Tag: customer service

Customer Experience Measurement Firm Recognized In Two Customer Service Awards Categories

CARY, N.C. – Elaine Buxton, CEO and president of Confero, Inc. (https://www.conferoinc.com), a national customer experience measurement firm, has announced that the firm was presented with a Stevie® Award in the Customer Service or Call Center Consulting Practice of the Year category in the 5^th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, announced at a gala banquet on Feb. 21 in Miami Beach, Fla. Additionally, Confero was named a finalist in the category of Customer Service Management Team of the Year. Finalists were chosen by business professionals worldwide during preliminary judging, and winners were selected among the finalists by the Stevie Awards’ Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors.

Once thought to be a declining delivery channel, the bank branch remains an integral part of the customer experience.  With troublesome financial institution performance in the limelight during the past years, customers use face to face branch visits as a means to develop trust with financial institution employees.

We are pleased to announce that Confero was recently named winner in the Stevie Award category, “Customer Service or Call Center Consulting Practice of the Year.”   Confero learned that it was a contender for the award last month, and the final results were revealed on Monday, Feb. 21 at the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla.  This award is particularly meaningful to Confero’s customer service team because it recognizes the team’s delivery of quality solutions in 2010, including many which involved quick turnaround times and tough requirements.

Call centers spend significant amounts of time and money training associates on delivering a friendly and empathetic approach.   The Wall Street Journal reports that some companies now go one step further and reevaluate the voicethat initially greets customers.  These companies believe that with a friendlier, more inviting voice, they increase the chance that customers will stay within the automated system rather than trying to reach a live operator, which saves companies money.   Alflac, for example, recently brought on a new voice with a calm, hometown feel for its initial greeting.  The company reports a 7% increase in customer satisfaction with the automated system since implementing the new voice.

Restaurants, grocery stores and banks all have something in common – an employee dress code.  Some companies, such as UBS in Sweden, have traditionally taken dress codes to higher levels.  A 44-page guide for employees contains specific directives about employee nail care, glasses and even underwear.  Recently, though, UBS announced that it will change its strict policies to more practical dress guidelines.  While most companies don’t manage company appearance down to such small details, many have some type of code in place, whether it includes wearing name tags or collared shirts, or directing employees not to wear jeans, nose rings or multiple earrings.