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The difference between good and excellent contact center CX is providing customers with a human touch. To be a truly customer and human-centered business, care for both employees and customers should be part of your business model. “By MORE
The traditional contact center – with agents in cubicles following scripts and rushing to meet individual KPIs – will soon be a thing of the past. Modern customer-centric operations are increasingly defined by a collaborative contact center culture, with agents working together to respond to customer requests more efficiently by drawing on shared knowledge and experience. Happier contact center agents mean more pleasant interactions for customers. MORE
So, what about your contact center outsourcer? It’s a valid question – one which requires breaking down some of the myths associated with outsourcing your contact center. The post Is a Strategic Contact Center Partnership Even Possible? Contact Center Outsourcing Customer Service Outsourcing eBook Mike Hasler Strategic Partnership contact center agent customer service outsourcing outsourced contact center strategic partnership MORE
Often considered a company cost center and the Rodney Dangerfield of departments, contact centers have historically been overlooked and underfunded when it comes to digital transformation initiatives. Blog Contact Center Customer Experience Enterprise Technology MORE
In fact, in a recent blog titled, ‘ How to Seamlessly Merge Employee Experience and Customer Experienc e ’, we looked at the innovative steps some contact centers are taking to infuse an incredible employee experience with world-class customer experiences. Contact Center MORE
Running an effective and efficient procurement process for a contact center partner is easier said than done – even for seasoned indirect sourcing professionals and folks in the C suite. Meeting potential contact center partners in person allows you validate the intangible elements of the business relationships first (like culture fit, physical work environment, and employee engagement,) helping you shortlist the organizations you choose to invite into the RFP process. MORE
This rise of at-home agents, coupled with an increase in new contact center agents, has raised concerns over information security. According to research by La Salle University in Pennsylvania , in 2013 the average call center had one fraud call for every 2,900 calls received. MORE
You can ask all the right questions in the contact center RFP and still struggle to understand how their culture might or might not align with your own. That’s why, if time and budget allow, we always recommend a site visit before you go to RFP ( read our Guide to On-Site Contact Center Visits here ). The post How to Determine Cultural Alignment in Your Outsourced Contact Center appeared first on Blue Ocean. MORE
Before we sign off for the holiday break, we want to give shouts to all the frontline agents and coaches holding it down for clients and customers in contact centers everywhere. A reminder that the struggle to sustain morale when it’s holiday season in the contact center is real. Your contact center should be collaborating closely with your marketing, sales, and distribution teams, with real-time communication so your team can adjust accordingly. MORE
Business process outsourcers (BPOs) and contact centers felt the heat from the pandemic a lot more and a lot earlier than other businesses. Age of the Customer customer experience pandemic contact centers outsourcing MORE
If you’re tasked with achieving more results with fewer resources, optimizing your contact center can deliver far-reaching results, having a streamlined ripple effect across your organization. MORE
Looking for an onshore contact center partner? Yes, we’re probably a little biased, but the proof is right here – check out our top 10 reasons to outsource your contact center to Canada. Full employment” in the US makes hiring new contact center agents a challenge. For both scheduled and last-minute on-site visits, your outsourced contact center is closer than home than you might think when you outsource to Canada. MORE
Core challenges for contact centers. Although 91% of companies have invested heavily in contact center knowledge bases, very few are seeing real ROI. Even with intelligent NLP-powered search, contact center agents often find that the system returns too many articles, causing confusion and significant delays to the customer episode. Creating a visual contact center knowledge base. Additional benefits of a visual contact center knowledge base. MORE
This is Part 3 in our 3-Part series about how contact centers can adapt and thrive during a global pandemic. As the pandemic wears on, contact centers face challenges on two different but highly related fronts. Here are two key technologies contact centers need for work-from-home agents to thrive during the global pandemic. Technology #1: Omnichannel Contact Center Solutions. As such, call volumes to contact centers are up. MORE
Over the past 10 months, the pandemic has accelerated cloud contact center adoption, which is a win for consumers where expectations for exceptional customer experience (CX) continue to rise. MORE
COVID-19 has forced many companies to transition their contact centers to enable remote work at scale. Call Center Engagement ideas. Research shows that collaborative contact center work environments perform 50% better and reduce errors by 25%. MORE
How many physical centers do you operate? Contact center pricing models vary from vendor to vendor. The post 60 Customer Care RFP Questions for the Contact Center of 2020 appeared first on Blue Ocean. Contact Center RFP Mike Hasler MORE
The contact center SOW is the framework for your relationship. Below we explore what it takes to build an effective contact center SOW. Who serves as the primary point of contact? Because we didn’t know until the waning days of our relationship that our client was being measured by their head office in Europe on one KPI above all others: the scores on their post-contact surveys – a metric that didn’t even appear in our SOW. MORE
