If you have yet to tune in to the Fall 2021 CRS virtual event, you can watch many sessions on-demand.
Registration is simple, free, and it takes only a minute to get immediate online access to this insightful content.

To help highlight some of the amazing ideas that came out of these sessions, we’ve created a five-part blog series — each focusing on a particular keynote session. In Part 2, we highlight Jamie Hudson’s story of transformation as she and her team tackled the challenges brought about by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Evolving Customer Experiences Through a Pandemic

Jamie Hudson
Vice President of Global Support & Services
Malwarebytes

Click to sign in or register to watch Jamie’s Fall 2021 CRS presentation.

Like many, Jamie and her team were faced with some serious challenges in March 2020. With the world shifting to work-from-home (WFH) and relying on digital devices more than ever before, Malwarebytes’ support team was faced with a doubling of ticket volume and no additional budget to tackle the increase, all while also managing their own shift to WFH. As customer expectations evolved, so too did Malwarebytes’ approach to support, turning to deflection-inducing innovations, including internal collaboration with product and engineering, as well as the introduction of a new chatbot to reduce ticket volumes. The result has created a 30% reduction in pre-pandemic ticket volume, happier agents, and more satisfied customers. Here are some highlights of the insights Jamie shared:

1. Mapping Out Top Volume Drivers

Is your organization seeking to reduce support and ticket volume? Start by mapping out the top drivers of your volume and get an understanding of which contact types are complex and require a human, and which might be able to be handled by self-help solutions.

2. You Have Allies on the Inside

While the introduction of automated solutions can help reduce support volume, so too can collaboration with internal teams like product, marketing, and engineering. Take the time to share data on what’s driving volume, surface common customer friction points, and tackle problems upstream. Everyone at your organization wants what’s best for the customer, but for that to happen, the customer’s story must first be shared.

3. Chatbots are Good; Smart Chatbots are Better

Basic chatbots are good at handling very low-hanging fruit, but smart chatbots (those powered by artificial intelligence [AI]) are even better at reducing support volume and arming agents with the right information. If your goal is to reduce volume and create a better experience for agents and customers, consider a collaborative chatbot designed to empower (rather than replace) agents.

4. Proactive Support Is Superb Support

Proactive support is addressing an issue before it is raised by the customer. Taking this approach to care requires superb internal communications, a deep understanding of current and potential friction points, and the flexibility to adjust processes. Because when proactive support is done correctly, major disruptions can become minor speedbumps.

5. Empowered Agents = Happy Customers

When agents have the tools they need, they are positioned to create happy customers. Custom dashboards can help give agents all the information they need to shift a simple support engagement into a value-add moment. Whether it’s product education, proactive support, or something else altogether, creating wholistic experiences creates happy customers.

As you can see, CX technology is always a big part of the story. Want to learn more about building out a competitive CX technology stack? You’re in luck! The Fall 2021 CRS event featured a tech-driven panel discussion focused on the latest and greatest CX technology.

Be sure to check it out:
Building Your CX Technology Stack

The post Fall 2021 CRS & Five Key Takeaways from Five Keynotes — Part 2: Malwarebytes appeared first on Execs In The Know.

The short answer to this question is that there really are no new or unique metrics specific to a remote workforce. When you think about it, agents are performing the same tasks, so service, quality, cost, and customer satisfaction are all still important. However, there are certainly some nuances when measuring the performance of a remote workforce, as discussed below. Please note that this is not a complete list of metrics one should measure with WFH agents, but rather a snapshot of some nuances to consider for some key metrics.

Quality – Monitoring customer interactions and measuring quality is always important, whether transactions are handled in-center or remotely. One area that leaders have told us they have added to their call quality criteria is background noise. This would not be considered an “agent error,” but would be tracked and measured to identify any persistent issues related to background noise impacting the quality of the call.

Mean Opinion Score (MOS) – Related to call quality criteria collected via call monitoring, some leaders are reporting an increased use of MOS which is a measure of voice (or VoIP) quality and is used to assess the human users’ opinion of call quality. It is an automated metric based on an algorithmic estimate relying on transport measures such as bandwidth, jitter, packet loss, and latency.

