Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and for those in the Southern Hemisphere – Boxing Day have all been turned into opportunities to coax consumers to spend their hard-earned money with our establishment.

As the owner or operator of a Small to Mid-Sized Business(SMB) you might be forgiven for having an extra level of unease and maybe even panic at this time of year.

What if my website or online store crashes? What if I run out of stock? What if I can’t fill my holiday schedule with enough staff?

These concerns are all understandable, and real.

I believe it is important to only worry about the things you can control, and then really prepare yourself for these.

As SMBs we can’t really control how beautiful the holiday display looks at Macy’s or how many online ads we see for AMAZON’s Black Friday deals, or indeed what Walmart is advertising.

Whilst media attention on the big boys is always high at this time of the year, they are not really your competitors. I believe you can fly under the radar, do what you do best as a small business and reap the rewards of the holiday season too.

A few preparations you can make in regards to the physical capabilities of your business:

– make sure you order early and have the stock you need to satisfy your forecast increase in demand, yet don’t be silly about it or you’ll end up overstocked

– incentivise your staff to take time off outside the holidays to ensure you have coverage

– think about what makes you and your business unique to your customers, and focus on communicating those things – don’t get into a battle with the big guys playing their game. Instead of matching discounts, why not offer more value instead

When it comes to the technology or online world, there are also some very important steps you can take to ensure you are ready for the traffic and demand increases:

• Ensure you have all the login details of each program at hand
• Ensure your current hosting plans allow for higher traffic volume
• Ensure you know what to do if there is some down time on your website, payment gateway or online shop issues – in fact, drill what you would do if these did occur at the wrong time
• Ensure your tech support team is also ready to handle issues during the holiday periods
• Have what I call a ‘human ripcord’ plan – if something occurs online or with an order, you can always ring the client and speak with them personally – hey that is something the big boys would never do

One of the big issues of e-commerce and online tech at the current time is that there are often multiple programs connected together to provide a viable complete e-commerce solution. But these programs don’t talk to each other perfectly and sometimes they override each other or the connections break down. By understanding some of the potential scenarios, you can have a backup plan to assist and service customers when things go wrong.

I mentioned I don’t believe the big guys are really your competitors. My opinion, backed by a lot of conversations with my customers and my own experience is that small business has the superpower of being close to the customer and servicing them well. If you really hone your ability to provide personal, human service to your customers – in-store or online – you will be able to differentiate yourself from the competition.

It all comes down to the concept of attention.

You know the feeling – you are engrossed in your favorite book or movie. Something taps away at the ‘windowpane’ of your mind and suddenly you realise the kids are calling your name or you can smell the food burning in the oven

It’s the same in business. You have your attention on fixing a computer issue and you don’t notice a customer who has been standing there at your counter for several minutes getting increasingly impatient.

Where should your attention be?

You got it.

On the customer.

As much as possible your website and online store has to be organised so the customer feels seen acknowledged and serviced. But tech has a habit of getting in the way or failing at exactly the wrong time. Like right in the middle of your long planned for Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale.

What can you do about that?

Running an SMB can be hard anytime but during the peak season it is harder still. The news media spruik the amazing displays at Macy’s. The internet is clogged with promotions from Amazon. You start to feel like there is no hope for your little strip mall shop in Nowhereville or your website that only gets a few thousand visits a month. I recommend you stop comparing yourself to the big boys.

Think instead about how much traffic do you need? How many conversions? Average sales value?

Focus on those statistics and goals – in relation to where you are now.

Do drills with your team to see if you can handle picking and distributing twice the daily sales volume or three times. Can you prepare certain things using the downtime prior to a sale day – stock count working – upsell working – confirmation of order working – dummy runs, test orders etc.

You can create your own hope and your own success with a few of these well-planned steps before the peak sales periods.

Above all, I’d like to remind you that you are not competing against Macy’s or Amazon or anyone else. Your main competition is the “unprepared” you and poor technology.

Prepare and you will handle one major hurdle to success

Choosing a great tech platform built on the principles of customer commerce and you clear the other.

Oh, and remember service your customers every day of the year not just when the media hype tells you to. If your business isn’t deals discounts and ‘day-based’ loyalty don’t get caught up playing a game that doesn’t suit you. Don’t be a short-term thinker or operate ad hot as that is where trouble lies. As SMBs, our enemies are lack of time and lack of preparation.

Happy sales and happy holidays from me and the team at Store Connect.

The post Welcome to ‘That’ Time of Year appeared first on SiteProNews.

1. Prioritize Customer Service Excellence

Customer service is the cornerstone of any successful business. Every call presents an opportunity to deliver exceptional service. Approach each interaction with empathy, patience, and a genuine desire to assist. Make the customer feel heard, understood, and valued. This not only builds trust and loyalty but also sets the foundation for positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Nobody sets out to deliver poor quality customer service. Too often, it’s the result of being overworked and stretched too thin. If your team is struggling to make customer service phone etiquette a real priority, try stepping back to look at the bigger picture. A call handling service can help relieve your employees of their administrative duties, allowing them to focus on in-person customer interactions while leaving the experts to take calls.

2. Hone Your Communication Skills

Effective communication is a two-way street. Clearly convey your message and actively listen to the customer’s needs. Use simple language, avoid jargon, and provide information in a concise manner. Be attentive to the customer’s responses and adjust your communication style accordingly. A well-communicated message reduces misunderstandings and creates a smoother interaction.

A customized call script can help you perfect these skills. Think about how much mental energy is spent deciding how to phrase things and what tone of voice to use. With a call script to work from, you’ve got the framework of a great conversation already figured out. While some people assume that scripts make things feel robotic, the opposite is actually true. By leaning on tools like call scripts, employees can jump right into the caller’s questions without worrying too much about introductions and other formalities.

3. Master Active Listening

Listening is an underrated skill that can significantly impact call handling. Give your full attention to the caller, avoiding distractions and interruptions. Let them express themselves fully before responding. Reflect on what they’ve said to demonstrate that you’ve understood their concerns. Active listening not only shows respect but also helps you gather relevant information to provide effective solutions.

Most people don’t really listen – they simply wait for their turn to talk. By flipping this idea on its head, you can foster conversations that get to the heart of your caller’s concern. Try mirroring what the caller is saying before you dive into problem solving. You’ll be surprised at how many miscommunications can be clarified with this one simple tip!

4. Perfect Your Tone of Voice

Your tone of voice carries a wealth of information, often conveying more than the words you say. Maintain a friendly, professional, and enthusiastic tone. Smiling while speaking can actually be heard in your voice, making the conversation more pleasant. Avoid sounding robotic or monotone; instead, infuse your voice with warmth and sincerity.

5. Empower Yourself with Product Knowledge

Confidence comes from knowledge. Be well-versed in your products or services so you can answer questions accurately and provide valuable insights. When customers sense your expertise, they are more likely to trust your recommendations and feel confident in their purchasing decisions. Continuous learning about your offerings demonstrates your commitment to providing top-notch service.

6. Handle Difficult Situations Gracefully

Not every call will be easy, and sometimes you’ll encounter irate or frustrated customers. Stay calm and composed, even in challenging situations. Show empathy by acknowledging their concerns and assuring them that you’re committed to finding a solution. Address their issues proactively and offer alternatives when possible. Successfully resolving difficult situations can turn a negative experience into a positive one.

Navigating difficult situations during call handling is a true test of your skills and professionalism. Maintaining your composure in the face of frustration or anger is essential. Going the extra mile to address their issues proactively and offering alternatives not only resolves immediate problems but also leaves a lasting positive impression. 

7. Practice Time Management

Efficiency is key in call handling. Strive to address the customer’s needs while respecting their time. Avoid prolonged conversations that could lead to frustration. If a topic requires more in-depth discussion, suggest setting up a follow-up call or providing additional resources via email. Effective time management not only improves customer satisfaction but also enables you to assist more callers throughout the day.

