The sudden onset of COVID-19 has left businesses in all industries scrambling for solutions to a global issue that currently has no end date. Call centers are far from immune to the effects of the pandemic and it has put customer service (CX) leaders in a position to reexamine their organizations’ preparedness to deal with uncertainty. During times like these, it is imperative to lean on our most valuable resource – the community. Execs In The Know is currently hosting a weekly...

Business not as usual.
With well over two-thirds of the United States (US) population under stay-at-home orders and millions of children out of school, our daily routine is anything but normal. Organizations have been hit with service disruptions and unimaginable scenarios in the past month. While in the past we have seen reinvention, industry shifts, and changes in consumer behavior, what we are experiencing now with the COVID-19 disruption is unprecedented. For example, 40.9% of retail square feet is...

Customer service (CX) leaders worldwide benefit greatly from all the positive ways that outsourcing can seamlessly integrate within an all-encompassing customer experience strategy. While it is common for businesses to plan for seasonal call volume spikes, outages, and site closures; it was hard to ever foresee or plan for the entire world to go through business disruption simultaneously with...

In this interview, Know It All (KIA) Community Member and Director of Advanced Analytics at Groupon, Sagarika Prusty, suggests that the future of data-driven customer experience lies in the art of effective communication and storytelling for business success. Here’s how data scientists are changing the narrative to deliver 360-degree support for their customers, beginning with the crucial first step that no company can afford to ignore.

While every business organization is struggling to navigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, those organizations that are consumer-facing are dealing with unique challenges. Today, customer service organizations are responding to an exponentially higher number of interactions and, understandably, more emotional end-users.

Leveraging Personalization to Increase Customer Loyalty and Retention
With each passing year, customers in many consumer industries further prioritize personalization over product, putting constant pressure on global brands to become more innovative with their approaches. What’s popular today isn’t always popular tomorrow, and a personalized customer journey - both in-store and online - is now the path to a more sustainable, lucrative customer retention rate.

An interview with Michael Jones, Senior Director of Customer Care at The Home Depot Michael: After graduating from The University of Georgia in 1995, I joined The Home Depot as a sales associate in California and will be celebrating my 25th anniversary with the Company later this year. Since that time, I’ve lived in six different states and held many roles, including Store Manager, Director of Sales & Services, District Manager, Director of Tool Rental Operations and my current position as the Senior Director of Customer Care, which I’ve held since 2016.