Lost Hours – Measuring and managing lost hours in a remote environment is critical. It is not uncommon to lose hours with a mainly WFH workforce, so the ability to track, measure, and manage is of greater emphasis to maximize productivity and ensure service levels are achieved.

Schedule Conformance – Schedule adherence is a common contact center metric. With remote staff, focusing on schedule conformance is equally important. For example, you could have agents that adhere to their schedule for the day, but they take a longer lunch. This is more difficult to manage remotely but can have a significant impact on service levels if not actively monitored and managed. With regards to schedule adherence itself, it is also important to avoid being overly focused on this metric as some employees tend to skip their lunch or breaks to be right on time, which is not always healthy for employees.

Unproductive Internet Time – Some companies report loss of productivity due to WFH agents spending time on websites that don’t contribute to their work. This should be measured at the agent level and taking the appropriate actions by managing agents accordingly and/or restricting access. One leader reported that they found thousands of hours spent on social media or other similar sites.

WI-FI Speeds – Measuring and tracking internet speeds to the agent level at their place of work (whether at home or another offsite location) is becoming more important. If internet speeds are not sufficient, it has obvious consequences such as latency issues, inability to service customers, and inability to access some or all of an agent’s toolbox. Additionally, measuring technology latency, uptime, and response times are important.

As discussed in this article, a balanced set of the right metrics (i.e., resolution rate, escalation/transfer rates, drop rates, productivity, service levels, adherence, quality, and customer satisfaction) are always important, but there are other aspects to consider when managing to those metrics in a remote environment.

Connecting the Dots – Understand the complete story the metrics are telling you. For example, if your Average Handle Time (AHT) is dropping (which could be considered a good thing if viewed in a silo), but your escalation rates are increasing, then you could have an issue with agents inappropriately escalating or transferring.

Live Coaching – This cannot be stated enough, but one-on-one live coaching via face-to-face technology is critical. In a remote environment it can be easy to revert to ineffective coaching practices, so leaders must remain vigilant and require a structured approach to coaching and feedback with a live connection. This is important not only for performance management, but for the mental health and well-being of agents.

Focus on Belonging and Inclusion – Key performance metrics are important and should always be measured and managed. However, leaders should remain focused on ensuring the organization also focuses on driving a positive culture, providing everyone with a genuine sense of belonging, achievement, and connection.

The great news for contact center leaders is that there are no new metrics you necessarily need to implement with a remote workforce. There are some areas you may want to focus on more than others, or some metrics you may look at a little differently to account for the nuances of your WFH staff. As always, the metrics do not tell the whole story – you need to connect the dots to have a full understanding of what they are telling you so you can take the right action. At the same time, ensure your coaching and management approaches create a culture of continuous improvement, while maintaining a sense of belonging and connection.

The post Effectively Measuring the Performance of a Remote Workforce appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Many employees are missing their traditional work environments. Recent research by TELUS International reveals that 51% of American workers are feeling less connected to their company culture while working from home. Those workers report missing interacting with their colleagues, collaborating in person and the separation between work and home.

But even today, culture-building is more important than ever for employers. As the “new normal” continues to evolve, companies must have a strategy to get ahead of long-term employee burnout. This includes investing in corporate culture and communication, cultivating compassion in their leaders, and encouraging and supporting self-care in workers.

Techniques to avoid remote burnout

Addressing long-term burnout begins with understanding the different circumstances that individuals may be facing while working from home. “The remote environment likely contains more distractions and less oversight,” says professor Glenn Dutcher, economics professor at Ohio University, who studies the effects of work environments. When working from home, it’s harder to concentrate on mechanical activities like filing reports, as a repetitive job can quickly become a stressful one. Alternately, workers tend to focus better on creative tasks than they do on mundane ones when working remotely, he says.

In addition to daily work-related stress, some employees are navigating the complexities of homeschooling, or taking care of the health and safety of their friends or relatives. For some, finding a quiet space to work remains a challenge, or they may just miss in-person work environments. Everyone copes with these stressors differently.

To address the void, TELUS International research suggests that culture-building activities that help employees connect and continue to develop themselves are critical. To build culture in a remote work environment, 68% of employees want virtual workshops and continued learning opportunities. Continued weekly staff meetings and one-on-ones with managers are important to 66% of respondents, and schedule flexibility remains a priority for 65% of people.

