Blogs

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act taking full effect in 2014, the healthcare industry is taking careful note of who will direct the government's purse. No surprise—it's the customer. Consumer input of their experience and satisfaction will connect nearly one-third of the fed's government value payment program (i.e., bonuses, penalties, and reimbursements to...

In the not-so-distant past, the communication between utilities and their customers was minimal and often single-channeled.  A customer would receive their somewhat confusing monthly utility bill in the mail, and the utility would receive their monthly payment.  Thus was the extent of the utility-customer relationship. However, advances in technology along with consumers who expect better...

The way a business conceptualizes its call center could be the difference between falling in line or out of sync with a company's long term vision. If process is the underlying functionality of a call center, and premise is the brick and mortar placement (real estate to locate, labor to train, and technology to purchase...

Last week on Valentine's Day we posted a graphic novel style story, A Customer Engagement Love Story, to depict how a fictitious major florist could provide multi-channel service with the USAN customer engagement platform. On the same day, Business Insider posted this story, Valentine's Twitter Hell For Florist That Failed To Deliver. The article describes how FTD...

(Updated 2/18/13) Social media impacts companies every day, yet most still don’t have a strategy to integrate it into their core business. Shockingly, many companies still ignore social media service opportunities - and at their own peril. A recent article in Business Insider noted that over 97% of tweets go unnoticed, unread and are not acted upon. This...

When I was in first grade, my family moved overseas to Belgium.  While I was away, my elementary school closed and merged with another one.  After several years, we moved back into our old house and I resumed classes at the "new" school.  Even though half the school should have remembered me, and the other...

It’s time to let go of the marketing funnel. According to a new report out from Forrester Research, modern marketing campaigns need to adapt themselves to ways in which today's consumers now make their purchasing decisions. Instead of a linear pathway leading from awareness to purchase, modern consumers now interact with brands via various touchpoints...

Voice of the customer (VOC) analysis is a field of study that goes back many years. Since at its core it is about identifying and adapting to customer needs, modern social media has offered an exponential growth in sources for such analysis. In fact it could be argued that we have a non-stop, 24-hour, churning...

Research shows that patients who understand and take action with regard to their own health and healthcare decisions, have better health outcomes and may even have lower healthcare costs. Thus, it is imperative that healthcare providers embrace patient engagement. However, healthcare customer engagement isn’t merely the responsibility of the healthcare providers. Successful engagement requires that...

Consumer trust in financial service companies rose slightly this year according to the Edleman Trust Barometer, but banks and financial institutions still came in last in the business industry category. Only 50% of the 30,000 respondents indicated trust in financial institutions. In contrast, the technology category came in at the top of the consumer trust...

On our own IVR Community hosted by TMC, Tracey Schelmetic asks if IVR is on its way out in her article "Is It Really Time for Sunset on the IVR?" "While the dialer may be here to stay – the expanding application for outbound pre-recorded calls can testify to this – there are some industry...

As reported at The Brainyard, a new book titled Social Media for Nurses: Educating Practitioners and Patients in a Networked World explores the shifting role of the patient thanks to Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, and warns that this phenomenon shouldn't be ignored. Authored by Ramona Nelson, professor at Slippery Rock University, Debra Wolf, PhD, associate professor of nursing at Chatham...

Customers expect quick, accurate answers to their questions about your product and services. Whether they look it up on the web, contact your call center, visit your Facebook page, or shop at a brick-and-mortar location, delivering consistent, thorough, and accurate knowledge is critical. Customer self-service capabilities provide your customers with the ability to get immediate...

This article over at FoxNews.com, "The case of the missing inch: Why don't all Subway 'footlong' subs measure up?" demonstrates a perfect example of a customer using a company's social media page to cause problems. Below is an excerpt from the article: "What's in an inch? Apparently, enough missing meat, cheese and tomatoes to cause an uproar. Subway, the world's largest...

Customer communications have dramatically evolved over the last decade. As a result, healthcare customer engagement has evolved too. Social media is now an essential part of a healthcare firm's overall communications strategy. Effectively engaging your customers online now goes far beyond encouraging them to visit your website. Patients can now recommend you, review your services,...

In his article over at fourthsource.com, Felix Velarde posits 2013 will be the year of Total Customer Engagement. You should click over to read the entire piece, but there are a few points I wanted to highlight that we at USAN think are spot-on accurate. "Most companies today have a web strategy, which may include e-commerce. They...

One of the big trends throughout 2012 in technology was the explosion of smartphones and tablets. These smaller devices allow consumers to access the internet from anywhere. Cutting edge companies are taking advantage of this surge to provide mobile apps that allow for customer self service. Helping the customer self serve improves productivity as well...

Improvement of the customer service experience is a never-ending challenge in today's call centers. Due to the increased number of agents and the handling of a wider variety of calls in multiple languages and support areas, customer engagement is often compromised. This leads to dissatisfaction and disappointment in overall service. However, one concept that can improve upon...

This is the age of the customer, according to the 2012 Forrester white paper, “The Evolution of the Customer Engagement Agency” and they “expect relevant content and offers to be available when and where they want them.” The specific findings indicate: Customer-obsessed companies deliver a seamless, coordinated, consistent experience from call center to website to...

Meaningful customer engagement doesn’t happen in a bubble. It means building the type of customer relationships that lead to a deeper understanding of their needs and goals to attract, satisfy, and retain them. A large part of this development falls on the shoulders of your employees. Naturally, this begs the question: what are you doing...