And you’re ready for your outsourced customer service RFP to hit the road and bring you some stellar options for a new contact center partner. While AI capabilities in the contact center are still evolving, AI offers powerful opportunities to drive cost out of your business and improve the customer experience (and let’s be real, a growing segment of consumers simply prefer automated or self-serve support) – so asking your potential strategic partners the right questions is critical. MORE
Contact centers are perfectly placed to predict imminent customer queries. By analyzing data from large sets of trouble tickets, organizations can anticipate customers’ next questions and eliminate huge volumes of future contacts. With 40% of all calls considered “next issues” following initial contacts, NIA is now a critical strategy for reducing customer effort, reducing pressure on contact centers and increasing loyalty. MORE
The reality is, your contact center’s success still hinges on the quality of the conversations your agents have with your customers. The past few years have seen a dramatic increase in investments in AI, data analysis and other technologies designed to increase contact center efficiency. But in spite of all the technology that’s now available, the #1 factor contributing to whether or not your contact center achieves its objectives hasn’t changed. MORE
This is much easier to accomplish for in-person training, where you have control over the physical environment and can maintain physical interaction such as eye contact. The post The Pivot to 100% Remote Training in the Contact Center appeared first on Blue Ocean. MORE
Contact center implementation is an art and a science, and over 24 years in business, we’ve learned exactly what it takes to make the smoothest transition possible. Understanding with complete clarity which measures of success are most important to your organization is the most important aspect of the contact center transition. A successful contact center launch isn’t as simple as flipping the switch and 3-2-1 blast off. MORE
You’ll task your team with running a tight procurement process to assess potential contact center partners. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the top 10 things to assess on your contact center vendor site visit. While some call centers have given the industry a bad rap, the right partner knows the value of natural light, ergonomics, thoughtful interior design, and inviting leisure spaces. The pace of change in the contact center industry is mind-blowing. MORE
While scores of businesses have been forced to close their doors during the outbreak, many thousands of workers – including contact center agents – have transitioned to ‘work from home’ to continue safely providing essential services for us all. Agent Engagement Call Center Best Practices Contact Center Trends & Insights Do More With Less NICE inContact CXone MORE
Picture this: You’re in the RFP process for a new contact center partner. You know exactly what you need in regards to channel support, reporting metrics, technical capabilities, agent training, and more, and the contact center RFP makes sure you’re checking all the boxes. Know what you should be looking for on your contact center site visit before you get there. Obstacles to the On-Site Contact Center Visit. MORE
Contact center success is heavily dependent on the agents working the frontlines to service customers every single day. Contact center agent happiness and engagement go hand-in-hand with customer happiness and satisfaction. MORE
The most persistent contact center challenges can be overcome by making coaching a part of the culture and developing your agents’ listening and problem-solving skills. For several years we’ve been participating in Customer Contact Week (CCW), the world’s largest customer contact event series. Top Contact Center Challenges. The underlying message is that today’s contact center managers are spread thin. MORE
The purpose of a contact center RFP is no different: it’s an essential process to use when choosing an outsourcer. However, the contact center RFP is unique and can’t be modeled on the same old RFP template used for other services your company may procure. Your contact center partner owns a huge part of your customer experience. Thus, crafting your contact center RFP takes thoughtful preparation. Sample Contact Center RFP Timeline. MORE
Contracting a new contact center outsourcer may be one of the most impactful decisions you make all year (no pressure, right?) Even if you’ve had the same supplier for a while, going through the contact center RFP process will ensure that you and your existing partner are staying up-to-date and competitive as the market evolves; after all, if your supplier grows stagnant, so do you. Draft Your Contact Center RFP. Putting Together Your Contact Center RFP. MORE
Today’s contact centers face a daunting challenge. From small helpdesks operated by specialist manufacturers to vast contact centers run by leading telecoms and consumer electronics providers, end users can now receive faster, more effective service and support from both live human agents and virtual assistants. Computer Vision AI – Reinventing the Contact Center. A modern contact center relies on its knowledge base to streamline its operations. MORE
At its most basic level, growing your in-house contact center means you’ll need more space. There’s also the cost of upkeep, both to the facility itself and of your technical infrastructure, where regular upgrades will be necessary to keep your contact center ahead of the curve. Scaling your workforce to meet higher contact volumes puts strain on multiple functional areas – most especially your talent acquisition and training teams. Business is booming? Great! MORE
The contact center industry witnessed a similar trend: US agents working full-time from home rose from 49% to 74%, according to Nemertes research. The post Making remote an advantage for your contact center appeared first on Talkdesk MORE
Contact Center Related Topics BlueOcean
OCTOBER 22, 2020
This is much easier to accomplish for in-person training, where you have control over the physical environment and can maintain physical interaction such as eye contact. The post The Pivot to 100% Remote Training in the Contact Center appeared first on Blue Ocean.