Two-way communication can help employees and organizations better cope with pandemic-related changes. Some companies circulate small, informal surveys to gauge changes in employee sentiment and seek real-time employee feedback. Based on those survey results, HR teams may offer ongoing guidance on self-care, safety and health resources. “Tell the workforce what the company is doing, how you’re doing it and what is likely to happen next. Help them feel confident that any scenario has been accounted for,” notes the Society for Human Resource Management.

Compassion-building for both employees and leaders

Nearly everyone is experiencing challenges and hardships that a positive attitude simply can’t fix. That’s why an increasing number of workplace experts suggest developing another important skill: compassion — toward ourselves and toward our friends, relatives and colleagues.

For a long time, the idea of developing compassion was relegated to self-help books and religious texts. Now, compassion has found its way into business schools as a way to infuse a more caring culture into organizations.

“We cultivate compassion by creating in ourselves and in our teams and organizations the capacity for noticing suffering, interpreting suffering generously, feeling empathetic concern and acting to alleviate the suffering,” says Jane Dutton, University of Michigan professor and co-author of Awakening Compassion at Work.

Other than simply noticing suffering, Dutton says it’s important to create safe spaces, or safe times, for people to share their experiences and challenges. She says it’s particularly important for leaders to model compassionate behavior by disclosing their own sources of pain, anxiety, fear and loss. This activity helps foster “empathetic concern,” where individuals put themselves in other peoples’ shoes and try to authentically understand their experiences.

Facing the new normal

It’s nearly impossible to understand someone else’s experience — or feel compassion for them — without communication.

Dutcher studies teamwork across a variety of circumstances, and he says people often believe remote workers don’t work as hard, an idea that can breed contempt among colleagues. He says tackling this head on requires consistent communication — not only about the stresses they are facing, but also about the specific contributions they’re making to the overall team’s work. These missives shouldn’t only come from employees; people in managerial and senior positions should also openly communicate this information.

Understanding someone else’s experience and showing empathy is a skill that transcends the current pandemic. Leaders that acknowledge suffering and offer simple kindness to team members create better relationships, decrease burnout and may even help their teams perform better, says Dutton.

As an example, sending notes that acknowledge things are difficult or hard to bear can make a huge difference to people struggling at home or at work. “Remember that actions do not have to be big to be healing to others,” says Dutton.

As compassionate interactions become commonplace and part of your company’s DNA, you will create a more positive cultural environment where employees can thrive and even innovate to deliver differentiated customer service — despite challenging external circumstances. Combined with conscious culture-building activities and meaningful learning opportunities, compassion may hold the key to sustained productivity and better performance throughout the pandemic and beyond.

TELUS International remains committed to supporting a thriving corporate culture and high employee engagement during these challenging times. Today, it’s the agent experience (AX) that truly drives the customer experience (CX). Connect with us to learn more about our own engagement programs to support the new look of culture in CX operations.

The post The Key to Staying Productive With Remote Work (hint: culture) appeared first on Execs In The Know.

What is corporate culture? Depending on who you ask, you might get a slightly different definition. Essentially, it is an organization’s values, vision, and behaviors that guide how the company’s employees and leadership interact internally and externally. It is reflected in all aspects of the business from hiring, training, succession planning, coaching and feedback, dress code, scheduling, office environment, meeting protocols, communication, marketing, product development, customer and employee policies, vendor relationships, customer and client satisfaction, social responsibility, leadership, metrics, and all aspects of operations. Culture encompasses the intangibles of what gives your organization its identity and can be a key differentiator among competitors.

The most successful companies have strong cultures that are sustained over time and reinforced daily. Navigating through the pandemic, the decisions you make and the messages you send internally and externally will have a lasting impact, shining a bright light on your organization’s culture and character.

Although it can seem daunting with the current challenges, organizations have a unique opportunity to not only maintain their culture but strengthen it. Even with a mostly remote workforce, organizations should take the positives they have gained through this experience and continue to connect with and build even stronger teams. Tracy Keogh, chief human resources officer (CHRO) with HP was quoted in this article as saying, “If you don’t, you are really missing an opportunity. You are leading through a crisis and connecting with your people. This is the most authentic time in business history.”

