtaken by a better service? Eventually but probably not soon.

After all, they're already making themselves at home with the Google Home!

As users, we want the best experience: the best price, the best quality, the quickest service. Will Google find us the companies that do this? Nope!

I don't expect you to boycott Google and flock to Yahoo, or dare I say... Bing, after reading this. Just don't take Google's first suggestion as gospel in the future.

Have a hunt around, double check the information it gives you, and try to find a better bargain than those offered in the first few rankings.

Google does get it right a lot of the time, and is by far the most convenient service on offer, as it integrates itself into our daily lives.

Do you think Google is fit for purpose, and do you agree or disagree with any of the points made? Let us know down below!

Uncategorized - 03/03/2020

Call Center Metrics Your Business Needs To Understand!

Call Centre Metrics Your Business Needs to Understand!

Learn about the nine best call center metrics and how to improve your customer service by using them.

Uncategorized - 01/24/2020

7 Ways Bad Customer Service Drives People Insane (Rant)

Call centres are one of, if not the most important places for business-to-consumer (B2C) interactions to happen. Relationships are made over the phone, so companies know they need to deliver a fantastic customer service.

As Customers, we have all been there, unable to get an answer to a simple question. As managers and business owners however we know it is a struggle to find staff who can do that.

Find me someone who has NEVER had a bad experience with a call centre and I'll find you a pint of Fosters that actually tastes nice - It's not going to happen.

Whether it be long waiting times, misinformation or having the delight of hearing everything that's happening behind an agent through their microphone, bad customer service from call centres is a sure-fire way to lose customers.

'I Hate Call Centres'

Apparently, we all share one thing in common in my office: the hatred of poor customer service. All I had to say was "What do you hate about call centers?" and it set everyone off.

Forget talking about the weather, maybe us Brits should just talk about our experiences with crap customer service!

I feel sorry for call center representatives, knowing everyone shares a common hatred towards them. It doesn't stop us hating them, though... and yes, this blog is just an excuse to have a good moan - sorry call agents!

1 - Waiting to be Connected

Listening to that bloody dreary music, getting your hopes up every time it stops, just to hear another monotonous flute solo.

Sometimes the music isn't actually that bad, but the quality most certainly is! Have they gone on a mission to find the worst quality music available? I'm no sound buff, but I know tinny, echoey, static-infused music when I hear it!
Oh, and the irony when you hear "Your call is very important to us" as you pass the ten-minute mark.

After 30 seconds pass, I'm already starting to get impatient so ten minutes is mind-numbing. After this point, they have pretty much lost me.
Even if the agent comes back to deliver a fantastic experience, they need to do well to drag us up from the deep dark depths we have sunken into while waiting.

Making customers wait around is a guaranteed way to get a bad review or land a lovely message with @yourcompany on Twitter for the world to see.

Take a look at onholdwith.com - These are the customers who are just using the phrase "on hold." Imagine how many others are complaining on-top of that!

2 - Background Noise

You've finally been connected to someone, only to be greeted not just one agent, but the whole center (lucky you!)

As far as the customer is concerned, the agent might as well be speaking in another language, as they try to decipher which question is being aimed at them out of the 20 they can hear.

But why are they so loud? Well, I'm not here to answer that, not in this blog, but if you want to know why, and how to combat it, check out Why Are Call Agents So Loud.

As a customer, one of two things happen:

You feel like the agent is shouting at you. Not good. It's the customers that are meant to do the shouting, not the agents!
You have to ask them to repeat the question, and the next, and the one after that. Not only does it frustrate the customer, but also the agent.

Do you turn up the volume so you can hear the agent better? Well, you could, but then you also get to listen to the static and buzz of the center a lot louder too. It's a lose-lose.

3 - 'Sorry, There's Nothing I Can Do Here'

Uh oh. You've spent ages calling, explaining your problem, waiting on hold, just to be told "There's nothing they can do" or "Try ringing another number or emailing someone else".

You're furious. Enough time has been wasted for what seems to be a simple request.

So, what's stopped the agent from helping you?

It might be a genuine reason; it happens. Other times it may be because their managers haven't empowered their agents to make decisions.

(RANT START) Managers, if you want your agents to help your customers, you have to give them the ability to do so! Otherwise, what's the point of them? (RANT END)

We don't know if the agent has the authority to sort it out, but assume they do! So, the agent gets the blame, after all, they are there to help resolve our issue.

