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How Artificial Intelligence Improves Contact Center Industry

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is the gold standard in call center quality monitoring, and for good reason. Today’s automated call center quality monitoring software is so seamless in its integration that efficiencies resulting from its use can be pressed into action quickly, fairly and effectively. Active call centers record billions of hours of customer interactions every year, and it is spectacular to consider reviewing every minute for quality assessment. AI brings the task not only into the realm of reality, but also into position as a transformational tool in improving operations, agent performance and customer satisfaction. The call centers need to understand the basic before implementing Artificial Intelligence. Let’s take a look at the benefits of working with Artificial Intelligence and the multiple advantages it brings to any operation in the call center that strives to offer the best quality assurance at every point in the customer-interaction process. AI Interaction in the Customer Service Experience One of the best aspects of AI is that it is fully customizable to call center’s needs. Not only does the software “learns” and improves over time, but as in-house processes evolves, AI can be adjusted to augment the quality monitoring standards quickly and effectively. That said, it is vital that each company assess its needs and desires before investing in AI so that it achieves the most efficient fit. Here are some of the aspects to be considered when weighing whether to take the leap into AI quality assurance software: The people factor No computer can show human emotion, which is conceived as the major downside of AI when used in a call center. Companies don’t want their customers to feel as if they are not being heard, especially when they are frustrated or upset, because an automated system cannot properly assess and respond to human emotion. However, AI benefits the call center agents to understand the upset points where the customers want special attention. This can help the call center agents to include sympathetic words to solve the issue which the customer is facing. In addition, AI benefits the call center employees to handle some of the upset callers when a problem gets too emotional. “AI Technology Combined With Conventional People Skills Can Deliver A Seamless Customer Experience By Balance Customer Interactions With Empathy” Departmental universality Customer service is a chief concern in every aspect of working with patrons. AI can be programmed to anticipate people needs in the case of an emergency and begin the process before the person can even sort out how to respond. Plus, AI can inform customers of possible solutions and products immediately, which demonstrate a level of urgency and personalization that will help retain customers with monthly subscriptions. Resolution-based self-service Self-service is a tricky tool, and it doesn’t take much for callers to get frustrated with a dizzying path they don’t feel is solving their problem. But from a company’s standpoint, automated self-service is a vital tool for maximizing work done by people. When AI enters the picture, customers—especially high-value clients—can get personalized responses with language that doesn’t sound “canned” or rote. In addition, AI software is able to decide when a caller requires a personal touch, at which point it connects the caller to a live agent. AI can also read triggers that indicate a customer is a high-value client and make sure that caller is treated accordingly. All of these measures help ensure a positive customer service experience. Benefits of Automated Call Center Quality Monitoring With these customer service efficiencies in mind, the next step in the Artificial Intelligence assessment process is to consider the benefits of integrating the software into call center quality monitoring. Of course, the most obvious benefit is efficiency. Each call center generates hundreds of thousands of recorded interactions each year. The only way to effectively evaluate all those calls is with software. Here are some of the upsides to AI in quality assurance: Objectivity When people are the ones doing the QA assessments, there will always be a risk that interactions are not being evaluated objectively. Using AI, there can be no bias based on a preference for certain agents or a dislike for others. Objectivity is built into the assessment software. Universality : Rather than selecting a small fraction of calls for evaluation by people quality monitoring agent, AI allows every single call to be monitored in a quick and efficient manner. Every agent’s interactions can be evaluated, which means the leaders get a full picture of agents’ work and are prepared. Immediacy Because all calls are screened quickly, trends–both negative and positive–can be discovered quickly and adjustments can be made in an efficient manner. There is no rush in the leader’s ability to implement a correction or new innovation that helps boost customer satisfaction levels. Performance As a result of the three benefits above, agent performance is much more likely to improve quickly. Timely, accurate quality assurance evaluations can indicate which agents need additional training. The overall agent performance helps the leaders understand better which agent’s performance can limit the delivery of effortless customer experience. Of course, there is no AI software, to this point, that can run without the benefit of people’s insight and interaction. It is the combination of people and Artificial Intelligence that produces the most complete data, intelligent insights, and helpful recommendations. With the automated functions in the call center, it is imperative to have people to monitor the transactions for quality services. The people make the whole AI functionality work to offer exceptional customer experience to the customers. Customers have always wanted seamless and effortless form of responses for their issues. According to Forrester’s report of 2014, understanding customer emotion and empathy are the most critical components to gain successful customer experience. Here, to touch the heart of the customer services being delivered, human touch is required. When you have both, your investment in AI software can facilitate a marked improvement in agent

How to Take Customers’ Feedback in Real Time

The best businesses are looking to rise above the commoditization of the marketplace and place service at the forefront of their strategy. However, in an ‘always on’ civilization, the demands of keeping on top of customer experience and conversations can seem overwhelming. Most companies now operate some sort of feedback system, but this is not always immediately connected or analyzed which can be a profound problem. The problem with dated feedback There are a number of problems with gathering feedback that is past its sell-by date: If you are trying to isolate issues at a particular customer ‘touchpoint’, you need to capture customers’ raw experiences immediately after they have interacted with it. The longer you delay asking for feedback, the more the customer will balance their experience at that touchpoint with their general feelings about your company. While this is useful in itself, it doesn’t help to identify areas where you are performing especially well or badly. Second, the longer the gap between touchpoint and feedback, the more chance there is that the customer will interact with another touchpoint, again clouding the results. Third, and perhaps most important of all, immediate feedback gives you a fighting chance of nipping a bad experience in the bud. In fact, research has shown that instant feedback leads, on average, to a 27% increase in customer satisfaction scores and an almost 90% success rate in recovering disappointed customers – preventing them from becoming brand detractors. Real time feedback solutions Fortunately, there are various technological solutions to the problem of gathering instant feedback. Automated engagement systems can now interact with customers immediately and on the platform of their choice. For example, surveys or ratings snippets can be presented by email, Interactive Voice Response, credit card machine, QRcode, SMS message, website form, mobile app and social media message. The most sophisticated systems also include real-time data analysis and the capacity to display feedback in a meaningful way on a user-friendly dashboard, even on mobile devices. For an example of how this might work in practice, imagine you have bought a sandwich in a shop on the way into town, and on the wrapper is a QR feedback code. You were disappointed with your purchase or service, scanned the wrapper, and gave the shop a negative feedback rating. Your feedback is instantly flagged and sent to the store manager’s tablet who is then able to issue an SMS apology and a voucher for another sandwich – all while you are still in easy walking distance of the shop. How would this affect your perception of the company?

