CUSTOMER — JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

Taking Account of the Holiday Shopping Season

Online shopping for the 2012 holiday season set new records. As of Nov. 28, online holiday sales had reached $16.4 billion, a 16 percent increase from spending during the same period in 2011... Read More >>>

How to Make Your Business More Efficient, Profitable via Address Data Cleansing and LBS
Customer contact databases are both one of the biggest boons and one the biggest headaches for customer service and marketing managers at organizations around the world. These databases are invaluable tools for capturing, making available and storing data for call center, order entry, shipping and logistics, and other key business applications.

A Breakthrough in Call Recording: RecordingMagic Advances Affordability, Manageability and Scalability
If you're looking for an exceptionally cost-effective call recording solution for a large, multi-location enterprise, a medium-sized call center, a small home office or something in between, stop looking. VirtualLogger LLC combines the power of the cloud with plug computing to deliver scalable, full-featured call recording at an unprecedented price point.

Report Shines New Light on Key Factors Affecting Customer Management
Recently, my company, Dimension Data, a global IT service and solution provider, released its 15th annual Global Contact Center Benchmarking Report, entitled, "Transforming Customer Management." Providing insightful information from our clients, peers and industry colleagues, the 2012 report summarizes the survey results of 637 companies from 72 countries - including over 100 respondents from North America.

Hurricane Sandy's Reminder about Business Continuity
Contact centers are in the business of communicating, so we must also be in the business of communicating during a crisis like Hurricane Sandy. To help you prepare, we suggest the following steps for creating an effective disaster contingency plan for your contact center.

What Marriage and Outsourcing Have in Common
Like a marriage, outsourcing relationships involve two parties working together to build a successful and sustainable partnership, starting with a solid foundation. In 2011, the U.S. $60-billion global outsourcing market witnessed the highest level of outsourcing transaction activity in North America and the U.K. since 2007.

Resolutions for 2013
Although I'm not one to make personal New Year's resolutions, I've found that beginning the year with some goals in mind for my professional life often helps focus my efforts and priorities. Here are my top customer-focused priorities for 2013. Pick one or all - each of them can truly make a difference in your customers' experiences and help build loyal relationships.

On-Hold Messaging Delivery for the Digital Telephony Age
The colossal Cisco Unified CallManager phone system manual doesn't allot much space for on-hold messaging. It is simply one feature in a massive universe from the Cisco perspective. Yet on-hold messaging is a significant piece of the puzzle for businesses that use the application as a marketing component. The On Hold Messaging Association quotes sources stating that 70 percent of callers get put on hold.

How the Tablet is Shifting Online Shopping Behavior
The rapid adoption of the smartphone from 2007 onward has caused a new set of challenges to retailers, which as a result had to optimize their websites for the exponentially growing number of people trying to access their sites from devices with much smaller screen sizes. Just as they got to grips with the trial and error of how to create a mobile website their customers actually found easy to use and can potentially purchase from, Steve Jobs launched the iPad, which instantly captured the hearts and minds of the public and caused a new challenge for online retailers.

The Changing Face of Customer Service
Five years ago, 51 percent of respondents named landline telephone customer support as their most preferred channel. That number has declined to 19 percent today. What has risen up as preferred channels in the last five years? You can probably guess: e-mail and websites.

CUSTOMER Recognizes Product of the Year Award Winners
In the past, it was enough simply to have a call center to take orders and answer customer inquiries, a telemarketing effort to reach out to prospects by phone, and some folks available to read and respond to customer letters.

Beginner's Guide to Data Security and Information Security Compliance & Audits
In virtually any regulated industry, compliance is at once a legal requirement, a risk management strategy, and an ethical imperative. Healthcare, insurance, finance, and especially accounts receivable management, compliance is a full-time concern. Or at least it should be.