So, how do you ensure you do not lose the intangibles of what gives your organization its identity? Culture defines an organization and its success, so it is critical to keep it front and center especially in a time of crisis. Michael Jones, senior director of customer care with The Home Depot, often reinforces the importance of culture with a well-known Peter Drucker quote, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” This article focuses on how to ensure you keep your culture intact and find ways to strengthen it.

Eight Principles to Ensure Culture Continuity

An underlying priority we are hearing from leading companies is a renewed or increased focus on people. This is certainly true for The Home Depot as Jones explains, “A strong people focus is critical. This is especially important in a remote work environment as associates are juggling not only their jobs, but also acting as caretakers, schoolteachers, etc.…for their loved ones. The associate experience is paramount, and that effort will continue for us.” And, as you will see, each principle below has “people” as the common denominator.

1. Lead with empathy and trust: Ensure your leaders are equipped and capable of leading in this new world. Different skillsets and expectations will be involved. Give them the tools, training, and time to evolve to ensure you have the right management teams in place who are comfortable leading employees through this challenging time. This is certainly at the forefront for The Home Depot, as Jones further explains, “We as leaders must make decisions from a place of empathy and trust. Our associates must feel more empowered to act on behalf of our customers than they ever have before, and that requires an increased level of trust from leadership. ‘Do the Right Thing’ is one of The Home Depot’s core values and our associates strive to do that for our customers every day.”
2. Enable flexibility: Many organizations have already demonstrated incredible flexibility while navigating the pandemic and its effect on operations. This need will continue as kids go back to school, with many workers at home trying to navigate online-learning and caring for other family members. In fact, enabling scheduling flexibility is a huge win for The Home Depot, as their workforce management teams are working hard to grant more split shift schedule models, allowing associates to take a larger chunk of time in the middle of their shifts for personal needs. They are also offering more paid breaks into associates’ schedules.
3. Embed culture consistently: With a remote workforce, employees do not have the benefit of the hallway discussions or the buzzing in the office that reinforces company culture. Your vision should be front and center in every meeting and decision. Employees need to feel their purpose and that they contribute to the greater good. Share the organization’s goals, achievements, and challenges, making employees a part of the solution and the wins. The Home Depot is an excellent example of how they have made this happen. Jones explains, “As a values-based organization, The Home Depot centers our decisions on basic tenets like Giving Back, Doing the Right Thing, Respect for All People, and Building Strong Relationships, among others. To keep these key principles top of mind as we make tough decisions, we weave them into nearly everything we do – we start big meetings with a reminder of our values wheel, weave these values into associate-facing communication, recognize individuals who are exemplifying these values, and much more.”
4. Ensure transparency: Communicate clearly, honestly, and frequently. As you have likely discovered, more communication with a structured approach is critical to maintaining and reinforcing your culture. For many, this means continuing town halls, and “fireside chats” remotely, but also creating a regular cadence of updates and smaller forums. In the early days of COVID-19, The Home Depot distributed a “Daily Digest” to associates to keep them in the loop on key business changes, such as the inception of the new Curbside Pickup option at stores. They have since dialed that back as they settle into the next phase but keeping the lines of communication open with consistent email updates, virtual team huddles, and “all hands” meetings with leadership continue.
5. Do not make everything about business: Due to physical distancing and the likely feelings of isolation, it is important to build in time for non-work discussions. Check in with employees and spend more time ensuring their emotional well-being. This includes fun events, but also ensuring enough time is included in discussions to get a pulse on how employees are feeling. Companies like Groupon are also expanding on initiatives they had pre-COVID, such as creating book clubs on topics that resonate with the employee base in addition to continued volunteer events that involve the entire company.
6. Empower employees and give them a voice: This is always important, but now more than ever. Consistently give employees forums to provide feedback (in-person and anonymous), and develop processes for reviewing, prioritizing, acting, and communicating results.
7. Reward performance and “wins”: Look for ways to not only reward good performance, but also recognize employees who go above and beyond for colleagues and customers. For example, allow employees to publicly nominate and recognize peers for doing good deeds. Maintain monthly recognition meetings which include upper management to give high performers more visibility, including examples of excellent customer service. The Home Depot has worked to replicate the in-office experience as much as possible, which they explain is typically filled with celebrations, associate recognition, and career development opportunities, even in a virtual environment.
8. Focus on employee health and well-being: As time goes on, restoring staff is going to be more important than ever. Many companies are focused on providing additional benefits during this time like additional paid leave and supportive resources that include counseling and access to financial advisors. Find out what your employees need and provide resources to best support them.