4 - Overseas Call Centres

Just to make this clear, we don't have anything against the people in these centres. It's not their fault they've been put through to us angry sods.

Language barriers and accents can be a huge problem, though. When you have to keep repeating yourself, or asking them to, it's only making matters worse.

Not only this, but sometimes the call sounds like it's coming from the other side of the world! (I know it literally is, but I don't want it to sound that way on a call).

The connection breaks up; their voice seems to get fuzzy, louder, then quieter. As if it wasn't hard enough trying to get your issues sorted before!

If you're going to outsource, do it right for goodness’ sake! (Hint: STAFF TRAINING HELPS)

BT was one of the worst for this. I say "was" because they've finally seen the light and decided to bring all call centres back to the UK by 2020

5 - Giving Incorrect Information

Support team shouldn't tell you a lie. Sometimes it might well be an accident, due to a lack of knowledge or training, but it is still unacceptable.

A few times I've been promised refunds or extras added onto my order by the agent, only for them never to come to fruition. Then when you go back to complain, there's no trace of it! Or the new agent tells you that the company doesn't offer what you were promised.

Making false promises will always come back to haunt you. I feel many may do so just to shut the customer up, which points to a bigger internal problem.

We've been around long enough now to recognise the signs. Such as when an agent starts their sentence with "I think" or "I believe so" it's usually an indication that we're about to be told something that might not be correct.

I'd much rather that they didn't follow their instinct to give me an answer ASAP, but take a minute to find out the real answer. We'd all be happier to wait for a minute and be given the truth, than quickly receive some something made up to keep us quiet.

Basically, don't offer me a big juicy discount if you know I won't get it. That's just cruel.

I hate customer service operatives that do this (Yes, it's gotten too personal!).

6 - Robots

So you would like to speak to someone, is that right?

At the front of the battlefield, many centres get robots to initially take the call.

I get why it's a good idea. Rather than use operators time finding out routine information, they can waste your time instead.

"Please state your date of birth."

"15th of November, 1986."

"Did you say, 50th of December 1986?"

Give me strength. If you are going to use robots, put some effort into them and think carefully what is an appropriate response. Answering a couple of questions is fair enough, but after that, it just gets tiresome!

7 - Press 1 to be Put Through to...

So, you quickly want to get an issue resolved, but something is stopping you.

The dreaded task of navigating through a series of menus on your keypad.

First of all, you can guarantee the option you want will be read out last. Then, there'll be another set of options which will take just as long to listen to. If you're unlucky, there'll be even more sets for after that.

But there's another issue. What if you don't know which section your problem falls into?

Do you hazard a guess and risk having to start all over again? Or do you have to listen through them all again to try and figure out which one you should give a go? Sometimes we need to call upon Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery!

At least if you try again, you know which numbers you need and don't need so you can speed through the options... That is unless they don't activate the key tones until they have finished listing all the options

How to Improve Call Center Customer Service

Managing and working in a call center is no easy task and I don't think anyone their right mind would say it is.

However, if businesses want to deliver the best customer experience possible, they have to learn what's causing the unsatisfactory ones. It's likely these poor calls and interactions will be occurring regularly but could by flying under the radar.

Gaining feedback from customers after they communicate with agents and evaluating the poorer ones. No-one knows the service you're providing better than those who receive it.

Cxceed makes it easy to do just that, and we've written a full post about how it does just that which you can read here.

The Wrap-Up

What's the worse thing that has happened to you when talking to a call center? And managers, how do you deal with these problems?

Let us know below!

Improve Your Business Today

Discover how Cxceed can help improve your customer experience, and boost your profit.

Tell Me More More Blogs Please

Uncategorized - 01/17/2020

How To Avoid Social Media Fails

It's 2020, and more than 3.5 billion people worldwide have a social media account.

That's a lot of people 3.5 billion people who can view any social media fail your company could accidentally make - that's a scary thought.

That number is only going to increase, and so are the dangers of social media for the naive.

Whilst it is essential for a business to be active online, understanding how the digital world works, and how to deal with social media fails is crucial.

Social Media is a Slippery Slope

Social media is undoubtedly one of the best ways to market your business, and it can often be done for free!

However, a complaint on Facebook or Twitter is very different from a customer calling up to complain. It's there for everyone to see in the public domain. Out in the open for people to share, comment on, and ultimately, add fuel to the fire.