Mastering time management in call handling goes beyond merely clocking shorter interactions. It’s about striking a balance between efficiency and the quality of customer service. By identifying the core concerns swiftly, you demonstrate respect for your customers’ time while ensuring their needs are met. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also lays the groundwork for building lasting relationships. Efficient time management allows you to allocate more time to each caller, making them feel valued and heard.

8. Seek Feedback and Continuously Improve

Feedback is a valuable tool for growth. Encourage customers to provide feedback on their call experience, whether through surveys or direct questions. Analyze this feedback to identify areas for improvement. Additionally, consider regular training sessions to enhance your team’s call handling skills. Embracing a culture of continuous improvement ensures that your call handling remains aligned with evolving customer expectations.

A Commitment to Quality

Mastering call handling skills is a journey that requires dedication and practice – each skill contributes to creating memorable customer interactions. The benefits extend beyond individual calls, positively impacting customer retention, sales, brand reputation, customer insights, and your competitive position. By embracing these eight tips and continually refining your call handling approach, you’ll not only provide exceptional customer experiences but also propel your business to new heights.

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When you don’t automate as many customer service tasks as you can with AI, you are only preventing yourself from maximizing business success. In my journey as the owner of Kairos Venture Studios, which specializes in launching new online businesses in the Latin American market, I have discovered these 5 often overlooked ways to use AI to improve customer service:

1. Evaluating Customer Support Employees

Do you have Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for your customer support team? For example, do you have SOPs related to the number of customer support tickets to be handled in a day, email greetings, and how steps are written out when helping customers with issues? Or, do you ask that customer support agents reply to all email inquiries within 2 hours of receipt during business hours? These SOPs are pivotal for streamlining communications and preventing further customer frustration that could ultimately lead to a loss of future sales.

Therefore, it would be in your best interest to verify that your customer support agents abide by your designated SOPs. AI is here to help! You can pass all support team emails through AI applications like Smartwriter.ai to judge how well they hold up to your company’s SOPs and values. You can also use AI software like TimeToReply to analyze average response time to email inquiries. If there are any discrepancies, you can further train your customer support agents so they can provide the best service possible. 

2. Streamlining Customer Follow-Ups

Regular, consistent follow ups are key for boosting repeat sales with your current buyers and landing new customers. The problem is that manually sending out weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly email follow-ups to your entire customer list can take so much time and effort. So let AI handle it! An automatic email follow-up tool like Mixmax can help businesses better check in with current and potential buyers to keep leads warm and increase customer retention. This is paramount for amplifying sales and growing the customer base.

3. Customizing Every Step of the Customer Experience

Your customer base may comprise of all kinds of demographics, all with varying needs and interests. For example, a Fortune 500 CEO may regularly buy your products for their corporation, and a stay-at-home mom might purchase the same items for their home. Also, Baby Boomers and Gen Zers may both purchase your services, but they are at different stages in life and have varying tastes. So why use the same marketing strategy for all of them?

AI can help customize the entire experience each of your customers has. For example, you can use AI software like Klaviyo to personalize email blasts for the various demographics in your customer list. An AI tool like Unbounce can also select the exact page a potential customer will open on your website. AI algorithms can even analyze customer data like past purchases and browsing behavior, and then recommend certain products that align with their various preferences. Providing tailored experiences can help boost new sales and repeat purchases.

4. Sending Out Post-Purchase Questionnaires to Customers

Customer feedback can help businesses improve existing products and services, pinpoint new demographics to target, and better the enterprise’s overall operations. However, it can be difficult to find the time to come up with an effective questionnaire for customers (and then figure out when to send it). Luckily, AI software like Qualtrics can be used to periodically send out questionnaires to customers to get their valuable feedback. Remember, when customers know that you care about their experience, they will be more likely to buy again from your business. 

5. Analyzing Data to Identify Customer Pain Points

Going off of the last point, it can be a really time-consuming process to read through every customer questionnaire to find common complaints and suggestions. However, it is important to do so, as you may be completely unaware of an issue that many of your customers are experiencing. An AI tool like Idiomatic can help companies pinpoint customer pain points based on large data sets (like years of reviews or customer feedback). This will help businesses improve their offerings and fuel brand loyalty.

To Wrap It All Up

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing businesses in virtually every industry. There are many AI tools available that will help you improve your customer service, which is pivotal for business growth and success. For example, you can use AI to evaluate your customer support employees, streamline customer follow-ups, and send out post-purchase questionnaires to your current buyers. AI software can even customize the entire customer experience! Follow any of the tips above to improve your customer service and bring your enterprise to new heights.

The post 5 Often Overlooked Ways Businesses Can Use AI to Improve Customer Service appeared first on SiteProNews.

Have you ever waited your turn to speak to a customer service representative, only to be transferred to another agent? Have you ever waited on hold so long you that you hung up? Have you ever yelled “Agent” at a voice automation system until you were hoarse? You’re not alone.

Poor customer experiences like that are much more common than you might realize. In fact, bad customer interactions are putting over $4.7 trillion in sales at risk every single year.

The good news is there are simple strategies to improve how you interact with your customers. By calculating your Customer Effort Score (CES), you can assess how easy (or difficult) you’re making it for your customers and work toward improving your customer experience.

What Is a Customer Effort Score?

HubSpot defines Customer Effort Score as a single-item service metric that measures how much work it takes for someone to get what they want from a business. In other words, it’s a reflection of how much effort a customer has to expend when interacting with your company.

The idea is simple: The more effort required to reach a certain outcome (such as making a purchase or resolving an issue), the more frustrating the customer experience. By contrast, a low-effort interaction makes for a better, smoother experience that casts your brand in a positive light.

Researchers from the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) first introduced the concept of a Customer Effort Score in 2010. According to their study, reducing effort is far more effective at increasing customer loyalty than trying to wow consumers with over-the-top service: “All customers really want is a simple, quick solution to their problem.”

The only issue? Many times, customer service does the exact opposite. Whether it be because of long wait times, having to repeat oneself, or jumping through hoops, customers are four times more likely to leave a service interaction disloyal than loyal.

That’s where CES comes into play. Tracking CES allows you to identify pain points in the customer experience, isolate troublesome channels, and make immediate and long-term improvements.

Better yet, Gartner says that reducing customer effort also allows you to:

• Increase repurchase rates
• Improve customer loyalty
• Lower service costs
• Reduce employee turnover

Creating a CES Survey

The first step in measuring your Customer Effort Score is designing a CES survey—a short questionnaire that asks current customers to rate the amount of effort involved in a recent interaction. Questions normally ask respondents to choose a rating on a scale that best represents their experience.

Here are some examples of questions you might include on a survey:

1. On a scale of 1-10, how easy was it for you to resolve your issue?
2. How much effort did you have to put in to find an answer to your question?
3. How easy was it to navigate our website and obtain the information you were looking for?

Typically, businesses send CES surveys at particular moments in the customer journey. These moments almost always come after the customer has taken a certain action, such as:

• A customer support interaction like a phone call, chat, or email thread.
• A transaction such as a completed purchase, downloaded white paper, or subscription sign up.
• A website or mobile app interaction (this one is especially useful, as it helps you measure your interface’s ease of use and functionality).

Recency is important when it comes to gathering feedback. It’s best to immediately follow up an interaction with a questionnaire on the channel where it took place. This makes it easy for customers to fill out the survey without having to jump through additional hoops.

Calculating Your Score

Once your respondents have completed the survey, it’s time to analyze the results and calculate your company’s average Customer Effort Score. Don’t worry—you don’t have to be a math whiz to figure it out.

Here’s the basic formula: Sum of all CES scores ÷ the total number of responses = average CES.