TechSee
OCTOBER 10, 2019
The traditional contact center – with agents in cubicles following scripts and rushing to meet individual KPIs – will soon be a thing of the past. Modern customer-centric operations are increasingly defined by a collaborative contact center culture, with agents working together to respond to customer requests more efficiently by drawing on shared knowledge and experience. Happier contact center agents mean more pleasant interactions for customers.
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BlueOcean
OCTOBER 17, 2019
Running an effective and efficient procurement process for a contact center partner is easier said than done – even for seasoned indirect sourcing professionals and folks in the C suite. Meeting potential contact center partners in person allows you validate the intangible elements of the business relationships first (like culture fit, physical work environment, and employee engagement,) helping you shortlist the organizations you choose to invite into the RFP process.
BlueOcean
SEPTEMBER 30, 2018
The contact center SOW is the framework for your relationship. Below we explore what it takes to build an effective contact center SOW. Who serves as the primary point of contact? Because we didn’t know until the waning days of our relationship that our client was being measured by their head office in Europe on one KPI above all others: the scores on their post-contact surveys – a metric that didn’t even appear in our SOW.
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This whitepaper has provided some suggestions for KPIs that you may want to use. Once you’ve chosen your KPIs, make sure that you’ve communicated the importance of these metrics to all employees in your contact center, as well as how you expect them to be achieved.
Upstream Works
AUGUST 11, 2020
The difference between good and excellent contact center CX is providing customers with a human touch. To be a truly customer and human-centered business, care for both employees and customers should be part of your business model. “By
BlueOcean
MAY 29, 2019
Picture this: You’re in the RFP process for a new contact center partner. You know exactly what you need in regards to channel support, reporting metrics, technical capabilities, agent training, and more, and the contact center RFP makes sure you’re checking all the boxes. Know what you should be looking for on your contact center site visit before you get there. Obstacles to the On-Site Contact Center Visit.
NICE inContact
OCTOBER 14, 2020
Over the past 10 months, the pandemic has accelerated cloud contact center adoption, which is a win for consumers where expectations for exceptional customer experience (CX) continue to rise.
BlueOcean
AUGUST 6, 2020
How many physical centers do you operate? Contact center pricing models vary from vendor to vendor. The post 60 Customer Care RFP Questions for the Contact Center of 2020 appeared first on Blue Ocean. Contact Center RFP Mike Hasler
BlueOcean
DECEMBER 18, 2018
And you’re ready for your outsourced customer service RFP to hit the road and bring you some stellar options for a new contact center partner. While AI capabilities in the contact center are still evolving, AI offers powerful opportunities to drive cost out of your business and improve the customer experience (and let’s be real, a growing segment of consumers simply prefer automated or self-serve support) – so asking your potential strategic partners the right questions is critical.
Speaker: Brian Morin, CMO, SmartAction & Aarde Cosseboom, Director of GMS Technology and Product, TechStyle Fashion Group
Adapting to a post-Covid world means recession-proofing your contact center with AI that reduces reliance on live agents with virtual agents that are always on, perfectly trained, and at a fraction of the cost. Most companies looking to ditch a "Press 1" experience struggle with where to start and how to infuse natural language into their existing technology stack. Join this webinar with TechStyle Fashion Group who recession-proofed their contact center with personalized and frictionless experiences to customers who prefer self-service. Also joining is SmartAction who manages the AI-powered CX for more than 100 brands.