The worst part about social media from a business' perspective is that customers don't hold back. A small mistake or error can and often is blown out of proportion and their reputation up in smoke.

Why Do Social Media Campaigns Fail?

Campaigns failing can be through a lack of training or poor execution.

An idea may seem good on paper in a warm cushy planning office, but it doesn't mean the transition to the cold, harsh reality of the internet. Thorough research is required to make sure you get everything right, from the target audience, to graphics, to the message you want to get across. One simple oversight can turn into a disaster.

Here are some reasons why social media campaigns fail and to avoid the embarrassment of posting one. I know you'll want to see some of the worst offenders, so I've included some examples of how wrong it can go.

Automated Replies Doing More Harm Than Good

Keyword bots that automatically reply to certain keywords in a post or question. Sounds like a good idea to get a message to people without having to do the legwork, but it does have its downfalls.

While some people are happy to have an instant solution, it can show your customers that you don't care, especially when the automated response doesn't make sense.

Depending on the keywords companies set their auto-replies to, they can also be made to look very, very silly. Just ask Snapchat...

I hope Stephen got the answer he was looking for in that link!

For larger companies who don't have the time to reply to each post individually, it can be a good idea. For smaller businesses, having a human with a brain (hopefully) and eyes, personally reply to messages is a good idea.

Robots haven't sufficiently developed real understanding yet and the personal touch you and your staff provide will go a long way to improve customer experience.

Remember, Not Everyone Will Find it Funny

There's nothing like a bit of banter on social media.

It allows businesses to show they are human, and that joke might just go viral - free advertising! But it's not good to go viral for the wrong reasons.

Business social media fails often come from the posters' sense of humour that isn't shared or appreciated with their audience.

What I find funny or offensive is more than likely going to be different from yours.

If your team is thinking of being funny, sometimes it's best to have a quick sweep around the office to make sure it won't be misconstrued when posted. Better safe than sorry.

They say there's no such thing as bad publicity, but if you offend a lot of people, that's bad publicity.

Cinnabon thought they were clever with their Carrie Fisher tweet shortly after she passed away:

For those of you not into Star Wars, Carrie Fisher had a strong dislike for her iconic 'bun' hairstyle.

Having "the best buns" also has more than one meaning, but I'll let you work that one out.

Star Wars fans are very passionate, and I can only imagine a lot of them refused to buy from Cinnabon after this!

Don't Let Bias Impact the Message

Behind every account, there's a human (most of the time). We all feel passionate about certain topics, people, but personal opinion can't be brought into business.

Anyone with access to official account must know that, or they might bear the brunt of angry customers whose opinions and values don't quite line up.

Let's have an example.

Whether you're a football fan or not, I'm sure you know all about the whole 'who is better, Messi or Ronaldo?' debate.

Well, someone at Pepsi really loves Messi, or really hates Ronaldo - I can't quite work out which it is.

I'm not sure what this has to do with a sugary, fizzy drink, but it didn't work:

The voodoo doll ad was posted on the day of a World Cup Qualifier, but apparently voodoo doesn't exist as the doll had no effect and Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick.

Pepsi realised their error, pulled the Facebook ad and apologised, but not before 130,000 people had already liked a Facebook group called "I will never drink Pepsi again."

Moral of the story? Don't bring your personal opinion into business and whatever you do, don't upset Messi and Ronaldo fans!

Be Aware of the World

There are certain things which are simply unacceptable to say or do.

Whether it be an old-fashioned stereotype, political message or a choice of words that can be related to a horrible incident, just avoid them at all cost.

People get offended at many things and then others brand them 'snowflakes'. Sometimes things are actually offensive and are more avoidable than others - businesses need to make sure they know what's going on around them and their audience.

Is this something which is going to offend a large group of people? It is? Then don't post it, its not rocket science.

I get it, safe is boring; just know the unwritten rules and boundaries, and save a lot of hassle.

For example, appliance manufacturer, Miele, decided they wanted to celebrate International Women's Day.

Great! What could possibly go wron- oh god, that's gone horrifically wrong!

Four women, standing around a washing machine, like a stereotypical 1940s poster.

"May all women always remember to embrace what makes them unique" it says as they all gather around the machine.

Not the smartest idea to annoy nearly half of the world population.

Their intentions were probably in the right place (I hope), the social media post was just a bit... off.