So, what does a good CES look like? It depends. Your survey’s parameters will influence how that score is weighted, but generally speaking, the higher the number, the better.

Let’s say you’ve asked 100 respondents to rate interactions on a scale of 1-10, and the sum of all scores is 880. That’d give you an average CES of 8.8.Not too shabby!

How to Use (and Improve) Your CES

Keep in mind that there’s no industry standard you have to live up to—only your own scores matter.

If you find that your CES is teetering on the lower end of the spectrum, that just means you have work to do. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to improve CES and reduce customer effort. Let’s take a look at two of the most impactful methods:

1. Automate Tasks with Customer Self-service

Customer self-service options are growing in popularity, especially among younger demographics. In fact, 66% of Millennials prefer self-service options for completing simple requests. People are using these alternative solutions more frequently today than just three years ago , so it’s increasingly important to offer these functionalities to your consumers.

Take AI-powered chatbots, for example. Often, chatbots can answer common support questions and handle basic requests faster and more efficiently than human agents. This frees up your contact center agents to focus on more complex issues, reduces wait times, and eliminates unnecessary effort.

2. Deliver an Omnichannel Experience

Taking an omnichannel approach to customer service means offering consumers a seamless, cohesive, and uniform experience across all possible touchpoints.

Today’s customers want to transition from one channel to another without skipping a beat or having to repeat themselves. With a Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solution, you can meet these expectations and offer a truly connected customer journey. As one comprehensive tool for customer experience management, a CCaaS platform enables agents to interact with consumers from any channel, all in one easy-to-use desktop view.

Enabling a Low-effort Customer Experience

Establishing low-effort customer experiences helps simplify the buyer’s journey. By offering new, existing, and prospective customers a path of least resistance for issue resolution, business leaders can significantly minimize effort, foster loyalty, and deliver more positive interactions.

Of course, calculating CES is only half the battle. To truly understand and reap the benefits of a low-effort experience, organizations will need to get creative with how they optimize their customer experience strategy. Whether it be through self-service tools or omnichannel contact center solutions, technology is undoubtedly at the center of the equation.

The post Customer Effort Score: What It Is and How to Use It appeared first on SiteProNews.

That’s why in this article we’ll be covering five major issues that lead to customer complaints and how they can be solved. This way, we’ll be highlighting the importance of good communication to every successful company and how poor communication can ruin customer relationships. So, grab a seat because, by the time you’re done reading, you’ll be informed with great ideas that’ll solve related communication problems.

1. Poor Resolution Hurts Customer Reviews

It’s important to have an organizational guide who can direct every case of a customer with an issue. It’s also beneficial for a company to have a general manual for customer service agents to refer to in case of situations where customers can be hard to reason with.

Relative to this, before proceeding the agent needs to identify the problem at hand and then implement rules from the manual. Every agent should learn this aspect of helping customers through good communication because this way, a customer will be calmer and more cooperative.

2. Customer Data Mismanagement Breeds Complaints

Customers find it best if the organization can access their previous transactional history and personal details. Studies have shown that the standard to which a customer’s data can be used by the company to give a quick solution is directly correlated with how customers perceive their experience with your company.

Relative to this, not gathering customer information as well as not using gathered information correctly can be damaging to how clients view your company’s help. Ensure that you’re asking the necessary questions and using information gathered accordingly to provide maximum support.

3. Scripted Communication Leading to Customer Complaints

Customers value originality and hate heavily scripted services. Many organizations, however, stray into using scripted messages in communicating with clients. Partially, it’s used because it’s easier for organizations to respond to many customer complaints within a short period. It’s also used because organizations rarely trust their employees’ decisions in solving customer’s problems. That’s why they give them scripted messages to send to clients.

Concerning this, as a company, you need to trust your employees in their abilities and in their desire to be of assistance to both the company and customers. Furthermore, you need to motivate them and inspire them to trust in themselves and to be creative.

4. Unprofessionalism Driving Customer Complaints at Costco

Costco, a popular retailer known for low prices and bulk products, has been criticized for its lack of professionalism in customer service. Customers have reported long wait times, unhelpful staff, poor communication, and a strict return policy. Costco’s focus on efficiency and cost-saving measures may come at the expense of providing top-notch customer service.

How a customer service employee approaches a customer, and their attitude towards them is very important. The quality of interaction between an agent and a customer is of great contribution to how a customer perceives your organization. Poor relation between customer service agents and clients bears many other problems like dissatisfaction which can lead to customer complaints. A bad attitude towards customers shows unprofessionalism which can create a negative image of your company to customers.

5. Resolving Complaints Demands Good Teamwork

Some of the more complicated problems are brought by a customer’s second interaction. It may occur that the customer was well-served during the first one, but once the problem escalates and they get in touch with another team member during the second experience, they get dissatisfied.

The need to explain a problem a second time or in other situations give different solutions, can dent your client’s trust and increase customer complaints. About this, ensure that your employees are united and offer an excellent experience to the clients. Every member of your team needs to work in coordination, everyone supporting each other. Unify your team by inspiring them to give their best while serving clients.

Conclusion

In any organization, customer service plays an important role of which it’s often ignored. Companies fail to understand that communicating with clients is more than just answering questions and solving issues. It’s more about creating a good customer experience and nurturing loyalty and long-term bonds. There’s much work ahead to be done to clear all of the above-mentioned problems and boost your chances of giving the best customer experience.

The post 5 Communication Problems that Lead to Customer Complaints appeared first on SiteProNews.

In our digitally developing world, there is a plethora of ways to get in touch with companies, yet calling via phone and waiting forever to reach a customer service professional still seems to be the norm. This method of contact can be especially damaging for utility and other service companies as their services oftentimes deliver on basic needs such as electricity, water, or plumbing.

Moreover, for customers with extra accessibility needs, poorly thought-out customer service can be even more detrimental; it can limit someone’s ability to get help and hinder their rights as buyers. Ensuring efficient customer service channels is key to maintaining a happy, loyal, and satisfied customer base.

So, the question then becomes…

How Can Companies Make Customer Service More Accessible?

Creating accessible customer service should be near the top of a company’s priority list. Accessible customer service can not only solve problems and keep customers from fleeing but boost trust and loyalty by making customers feel heard and understood.

Here are some strategies that can help companies enhance their customer service channels.

1. Use the Technology at Your Fingertips

Technology isn’t the enemy of creating accessible customer service; it’s your dearest friend. With technology, such as a virtual receptionist or real-time message administration, you can gain the scalability and automation you need to deliver accessible customer service.

Technology can empower people with complex needs, offering multiple ways of engaging with your company, and allowing people to find a communication style that works for them.

2. Provide Multiple Options

Choice is one of the most basic ways a company can provide for people with accessibility needs. You may need to find out which option suits your audience, so providing multiple communication options puts the consumer in the driver’s seat.

A human touch is important when providing multiple options. If someone arrives at your customer service hub and has more complex needs, a live agent can refer that customer to the best service or mode of communication — even if that solution is makeshift. It is important to be patient as you offer options and wait for the individual to tell you what they need rather than assume.

3. Don’t Forget About Personalization

One of the most frustrating aspects of a bad customer service experience is feeling like you’re just another person in a long line — that the company you are needing help from doesn’t care about you. Personalization can make customers feel uniquely heard and seen. There is a big difference between calling a company and talking to a bot versus a real employee who can empathize and solve specific problems.

Creating accessible customer service begins by blending technology with a human, personalized touch. Show people you care, that you’re listening, and that their problem matters to you, and give them plenty of ways to engage with you because everyone is different.

The post 3 Strategies for Companies to Offer Accessible Customer Service appeared first on SiteProNews.

For instance, the social media giants have created a way for us to communicate and interact with their servers using special software that allows us to talk to each other using their software.

Many small businesses are looking for an easy and effective way to connect with their customers. A chatbot can help solve this problem by providing an automated way for you to connect with your customers.