Culture Continuity is More Important Than Ever

There is no question that prolonged physical distancing is an ongoing challenge to maintaining one’s culture, but with intention and focus, organizations can come out of this time with even stronger and publicly recognizable cultures. Judi Brenstein, vice president of Global Support Groups with Groupon, reinforced this by saying, “Organizations need to plan how they help their people stay true to the company’s mission and values. Just as everyone was scrambling in the early days of COVID-19 to ensure business continuity, it is also important to create a culture continuity plan.” By being intentional, listening to your employees, and staying true to your mission, you can ensure that regardless of where your staff are located, your mission and values do not waver.

The post Eight Principles to Ensure Culture Continuity in a Physically Distanced World appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Just as call centers acquired new technologies and prioritized shifting to a work-at-home environment without compromising customer experience, the same must now be done in reverse if returning to a traditional office location. But, how?

The old ways of operating are long gone. Call centers will be forced to deal with more unforeseen challenges as we collectively navigate through the new normal by drumming up creative solutions to new problems – just like Ford is doing with wearable technology that buzzes employees if they get too close to their coworkers.

Since we are all in this together, it is helpful to get in the know by leaning on public resources, collaborating with peers, and exploring what others are doing in your industry before designing your reopening strategy. Maybe wristbands that enforce 6-foot social distancing are not exactly an immediate solution for the masses just yet, but there are plenty of other components to make the process of reopening call centers a seamless and stress-free experience for agents and customers.

A Safer Office Work Environment for Healthy Agents

Reintroducing agents back into call centers begins with creating a cleaner, safer work environment. The CDC points to the long-standing “Hierarchy of Controls” for protecting workers as shown below from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

While it will be imperative to have a larger inventory of hand sanitizer, masks, gloves, and other quarantine staples we have become all too familiar with, creating a healthy post-COVID call center entails much more than stocking up on Purell. Instead, it will take thoughtful consideration on all fronts from the basics, including following the CDC’s guidelines for office cleanliness and other protective measures to more advanced considerations in the elimination phase that entail how we respond once wide-spread testing and vaccinations are available.

Accommodating Your Agents Every Way Possible

With close working conditions and shared spaces, call centers proved early on to be among the most vulnerable work environments in regards to the spread of COVID-19, and in lieu of a vaccine, it will be an important factor to consider as you phase workers back into their in-office environments. A South Korean call center saw 44 percent of its agents on one-floor contract COVID-19 despite the country’s swift reaction to addressing the virus early with mass testing and digital surveillance. In the image below, you can see just how easily a virus can spread so quickly in a condensed office space.

This piece from National Geographic dove further into what could be the end of the traditional office floor plan that has been the standard in offices around the world for decades. In-office accommodations are much more than just spacing desks apart and raising cubical walls – businesses might have to reconsider the handling of elevators, corridors, hallways, and any other area that sees high foot traffic.

We are learning that employers will be adopting staggered arrival times for agents and employees, as well as staging areas for elevators, and routine temperature checks to nip any potential wave of illness in the bud. A redesigned office layout combined with proactive testing and fever monitoring makes for a much healthier, more sustainable post-COVID call center.

Preparing For The Return

Before you have staff return to work, there are several considerations one must address. The CDC offers a Workplace Decision Tool to evaluate the many facets involved including safeguards, policies, procedures, workspace environment consideration, protocols, expectations, and initial and ongoing communication. While each country, state, industry, and business type vary in recommendations, it is important that you read-up and prepare. Here are a few things to consider.

Educate Yourself

• Read through all federal, state, and local government requirements and familiarize yourself with CDC and OSHA standards. On May 27, 2020, the CDC released a Resuming Business Toolkit that includes checklists to help guide you through your restart readiness and worker protection consideration. Additionally, it offers an infographic poster to share in your place of business and links to all the important resources you should have at your fingertips.

