Tag: new tech

5 Common Customer Service Horror Stories and How to Avoid Them

   |   By  |  0 Comments

How much is poor customer service costing your business each year? UK businesses lose up to £37 billion a year [1] as a result of inefficient customer service yet it isn’t always a high priority improvement area for businesses. 

Contact centres are still the go to channel for consumer queries despite the rise in emergence of other consumer communication channels with businesses such as chatbots, forums and email. This is due to the desire of consumers for quick resolutions of their problem. 

The reality for many contact centres is the opposite due to poor organisation of procedures and use of outdated business phone technology. So how can investing in the right technology improve your customer service experience? We’ve gathered 5 of the most common customer service hurdles faced by consumers when contacting businesses and evaluated how tech can make the process less painful for both your team and customers. 

 

           1. Call transfer loops

We’ve all been there – you have a query, you call customer service and the agent you speak to is unable to help so you are transferred to another who should be better equipped to help. After a long wait and finally getting through, you need to repeat yourself to this new agent who seemingly has no information about your query. Then you’re met with another dreaded transfer as they’re unfortunately also unable to help you – the nightmare of a call transfer loop. 

Being shuttled between service departments is the biggest frustration faced by customers. The root of the problem is inefficient call routing to relevant departments. Without proper routing technology, customers end up being bounced from agent to agent as your team looks for the right person to help. 

Business phone systems like Devyce allow you to set up an auto attendant which automates the routing process to ensure your customer calls are being directed to the right person/department so they are able to promptly get assistance. 

 

           2. Slow responses and lengthy wait times

Since the pandemic, 48% of customers say their expectations for customer service standards have risen [2], with focus on it being quick and efficient. No one likes to be kept waiting on hold or worse, calling customer service and not being able to get through with no one following up on their call. 

To decrease customer wait times and avoid missing their calls, ensure your business phone system allows call forwarding so that at any point if a member of the team is unavailable to pick up, the call can be directed to a line that is free.

 

           3. Repeating information to different support staff 

Often customers may reach out across multiple platforms so it’s important to ensure consistency of information across all channels. It not only provides a more seamless customer experience, it saves both parties time as it decreases wait time while support agents look for the relevant information. 

CRM platforms integrated with your business phone system helps to achieve this so you can assign support tickets to customer contact details. This is also great for providing a great omnichannel customer service experience as any member of the support team can quickly access the support thread of a specific customer across different platforms. 

 

           4. Unfriendly customer service

85% of customers have reported they will avoid repurchasing with companies where they’ve experienced poor customer service [3]. Customers who have bad experiences are also likely to leave negative reviews and a reputation for bad customer service will impact acquisition. 9 out of 10 consumers read reviews before making a purchase which greatly affects the buyer’s decision.

 

With features like recorded calls and call listening allowing other team members to listen in on your customer calls, Devyce can help you regularly improve the customer experience by analysing and utilising previous calls to train your team. You can also utilise CRM integrations to collect feedback such as sending out quick surveys which will help with optimisation of your customer service operations. 

 

           5. None to little after sales follow up 

The customer journey doesn’t end after a sale is made. The aftercare customers receive greatly impacts customer retention. Increasing retention rates by 5% can increase profits by between 25-95% [4]! Often a simple follow up email or call following a customer support request can make a great difference to the overall customer experience rating and lead to formation of long term consumer relationships which increase customer lifetime value.

By making the switch to a modern business phone system, you can build a better tech stack to help you better structure your customer service team and operations. 54% of customers feel that customer service is only an after thought for companies [2] and improving customer service often costs a company less than acquisition therefore companies shouldn’t neglect investing in tech for customer service teams. 

Start streamlining your customer service operations and improving customer experience today by checking out our Teams plan!

Are you curious to find out more and like the idea of a discount to get you started? Drop us your email here!

References:

[1] https://www.smart-pa.com/uk/blog/how-much-does-bad-customer-service-cost-your-business

[2] https://cx-trends-report-2022.zendesk.com/challenges

[3] https://www.revechat.com/blog/customer-service-problems/

[4] https://media.bain.com/Images/BB_Prescription_cutting_costs.pdf

How you can leverage technology to reduce pressure on customer support teams

  |   By  |  0 Comments

 

The demand for customer support has increased greatly over the years, putting pressure on companies to meet consumer demands. However, many businesses struggle to keep up due to lack of resources and evolving landscapes for customer support teams. 