Using bots is ‘like having a secret agent on your side.’ With that in mind, let’s look at some reasons why you should use chatbots.

1. Chatbots Save Time

Chatbots can be applied to many different areas of our lives, but one of the most popular uses is customer service. Chatbots allow businesses to communicate with customers more efficiently while on the phone or online. 

For example, if you need to send someone a faster response than emailing them back and forth, you can use a chatbot instead. 

If you are looking for a new product, you can use a chatbot to search for it and get it delivered right to your door. The possibilities for using chatbots as part of your business are endless!

2. Chatbots Improve Productivity

Chatbots serve businesses of all sizes, from small start-ups to large corporations. The reason? They allow companies to scale up their business by automating repetitive tasks and allowing them to focus on more important things like sales growth or developing new products or services.

You can also use chatbot technology to increase customer satisfaction levels by offering better customer service or finding out about potential problems before they occur like not being able to get through on the phone. 

Some even offer live chat features so clients can get answers immediately. When you have a chatbot, you can communicate with your customers in real-time rather than having them wait on hold for hours or days. 

You can also provide personalized responses that match each customer’s needs — for example, if someone is looking for a product recommendation, you can send them specific recommendations based on your knowledge about their interests and preferences.

3. Chatbots Create New Business Opportunities

Chatbots can engage customers at any point during their purchase journey and help them understand the benefits of your products or services by showing how they will benefit from using them.

Chatbots are a great way to get more customers in your store and generate more revenue. Getting customers into stores is difficult because they might be hesitant about making purchases from an unknown brand or shop.

Chatbots can help you overcome this problem by creating an easy way for people to find products that match their needs and interests.

4. Chatbots Boost Customer Service 

Chatbots can help your customers resolve problems with their accounts or give them account information in a way that’s easy for them to understand.

Most importantly, they can help reduce the number of phone calls you have to make. Because chatbots are so effective at answering questions, they can help reduce the number of phone calls you have to make for certain inquiries. That can save both time and money for your business.

5. Chatbots Drive Leads and Sales

Chatbots allow marketers to create messages that drive people to their website, landing page, or another digital channel. 

A chatbot can help you get more out of your marketing efforts by interacting with customers in a way that is natural for them, resulting in higher conversion rates and increased revenue.

6. Chatbots are Incredibly Versatile

A lot of businesses use them for different purposes. Such means can be used for many different things by different people. 

For example, you could have a chatbot that generates leads for your business, one that helps with customer service issues, another that helps with product research, or even another that automates some of your backend tasks. The possibilities are endless!

7. Chatbots are Affordable

You might not know this, but most businesses do not have any budget for digital marketing because it doesn’t help drive revenue like traditional forms of marketing do i.e., email campaigns. 

For that reason, that’s why many small businesses embrace chatbots with their marketing strategy until they experience some success with their existing strategies.

In Conclusion

There are many great reasons to implement a chatbot for your website. They offer convenience for the user, increase sales, and convert them into customers. 

Chatbots can handle routine tasks, create a better customer experience and reduce overhead costs from hiring people to handle these menial tasks.

Implementing a chatbot on your website will give you a competitive edge over other websites in your niche.

Chatbots keep your business relevant in your customers’ everyday lives. This opportunity should not be overlooked and should be utilized as soon as possible.

The post Reasons Why You Should Use a Chatbot appeared first on SiteProNews.

 In this blog, we will discuss insights on how you can increase Customer Satisfaction and Retain them so that it will help you grow your business. Great customer service comes with best practices.

Here are the 7 ways  you may follow up to delight your customers with excellent customer service:

1. Actively Listen to Your Customers

Listen to what the customer has to say without interrupting with your own predictions. As the saying goes, “ Listening is often the only thing needed to help someone.”

While conversing on a call, use phrases such as Let me make sure I have understood it right and repeat their problem to let them know you have heard them.

Display active listening skills and be mindful of your customers emotional state which results in effective problem solving and happier customers.

2. Be Empathetic Towards Your Customers

It is a crucial customer service skill. 

After listening to the customer’s query you must learn to solve their problem as your own. Showing empathy really matters and enhances the chances of pleasant customer experience. 

Companies with a customer centric approach are 70 percent more profitable than the companies that are not.

Make the experience personal by being empathetic so that the customer will get a touch and will feel that yes I can rely on them. It increases the customer retention rate and hence you can gain loyal customers. 

3. Provide Quicker Resolutions

In this super fast generation there is lack of patience in most of them.

Customers’ expectations are very high as they expect you to solve their complications in a short span. A Help desk software that gives clients and support staff the same power for a quicker response.

The agents should be well versed with the product knowledge so that they can reduce the time to solve customer tickets. Companies can increase their FCR and  decrease their TAT if the agents have overall product knowledge. 

Your customers are the integral part of your business so do not keep them waiting. Value your customers TIME by having a pleasant attitude and by meeting their expectations. 

Do not forget, Time is money and Time is your greatest Asset, and therefore use it wisely.

4. Furnish Agents with Tools to Work More Efficiently and Effectively

If your business has an internal CRM with wonderful tools that help agents in solving the customer’s queries without any hurdles, they can easily resolve the queries in their first call. Like Side Conversations, Agents Assistance, Omni channel support, 360 degree view of customer, B2B Ticketing system, Knowledge base, Single Sign On, Learning Management System, Reports and Analytics and so much more. 

Before pleasing the customer’s experience, please and satisfy your agents with the things they like. It would be a win-win situation.

5. Anticipate the Customers’ Needs

Anticipating customers’ needs means being proactive with customer support service. You research, predict and analyze the customer needs and you reach out to them proactively, instead of waiting around for them to contact support.

Study your customers by performing intense market research.

Know your customers by reaching out to them personally or virtually (through online surveys, questionnaires, contests, transaction records and so on).

Once you are aware of their expectations you can make use of this by converting the problem into opportunity by developing new features/products. This leads you far ahead of your competitors.

6. Be Proactively Thoughtful, Supporting and Obliging

By being thoughtful you can often head off problems before they even start. Before the customer starts complaining, you are offering to solve their problem by understanding and being supportive.  It saves time for both the customer support team and the customer itself.

Once you are done with dealing with customers’ problems, you should proactively ask them if they require any other help other than the problem they had stated. The chances are they might have other snags.

Or it might happen that the agent would be knowing in future any other issue will occur with that particular query, so here any agent can inform the customer the same by providing them with resourceful information and resolving two issues together. This leads to satisfied customers and reduction in ticket volume in one way.

Last but not the least,

7. Empower Your Customers So That They Can Help Themselves

Try to build tools that will empower the customers to solve their problems by themselves. You can do this by developing a portal that helps them get answers to their Frequently Asked Questions.

You can empower your customers by conducting forums, providing access to AI Chat bot with multilingual chat features, Live Chat with expert Agents, and you may add on to the list.

Empowering helps in reduction of ticket volume and customers don’t have to stress on reaching out to customer support agents. Omnichannel features come into picture, as it plays a vital role here.

You can serve your customers with the channel of their choice. 

Customers will reach out by different means through social media, face-to-face meetings, calls etc. Make your customers feel comfortable by reaching out to them in their preferred channels and means of communication. 

“Make it easy for your customers while you take it easy.”

Extra Tips to Add on to Excellent Customer Service

• Take Feedback from the customers and ACT on it.
• Always appreciate your customers for making an effort to reach out to you.
• Be polite, friendly and show courtesy towards your customers.
• Always be honest with customers, even a slight misinterpretation affects your business as there might be the possibility of losing a loyal customer.
• Give choice and flexibility to customers so that they might feel the presence and effectiveness.

The post How to Deliver the Best Customer Service for All Kinds of Businesses appeared first on SiteProNews.