Look Out for Customer's In-Directs

Not everyone knows how to spell a companies name!

Research by Conversocial suggests that only around 3% of customer service related questions on Twitter contain the correct brand name spelling. The rest either misspell or just mention the company without @'ing them.

Businesses should do a quick search of their name with misspellings and see what comes up to connect to all of their customers.

They might be able to prevent a customer from getting upset because the account they tried to speak to hasn't been active for 5 years!

Speed Matters!

Since customers are always on social media, they expect businesses to be too.

In a way, it bears resemblance to emailing: you send a message to the company and wait for a reply. However, the nature of social media has changed expectations.

They want replies now, but now is too late - they wanted them 30 seconds ago. Being built around live feeds has created the illusion that businesses should reply to the message as soon as it's sent.

Of course, we know this isn't the case, especially for smaller businesses. Not everyone has time to be monitoring accounts 24/7, but a conscious effort to regularly check all communications channels would be lovely.

The quicker a reply, the better!

Create a Social Media Policy and Plan

So, now you've seen the things to avoid, what can you do going forward to improve your business?

The best way to make sure your businesses social media strategies don't fail is to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Draw up a policy or plan which all your staff can follow. Outline what is not acceptable such as politic related posts or foul language, and then there are clear guidelines to follow.

At the start of your social media campaigns, managers should work closely with the team to ensure their visions are aligned. When trust and understanding is built up, give your marketeers the creative freedom they desire.

Managers and PR should also work closely to have a Plan B in case things go pear shaped - if you plan for the worse, you will be prepared for it

Having said that, even the best make mistakes.

What steps do you take to avoid any social media mistakes? Let us know in the comments.

Improve Your Business Today

Discover how Cxceed can help improve your customer experience, and boost your profit.

Tell Me More More Blogs Please

Uncategorized - 01/14/2020

Businesses are built on conversations.

Improve yours.

Find out how

Build a Social Presence

The Need For Feedback Forms

Innovate

Think Big

Show You Listen

Restoring Credibility

Explore Different Avenues

Use Competitors as a Benchmark

Final Thoughts

Improve Your Business Today

How Quality Assurance Can Help Manage Your Team

1. The Importance of Customer Opinions

2. Get Feedback For Every Interaction

3. Evaluate With The Team

How Can You Get The Most Out Of Evaluating?

The Wrap Up

How To Deliver Fantastic Customer Service During a Pandemic

Start With Your Team

Honesty Is The Best Policy

It's Time To Be More Flexible

Adjust Your Plan As Needed

Special Focus On Your Current Customers

Don't Be Afraid To Show Off

Don't Be Distant In Socially Distanced Times

Improve Your Business Today

What Is Adapting In The World Of Customer Experience?

What Is A Customer Relationship?

Why Should You Adapt?

Don't Go Charging In!

1. dbrand: Taking Sassy Customer Service To A New Level

How Do They Get Away With It?

2. Greggs: A Bakery That's Self Aware

3. IKEA: A Day Out

4. Trello: Not Just Another Automated Reply

The Take-Away

Improve Your Business Today

How Can Businesses Hire New Staff During COVID-19?

Remote Working

The Job Advert

The Interview

Telephone

Video Chat

Training and Monitoring to Make Sure They Do Their Job Properly

Meetings

Keeping Them Involved

Continue To Better Your Business

Improve Your Business Today

Effective Employee Engagement Tactics

What is Employee Engagement?

Why is Employee Engagement Important?

How Does This Increase Happen?

Be The Change You Want To See

Give Help To Those Who Need It

Promote Open Communication

Keep Them Involved

Don't Let The Workplace Become Stale

Give Your Employees Dynamic Roles and Responsibilites

Don't Keep Your Employees Under Lock and Key

Make The Change

Google Isn't Fit For Purpose

It's a Rich Man's (Or Woman's) World

So, Let's Have A Search

We searched on Google for 'DBS Check', and this is what we were shown:

Advert 1:

Advert 2:

Advert 3:

Advert 4:

Research Your Companies!

Being at the Top Doesn't Mean They're the Best

Rich Snippets Are Not Independently Checked

Being a Featured Snippet Can Be a Bad Thing

New Starters Have No Chance

The Wrap-Up

7 Ways Bad Customer Service Drives People Insane (Rant)

'I Hate Call Centres'