Five Frequently Asked Questions About Using Call Monitoring to Improve Performance

Ensuring that your agents are producing successful calls depends on much more than a thorough initial training. Quality management should be ongoing, involving regular training and constantly updated goals. Managers often implement a system of quality assurance using call monitoring to improve performance on a continuous basis. Here are a few frequently asked questions about call monitoring and quality management to get you started on the path to continuous call improvement. How Can I Engage Agents During Call Reviews? Regular team reviews are an essential part of quality management. Sharing good and bad calls to discuss what went wrong and what went right gives the group a glimpse into techniques that work for individuals and areas to improve on. It is also important to provide one-on-one monitoring with an agent and a manger after a call. This is an excellent way to give personalized attention and reinforce what managers look for when reviewing calls. Whether you are performing a group or individual evaluation, a few steps will further engage agents in the call reviews: Ask the agents to think of calls that would be helpful to review. Avoid pointing out every issue yourself during a call review. Let the agents find the mistakes and positive aspects of each call. This keeps the agents actively listening and thinking about quality. It also avoids the feeling of a management lecture. Add customer feedback into the discussion. How Do I Interest Agents in the Monitoring Process? Let the agents help decide quality measures you use during call monitoring. Involving agents in quality assurance helps them understand the process behind call monitoring and become invested in it. The focus should be on exceeding customer expectations and monitoring from a customer perspective. Asking agents to take a customer’s point of view creates better quality measures. It also reinforces the concept of customer respect and empathy. How Should I Schedule Call Monitoring? Make sure that you have a predictable schedule for coaching: Rotate listening and coaching through the teams on a weekly basis. Make sure each agent has recent feedback and is anticipating and working toward the next established review. Plan your staffing so that at least one agent at all times can be off of the phone and experiencing quality monitoring. How Can I Keep Agents From Returning to Bad Habits? Before a coaching session ends, make sure every agent agrees with the goals set during the session. Get verbal confirmation that each individual is 100 percent behind every goal. Monitoring and training should include clear goals and extend beyond listening to calls for lasting effects: Ask top performers what is working for them. Team up good performers and less successful agents. Do not end the session if anyone is wavering or seems unsure of goals. How Can I Reinforce Good Habits? Make sure to mention the positive to each agent during call monitoring. Immediate concerns tend to focus on negative aspects of an agent’s performance, but starting with a positive comment reinforces quality work, creates an incentive to continue good habits and opens an agent to your less positive feedback. Call monitoring is a powerful tool for improvement. Involving agents in the review process and in creating quality measurements gets them invested in monitoring and provides them with methods to improve performance. Continuous quality improvement starts with call monitoring, helpful reviews and reinforcement of excellent work.

Top Reasons You Haven’t Added Live Chat to Your Website

Businesses and educational institutions alike have taken to the internet to build their presence and drive customers to their doors, all in an effort to bring in additional revenue in a cost-effective manner. However, many website visitors feel disconnected from help when they have questions. A phone call can involve long hold times and transfers, while email can take days for a response, with several exchanges required to reach a resolution. More and more, consumers want instant, accurate answers to their questions and concerns. Those same consumers tend to prefer to do business with someone who can provide fast, accurate answers as soon as they have questions. Live chat enabled websites allow businesses to provide quick, convenient responses in a way that also positively impact the bottom line. I have a store, a website, a Facebook page, an 800 number, and email. Isn’t that enough? Actually, no. In your store, you have sales and service personnel to assist the customer and make a sale. You have people who answer the phone and email, assist the customer, and make more sales. Hopefully, you also have someone monitoring your company Facebook page responding to customer comments in order to protect your brand, help your customers and increase sales. A recent Forrester study showed a 19% increase in Average Order Value for a company offering chat-assisted sales versus the typical ecommerce transaction. So, if you have a website, wouldn’t you also want to provide a way for consumers to ask for assistance in completing a sale? You wouldn’t open a store without salespeople, would you? It’s not really that important to MY customers, is it? Many businesses see increased interest in chat, but believe their customers will always prefer to talk to a live person. It is important to meet with your clients where and when they want to talk with you, on the communication channel that best meets their needs of the moment. When a customer is on your website, on the cusp of a purchase decision, the ability to respond to their questions and immediately remove any barriers is crucial to your brand and your ability to make the sale while improving your customer’s overall satisfaction. According to a July 2012 study by Boldchat, two-thirds of online consumers have engaged in a live chat, up from 50% in 2009. After experiencing chat, most consumers prefer sites that have it available over those that do not. Live and proactive chat are effective tools that provide assistance with online ordering, technical support, enrollment, service, appointment setting, retail banking and much more. It’s all about providing timely and reliable customer service, increasing sales and building loyalty. Only a few of my competitors seem to be using it, so why should I worry about it? A recent survey by The E-tailing Group indicated 47% of online retailers surveyed were using live chat (up from 43% in 2010), and a growing portion were moving to proactive chat (21% in 2012, up from 12% in 2011). “Someone was visiting our site and asked me to tell him what we did better than our competitors. I asked in return “Were you able to chat with any of them today online?”. He said “no :)”, signed up, and paid for our service that day. :)” – Josh Ledgard, KickoffLabs.com, 2011 I was bombarded with pop-up chat invitations on a website I visited once (and only once). I don’t want that for my website. It would anger my customers and hurt my brand. Any company with a site with that problem today should listen closely to the voice of their customers and take action to improve their processes. A properly implemented chat tool works well for almost any brand. The key lies in preparing a plan with clearly defined goals, and using the right rules to target your invitations to the most valuable potential customers based on THEIR behavior on YOUR website. That means reviewing performance and tweaking rules to reduce intrusiveness and increase effectiveness should be an on-going part of your business processes. The immediate help provided by a well-tuned proactive chat platform and well-trained agents has proven to increase order completions by as much as 18%. This way you avoid angering your customers, reduce unprofitable communications, and meet the right customer in the right place at the right time (when they actually want your help AND are ready to spend). From a marketing perspective, there just doesn’t seem to be any added value to spending on chat. So, what’s the point? With chat, you have the ability to read chat transcripts in real time allowing you to gather actionable data for analyzing. Chat rules and related web analytics allow an unprecedented opportunity to gather a tremendous amount of information about your customers so that you can most effectively bend your efforts to high-value customers based on historical and current website behaviors. I am not confident chat can really reduce abandoned shopping carts on my website. Chat provides your online customers with an expert to talk to, right away. It allows your agent to answer customer questions and increase their comfort level to shorten the sales cycle. Your agent can do competitor comparisons and price-matching FOR the customer, allowing you the opportunity to proactively get the sale through enhanced customer care, discounts, free S&H, without allowing the customer to leave and then hoping they come back. I’m not too sure about how to manage this. Can my phone agents do chat as well? Yes, but it may come as no surprise that the skill sets for voice and chat agents are quite different. Rather than stretching voice agents to do double duty, it is usually better to use dedicated chat agents with the proper skills and appropriate training. You may want to start small and let the traffic dictate your growth. I don’t have time for all this. It sounds complicated. There are reliable contact centers who can guide you to a straightforward evaluation of your needs and

Social Media Management Guidelines: Best Practices from some of the world’s leading organizations

Discover top guidelines for effective social media management from leading organizations. Minimize risks while maximizing brand representation.