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TechSee
SEPTEMBER 2, 2020
COVID-19 has forced many companies to transition their contact centers to enable remote work at scale. Call Center Engagement ideas. Research shows that collaborative contact center work environments perform 50% better and reduce errors by 25%.
BlueOcean
AUGUST 7, 2018
Contracting a new contact center outsourcer may be one of the most impactful decisions you make all year (no pressure, right?) Even if you’ve had the same supplier for a while, going through the contact center RFP process will ensure that you and your existing partner are staying up-to-date and competitive as the market evolves; after all, if your supplier grows stagnant, so do you. Draft Your Contact Center RFP. Putting Together Your Contact Center RFP.
BlueOcean
JULY 16, 2019
Looking for an onshore contact center partner? Yes, we’re probably a little biased, but the proof is right here – check out our top 10 reasons to outsource your contact center to Canada. Full employment” in the US makes hiring new contact center agents a challenge. For both scheduled and last-minute on-site visits, your outsourced contact center is closer than home than you might think when you outsource to Canada.
BlueOcean
SEPTEMBER 30, 2019
At its most basic level, growing your in-house contact center means you’ll need more space. There’s also the cost of upkeep, both to the facility itself and of your technical infrastructure, where regular upgrades will be necessary to keep your contact center ahead of the curve. Scaling your workforce to meet higher contact volumes puts strain on multiple functional areas – most especially your talent acquisition and training teams. Business is booming? Great!
Speaker: Brian Morin, CMO, Mark Landry, VP Product, Marilyn Cassedy, Director of Customer Success, SmartAction
It just so happens that whenever we design and deploy a new AI-powered virtual agent over voice, the self-service application invariably falls into one of 5 distinct categories. This has been true for more than a hundred clients encompassing hundreds of use cases across 12 industries. Having a keen awareness of where or how AI fits in your contact center for a great CX and ROI begins with understanding how to broadly classify your interactions. If it fits into one of these 5 categories, a live human agent should never handle it. Join Brian Morin, Mark Landry, and Marilyn Cassedy of SmartAction, and learn how to streamline your customer service.
BlueOcean
OCTOBER 9, 2018
So, what about your contact center outsourcer? It’s a valid question – one which requires breaking down some of the myths associated with outsourcing your contact center. The post Is a Strategic Contact Center Partnership Even Possible? Contact Center Outsourcing Customer Service Outsourcing eBook Mike Hasler Strategic Partnership contact center agent customer service outsourcing outsourced contact center strategic partnership
BlueOcean
JUNE 12, 2018
Contact center implementation is an art and a science, and over 24 years in business, we’ve learned exactly what it takes to make the smoothest transition possible. Understanding with complete clarity which measures of success are most important to your organization is the most important aspect of the contact center transition. A successful contact center launch isn’t as simple as flipping the switch and 3-2-1 blast off.
TechSee
DECEMBER 3, 2019
Core challenges for contact centers. Although 91% of companies have invested heavily in contact center knowledge bases, very few are seeing real ROI. Even with intelligent NLP-powered search, contact center agents often find that the system returns too many articles, causing confusion and significant delays to the customer episode. Creating a visual contact center knowledge base. Additional benefits of a visual contact center knowledge base.
TechSee
APRIL 2, 2019
Today’s contact centers face a daunting challenge. From small helpdesks operated by specialist manufacturers to vast contact centers run by leading telecoms and consumer electronics providers, end users can now receive faster, more effective service and support from both live human agents and virtual assistants. Computer Vision AI – Reinventing the Contact Center. A modern contact center relies on its knowledge base to streamline its operations.
Speaker: Laura Sikorski, Contact Center Consultant
Join us for an insightful webinar with Laura Sikorski where she will provide guidance on how to be sure your organization is reacting to the new digital-savvy customer. Our new world is multi-channel, omnichannel, cross-channel, and even channel-agnostic.
BlueOcean
MAY 14, 2018
The purpose of a contact center RFP is no different: it’s an essential process to use when choosing an outsourcer. However, the contact center RFP is unique and can’t be modeled on the same old RFP template used for other services your company may procure. Your contact center partner owns a huge part of your customer experience. Thus, crafting your contact center RFP takes thoughtful preparation. Sample Contact Center RFP Timeline.