In a survey carried out by Intercom [1], it was found that the top challenges faced by customer support teams are:

  1. Poor workflow efficiency
  2. Attracting and retaining quality staff
  3. Inefficient handling of customer queries

Support teams can leverage technological advances to optimise their way of working in order to adapt to growing demands. Here are a few ways you could utilise tech to alleviate the pressures your customer support teams face:

 

        1. Use a phone system that supports remote work 

Customer support teams have reduced in size due to the pandemic resulting in increased pressure on staff. Team leads have also faced difficulties attracting and retaining staff due to large scale burnout. 

To overcome this and adapt to the changing landscapes of work, support team leads should look into investing in phone systems that support remote working like Devyce. 

With the Teams Plan on Devyce, you can provide your employees with two numbers on their phones allowing them to work from anywhere meaning employees can prioritise their wellbeing. This will also enable hiring of talent remotely – an attraction point in hiring which could lead to increased retention of staff. 

 

        2. Use a phone system that facilitates call groups and forwarding

Customer expectations have grown and only 24% of support teams surveyed stated they were confident they could meet them [1]. Often customer queries can’t be answered by the first person they get in contact with. The biggest challenge here is transferring calls to the right person on the team in a timely manner.  

To improve the efficiency of your customer support service, look out for phone systems with features to aid your customer’s journey. For example, on Devyce’s Teams Plan you are able to set up an auto attendant which filters inbound calls to the relevant call groups, streamlining the workflow and minimising wait and transfer times. 

        3. Utilise CRM and analytic software with your phone system

Poor workflow management is a key reason for staff burn out. To optimise, team leads need to regularly revise operations by setting up and tracking call metrics. This is hard to do on traditional phone systems so companies should explore newer phone systems. At Devyce, we offer a Teams Management Portal – a platform to view call analytics, allowing optimisation of workflow to meet goals. 

The Teams Plan also offers integrations with CRM softwares like Hubspot so you can manage your customer’s journeys. Creating an integrated tech stack improves workflow efficiency as it reduces the need for switching between softwares and ensures all team members can quickly access relevant data to handle customer queries. 

 

Leveraging tech to optimise your support service strategy is the key difference between companies that exceed customer expectations and those that fall behind due to not having the infrastructure to handle the growing demands. Help your team flourish today by embracing innovative advances in technology with Devyce. 

 

References:

[1] https://www.intercom.com/resources/books/customer-support-trends-emea-2022

 

Impact of rising living costs on SMEs

  |   By  |  0 Comments

SME business owners are going through it this year. 

They’ve been hit with various economic factors fueled by the pandemic and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. This is leaving a steady trail of small businesses closing down as the pressures they face become insurmountable. 

So exactly what pressures are businesses facing and how can they stay afloat throughout a storm that appears to have no end in sight? We’ve pulled together a few tips for SMEs:

 

Rise of living costs:

Inflation is forecasted to peak at 13% in Q4 2022 and was at its highest rate since 1982 this July at 10.1% [1]. The soar in living costs has various impacts on SMEs:

  • Decrease in consumption, especially of non-essential products/services 
  • Raises in price of products/services heightens competition possibly leading to lowered customer retention 
  • Overhead expenses to be cut eg. lowered budgets for marketing etc
  • Pressure for increasing employee salaries 

SMEs will need to internally audit and re-calculate their operations and budgets to tackle this. You’d be surprised how many unexpected costs could be cut down with simple solutions. An example of this is telecommunications costs. 

Many businesses still operate their customer support via traditional landline phone systems requiring contracts with carriers. As these contracts come to an end and with inflation at an all-time high, SMEs are faced with big telecommunications bills for the coming years. To cut down on these costs, switching to a VoIP phone system like Devyce will be beneficial.

Devyce is a hybrid phone system that provides two numbers on your phone. This means businesses won’t need to invest in physical landlines or providing handsets to employees while still operating with a reliable phone system. 

 

Energy crisis:

The price cap of energy costs is set to increase to 80% in October 2022 resulting in an increase of roughly £1600 per year for “typical” consumption levels of energy per household [2]. What does this mean for SMEs?