Here in this article, we will introduce chatbot mistakes that are costing you customers. Knowing these mistakes and chatbot hacks can help you have a more user-friendly chatbot. Read carefully and make your chatbot efficient.

Chatbot Mistakes that are Costing You Customers 

We now live in a society that values satisfaction. Despite their ability to provide quick answers to simple questions, customer care chatbots are still underutilized. AI chatbots are used by only 23% of customer support businesses, although they are preferred by 69 percent of customers.

Jumping into the realm of chatbots may seem frightening at first, but your clients will appreciate you in the long run, at least if you do it right. Taken as a whole, using a chatbot is a great way to scale your website traffic or increase your app download. Fortunately, the most common chatbot errors are also some of the most simple to avoid. Here are some:

1. Your Chatbot Has No Plan.

It is a mistake to have a chatbot without a story or plan. Your chatbot must have a defined goal. Your goal depends on the objectives of your business. This could include offering individualized brand engagement to encourage customer retention. Or, it might be reducing the number of customer support calls, saving you time and money.

Customers won’t  like to communicate with your chatbot if it does not serve a clear purpose. To have an efficient chatbot, you should make a clear plan first and write your chatbot. Focus on functionality while keeping the bottom line in mind.

2. Your Chatbot Does Not Provide True Information.

Imagine that you go to a store to buy something or report a problem regarding your previous purchase. If the person at the front desk does not give you the right information, you cannot communicate your problem well. As a result, your problem will remain unsolved. 

Now, imagine that your chatbot makes the same mistake. Before making a purchase, users frequently use chatbots to obtain information about products and services. What do you think the result would be? You have a considerably greater risk of losing your customers or newly-generated leads if your chatbot only gives ambiguous, unconnected, or unimportant information. 

To avoid this, make sure your chatbot has information that your customers genuinely want, such as ratings and full product descriptions.

3. It Makes Your Users Struggle to Communicate.

One of the most prevalent chatbot errors is making the user work too hard to acquire responses. Chatbots are supposed to be handier than talking with a real person. If a real person could be more efficient, there would be no need for a chatbot. So, if your chatbot is making your users more confused and angry, what’s the point of having one.  

To avoid this, ensure that your chatbot is always moving the customer forward. Answers should be actionable rather than being a dead end. Even if the interaction appears to be done, your chatbot should direct the user to a FAQ section in case they have additional queries.

4. It Has No Human Voice.

You should give your chatbot a human voice. Users should not feel that they are talking to a robot because it may give them the feeling that the robot cannot solve their problem. In addition, your chatbot, like all humans, should have a name and a personality. It helps increase your brand recognition. The name of your chatbot should be original, easy to say and spell, and easy to remember. 

5. You Have Not Tested It.

Before you launch your chatbot, ensure that it is genuinely ready for consumers. To ensure that your chatbot works as it should, it must be thoroughly tested in a variety of scenarios. If you do not test your chatbot, it could result in a drastic drop in sales without you realizing the cause of is your inefficient chatbot. Imagine that you are a newcomer who is interacting with your business for the first time through the chatbot. Do you find it helpful? If not, you need to make some improvements to it.  

6. There Is No Human Agent

While the vast majority of users prefer to get a speedy response from an AI, certain people will always prefer to speak with a human. Customer support should not end with your chatbot. It’s simply a tool that can be quite beneficial. Make sure that if a user wants to speak with a real, breathing human agent, they have that choice.

7. Updating Your Chatbot is Neglected

Regardless of how thoroughly you test a chatbot before releasing it to the public, it might still make mistakes or develop harmful quirks as time goes on. There is no way to account for everything straight away. The most successful chatbots are updated and maintained on a regular basis.

Remember to examine your chatbot on a frequent basis as time goes on to see if there are any adjustments or upgrades you can do to better serve your consumers.

Conclusion

Turning to AI for customer service is indeed a smart move for your business. Chatbots have enabled businesses to assist customers at all hours of the day and night. This is good if they are working efficiently instead of making things more complicated for your users. If you are fully aware of chatbot benefits for your business, you won’t waste a second to either launch one or improve the one that you already have. Check the above common mistakes and solve them for your chatbot. Wish you the best of luck!

The post 7 Chatbot Mistakes that are Costing You Customers appeared first on SiteProNews.

As a business owner, perhaps you’re not quite sure how you can blend AI technology into your workflows. 

You may also be on the fence about whether it offers any considerable benefits for your customer experience in the first place. After all, you wouldn’t want to tamper with what’s working, if the end gain is insignificant.

But that’s not the case with AI in customer service.

Artificial intelligence offers your business many benefits in terms of customer service, like 24/7 availability and reduced customer handling time, to name a few.

You also catch up with the times because at least 3 in every 10 companies rely on AI-driven customer service solutions, according to a survey by Consultancy Services.

Now comes the next important question:

How can AI practically achieve all these for your company? 

In this article, we’ll be discussing five ways to leverage artificial intelligence for efficient customer service in your business.

Let’s begin.

1. Using Chatbots for Improved Customer Handling

What system do you currently have in place to handle your clients’ questions and concerns?

If you’re like most traditional businesses, you probably have an employee or two in charge of responses and resolutions.

However, the problem with traditional communication strategies is that customer response or turnaround is not always optimal.

When you close for the day, your communication channels do the same.

Additionally, if your designated employee is working on something else, there are delays in response time as well.

When you implement chatbots, you can offer timely responses to your clients, thereby increasing purchase intent and ushering clients to close the deal.

If your lead lands on your website after-hours, the chatbot can steer the conversation into a purchase through a pre-designed conversation. 

For example, a question about your client’s interest or hobbies can be transformed into an organic marketing funnel to some of the products you’re selling.

Through natural language processing (NPL), the chatbot can examine your client’s response and use this data, or vital segments of it, to fetch pre-determined replies from a database.

Mastercard is already making waves with its witty customer service chatbot.

2. Implementing AI-powered IVR to Decongest Call Centers

If a B2C (business to client) call center is an important part of your day-to-day operations, then there are some challenges you often face.

At the top of your list may be an overworked call center, where your agents are up to the neck with client queries.

Your modern-day client still has a preference for calls over other forms of communication. 

A BrightLocal study evidenced that 60% of your new leads would like to get in touch with your business via phone call after an internet search.

You can use AI-powered Interactive Voice Recognition software to tend to basic client queries that clog up your queues.

For example, Humana, a health insurer, is already using IBM Watson tools to ease the burden on the company’s call agents. Humana was able to cut down more than 60% of calls through virtual NPL, IVR agents that would answer basic questions from clients.

If you were to call Humana to ask if you’re covered for a certain procedure, for instance, the AI-driven receiver would identify keywords in your voice, and offer a pre-programmed response telling you what you need to know.

You can learn about artificial intelligence here, and how it makes autonomous IVR call centers like Humana possible. 

3. Using AI for Better Email Management 

How many emails do you receive in one day from your clients?

Probably way too much, until you’re struggling to keep up with every single one. Yet customer feedback goes hand in hand with satisfaction so you or your employees need to painstakingly open each one.

With AI-driven software, your business can ease its email marketing strategy, which has the potential for a 3,800 % ROI, going by the DMA national client email report. 

An email-parsing AI can enable your business to extract keywords from heaps of emails. Therefore, you can distinguish between urgent concerns for faster resolution.

For example, email-parsing software can include an algorithm to pick out words like bad, poor, or others associated with negative experiences.  

Additionally, there’s also the pressure to have to write consistently good sales copies and subject lines for your clients.

NPL-imbued copy generators can write human-level sales copy for your email marketing. 

Phrasee, for example, uses AI technology running on deep learning and natural language generation to write many of its copies, which are holding up well against manual versions.

4. Implementing OCR for Faster Client Onboarding

What is your new customer onboarding process like at your company?

