Customer Service Reps

Customer expectations are at an all-time high. The facilitation of near-instant gratification has led to reduced consumer patience and more frequent temper tantrums. Though no-wait resolution is a common expectation from customers seeking support, delivering abuse to contact center agents shouldn't be the default response to an imperfect interaction. Unfortunately, a recent study found that…

For years, brands have assessed the return on investment of customer experience automation by asking three questions: What does it cost to serve a customer today? What could it cost to serve a customer tomorrow? What is the investment price to get from A to B? With these questions guiding the way, we’ve seen a…

The three use cases where the convergence of artificial intelligence and Internet of Things underpinned by event streaming is making a real difference to retailers and their customers are as follows. Enhancing Every Customer Journey Within the Store AIoT enables retailers to intelligently take advantage of in-store and customer data to offer highly customized shopping…

We’ve all experienced awkward, bad or just plain cringe-worthy customer experience situations — both with human and automated interactions. Maybe it’s the interactive voice response (IVR) system that makes you listen to an endless array of options. It could be the chatbot that just doesn’t understand your question and offers completely irrelevant answers. It might…

As the retail industry has increasingly shifted to digital technology, transitioning from traditional brick-and-mortar stores to online platforms, consumers have changed both where and how they shop. Augmented reality apps allow customers to visualize products in their homes before purchasing, and retailers use artificial intelligence-driven recommendations to tailor suggestions to individual tastes. The integration of…

The end-of-year holiday season brings an extra layer of stress to the retail industry contact center agent’s work, and even if that stress diminishes after Christmas Day, the reprieve is short. Christmas quickly becomes New Year’s, then Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, and so on. In our consumer-driven culture, the “holiday sale”…

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Shannon Flanagan, vice president and general manager of retail and consumer goods at Talkdesk, a global cloud contact center leader for enterprises of all sizes. Listen in as Flanagan discusses her experience in the industry (0:45), her career journey to Talkdesk and the…

The months after the holiday season can be chaotic due to a flurry of returns, accompanied with the pressure to meet new sales goals and start the year off strong. This year, retailers anticipate an approximate $25 billion in fraudulent return claims, representing approximately 16.5 percent of the total returns during this period. For retailers…

'Tis the season to start shopping. For retailers, this means delivering stellar customer service at every step of the customer journey. Salesforce data shows that 94 percent of consumers say good service makes them more likely to buy again while 80 percent will abandon a brand after three bad experiences. But rather than wait for the “three strikes…

Customer service has crossed a threshold thanks to the rapid ascent of generative artificial intelligence. Retailers can tap the powers of generative AI to automate internal and external customer service processes, improve and personalize experiences, and elevate problem-solving. However, integrating generative AI into customer service processes requires careful planning and implementation. Decision-makers must develop a…