All things being equal, reducing average handle time (AHT) in contact centers is a good thing. Any content center manager will tell you how critical this metric is. It is easy to understand why that is the case. While working with a customer, I determined that every second in AHT reduction was worth about $6 Read more
Have you ever thought about what makes a leader different from a manager? Is it skills and experience? Expertise? Natural talent? Think about it this way. Loggers in a forest are working away at their task of felling trees and trying to find the best way forward to clear out their allotted space effectively and Read more
Recently, I had a conversation around optimization for a banking customer — specifically, about whether they could optimize a particular activity. It sparked an interesting debate: What is optimization, and where can it be applied? This post offers some ideas about where and when to apply optimization. This discussion cuts across industries and is a valuable Read more
Companies are putting great emphasis on digital or self-service contact channels. The economics of self-service are undoubtedly compelling: Whereas live support channels cost dollars, self-service channels, by contrast, cost pennies per interaction. Also, self-service channels are improving quickly. With the introduction of intelligent chat bots and other AI-inspired innovations, these channels can handle many more types of transactions than was possible even a few years ago. However, Read more
It’s a great time to be a customer. Often, companies are finding that they are at product parity with their competitors and thus look to service to be the differentiator. When Allstate introduced accident forgiveness for their auto insurance products, it wasn’t too long before competitors followed suit. Thus, companies are looking to elevate customer Read more
Dr. Marie Hartwell-Walker defined intimacy as follows: “Intimacy means deeply knowing another person and feeling deeply known.”1 We may not be able to precisely define intimacy, but it’s a feeling we know when we experience it. With the backdrop of human intimacy, what is customer intimacy? Ashley Greene defined customer intimacy as “a measure of your awareness of — and alignment with — your customers’ needs Read more
Customer experience is a big focus for businesses today. Customers have more choices than ever, and they are looking at value beyond the features of the product itself to the entire experience, including the evaluation, purchase, and post-purchase steps. The evolution of the customer experience means that customers expect to be able to reach your Read more
