CUSTOMER — July/August

The Importance of Reducing Customer Effort, and Maybe Even Choice

You don't need to "wow" customers. What people really want is for you to save them time. At least that's the message of a growing camp of customer service companies......Read More >>>

TMC Announces 2015 CUSTOMER Contact Center Technology Award Winners
This year's CUSTOMER Contact Center Technology Award winners include a wide array of players and solutions, which address such varied solutions as analytics, coaching, recording, workforce optimization, and much more. - 08/17/2015

After Its Initial Crash Landing, Autopilot Floats New Solution
Despite the explosion of marketing automation tools, 61 percent of U.S. marketers still use basic solutions like ConstantContact and MailChimp to send emails to customers. HubSpot, Marketo and Salesforce marketing automation solutions only have 4 percent adoption in the U.S. And many companies are afraid to try more advanced tools, which tend to be expensive and for which it can be difficult to get C-level buy-in. - 08/17/2015

MobileE2E Addresses Mobile Workforce with Apptrify
There's a new player on the mobile workforce automation front. The company is called MobileE2E and its solution is Apptrify. - 08/17/2015

Callback with Lower Risk, Faster Implementation: Virtual Hold Technology Delivers Cloud-Based Solution
Callback - or the ability to offer customers the option of receiving a call back at a later time rather than waiting on hold - can benefit organizations and their customers in a variety of ways. And now businesses can enjoy the goodness of callback with less upfront investment and expedited implementation. - 08/17/2015

How Workforce Optimization Can Revitalize Beleaguered Contact Centers
Labor costs are on the rise in the United States and abroad. As recently reported by Reuters, the Employment Cost Index, the broadest measure of labor costs for the United States, edged up 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2015, following steady nudges upward in the third and fourth quarters of 2014. Not only do these projections suggest a continued across-the-board rise, but also adding fuel to the fire, Congressional debates are drawing the country closer to a rise in the minimum wage. - 08/17/2015

Train Your Reps Better with These Tips
You've hired a killer team of customer support professionals. Now what? If you don't take the right next steps, your support team will be a cost center - but it should actually be a profit center. - 08/17/2015

Mastering the Science of Sales: Defining Your Level of Sales Maturity
As organizations work to improve both top and bottom lines, shifts in buyer behavior continue to challenge organizations to increase productivity and effectiveness to meet revenue goals. - 08/17/2015

Hung Up on Opt-Outs? Time to Opt In to a New Mobile Messaging Mindset
Here's a piece of advice for marketers who are either new to the mobile environment or eager to boost the engagement levels and success of their existing mobile marketing campaigns: Pay more attention to your customers who have already opted in, and worry less about those who might opt out. - 08/17/2015

Human Capital Management
The product category termed human capital management, or talent management, is broad. It can include anything from tools and services that help businesses in recruitment to solutions that address employee motivation and productivity to software that assists in the management and information distribution relating to worker benefits such as health care insurance. - 08/17/2015

MaritzCX CEO Emphasizes the Importance of Drive, Passion & a Plan
MaritzCX was established last year following the combination of Allegiance and Maritz Research, creating what the company said is the largest pure-play customer experience company by far. CUSTOMER recently caught up with MaritzCX CEO Carine Clark to learn about her and the newly expanded company she heads up. - 08/17/2015