Live Chat: From Humble beginnings to Revolutionary Growth

In the earlier days of e-commerce, the idea of being able to go online to a website and make a purchase from one’s own home, rather than going to a store, was quite astounding. Not only was this convenient in the sense that one could shop from their home, but to be able to shop with no sales pressure was also a welcomed change. Initially, the trade-off of customer service for convenience seemed fair and consumers were willing to forgo one for the other. Soon however, e-commerce was no longer the novelty it once was, and along with a more experienced and savvy consumer base, had come the demand for better customer service online. As rumblings for better customer service got louder, a visionary group of call center managers began to answer those demands in the form of Live Chat software and support. Etech Global Services was at the forefront of this effort, pioneering live chat service and support that more than a decade later, has completely revolutionized the customer service industry. In the early days I would often ask, “Can you imagine a potential customer entering your store and not having a sale clerk available to answer their questions, accessorize their items or walk them through the purchase if needed?” I could not but yet that is exactly what millions of eRetailers do each and every day. Here’s a look at some of the benefits of Live Chat Services: Increased Customer Satisfaction Levels Increased Online Sales Conversions Detailed Analytics on close rates, sales per hour, average revenue and more Reduced costs in the contact center (less calls, more chats handled at once) Did you know? 43% of consumers 18-39 find online chat preferable to talking on the phone Average wait time for a Chat to start is 3 seconds Average time an operator spends on a chat from start to finish is 6-12 minutes Satisfaction rates with Live Chat are 85-92% We partner with our clients to deliver proactive live chat services that meet their revenue goals. Our clients who use Live Chat have seen the following results: 20% increase in Sales. 25% reduction in inbound call costs. 90%+ CSAT top two boxes on Customer Service Chats. 80%+ CSAT top two boxes on Sales Chats. If you’ve been considering offering a Live Chat option on your website, contact Etech Global Services today. We can walk you through the process quickly and easily and put you on your way to reaping all the benefits Live Chat can offer. This Blog entry was written by Matt Rocco, President and General Manager of Etech Global Services. If you would like to learn more about Etech and our contact center technology and service solutions, please contact us at info@etechgs.com.

Improving the Customer Experience in Your Call Center Means Looking at the Whole Picture

Quality assurance in the call center is a critical piece to success. It can help to improve each customer experience, improve efficiency and give productivity a robust boost. In order to make improvements, managers must stop trying to randomly pinpoint and repair problems. Call centers tend to thrive when a bottom-up method is used to address issues in an organized fashion. Measurement Really Does Matter Numbers are a critical part of call center quality measurement and monitoring. In fact, 85% of QA leaders hold the belief that a successful call center must find ways to evaluate how agents are performing as well as quantify if training requirements are being followed. The sheer volume of data that is collected in order to measure your call center’s success can be overwhelming. Lagging technology frequently leaves quality assurance managers frantically working to analyze large batches of metadata in order to make sense of the numbers. A reliable call center monitoring solution that provides reliable analytics and insights is the first step to freeing up time so these same managers can instead work on identifying problems and helping the team come up with effective solutions. A Bottom-Up Look at The Whole Structure No matter what type of industry a call center supports, each goes through the same phases of growing and building over time. When quality assurance managers take time to look at key call center metrics and indicators, while also considering these phases, they are more capable of identifying key performance indicators and setting long term goals. In essence, it is critically important to look at the “whole building” in order to see where the problems may be. Start With a Solid Foundation Some may think that focusing time and energy on the basics of operational quality assurance is a waste of time. In truth, making sure that certain goals are being met is helping to set a strong foundation that can be built on. Some of these goals include: Being able to recognize poor performers. Track how call center agents are progressing. Hit service delivery goals consistently. Track if procedures and processes are being handled correctly. While it is ok to take a group bow once these markers are being consistently met, remember that this type of quality assurance is only the foundation and must be added upon for maximum effectiveness. Build the Supporting Walls Once the strong foundation of your call center is up and running, it is time to build the theoretical supporting walls. To do this, you must identify some goals that have more foresight and flexibility. This type of goal is rarely set in stone. Instead, they tend to shift and change as the call center develops. Your team of managers may decide that some of this type of goal should include: Identifying the reasons for poor customer service Finding ways to improve customer retention rates Institute accurate reporting of trends Lower staff turnover Pinpoint places where retraining might help By taking a closer look at this type of quality assurance goal, managers and staff alike can begin to more fully understand the type of experience each customer is having. When call center agents are encouraged to give themselves a score on each call, they will be able to see and mentally review how successful they have been at achieving the goals. The collected data can then be used by quality assurance leaders in retraining efforts. By taking ownership of the metrics of each call, agent retention tends to increase along with performance. Create an Impenetrable Roof It may seem simple to complete this process by sticking rigidly to current quality assurance goals and practices. However, doing so simply keeps the call center status quo going. In order to attach an impenetrable roof to the foundation and walls you have worked to build, a company must be willing to change current practices, though it may not be an easy process. This type of large-scale changes must come from upper management and employees must be a part of helping the shift happen. Employees that are forced toward such changes in the company are much less effective when compared those who are encouraged to be part of the change. At this step in building the call center, the focus should change from QA scores and begin to look at actionable behaviors such as improved caller loyalty, increased percentage of customers who purchase or increased net promoter scores. In this final step, each employee should be involved in reaching the goals which should cause company culture to shift from one where micromanagement is essential to a more effective environment of listening, offering solutions and respect. This dynamic shift brings with it an overall experience of happier customers and agents which raises your overall ROI. If You Can Describe it, You Can Do It Most call center agents can describe how a perfect call would go, from start to finish. Unfortunately, not every call is the same. Because of this, it is important for agents and management alike to understand that a great customer experience consists of three different parts. These are customer needs, expectations and the need for consistency. When your call center team works together to make sure that each of these customer needs are met, you should see that your team begins to evolve and think differently about quality assurance. When paired with measurable analytics, a call center can, indeed, become exactly what it was meant to be. For more advice on creating a quality assurance team that drives CX or if you would like to learn more about Etech, feel free to contact us at info@etechgs.com. This blog was first published on LinkedIn.

