Tag: employee training

1. Making it Difficult for Customers to Contact You:  Many companies have “contact us” email forms on their websites, and for some, this is the only manner in which customers may easily contact them.  Companies frequently desire to measure how easy it for customers to locate contact information on their website.  As an example, one of our clients discovered that it was difficult for mystery shoppers to simply search for a company location nearest them. Online mystery assessments uncover areas critical to a customer’s ability to find and contact you.
    

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.

Banks are thinking about imposing annual fees of $25 or $30 on debit cards, according to people familiar with bank strategies.  Other banks will increase fees on checking accounts. For example, during 2011, Bank of America will offer four basic checking accounts in some states, instead of three.  Three of the four will offer ways for customers to avoid fees, while the fourth, the Essentials account, has an unavoidable monthly fee between $6 and $9.  Chase Bank will charge a $6 monthly fee on one of their checking accounts, however, customers can avoid the fee with a $500 or more monthly deposit to the account, or when they use their debit cards five times during the month.

Many organizations train employees to use a step-by-step method for problem resolution. This is an effective way to ensure that employees handle customer issues according to company standards and prevent customers from leaving.  

In this economy, companies are working to keep loyal customers and increase sales. A new study by Accenture finds that firms are responding to the economic recovery by channeling resources to improve service and training. These efforts are focused not only on keeping current customers happy and loyal for the long term, but also on gaining market share from companies who are not focusing effectively on customer service.