BlueOcean
JANUARY 27, 2020
You can ask all the right questions in the contact center RFP and still struggle to understand how their culture might or might not align with your own. That’s why, if time and budget allow, we always recommend a site visit before you go to RFP ( read our Guide to On-Site Contact Center Visits here ). The post How to Determine Cultural Alignment in Your Outsourced Contact Center appeared first on Blue Ocean.
BlueOcean
DECEMBER 16, 2019
Before we sign off for the holiday break, we want to give shouts to all the frontline agents and coaches holding it down for clients and customers in contact centers everywhere. A reminder that the struggle to sustain morale when it’s holiday season in the contact center is real. Your contact center should be collaborating closely with your marketing, sales, and distribution teams, with real-time communication so your team can adjust accordingly.
Tricia Morris
AUGUST 28, 2020
Often considered a company cost center and the Rodney Dangerfield of departments, contact centers have historically been overlooked and underfunded when it comes to digital transformation initiatives. Blog Contact Center Customer Experience Enterprise Technology
Forrester's Customer Insights
JULY 27, 2020
Business process outsourcers (BPOs) and contact centers felt the heat from the pandemic a lot more and a lot earlier than other businesses. Age of the Customer customer experience pandemic contact centers outsourcing
NICE inContact
AUGUST 12, 2020
If you’re tasked with achieving more results with fewer resources, optimizing your contact center can deliver far-reaching results, having a streamlined ripple effect across your organization.
Upstream Works
JULY 16, 2020
This is Part 3 in our 3-Part series about how contact centers can adapt and thrive during a global pandemic. As the pandemic wears on, contact centers face challenges on two different but highly related fronts. Here are two key technologies contact centers need for work-from-home agents to thrive during the global pandemic. Technology #1: Omnichannel Contact Center Solutions. As such, call volumes to contact centers are up.
BlueOcean
AUGUST 21, 2019
You’ll task your team with running a tight procurement process to assess potential contact center partners. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the top 10 things to assess on your contact center vendor site visit. While some call centers have given the industry a bad rap, the right partner knows the value of natural light, ergonomics, thoughtful interior design, and inviting leisure spaces. The pace of change in the contact center industry is mind-blowing.
TechSee
OCTOBER 22, 2019
Contact centers are perfectly placed to predict imminent customer queries. By analyzing data from large sets of trouble tickets, organizations can anticipate customers’ next questions and eliminate huge volumes of future contacts. With 40% of all calls considered “next issues” following initial contacts, NIA is now a critical strategy for reducing customer effort, reducing pressure on contact centers and increasing loyalty.
Advantage Communications
JULY 30, 2020
In fact, in a recent blog titled, ‘ How to Seamlessly Merge Employee Experience and Customer Experienc e ’, we looked at the innovative steps some contact centers are taking to infuse an incredible employee experience with world-class customer experiences. Contact Center
Talkdesk
SEPTEMBER 21, 2020
The contact center industry witnessed a similar trend: US agents working full-time from home rose from 49% to 74%, according to Nemertes research. The post Making remote an advantage for your contact center appeared first on Talkdesk
Integrity Solutions
MARCH 3, 2020
The most persistent contact center challenges can be overcome by making coaching a part of the culture and developing your agents’ listening and problem-solving skills. For several years we’ve been participating in Customer Contact Week (CCW), the world’s largest customer contact event series. Top Contact Center Challenges. The underlying message is that today’s contact center managers are spread thin.
Talkdesk
SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
This rise of at-home agents, coupled with an increase in new contact center agents, has raised concerns over information security. According to research by La Salle University in Pennsylvania , in 2013 the average call center had one fraud call for every 2,900 calls received.
Integrity Solutions
FEBRUARY 15, 2019
The reality is, your contact center’s success still hinges on the quality of the conversations your agents have with your customers. The past few years have seen a dramatic increase in investments in AI, data analysis and other technologies designed to increase contact center efficiency. But in spite of all the technology that’s now available, the #1 factor contributing to whether or not your contact center achieves its objectives hasn’t changed.
NICE inContact
APRIL 8, 2020
While scores of businesses have been forced to close their doors during the outbreak, many thousands of workers – including contact center agents – have transitioned to ‘work from home’ to continue safely providing essential services for us all. Agent Engagement Call Center Best Practices Contact Center Trends & Insights Do More With Less NICE inContact CXone
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