Focus on an Employee First Model

• Consider conducting an anonymous survey with your staff to gain a better understanding of the fears, uncertainty, and doubts of your employees so you can uncover and proactively address any noted concerns. Surveys are great for an initial gauge to help you prepare but on-going input should be part of your return to work plan for early identification of additional concerns and to let your workers know you’re listening and care for their safe return and ongoing welfare.
• Work with your Human Resource teams to understand resources available for mental health concerns and make sure there are measures in place to communicate the availability of these resources and how to access them in case they are needed.
• Consider maintaining work-at-home options and policies that address productivity for employees who enjoy working from home, who care for elderly or young children, or are at-risk individuals who are productive and are equipped to work from home.
• Remodel your transaction volumes and adjust work schedules accordingly to support service levels. Consider the scheduling implications of commute schedules, public transportation concerns, office traffic patterns, and scheduled breaks.

Innovate and Communicate

• Prepare and communicate new protocols, policies, and expectations. In particular, revise your sick policy to offer additional flexibility, communicate cleaning policies, spell out expectations on the use of masks, set standards for temperature testing prior to arriving to work and or onsite testing, and set a hardline for not coming to work if they have been possibly exposed.

Re-engineer the Workspace and Workflow

• Prepare immediate workspaces. Hang signs that clearly display social distancing requirements and reminders about cleaning protocols for employees. Consider the risk of shared workspaces and equipment like headsets, phones, computers, and other staples and supplies. Consider how you will address this hotbed of germs through cleaning protocols and or by ordering additional inventory to offer dedicated equipment and supplies.
• Attend to your physical worksite. Consider needs for ample 6-foot social distancing, the need for physical barriers, and additional wall or floor signage throughout the physical location for employee and customer consumption. Make sure there is a general plan for regular cleaning of shared spaces like bathrooms, door handles, conference room facilities, light switches, breakrooms, and the like.
• Update protocols for dealing with inbound and outbound materials (i.e. mail and packages), as well as connect with your facility manager to further examine the facility’s air filtration systems as a preventative measure.

After The Doors Open

Monitor and Educate

• Continue to monitor the federal, state, and local government requirements and familiarize yourself with CDC, The WHO, and OSHA standards.
• Keep an eye on cases in your area, be aware of your workers’ physical and mental health, including your own.

Continuous Feedback

• Have regular conversations with your team members and connect with them on a consistent basis to collect on-going input, monitor employee sentiment on the lines, and keep those lines of communication open.

Ongoing Monitoring and Evaluation

• Be consistent with monitoring new protocols, policies, and cleaning standards.
• Reevaluate KPI’s and adjust accordingly to the current state-of-business to ensure unrealistic expectations are not another source of stress on your team. Performance reviews and metrics will need to be expanded to include safety measures, making sure to keep everyone on the team is following protocol and consistent with the new policies.

No stone can be left unturned when it comes to the health and safety aspect of reopening your business, and the onus falls on leaders to prioritize new behaviors to ensure agents return to a safe work environment for years to come.

How Will You Respond?

One silver lining of this pandemic for businesses is that it is forcing everyone to fortify their contingency plans so that if there were ever a situation that required call centers to be shut down again, closing and reopening them would be easier.

For now, companies must simply follow proper CDC protocols, listen to employees, and do everything possible to ensure they have the environment and the resources to continue providing customers with the best possible experience. With many of the largest brands in the world acting quickly to adopt new service models, acquire new technologies, redesign office layouts, and keep call centers germ-free, it reinforces the idea that every call center needs to look at every possible solution before and after reopening – because as evidenced by the aforementioned National Geographic piece, a poorly-designed call center could be devastating.

The best course of action is to be proactive, continue to seek information on what others are doing, and identify the strategies you see working for your company. With so much at stake, it is important to explore all opportunities, to review OSHA’s Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19, and as we’ve learned through this pandemic, to remain flexible.

To get involved in the conversation, Corporate Brands can Join Know It All (KIA), and we invite everyone to check out our April Issue to the CX insight Magazine featuring a number of articles on COVID-19. Additionally, visit our COVID-19 Readiness resource page for links to articles and other pertinent resources, or register for the May 28th webinar, Business Continuity in the Midst of a Crisis & Preparing for the New Normal.