Building Flawless Training

Like so many individuals I had to pay my way through college. One way to help off-set the cost was through a scholarship I earned from the Theatre Department that focused on managing the work crews, tool room and stage. In my head, I was an actor with all this talent and here I am with these tools and the stage to manage. Turns out, in this experience I learned a real passion of mine. I really love tools and the ability to create from various materials, but my favorite is to build with wood. So many possibilities! I later took set design classes which furthered my desire to build. I now build all sorts of things from simple pieces of furniture to much larger construction projects. In comparison, I found more value today in what I learned on the set than in acting. Don’t get me wrong I loved the spotlight and the ability to perform, but not nearly as much as I now enjoy building. I am currently building my wife a breakfast table. Plan Before getting any of the tools out, we spent several discussions on what she wanted and what that could look like. We discussed the type of wood to use, what fasteners would look best, what paint will be applied, and even how to apply the paint. We did more talking about a table than it will take to build it. In training, we spend countless hours building curriculam, agendas and learning activities. If the facilitator does not know how to use the plan then all that time and money is wasted. The team will never perform as intended without the proper foundation. We have to teach our trainers how to facilitate and how to use the plan. We need to ensure they understand the “why” in each module. If we are not obtaining their buy in they will adjust the plan to be more comfortable for their delivery style. In both construction and in classes I have seen many small adjustments derail the goal for the end result. If I start changing the size of a board used in the middle of building the table then the whole table will be affected and possibly no longer meet the desired goal for the table. It will definitely force additional changes to be met in order to allow all the pieces to fit. As I progress something always ends up not fitting and I must make more changes. Before I am finally done, the project no longer looks and feels like the original design. Tools I have many different types of tools. Some power tools and others are used manually. Each tool has its own specific use. I have several types of saws, sanders and wood shaving tools. Each one is designed to make the task easier, more effective and shape the end product uniquely. Some tools have overlapping capabilities, like they may all cut a board but maybe not the best tool to cut with. Some tools allow you to cut straight while others allow you to change direction easily. If I were to use a tool that allows for changing direction to make a straight cut it would be possible that the cut will not be as straight as designed. All of my tools are useless sitting in the shop; they are only great tools in the right hands. In the same way, having the right tools and knowing how to use them is key in delivering a message. We easily make mistakes when not properly trained in how our tools enhance the learning experience. In those mistakes, we can lose our audience. When the audience is not engaged we are now fighting an uphill battle to drive a transfer of knowledge. In most cases we drastically change our ability to teach. Sometimes, due to a lack of understanding we may waste valuable training time or even worse break a tool due to misuse. We buy tools that are designed to build on the experience for our team. We should take the extra time to show them how they are to be used. I am sure you can imagine not having the right type of saw to make the proper cuts will drastically change the output. I did not always have nice tools but I bought the basic tools that would enable me to do the job that I was trying to accomplish. In each project, I learned how to make one tool do more than it was intended to accomplish. As I built my skills, I also added more tools to be more effective. Work with what you have to the best of your ability and add more training tools when you can. Relationship When it comes time to build, my understanding of how the wood needs to intersect and where it should be utilized will determine if I create a nice, strong table. I know this is pushing the word “relationship” a little but the idea is really the same. When I know how to work with the wood or I know how to work with people it is all relationships. Also keep in mind, my relationship with my wife can change based on the finished product. My ability to work with both my wife and the wood ensure that I am successful. Likewise, in training, every trainer should be ready to build a relationship with the class and on an individual basis. This will set the foundation for how the group will interact. Your relationship can be built on several components but one that the audience is counting on is for the trainer to be a SME (Subject Matter Expert). As the SME the audience will develop confidence in doing the job based on your shared experiences and best practices to follow. You will also need to know how to build trust by interacting with integrity. The class wants to believe in the

How Social Media and Customer Service Can Work Together to Provide a Better Customer Experience

Customers are becoming more active in the online space for a variety of reasons such as shopping, social & business networking, online transactions, researching products or services, and booking travel. With consumers increasingly engaged online, their expectations on receiving instant and quality customer services at various touch points has also risen. Online retailers are finding unique ways to provide high quality and instantaneous service for a variety of customer problems through social media. According to a recent survey of worldwide online shoppers conducted by Oracle, 46% of the online users expected companies to provide customer support services through social networking sites like Facebook, 29% wanted companies to provide customer service through a company blog, while 17% expected companies to provide customer service through Twitter accounts. There are several ways in which companies can effectively use the power of social media and customer service to provide a great customer experience. Provide a Platform for Customers to Express Their Opinions Despite best efforts to provide the high quality products, there are times when consumers will not be satisfied with the product. Today many consumers will publicly display their frustration on various social media platforms. Social media provides disgruntled customers an easy and accessible medium to vent their irritation in real-time. According to a new study from the Society for New Communications Research, 59% of respondents said they use social media to “vent” about a customer-care experience. To better monitor complaints and possibly turn them into positive experiences, many companies have created a company page on social media sites where customers can communicate feedback, both positive and not so positive. This strategy provides an opportunity for companies to take immediate measures to correct negative experiences. In the absence of an official company page on a social media site, many consumers will find other options to post complaints. Options include their own profiles, communities, or other forums which can go unseen by the company and create a negative brand image. Responding to consumer complaints and resolving issues quickly can spread a positive image for a company. Satisfied consumers can go viral with their positive experiences and even recommend a company due to the excellent customer service provided. Presence of a company through online social media websites, forums, company blogs, communities, directories, etc helps in easy sharing of positive customer service experiences benefiting both consumers and the company. Leverage Existing Customer Base Good companies come with a following of loyal customers; often this customer base is large. These customers can be leveraged by asking them to ‘like’ the company page or profile or share information about the company forum or community on social media sites to cascade awareness of a company’s customer support on social media sites. Companies can also create custom solutions for their profile pages, forums, groups, and communities to help customers with self servicing. This will not only help bring down customer service costs but also help spread a positive image about the company. Pro-Activeness Social media sites and micro blogging sites such as Twitter allow users to instantly post a message. Many companies have implemented strategies that monitor for any customer complaints, even if the company account name is not mentioned in the post. Companies can increase their brand value if they proactively talk with the customers who are posting any type of complaints or positive comments. According to the survey ‘Consumer Views of Live Help Online 2012: A Global Perspective’ conducted by Oracle, 31% of respondents believed that having direct access to customer service representatives or product experts is important for them to connect to the company via social media. 43% said they connected with companies to get direct response to their questions. Reward Promoters As a part of the customer service strategy involving social media, companies can suitably reward users who act as brand ambassadors and influence other customers by spreading positive information about the company. Rewards can be simple like advanced notification of a promotion, special invitations, asking for a free company visit, etc. Be Unique In order to create an impressive customer experience on social media, companies are creating engaging and unique solutions, apps, text, and much more for their company pages, forums, groups, and social communities. By implementing a progressive social media strategy, businesses can cost effectively provide information, contact their virtual customers real-time, receive real-time voice of the customer feedback, and help solve or at least address the frustrations their customers might encounter. Ensure Quick Action No matter the sector the company operates in, a quick approach to solving consumer questions promotes a positive customer experience like nothing else. Action can be in any form such as replacing a spare part, giving a refund, resuming services, sending a technician, and much more. There are some companies who dedicate full time employees to monitor the web and social media sites for any consumer complaints or questions about the company. These employees can directly contact customers, resolve their issues, and provide real-time satisfactory solutions. Conclusion Companies that maintain an efficient customer support system through social media can reap great benefits in the form of reduced costs, increased credibility, and greater visibility into online customers. However, it is important to remember that while social media development is bringing around some exciting new opportunities to better serve customers, the fact is that any company must still maintain and develop strong traditional customer service channels such as voice, email, and chat.