It probably involves a lot of paperwork and manual data entry tasks for your employees. Consequently, your clients have to wait in line for a considerable while to be served in turns.

Apart from this time management issue, there’s also the problem that your employees may make a mistake during the onboarding process. Files may also be misplaced later on and information is matched to the wrong client.

In a nutshell, traditional client onboarding tactics that involve manual data entry methods are time-consuming, inaccurate, and don’t put on a good show in front of your clients.

You can save your company time and trouble by implementing AI-powered OCR technology for accurate and faster client information extraction.

As a result, you’ll be able to speed up onboarding processes, thereby improving productivity, reducing wait times, and increasing client satisfaction. The reduction in paper trail also means better security for your client’s personally identifiable information.

AI-fueled OCR scanners can process hard print or handwritten work into a digital format. This is made possible by an underlying algorithm incorporating natural language processing, while machine learning enables OCR software to produce better output results.

Investment firm Whittier Trust is already using AI-powered OCR technology to remove iterative paperwork tasks and streamline the customer experience.

5. Using Predictive Targeting for Relevant Advertisement

How sure are you that your advertising always ends up in the right place?

If your ads consistently wind up in the wrong place and at the wrong time, you’re doing your business more harm than good.

According to a survey by HubSpot, 9 in 10 people find many ads to be irrelevant or inorganic, and thereby intrusive. Consequently, clients who feel that way end up blocking your advertising content and your campaign efforts pour money down the drain.

However, you can change that situation through effective advertising using predictive targeting.

A division in predictive analytics, predictive targeting enables your business to use client history or behavior patterns to inform your advertising strategies.

Through the power of machine learning afforded by predictive targeting tools, you can create super-relevant ads encompassing accurate information about your target market, with an excellent likelihood of a clickthrough.

Thus, your company can make ads that are reaching the right people, and also at the most convenient time according to the analyses of your clients’ clickthrough patterns.

Motor giant Harley-Davidson is already putting predictive targeting AI to work in identifying high-value customers likely to purchase by analyzing client data histories.  

Conclusion

Did you know that customer service influences how your market selects brands?

A Microsoft report established that 58% of your target clients make a business decision about whether to transact with you or not, depending on your company’s customer service experience. 

If your customer service is not up to scratch, you’re therefore losing a LOT of business because of it.

AI-powered solutions can help your business to improve customer service for better first impressions and brand loyalty.

You can sort out common customer service challenges like unavailability or slow client handling with AI-driven solutions like chatbots, email parsing, and modern IVR systems.

Make your business even more profitable and appealing by implementing AI-fueled technology.

The post 5 Ways to Leverage Artificial Intelligence for Efficient Customer Service appeared first on SiteProNews.

Whether it’s a worry about a loved one, a Zoom work call crashing, the kids at home misbehaving, or a package not arriving, the stress and anxiety created by this pandemic is directly affecting our ability to be patient and tolerant when things go wrong. Customer service departments — the place where everyone goes when things go wrong — are struggling to deal with customers’ rock-bottom patience and sky-high expectations.

But this impatience is nothing new, the virus outbreak has just accelerated a trend that’s been building for years.

How Soon Is Now?

Technology continues to recalibrate customer expectations of immediacy. And, expectation is the mother of impatience.  Hubspot found that “90% of customers rate an “immediate” response as important or very important when they have a customer service question.” The average time to a customer’s first query or concern across all ecommerce is still around 17 hours. The rift between customer expectations of service and a retailer’s ability to deliver is ever-growing.

Chat and social media messaging are compounding the problem. With live chat being the most preferred customer service channel among millennials and more consumers than ever turning to social media for support, it is clear that customers are seeking quick help in real-time. A company’s customer acquisition through social media only adds to the false perception that immediacy is possible.

The ‘Now Customer”

Patience, or rather impatience, is the emotional response to a delay. Dr. Jim Stone explains that impatience results from our own expectations. In turn, customer impatience stems from the failure of businesses to meet service expectations — no one wants to hear that their email or message is in a queue and will be answered within 24 hours.

The Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany conducted a study on patience and came to several starling conclusions:

1. Present-biased individuals have less patience and are focused on the now
2. Patience is dropping by generation

The more consumers become present-biased through constant connection, the more focused they become on immediate gratification and the harder they are to satisfy. The problem is best summed up by one customer’s recent comment on business wait times: “I must develop patience… immediately.”

Expectations in the Midst of a Pandemic

Many businesses are finding that providing service for the shelter-at-home ‘Now Customer’ is impossible without limitless budgets. Attempts to offer better service often translates to longer interactions, which impact service levels, staffing, not to mention that longer wait times are responsible for at least $75 billion in lost revenue per year.

This conflict between the expectations of the Now Customer and a business’s ability to act now affects customer loyalty, retention, and ultimately, the bottom line.

Patience isn’t a Virtue, It’s a Technology Deficit

So how can customer service departments meet these new demands without ballooning costs and adding more stress to an already overburdened customer service staff? A Covid-19 vaccine will obviously help take our stress levels down and bring life back to some semblance of normality, but the customer’s impatience and expectations for immediacy will continue to increase. As Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said, ““Only thing I love about customers is that they are divinely discontented. Their expectations are never static. They only go up.” 

The stresses caused by the Coronavirus, the 24/7 news cycle, and our isolation have ushered in a new dawn for the Now Customer. These factors combined with our our technology-fueled entitlement for immediacy have opened up an even wider expectation gap between customer and brand, between our need to feel valued and looked after and a brand’s ability to live up to those expectations. Put simply, technology got us into this mess and only better technology can get us out. People are terrified enough by the world outside, they don’t need to be further tortured by clunky, unintelligent chatbots. Customers and customer service professionals deserve so much more. It’s time for software companies, and AI companies in particular, to start delivering the service we deserve. Brands can no longer set their service sights on going back to a pre-coronavirus normal. That place no longer exists. 

The post Patience for the Post-COVID-19 Customer appeared first on SiteProNews.

1. Responsiveness

By 2021, it is expected that half of the e-commerce transactions will be completed through mobile devices. This data shows the importance of mobile devices in today’s web environment, but many online merchants continue designing their e-stores for desktops exclusively. Today, the mobile-first approach for custom website design is the secret sauce to build robust e-commerce websites. 

Responsive web design enables you to build mobile-friendly websites, so your website will also be available to mobile users. More users result in more conversion. 

2. Performance 

Here, by performance, we mean the loading speed of your site. It is said that a website shouldn’t take longer than 2-3 seconds to load. Most visitors will leave your site if it doesn’t load in the stipulated time. Higher loading time will irritate visitors and have them clicking the back button. Hence, short loading time is important for making sure that visitors do land and stay on your site. A fast-loading site will help increase the conversion rate by ensuring more visitors land and stay on your site. Optimize your website for the best performance and choose a good hosting service. You should choose a reliable ecommerce website development service provider to build a fast-loading site. 

3. Effective UI/UX

The design of a webpage is an important factor when it comes to conversion. There are numerous things that a web designer has to consider, including usability, engagement, and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). There are many approaches on how you can design your site. And, starting with Photoshop design files to get them converted to HTML/CMS is a useful way. If your website looks fuzzy and cluttered with too many options, it will be inconvenient for visitors to use. Make sure that your website is both appealing and user-friendly. Improve website landing page design to provide a pleasing experience and boost your conversion rate. 

4. Personalization

Your visitors must be able to find what they are looking for on your site. This is what you can achieve with the use of personalization. If shoppers have to browse through many options and sections to reach the desired section, they will be less likely to make purchases. As a result, you will see a rising cart abandonment rate. 

Personalization is a great way to tap this situation by providing a custom user experience. User data is essential for personalization. You can analyze the data and ascertain the preferences of your customers. Based on that data, you can deliver a personalized experience. It will help you boost your conversion rate. 