Visit our COVID-19 Readiness Resources Page to view a
Featured List of Return to Work CDC Resources.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Blog post, written by: Execs In The Know

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“The most important thing during this time of uncertainty is that our community pulls together to identify creative solutions to take care of employees and customers,” said Chad McDaniel, President and Co-Founder of Execs In The Know. “With the brilliant minds on our Advisory Board and in our community, we have been able to facilitate a quick turnaround to address the situation at hand. We created this page to help alleviate some of the pain points brought on by this pandemic, and as the situation changes we will continuing doing exactly that.”

COVID-19 has left companies in all industries quickly trying to implement contingency plans that address operations, customers and employees. Throughout the resource page, CX leaders are able to learn, share, network, and engage to innovate in order to better solve the biggest issues the pandemic has created, such as shifting to a work-at-home environment, increasing services through artificial intelligence (AI), interactive voice response (IVR) considerations, fortifying leadership management, and much more. By connecting CX leaders with their peers and compiling the most insightful resources in one place, the industry can unify to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 and keep CX strategies on the right path.

To visit Execs In The Know’s COVID-19 Resource Page, access the link here:
https://execsintheknow.com/knowledge-center/covid-19-readiness/

About Execs In The Know
Execs In The Know (EITK) is a global community of customer experience (CX) professionals focused on excellence in customer experience. Execs In The Know gives brands a platform to share and gain insights, benchmark their brand, stay on top of the latest trends in CX, and create lasting relationships with their peers – “Leaders Learning From Leaders.” Execs In The Know holds numerous live events each year including Customer Response Summit, Subject Matter Briefings, Lunch & Learns, and Leadership Dinners. The company also offers industry content and thought leadership through webinars, reports, a quarterly CX insight Magazine, the Know It All “KIA” Online Community, and various social media groups. To learn more about Execs In The Know visit: www.execsintheknow.com.

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COVID-19 has forced companies to further examine internal processes and business contingency plans (BCP) to keep strategies moving forward during uncertain times. The second edition of CX insight touches on a number of issues related to COVID-19’s unfortunate impact and includes contributed featured pieces from Quiq and TELUS International that focus on driving efficiency in the wake of business disruption and today’s most prominent digital customer experience trends. Internal pieces from Execs In The Know examine topics such as the rise of work-at-home and how CX leaders have shifted their teams out of office in an efficient, effective manner; outsourcing and how to manage fluctuating call volumes without compromising service standards; leveraging personalization to generate increased customer loyalty; a Q&A piece with a Groupon executive on how to lay the foundation for a strong data strategy; and a brand spotlight on The Home Depot featuring their customer-centric culture and focus on service.

This edition of CX insight also highlights other EITK offerings to help businesses navigate the impact of COVID-19, including a section dedicated to EITK’s growing COVID-19 Resource Center, which highlights the newly-launched Virtual Briefing Series that was inspired by an initial real-time effort of EITK’s Advisory Board and provides CX-specific solution concepts on a weekly basis regarding a specific hot button topic that CX leaders need addressed during this time of uncertainty. Each episode of the Series features a panel of CX leaders from some of the world’s largest global brands and focuses on providing actionable takeaways for even the most seasoned CX leaders.

To view and subscribe to the CX insight Magazine, visit this link below:

https://execsintheknow.com/cx-insight-magazine/

If you are interested in registering for the upcoming Virtual Briefing Series, you can find out more information and register here: https://execsintheknow.com/events/virtualbriefingseries/

About Execs In The Know

Execs In The Know (EITK) is a global community of customer experience (CX) professionals focused on excellence in customer experience. Execs In The Know gives brands a platform to share and gain insights, benchmark their brand, stay on top of the latest trends in CX, and create lasting relationships with their peers – “Leaders Learning From Leaders.” Execs In The Know holds numerous live events each year including Customer Response Summit, Subject Matter Briefings, Lunch & Learns, and Leadership Dinners. The company also offers industry content and thought leadership through webinars, reports, a quarterly CX insight Magazine, the Know It All “KIA” Online Community, a Marketplace, and various social media groups. To learn more about Execs In The Know visit: www.execsintheknow.com.

Media Contact:
Gina Morkel
480-721-8391
gina@execsintheknow.com

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