What is Customer Experience Management?

Explore the essence of customer experience management (CEM) and its impact on businesses.

The Power of Influence

Discover the importance of being a positive influence in your organization, community, and industry. Join Etech in making a remarkable difference today!

The Multi-Channel Contact Center: More than Just Incoming Calls

Customers have a variety of ways in which they can communicate with businesses and organizations today, and it is no longer appropriate to handle all customer service requests via a telephone call center. All businesses and non-corporate customer-facing groups should be working towards creating a multi-channel contact center; but what does that mean in practice? Assessing your call center and implementing change Most legacy call centers will be adapted for dealing with incoming telephone calls in the most efficient manner. They will often be divided into distinct departments with protocols in place to manage the distribution of calls between them. The modern multi-channel call center needs to function as a unit, with all departments following the same basic procedures and working towards the same KPIs. Business owners need to use a mixture of market research and existing data to decide on which communication channels will be provided. Then they need to source the appropriate technology for the routing of enquiries, recruit or retrain staff and define and standardize KPIs. Sourcing call center technology The choice of call center technology is crucial to the success of a business in the same way that the choice of tools and equipment is vital to a tradesperson. In the multi-channel call center, the platform chosen must clearly be able to route enquiries from multiple sources (telephone, email, fax, web chat, social media, SMS, etc.) to the relevant agent. However, there are other questions business owners will need to ask technology providers before making a decision, and these will vary depending on their business need. Some examples of pertinent questions are: Can the system recognize individual telephone numbers and relate them to customer data? Can calls be routed to an agent with the appropriate language or industry skills? Can previous call history be accessed easily? Can agent scripts be pre-populated automatically with the customer’s name? Can the provider assist with deployment and training? Will the provider provide ongoing support and ‘health checks’ to ensure the call center is optimized? The multi-channel call center agent The multi-channel call center requires a high caliber agent who can blend the traditional qualities of efficiency, communication and charisma with the flexibility and resourcefulness to source the information the customer is in need of. Agents should also be empowered to deal with the calls they are likely to face, minimizing the need for call transfers or callbacks. Customer service agents should be assessed using a mixture of live call monitoring and analysis of historical calls to ensure performance is of a consistently high standard. This is why KPIs should be standardized across the whole call center so that agents can be compared with other agents more easily and the need for training or agent replacement identified. With customers able to contact businesses at any time of the day and through multiple channels, the ability to respond promptly and completely to all communications will raise customer experience levels and help ensure long-term customer loyalty.

Five Characteristics of a Successful Team

One of the greatest football coaches of all time, Vince Lombardi, once said, “Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. We didn’t always have the greatest talent. We didn’t do it for individual glory. We won because we loved one another.” Great teams are successful because they care. They care about their team’s goals, their team’s purpose and most importantly, they care about each other. Caring about the team is the fuel that allows ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary results. What I have observed is that there are 5 common characteristics that successful teams share. I have summarized those characteristics below: 1. Successful Teams Understand the Big Picture: Every leader must understand the mission and purpose. Furthermore, it is the leaders duty to ensure that every one of their team members understand the big picture, understand how they impact the big picture and fully embrace the fact that the more successful they are in their role, the more successful your company will be, which will in turn enable you to invest back into them, your company and your communities. 2. Successful Teams Have Fun Together: It is a fact that the more a person enjoys what they do, the more successful they will be. Are you creating an environment within your team that is fun? Are you allowing your team members to enjoy you and enjoy each other? Successful teams don’t have to constantly look for creative ways to have fun, they just have it! 3. Successful Teams Are Transparent and Real: The more real you are with your team, the more real they will be with you and each other. When this happens, trust and camaraderie develop which inspires each team member to become committed to the team and to the mission. Successful teams consist of team members who are committed to the team. If your team members are not committed, then they are not … there is no in between. 4. Successful Teams Celebrate Victories: Big or small, successful teams recognize and celebrate victories on a regular basis. You will find out that the more you praise and celebrate, the more reasons there will be to praise and celebrate! 5. Successful Teams Don’t Avoid Conflict: Over the years, I have observed that the more committed team members are to the team, the more comfortable and likely they are to disagree and challenge each other. Committed teams know how to fight! Committed teams say what is on their mind, get issues out in the open, respect each other’s views and work towards an agreeable resolution. The cool thing is that once they agree, the issue is resolved and nobody else will ever know there was a conflict. Teams will excel when true teamwork exists. Teamwork can only exist when individual team members trust and care for each other. If there is no relationship, there is no trust. Events like company picnics allow us to get a chance to know your team members outside of the daily pressures of work. It is a time to develop relationships. I encourage leaders to find ways to engage their teams in activities that will build teamwork and maybe someday, propel their team to accomplish extraordinary results.