5. Effective customer service

Easy access is important for customer service to be effective. It means that you must deploy multiple channels to provide customer services. Also, providing customer service round-the-clock will be the icing on the cake. 

Channels like contact forms, email addresses, etc. work very well for communication, but personal communication through live chat, call, or video is even better. You must make sure to provide effective communication channels for your customers which are easily accessible and available throughout the day and night if possible. You may also have to consider the different time zones for providing effective customer service when your business is internationalized.         

Final note

Conversion rate is a key metric of success for an online business. If you are facing a dropping conversion rate then there is something amiss with your e-commerce site. Gaining a high conversion rate is more than just adding enticing images on the website and setting attractive prices. 

Numerous factors influence the conversion rate and when they are not in accordance, the conversion rate is affected. Some of these factors have been mentioned in this blog. By improving on these factors, you can drag your site’s conversion rate upwards and get a greater return on your investments. By considering these factors during ecommerce web design services, you can build a robust website.

The post 5 Essential Factors that Have Influence on Your Conversion Rate appeared first on SiteProNews.

One of the innovations that allowed small businesses to hold their own against massive chain enterprises is the internet. Entrepreneur states that Google’s search engine algorithms tend to focus on local results before national ones. Local search optimization to put a business’ website on the first page of Google results is just the tip of the iceberg. Innovations have helped small businesses become more productive and innovative and enable the implementation of new methods of engaging with customers. Let’s explore the ways that technology has given small business a helping hand to access the customers they need to survive and prosper.

Business Efficiency

Technology, such as scheduling software can enable businesses to be more competitive by creating task lists set within a period. For production and manufacturing companies, this could be software that deals with production goals and maintenance schedules. For service-based companies such as electrical contractors, planning software like FieldPulse Contracting Software offers a one-stop solution for planning jobs, and managing clients. As a business grows their needs for planning software to increase their efficiency may widen, and they might need to consider looking at scalable solutions like cloud-based inventory or customer management software.

Internal and External Communications

The ancient days of communication with a small business usually required the transfer of notes and memos from one department to another. Chron reports that technology now allows for instant connection with clients thanks to eCommerce and social media for feedback. Small businesses that depend on freelancers to drive their competitiveness can rely on communication media such as instant messaging and project planning software to aid them in keeping jobs aligned and on schedule. As the speed of interconnectivity between mobile and wired devices increases, businesses stand to benefit from having access to this new technology.

Marketing and Customer Conversion

Ecommerce is among one of the fastest-growing fields and even brick-and-mortar small businesses can benefit from it. Digital Commerce 360 states that during the year 2018, global eCommerce revenues increased by 18%, weighing in at an overall value of $3 trillion. Small businesses need a functional website and a concise marketing plan to start using eCommerce to drive their sales. For service-based companies, having a blog may be a significant part of developing an online audience. Many larger companies such as General Electric have pioneered the idea of the ‘expert blog’ to drive traffic and increase customer opinion of the brand.

Customer Service

Small businesses have typically had a hard time dealing with customer service issues. New technology may have the solution for this problem, however. Tech such as artificial intelligence has allowed for the creation of chatbots that are relatively inexpensive and can be trained to answer most of the common queries a customer service representative may encounter through clients. Business Insider reports that up to 80% of businesses are considering investing in chatbots by 2020. The sophistication of the technology makes it adaptable to either manufacturing or service-based companies.

Safety and Security

One of the more overlooked technological enhancements that have impacted small business is surveillance of brick-and-mortar premises. Setting up remote viewing closed-circuit cameras has become so affordable that homeowners are adopting the practice. For a business, having access to footage can help recover missing goods, or potentially save the company from liability in the case of an industrial accident. On the other side of the spectrum, electronic security in terms of computer systems and firewalls are also of extreme importance. For businesses that have their data on-site in a physical database storage machine, having impenetrable security is essential to keeping their documents safe.

Tracking Delivery and Logistics

Another emerging technology that doesn’t get nearly enough mainstream exposure is IoT. Hacker Noon states that by 2020, the number of interconnected devices in the world is likely to be close to 13.5 billion. The IoT is a series of tiny devices that can sense environmental conditions around them and relay that data back to a server. IoT has entered many areas of business, but since the technology is relatively new, not many companies have invested much time and effort into it. The affordability of the devices and the ease with which a skilled IT professional can set the system up makes it an attractive way for small businesses to track their product logistics and shipping information in real-time.

Data Analytics and Customer Profiling

Most small businesses don’t consider data analytics because it’s something that they don’t think they will be able to use. However, thanks to the broad coverage of the topic online, even regular business owners can benefit from leveraging analytics to inform their business decisions. It may not be extremely sophisticated, and it might just help the business decide where its shoestring advertising budget is best spent. However, this could be significant in helping the company save money and make the most out of its findings to discover and convert new customers.

Competitive Use of Technology Sets Successful Businesses Apart

While a lot of the new businesses run by younger entrepreneurs are embracing and using technology, a lot of the companies that belong to the last generation’s entrepreneurs are struggling with the new reality. Technology has advanced rapidly in the previous decade, and people who could go weeks without knowing about the internet now access webpages from their phone several hundred times a day. For a small business in this sort of scenario, the crucial understanding is how to adapt to the changing world around them. If they don’t, they’re not likely to survive another ten years doing the same thing and expecting the same sort of results.

The post How Technology Makes Small Businesses More Competitive appeared first on SiteProNews.

Today, more and more online retailers are choosing logistics outsourcing. Outsourcing logistics for e-commerce is certainly an economic advantage. Using a digital freight marketplace requires no investment in real estate, facilities, vehicles and personnel, and more opportunity to focus on your business and future developments. However, losing control of important processes, such as warehouse management or delivery services, can be risky. How do you choose your logistics partner? How to create a good synergy between logistics and e-commerce? How to give added value to the customer?

Plan the Logistics for E-Commerce by Evaluating 7 Factors

What do consumers want when they buy a product online? The answer can be found by analyzing 7 key factors underlying the planning of logistics for e-commerce.

1. Reliability and speed: the buyer has high expectations regarding the delivery service of products purchased online. Among these is speed. In order to guarantee fast deliveries, there is a need for internal logistics capable of guaranteeing the availability of as many products as possible (correct stock management) and capable of receiving, processing and shipping orders very quickly. Moreover, the very structure of the warehouses (in particular the large ones), is increasingly adapting to the rhythms and needs of the modern logistics chain. From automated systems to loading bays designed specifically for commercial vehicles (such as those built by Campisa), everything is moving in the direction of efficiency, speed and streamlining of processes;

2. Punctuality of delivery: one of the customer’s primary requirements is compliance with the lead time. Guaranteeing the delivery of the goods exactly on the day and in the time period communicated means that the customer does not have a negative perception of the service received;

3. Flexibility in delivery: The future of e-commerce logistics is customization. Enabling customers to decide where and when to collect goods not only increases their level of satisfaction but also facilitates the delivery process by eliminating “empty trips” (attempted deliveries) and calls to call centers. Providing a service that allows delivery on weekends or in the evening and setting up alternative collection points for customers at ‘lockers’, shops or other facilities located in the area can improve their performance;

4. Value-added services: Services such as installation, product testing and take-back/disposal of used products are considered competitive factors at the delivery stage;

5. Order tracking: Consumers expect immediate monitoring information. It is essential to provide customers with the ability to track the path of the ordered goods not only on the courier’s website, but also within their own e-commerce. And this is possible if the logistics partner is equipped with a cutting-edge IT platform that can be integrated with its own systems;

6. Customer service: good customer care that listens to and understands customers and finds effective solutions to problems both at the time of purchase and after the sale, including through social channels, helps to establish a lasting relationship. The same logistics for e-commerce becomes an opportunity to relate with the end customer, as the latter is closest to the e-shopper during all the after-sales phases, from shipment to delivery. In order to achieve customer satisfaction, it is a good idea that the logistics supplier should also be provided with a customer service structured on the basis of the fundamental principles of dialogue and assistance;

7. Ease of returns: a good reverse logistics and therefore a certain simplicity in returns can represent a “commercial plus”. A customer who has just received a non-conforming, defective or damaged product is very unsatisfied. It is therefore important to implement simple procedures to return the goods without too many complications so as not to cause them any further inconvenience and to avoid negative word of mouth. Here, too, the choice can be to allow him to book the collection by the courier at times appropriate to him at home or to deliver the return at a store or post office and decide whether to implement a replacement or obtain a refund. Well, also, that right from the order stage the customer is informed about the methods of return.