  • Providers are removing lower cost tariffs 
  • Pressure to reduce essential costs to accommodate which have negative long term effects 
  • Closures of physical locations 

Ways to overcome the spike in energy costs is to invest in sustainability and adopt greener practices. For example, with an abundance of reliable communications tools available such as Devyce, many businesses could look into adopting remote working models to cut down on use of office space. This saves businesses money, reduces impact on the environment due to reduced commuting of employees and use of energy at offices. 

For more sustainable solutions that could save your business on massive energy costs, check out our blog post:

Five unexpected ways businesses can be more sustainable 

Supply chain issues:

The supply chain problem is a cycle of poor management of logistics both internally and externally for businesses. The challenges with supply chain logistics are partly due to less staff resulting from the pandemic and is expected to continue into 2023 [3].

 

This has resulted in:

  • 79% of SMEs facing increased prices from suppliers over the past 6 months [4]
  • Major delays in exporting of goods leading to long wait times for customers to receive goods, affecting customer experience
  • Exacerbation of inflation leading to increased competition between businesses

What SMEs could do to minimise the effect is firstly to internally audit their processes eg. stock intake and maintenance etc. By optimising these processes, SMEs can mitigate the supply chain challenge by ensuring they can plan well for stock replenishment. Business owners could also look into working with more local suppliers which are more likely to be able to deliver with minimal disruptions. 

The past couple of years have undoubtedly been tough on small businesses. The differences between businesses that are able to continue trading and those that are forced to close are flexible businesses making necessary adaptations to face the piling challenges. Make a smart business decision and find out more about how Devyce could help you cut costs and tackle these challenges here:

References:

[1] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9428/

[2] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9491/#:~:text=The%20energy%20price%20cap%20increased,consumption%20paid%20by%20direct%20debit.

[3] https://www.resilinc.com/in-the-news/supply-chain-delays-will-spread-well-into-2022-and-possibly-2023/#:~:text=Supply%20Chain%20Delays%20Will%20Spread%20Well%20Into%202022%20and%20Possibly%202023,-Sep%2002%2C%202021&text=According%20to%20an%20analysis%20by,the%20overstrain%20in%20transportation%20systems.

[4]https://startups.co.uk/news/supply-chain-inflation-uk-smes/

5 Important Digital Tools for Small Businesses

   |   By  |  0 Comments

Starting a small business is daunting to say the least.

Picture this: a great idea for a business pops into your head one day. 

Ready to launch now? Absolutely yes. 

After months of hard work, you finally launch your business in high spirits. Then as your business grows, you are hit with an ever-growing mountain of things to do; from managing your employees to finances and every little detail in between. You are feeling overwhelmed and wondering how you will ever get on top of this mountain. 

No worries, we’ve got you. 

We know you’re extremely busy running your business so here are 5 of the most useful digital tools you can take advantage of: 

 

Communication tools:

Communication is the key to any successful relationship whether that be with your employees or your customers. To help with this you could get… 

 

  • Devyce – 2 numbers, 1 phone

Devyce is a cost-effective and sustainable digital solution to the work phone. 

It allows you to have an additional phone number on your phone to use for work communications. On average phones are replaced every two years [1] and each phone during its lifetime can create up to 110kg of CO2 per year [2]. Eliminate the use of a second phone and get Devyce. 

Another great feature of Devyce is the team management portal for you to monitor and manage your employee call activity and quickly access call logs. 

 

We know what you’re thinking, having your work communications operating on your personal phone might disrupt your personal life (or vice versa) however Devyce also has a handy ‘do not disturb’ feature where you can turn off work notifications to keep a healthy work life balance.

All these features make Devyce a great telecommunications tool for your small business! 

  • FreshDesk – A customer service software for your website 

Maintaining an open line of communication with your customers can be harder than it seems. 

Customers will reach out to customer support through multiple channels. This can become difficult to keep track of so let FreshDesk ‘delight your customers with effortless customer service’. 

 

Financing tools:

One of the top reasons why startups/small businesses fail is a lack of cash or failure to raise new capital. [3] Sounds pretty obvious right? However, many business owners struggle to manage their finances and budgeting. 

Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a financial expert to be able to start your own business (even accountants struggle with the papers sometimes). There are many digital tools to assist you. Spendesk being one of them. 