Empowering Agents with the Right Tools

Empowering your agents is a continuous process of providing them comprehensive training, resources, motivation, encouragement and the right tools. This practice shows your agents you trust them. Giving them the confidence and tools to find customer solutions will allow them to take that power and deliver on providing a remarkable customer experience. The agent is the first impression the customer will have of your business so this agent’s ability to effectively help the customer could have a much larger impact than what it may first appear. Customer’s satisfaction, or dissatisfaction, has a ripple effect so it is imperative to make sure your agent’s are properly prepared with the right tools. Poor customer experience is normally because of an agent who is not well equipped to meet the customers’ needs. To mitigate this, your agents need the right tools to get the job done well. Here are some necessary tools for your contact center agents:- Automated Caller Identity Pop Up Call center software that provides the agent with the caller information such as name, location, address, phone number, company, etc. plays a huge role in helping the agent start of the interaction with a boost of confidence. Knowing this basic information allows the agent to already have some basis on the customer which makes the building rapport phase more natural. Call Conferencing One of the most agitating events is having your call transferred to another department and essentially having to start the whole process over again. This can be eliminated by call conferencing whereby you connect the other agent who can resolve the issue immediately without transferring the caller. The customer will be much more pleased to have his issue addressed with one simple phone call thus leading towards a positive customer experience. Interactive Voice Response Superior customer service begins the moment a customer makes a call, not when the agent responds. Interactive voice response technology engages the customer in pre-recorded messages that help identify the right agent to handle the customer. For example, if the customer speaks Russian, then he will be routed to an agent who can speak Russian. This saves the time spent in resolving customer issues resulting in a higher customer satisfaction level. It also helps the agent to be proficient in his service delivery because he handles the appropriate customer. Call Monitoring and Whisper Coaching Equipping your Managers or Sales leader with the ability to monitor their agents will drastically help increase your metrics. This practice allows your Managers to actively pick up on key areas of opportunities for their agents and allows them to provide the most accurate and timely feedback to their agents. Another tactic is the manager can train the agent on the job by whisper coaching. This is where the manager guides the agent on how to respond to the customer without the customer hearing it. Both of these practices leads to improved quality assurance and top down customer support. Historic and real time recording An agent answers to so many customer on a daily basis, providing them with historic recording that reminds them of previous interaction with the customer and real time recording of what is ahead of them improves their productivity. On the customers end, they are able to see the number of people ahead of them and the average hold up time. They are both no flying blind but this crucial data helps in managing their expectations. Call Recording The fact of the matter is, managers don’t have the time to monitor all of the interactions handled in a particular day by their agents. The solution to this dilemma is making sure you have all of your interactions recorded. Giving your agents and managers the ability to go and pull particular interactions, will allow your agents and coaches to have specific, one on one coaching opportunities that will result in the most effective coaching time. If a agent realizes that he or she could’ve improved on a particular call or chat, having the option to go and pull that interaction and go over it with their respective coach or manager will allow them to review the interaction and learn for the next time that an opportunity such as that arises. In conclusion, empowered agents will be more creative in their solution thinking, enjoy high levels of job satisfaction, make faster decisions for the customer, and create a remarkable customer experience for your customers. Without these tools, the agents will feel ill-equipped and it will become evident in the interaction with the customer, resulting in a lower customer satisfaction score. As Marissa Mayer at Yahoo quoted, “In technology, it’s the people. Getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment and helping to find a way to innovate.”

Developing Strong Loyal Employees

One of the things that I enjoy most about leading Etech Global Services is the fact that I get to work with a group of people who truly enjoy what they do and have a strong sense of loyalty to our organization. I’m often asked by peers in other organizations how it is that Etech has such a consistent and loyal staff and I truly believe it is because of our strong core values as an organization. People like to stick with those who know what they believe and live out that belief system, this is something we strive to do daily. As I sat down to write this article I asked myself, “What are the factors that develop strong company loyalty?” I came across an article that talked about the importance of having strong company values as the primary tool that builds company loyalty. I agree with that 100%. Here at Etech, we have 12 Character Commitments that are the foundation of everything we do as an organization. In 2007, we made the decision to implement and cultivate a leadership culture that is based on the willingness and dedication to making a remarkable difference in the lives of our customers, our people and our communities by serving first. We believe that every person has value and deserves to be included, respected and valued. We also believe that any person can accomplish far more when inspired by a purpose far beyond meeting deadlines and hitting quotas. In addition to having strong core values, it is important that employees feel they have a future at their place of employment. The opportunity to advance is very important in developing company loyalty. No one wants to work in a dead-end job, and when a person feels they are in a dead-end job, that can lead to dissatisfaction and high employee turnover. At Etech, we believe that hiring from within is a great way to build company loyalty. When we see that an employee possesses certain skills, we make every effort to develop those skills. For example, if we see strong leadership skills in an entry-level employee, we offer them the opportunity to take advantage of leadership classes that we offer that are designed to develop future managers. When a young employee sees that his/her manager has confidence in their abilities and is given the opportunity to develop those abilities, that employee begins to develop a sense of ownership and connectedness to the organization that is priceless. Finally, offering perks and good benefits is another means of developing loyalty. When an employee feels that they would have a lot to lose by leaving an organization, they are far more inclined to stay at that organization. At Etech, we believe it is important that a person be able to pay their bills and provide for their families so we offer a very competitive salary and benefits package, along with a 401K. We have events throughout the year that employees and their families can be part of and we also encourage community involvement. Over the years, as I’ve been at Etech, I’ve seen how this aspect of our company culture has been a major factor in building loyalty and a sense of community within our corporate walls. I truly believe that building a strong and loyal staff is the foundation of success for any corporation, large or small. When employees feel that they are truly “part of the family” they are far less likely to want to leave. Sure, we’re all concerned about profits and being successful financially, but developing a staff that is loyal and committed to the success of your organization lays a foundation for success that is beyond measure. This blog entry was written by Matt Rocco, President and Managing Partner of Etech Global Services. If you would like to learn more about Etech and contact center technology and service solutions, please contact us at info@etechgs.com.