The post E-Commerce Logistics: 7 Key Factors for Success appeared first on SiteProNews.

I’d like to submit an opinion that may surprise you – IT support is a customer service role.

You, the employee, are our customer. Our entire role exists to ensure that you are equipped to do your job as efficiently as possible. I’ve read plenty of “things IT wishes you knew” pieces that just come across as rude, arrogant, and unhelpful. I want to shift the conversation in a way that helps to heal the relationship between IT and the rest of the office.

So here’s a few helpful things IT really wishes you knew:

Try some basic troubleshooting first

This isn’t because we don’t want you to talk to us. In fact, as I’ll discuss, we want you to talk to us. But there are some basic steps we’ll almost always ask you to try to eliminate routine issues.

Did you try turning it off and on again? (This works more often than you might think!) Did you try a different browser? If the printer isn’t working, did you check for an error code?

This is all helpful information for us, and you may just solve your own issue. As much as we like being the hero, it’s cool to see folks empowered to fix things on their own.

It’s OK to “bother” us

Have you ever just dealt with a tech issue by yourself because you “didn’t want to bother” us in IT?

We hear that all the time. But here’s the thing: Fixing those issues is our job. It’s why we’re employed. Some of us even enjoy doing it. Sure, we probably have a ton of other tickets, or maybe a crazy project we’ve been stressing over. Or maybe we don’t.

Either way, your issue still needs to get fixed. And as I mentioned earlier, if we don’t know, then we can’t help!

Yes, please file a ticket

Some of the most common things your help desk hears are “I just have a quick question…” or “I’m having ___ problem, should I file a ticket?”

My response? Please file a ticket.

(Ok, to be fair, in some cases, my response is, “Here’s the best resource to solve your issue.” Now you know, and knowing is… well, you get the point.)

In the majority of cases, however, filing a ticket is the correct route. Your help desk team now has a written record of that request, which can be used for:

• Troubleshooting collaboration within IT: A ticket allows all members of the IT team (if your org has more than one support person) to see your request, discuss possible solutions amongst themselves, and ensure that the most qualified person is addressing it.
• Accountability: A documented ticket holds us, the support team, accountable for responding in a timely manner. (We don’t want to forget about you!)
• Collaboration with you: A ticket establishes a conversation in a single, central location with you to discuss the issue and identify troubleshooting steps and the eventual solution.
• A historical record for future reference: Maybe the issue returned and we forgot how we fixed it. Or maybe we get a ticket from someone else with the same problem. A documented solution saves everyone a lot of time.
• Tracking trends among issues: Maybe documentation needs to be updated for clarity. Maybe there’s an emerging bug with an OS update or an app the org uses. Or maybe a change was rolled out without clear communication. If we see trends developing among the tickets, we can determine the best course of action to limit its impact on you and your coworkers.

Most importantly: If we don’t know there’s a problem, we can’t help.

Filing a ticket may seem mechanical and impersonal. And yes, it’s OK to ask questions via email, over the phone, in-person, or in whatever chat tool the company uses. But in the end, we all benefit from documented solutions.

The more specific and detailed your ticket, the better

Few things are more frustrating to someone who solves problems for a living than being presented with a lack of details. We want to help and–to do that well–we need some information.

“Having a problem, please help,” with no other context, is something we see pretty often, but that’s not really a ticket. Now we at least know there’s a problem, but we don’t know where to begin.

In order to help us help you, your ticket should at least have three basic ingredients:

• A subject that gives a succinct summary of the issue. E.g., “My keyboard is not working.” This helps us prioritize issues, assign them to the right person, and gives context when scrolling through a list.
• A brief but detailed description of the issue. The circumstances in which the issue occurred are helpful. In the example above, you might say “I am typing this from my phone because none of the keys on my Mac are working. I came back from lunch, woke it up, but was unable to type my password.”
• What steps, if any, you took to troubleshoot on your own. Using the keyboard example again, it’s helpful to know if you tried a USB external keyboard or if you noticed a spill coming from your neighbor’s desk. This helps us focus our troubleshooting and avoid redundancy, getting you a quicker resolution.

You should never be worried about providing too many details about the problem. We’ll sort through it all and determine next steps. (Just please don’t provide passwords in the ticket!)

Remember, you have different, convenient ways to reach us

Most (probably all) modern ticketing systems allow you to email your request. You’ve probably sent an email to support@companyname.com, whether to your internal IT department or to another company’s customer support team.

If email is your preferred method of communication, then you’re all set. If it isn’t, then you should ask your help desk what other options are available. Some tools have a “customer portal”– a website that allows you to view your tickets, both current and resolved. You can post comments to the tickets, check the status, and search past resolutions.

Some systems like Spoke even allow you to submit requests via text message or via chat tools like Slack.

The point is, you probably have options, so use them! We don’t want a lack of convenience to be the reason you didn’t send in that ticket and an issue didn’t get fixed.

Follow-up is important to us

Did the instructions we provided help? Were you able to reset your password? Is the VPN still down? Did you even have a chance to try the suggested fix yet? Until you respond, we have no way of knowing if the problem is resolved, or if you’re just sitting at your desk getting angrier at us. Please let us know.

Be wary of CC’ing people when you file a ticket via email

As we touched on earlier, most tickets are generated by email. The system generates an email response, and further replies will be copied into the ticket. Whether or not this is the most efficient system is another discussion entirely, but typically it works just fine.

However, it’s also a common practice to copy other recipients on an email, even when that email is intended to file a ticket. Unless you’re using a smart ticketing system like Spoke, those additional recipients aren’t typically added to the ticket automatically, and the help desk doesn’t see that anyone was copied on the message. If the additional recipients then send a reply, the system sees it as a new request and generates a duplicate ticket.

I consider that a flaw in those systems, rather than user error. That is… until you’ve done it several times despite being asked not to. At that point it becomes user error. Need someone else to get notifications about the ticket? If you’re not using Spoke or another CC-friendly system, ask your support team if the ticketing system has the ability to copy that person on replies. Chances are it does. The right people will get notified, and IT doesn’t have to close out a bunch of duplicate tickets (taking away from the time we could be spending helping you). It’s a win for everyone.

Bonus: You don’t have to say thanks (in the ticket)

When we mark a ticket as resolved, in our minds, it is closed, done, complete, no longer requiring brain power.

A “THANKS!”–however kind and well-intentioned–essentially re-opens that ticket for us. The notification that pops up makes us think something went wrong again. It’s a little added stress, a bit of extra noise in our crowded inboxes.

I’m not saying don’t thank your support team. Quite the opposite! Say something when you pass them at the coffee maker. Post something nice in your peer recognition board. Shoot them a note in chat. Buy them whiskey. There are lots of great ways to say thank you. And I can promise you, it goes a long way.

Final thoughts

While it may often seem that IT is at odds with the rest of the office, we’re actually on the same side. You may only see us when you’re mad because something is broken, or because we had to put some new security measure in place. In the end, we’re just there to make sure the company runs smoothly and is protected. The key to a smooth-running workplace is communication. So talk to your IT support team. In addition to the above, they’ll have their own set of things they wish everyone knew.

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