  • Spendesk – A 7-in-1 spend management tool 

Spendesk encourages smarter spending decisions by providing:

  • A management platform where you can view and manage spending from company cards 
  • Review and pay invoices
  • Track expenses
  • Generate financial reports
  • Automate accounting
  • Create and optimise budget plans for your business

Make smarter money decisions, budget better and stay on top of your finances with Spendesk. 

 

Marketing tools:

Developing a solid marketing plan and creating great content for it is one of the key reasons for success for many businesses. 

  • BuzzSumo – an all in one content marketing tool 

BuzzSumo is a hub platform where you can:

  • Discover and research new content ideas
  • Find relevant influencers to work with 
  • Industry trend updates
  • Develop your content strategy and create compelling content
  • Analytics for content engagement

This all inclusive platform is great for industry trend research, allowing you to create and optimise your content marketing strategy. 

 

  • Buffer – social media management tool 

Buffer is a great tool for starting out with social media management as it offers a clear and easy to navigate platform for:

  • Creating and scheduling social media posts
  • Accessing all your social media messages across all platforms in one inbox
  • Social media analytics 

All of these features are great for effective communication with your audience, learning more about their preferences in regard to your business and utilising new insights to optimise your services and marketing plan. 

So, will you be using any of these digital tools? Feel free to head to our socials to share your business story and what digital tools you’re currently using! 

 

References:

[1]

https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/environment/the-hidden-environmental-toll-of-smartphones/#:~:text=Smartphones%20generate%20more%20greenhouse%20gases,the%20energy%20sector%20and%20transportation.

[2]

https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/europe2019s-consumption-in-a-circular/benefits-of-longer-lasting-electronics

[3]

https://www.cbinsights.com/research/startup-failure-reasons-top/

The New ‘Nothing’ Phone

   |   By  |  0 Comments

What is ‘Nothing’ all about?

Nothing is a tech company, founded in 2020 by Carl Pei and is based in London. Their mission is to ‘remove the barriers between people and technology’. They hold the intention to create technology that just works, that you don’t need to think about and just feels like ‘nothing’ [1].

After receiving an initial £7 million in seed funding, with further large investments along the way, the new nothing phone has finally landed and is available here in the UK now [1]. The question is, is the most hyped smartphone of the year worth it, and will it beat the notorious tech giants?

Can they do the seemingly unimaginable?

The new smartphone largely mirrors that of an iPhone, but comes in at almost half of the price, at £399 [2]. Yet with the mid-range price, it has still managed to incorporate high-end features found on expensive devices, including a 6.55  OLED display and a dual 50-megapixel rear camera, to name a few [2]. However, it isn’t a market leader regarding its specifications or features. With Google’s launch of the Pixel 6A which includes similar features and at a similar price point [3]. Will the Nothing phone stand out?

Making a phone that stands out in a saturated and competitive marketplace, is tough. However, the Nothing phone has challenged the status quo, by embracing a futuristic and retro design by creating a completely transparent back, revealing the inner workings of the phone. Incorporating a ‘Glyph Interface’, which lights up the back when you receive any notification, and…it’s customisable [2]. Moreover, it leads the industry regarding its sustainability ethos, with 50% of the plastic parts sourced from recycled and bio-based materials  [2].

A potential problem?

The founder stated that they are building an alternative to Apple, which essentially means they want Apple users to switch over [4]. However, the Nothing OS is built on Android. Meaning the transition for existing Android users is far simpler.

The problem is that in essence, Apple has created a rather large ecosystem, through platforms including Apple Music, Apple Fitness, and more [5]. This means switching to an Android operating system could be a problem when looking for a seamless switch.

However, it’s still very early days for the Nothing phone, having only been released on the 21st of July. They have an innovative product that has been cleverly designed, with great aesthetic detail and seamless hardware integration, but will it be enough to replace the renowned iPhone users?

We will have to wait and see!

Sources

[1]
https://nothing.tech/pages/about-us
[2]
https://nothing.tech/pages/phone-1
[3]
https://www.androidpolice.com/google-pixel-6a-vs-nothing-phone-1/
[4]
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/excited-about-nothing-phone-1-23477896
[5]
https://www.lifewire.com/the-nothing-phone-1-doesnt-stand-a-chance-against-the-iphone-5499243
keyboard_arrow_up