4 Ideas to Reduce Customer Complaints

If you’ve worked in a call center long enough, you’ll learn that customer complaint are among the least enjoyable to take. While complaints are simply part of the call center experience, there are four ideas you can put to good use to both reduce the number of customer complaints you receive and boost your quality monitoring capabilities. 1. Resolve the Issue on the First Call There are a few things that customers hate more than having to be put on hold, transferred, and made to call back before an issue is fully resolved. While you can’t prevent complaint calls, you can change the way customers feel about calling your company with an issue. Make sure your agents have the skill, authority, and knowledge they need to offer refunds, make promises that can be kept, and make it so customers don’t have to contact your business with the same complaint. 2. Implement the Right System You should also consider implementing a quality assurance system that gathers information on calls to provide you with valuable information you can put to good use improving your call center and your agents. The way QA technology works is it examines keywords used by your agents and callers so you can get a firm understanding of why customers are complaining and why your complaint resolution skills might not be as great as you’d like for them to be. 3. Keep the Lines of Communication Wide Open Not only do your agents need to maintain clear and constant communication with your customers, you also need to ensure your managers and agents can easily communicate with each other. You can take this one step further and see to it that your managers relate to other necessary departments and company personnel to allow them to be better. In addition to implementing quality monitoring solutions to help with this tip, it’s also a good idea to hold meetings to review past complaints, how they were resolved and how they can be better resolved in the future for even better results and happier customers. To make meetings more efficient, it’s a good idea to implement a complaint-logging system. 4. Stay Consistent Your agents should be consistent in their problem-resolution skills. If the same customer calls about two different issues and has two different experiences, that customer might feel you aren’t consistent or aren’t properly training your employees. Again, this is a good reason to hold regular meetings, to make sure your training efforts are the same across the line, and to see if any changes need to be made to your training. Make it so that when your customers have to call with a complaint, they know they’re going to be taken care of by your agents and fellow call center leaders. While you can’t please everyone, there’s most certainly no harm in trying. Put these tips to good use, and don’t hesitate to reach out to us here at Etech if you need more assistance or guidance in your quest to reduce customer complaints. This blog was first published on LinkedIn.

Leveraging Technology to Measure Customer Experience

Monitoring, measuring and improving the customer experience is a high priority for most forward-thinking businesses in this day and age. Company owners are largely aware that they should be gathering feedback at various ‘touchpoints’ along a customer’s journey and many do have programs in place to capture the data, either to get an overall rating of customer satisfaction levels or to evaluate experience at each of the touchpoints in turn. However, many businesses are failing to make the most of the technology available to them, gathering only a tiny fraction of the available data, using valuable manual resources to process and analyze the data they do get and presenting the findings in an incomplete or unnecessarily complicated way. By leveraging the latest customer experience technology, businesses can now streamline all areas of the above process: Capturing Customer Experience The first task in measuring customer experience is to capture feedback, and many businesses use surveys and questionnaires to achieve this. However, a lot of data is missed by ignoring sources of unsolicited feedback (e.g. on forums, blogs, social media sites and review pages), and not contacting customers fast enough or by using their preferred platform. For example, a customer who has just made an order for a service using their mobile phone is less likely to respond to an email survey a week later than they are to an SMS survey within the hour. In addition, they are less likely to have rationalized their feedback based on prior or more recent experiences. Social media monitoring and advanced survey platforms are just two forms of technology businesses need to be looking into right now. Integration and Analysis Once sufficient data has been collected, this needs to be collated and analyzed to produce predictive patterns that can inform future business development. The main challenge companies face here is with sampling and use of resources. Incomplete or ‘dirty’ samples (where information has been recorded incorrectly) can skew results, while manual data integration and analysis ties up staff who could be employed doing other things. By implementing automated data integration technology with sample control and cleaning functions can lead to more accuracy and efficiency, and can also avoid flaws such as ‘over surveying’ individual customers. Visual Summaries Finally, there is little use in collecting reams of data and crunching the numbers at supersonic speeds if the reporting at the end of it makes little sense to anyone, especially those in charge of directing business policy. Again, technology can come to the rescue, with programs specialized in enterprise-wide visual access that can be user-access controlled. In this way, data can be summarized and presented in the most appropriate way for the department viewing it. Power and Simplicity – for Every Business Perhaps the greatest news of all is that the kind of technology mentioned above is no longer only within the price range of large, cash-rich corporations. The advance of open source technology and a competitive marketplace has made leveraging technology easier and more affordable than ever. Once the powerful, up-to-date customer experience technology is in place, you will find that employees who had previously been bogged down in data processing and compiling reports can be redeployed to other parts of the business or trained to interpreting patterns in the numbers and to help shape company strategy. Ultimately, everybody in the business, from senior directors to customer-facing agents, will experience more clarity about how the business is performing in the eyes of its customers.

Lead Qualification: An Important Step in a Successful Sales Process

“Etech Global Services is a leading provider of intelligent sales, service and technology solutions specializing in inbound and outbound voice and live chat. For over a decade, we have been helping companies cost effectively acquire new customers and maximize profits by servicing and growing existing customers.” The paragraph above is the very first paragraph on the homepage of Etech’s website. This is a very good overview of what we do as a company and the broad range of services we provide. However, today I’d like to focus on one very specific aspect of our services which is Lead Qualification. What is Lead Qualification anyway? Well, according to the Dictionary of Marketing Terms, lead qualification is the marketing activity focused on evaluating the readiness, willingness and ability of a lead to buy. At Etech, we take Lead Qualification very seriously since a qualified lead is the first step in closing that sale. We partner with our clients in order to gain a deep understanding of their value proposition and then we basically become an extension of their sales force and an active participant within their organization. Our on-shore, off-shore and near shore locations allow us to offer 24/7/365 support to our clients. Our services cover every time zone and we support both English and Spanish speaking customers. Our lead qualification service spans many communication channels including voice, live chat, email and text messaging. Additionally, our lead qualification program includes a dedicated account manager and analytics team. With this, we also overlay our Quality Assurance services to ensure potential customers have the highest quality experience possible. During the process, we also gather critical business intelligence data to help management understand what is resonating with their audience and where they need to improve. All of the data is housed in a sophisticated CRM database and our clients have full access to their data at all times. Some of our common lead qualification services include: Appointment Setting Event Registrations Demo Setting and Presentations Lead Nurturing Sales Prospecting Customer Database Cleansing Phone Surveys Our Lead Qualification process has yielded very positive results for our clients. They have seen: 105% Increase in Lead Volume 85% Reduction in Cost Per Lead 96% Customer Satisfaction 103% Increase in Sales Team Retention If you find that Lead Qualification is one aspect of your business that is falling through the cracks, contact us at Etech Global Services. We will work closely with you to determine your specific needs and then implement the appropriate steps to strengthen your lead qualification, turning leads into happy customers. This Blog entry was written by Matt Rocco, President and Managing Partner of Etech Global Services. If you would like to learn more about Etech and contact center technology and service solutions, please contact at info@etechgs.com.

Stop Guessing and Start Acting With Artificial Intelligence

It seems that more and more everyday processes and jobs are starting to include a measure of automation, where there’s less for flesh-and-blood humans to do a specific task to be completed. That’s most certainly become apparent when it comes to call centers. With that in mind, you should know there’s much to be gained when you harness the power of AI and people rather than let it become a source of anxiety. Specifically, it’s your quality monitoring solution that can become better and more efficient than you’ve ever imagined when coupled with modern AI capabilities. Make the Most of the Data You Already Have on Hand What’s the use of having mountains of data if you aren’t sure of how to put it to good use? Thankfully, AI can help call center managers make sense of all the data they have at their disposal, making it easier for managers and their call center teams to know how to take the best care of their customers and their individual needs. Some specific ways AI organizes big data is helping call centers better deal with a variety of customers, better-anticipating customer pain points, making solid predictions and finding new opportunities for you and your agents. Now all the data you have on hand is becoming useful rather than just taking up space. Following are four ways in which AI has reshaped the customer (and representative) experience with quality monitoring. 1. Better Representative Satisfaction While it’s good to use the same method to onboard all your new call center representatives, it’s even better to onboard them with new methods that can make them better at their jobs and feel confident while helping callers. Better training is one advantage of implementing AI with your current call center capabilities. In addition to training new employees, AI is also great for your current and more experienced representatives. For instance, AI can use voice analytics to show your agents areas of improvement depending on their overall delivery, use of your call center script and use of phrases and sentence structure. This way, you can step into a situation in real time before things start to unravel and you run the risk of losing a customer or your agent having a negative interaction. With AI doing more of the heavy and complex lifting, you and your quality assurance team have time and resources freed up for other professional pursuits. This means you can take care of projects and tasks that have been pushed to the curb because you were consumed with analyzing calls and customers interactions for ways you could make your call center better and your agents more capable at their jobs. Your QA team is sure to appreciate this, as it means working on something new, which might be just the thing they need to keep from feeling bored, unmotivated or generally unsatisfied in the workplace. When it comes to quality monitoring, you’ve got to think just as much about the quality your call center representatives enjoy as you do the overall quality your target audience enjoys. Besides, your call center workforce plays a monumental part in the overall satisfaction of your customers. Going back to the point about employee satisfaction touched on above, the insight and information AI provides for your agents allows them to perform their jobs better, which is sure to maximize their overall satisfaction, which benefits everyone involved. More satisfied agents equals happier agents equals better performance. It’s a never-ending cycle of positive results, so make sure you’re doing your part to keep the good times going long and strong. 2. A More Efficient Experience for Everyone Something else to keep in mind with it comes to AI and quality monitoring solutions is the fact that AI can eliminate a lot of the riffraff that keeps customers from having the best customer experience. This means fewer useless menus for shoppers and customers to work through to obtain answers or useful information. AI can also keep an eye on what individual customers search for to better anticipate their needs and questions, saving everyone time and energy. After your agents have worked at your call center for a while, they become used to certain questions and customer interactions. Rather than having your representatives handle “ground-level” customer interactions, which might not be the best use of their time and skills, you can instead have chatbots tackle the task. What’s so great about AI is that it learns on the go, allowing it to become more intelligent and capable over time, which benefits you just as much as the customer. Just like with your QA department, this allows your representatives more time for other projects and professional pursuits. And just like with your QA department, this freedom can lead to better job satisfaction without your overall quality taking a hit. 3. More Satisfied Customers There are times when customers won’t always come forward with a problem or voice their concerns, choosing to instead let the situation, and the opportunity it presents, fall to the curb because they feel it’s not important. This sometimes happens because customers know yours isn’t the only company specializing in your specific services or products. Rather than let shoppers silently abandon your business, AI can instead give you a concrete idea of just how pleased your customers are with your company using the same voice analytic software used to help your call center representatives become more adept at their jobs. This information gives you the opportunity to address unspoken grievances or annoyances and keep your current customers right where they are rather than letting them go to your competition and wonder why. While AI is combing through all that big data, it can also provide you with detailed information regarding your customers’ shopping patterns and preferences. This is possible by studying individual browsing patterns, what the customer has bought in the past and which specific pages the customer has visited before. This means you have targeted marketing and advertising opportunities

4 Tips to Help You Become Great at Email Communication

An email has become the lifeline in business communication. Billions of emails are sent daily from managers to employees, from sales representatives to customers, and between friends and family. It is an effective way of communication that has seen tremendous growth in the way we communicate with each other; it is faster, cheaper, and keeps records of conversations. However, there is a danger to watch out for as you continue to utilize emails. You may be sending out the wrong message if you lack email etiquette. Recently, I had a not-so-pleasing encounter, an official email was sent out, and soon after notifications of new emails kept popping up. The content of the incoming emails will shock you. “Noted” “Thank you for the information” “Well received” “Congrats” You guessed it right, they were all hitting “reply to all”. It is an awesome function when it comes to passing important information to many people at once, but needs some special rules for it to maintain its power. Here are some tips that will help you use your emails better, especially the reply to all function, they did help us:- Consider who needs the information Just as you think carefully when typing the recipient of your new email, do the same before clicking the “reply”, reply to all” or “forward” button. Who really needs your response, is it the sender of the message or the entire team? For example, if the email comes from your immediate manager and copied is the Vice President, you need to reply to all. However, if it comes from your manager to all the staff members, you simply click reply. Most often, the people copied on the email do not need your response and it applies to you, you do not need their response. Be diligent by first understanding the purpose of the email and then your right response and recipient. Choose your words wisely Remember that the internet never forgets when responding to mass emails. Even if the sender is your new best friend forever, you should choose your words wisely and carefully. You have a choice of replying to him only and you can crack any joke you want, but if you are replying to all, you must maintain language etiquette. For example, using the above official email sent, one of the responses was “I thought you mentioned this yesterday night, or was it just my drunk head hearing stuff?” and then the person hits “reply to all”. It was not everybody’s business whether you knew and talked about it before, but you have made it public and probably embarrassed the email sender. Maintain professionalism in your email responses. Be helpful There are emails in which your input or suggestion is required; it is prudent to be helpful. For example, a mass email seeking advice on a particular client account that has some serious problems reaches your inbox. What should your response be? Under no circumstances should you shoot the question back to the sender that is not helpful. If you want more information to make an informed decision, reply to the sender only asking for it. Replying to all with useful information saves your colleagues time in thinking about a solution that you already have, and they can make it better. Do not add more people It is rude to add more people to an email thread that they were not included in the first place. What message does it send to the sender and added recipient? If you feel a person should be included in that conversation, reply to the sender asking them to add them or their reasons for not including them. In conclusion, these four tips, considering who needs the information, wisely choosing your words, being helpful, and not adding more people to the thread will help you in dealing with mass email communication. Your email etiquette reflects on your personal character, which can either build or sabotage your reputation. This blog was written by Veronica Chimney, Vice President of Human Resources for Etech Global Services. If you would like to learn more about Etech and how to develop a socially enabled call center, please contact us at info@etechgs.com.

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