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Jack Wynn

Forum Insight: Savvy SEO tips for start-ups that won’t break the bank…

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With 50 per cent of new businesses failing within five years, recent research has revealed that many small businesses are missing out on opportunities to market online due to a lack of digital knowledge.

The research from 123 Reg found that 73 per cent said they did not advertise online and 42 per cent reported having no digital presence. SEO and other terminology also stumped 48 per cent of business owners surveyed, and only 53 per cent said their websites were easily readable via a mobile device.

“Being digitally savvy is especially important for start-ups. It can be the difference between your business being seen in the right places by the right people, and even small changes can have a huge impact,” comments Alex Minchin, founder and director of SEO agency Zest Digital.

Here, Alex shares three instantly achievable tips for small businesses looking to get started with SEO:

  1. Sign up to Google Analytics and Google Search Console and add the necessary code to your website: These are two free tools that will enable you to measure performance, even if you don’t understand it all immediately. You cannot improve something that you’re not measuring, and these tools will measure things such as; the number of visitors landing on your website, the best performing content, keywords driving traffic, any broken links or pages, and the links from other websites that are pointing back to your website. 
  2. Start local: Most searches in the micro and small business world include local modifiers such as your city or county, e.g. “Plumbers in Croydon”. An easy way to start to build some gravitas towards your website is to feature on business directories. This creates ‘citations’ (mentions) of your business name and confirms your address and other details, in addition to pointing a link back to your website. It’s crucial to make sure your information is kept consistent, so finalise your details and use the same information as a template for all directories. These things will help to increase the strength and trust of your website. Just be sure to focus on reputable directories such as Touch Local, 192, Freeindex, and Opendi for example. 
  3. Focus on the real basics and design each META title and description for each of the key pages on your website as a minimum: The title tag and descriptor underneath the search result is considered as a ranking factor by Google, and can positively influence your rankings for a particular keyword. Your title should include your keyword and brand name as a minimum, but try to be as creative as possible with the character limit (55 is the defacto) that you have available.  In the META description, it’s more important to include your value proposition and key information, for example “free delivery on all orders”, or “free quotation”. Remember, you’re trying to stand out to win a greater share of the clicks against the other websites competing for the same keyword so details and USPs are key.

“It’s widely reported that somewhere around 90 per cent of all purchasing decisions begin with a search engine and a search query.  SEO can therefore play a huge part in the marketing strategy of a small business.

Alex continues. “Sharing your expertise through content and delivering value to your target market is the name of the game, and it’s a playground that, whilst dominated by some larger brands, isn’t policed by them. It’s entirely possible for a small business to compete and win on this channel, and doesn’t have to involve a huge cost in doing so.”

BA to ‘outsource more than 1,000 UK call centre jobs’…

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A spokesman for British Airways (BA) has confirmed that the airline is considering outsourcing its UK contact centre operations in a bid to reduce costs at its Manchester and Newcastle sites.

Branded “a slap in the face” to its employees by the trade union, Unite, BA – owned by International Airlines Group – has reportedly already asked outsourcing firms to assess the two call centre sites and bid for the jobs. Third-party firms have also been approached to submit proposals for potential cost-effective solutions to implement. 

It is thought that a downturn in the aviation industry has prompted BA to make these cuts to compete with the popularity of low-cost airlines.

Consultation with union representatives and staff members will take place before a final decision is made, and the BA spokesman claims that outsourcing these jobs would enable the use of the latest technology to further improve customer service.

Oliver Richardson, Unite national officer, said in a statement published on the union’s website: “This review is nothing short of a slap in the face for hardworking staff who have constantly adapted to changing markets, while continuing to deliver the highest level of customer service.

“A cloud of uncertainty now hangs over the heads of workers who fear that their jobs will be outsourced or offshored as a result of this exercise. Such a scenario would lead to poorer customer service and a more fragmented experience for passengers. 

“We urge IAG to resist the temptation to engage in a crude cost cutting exercise and repay its loyal workforce by keeping the customer service operations of our national carrier in–house.” 

GRS predicts five ‘rapid’ trends for call centres in 2017…

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Global Remote Services (GRS) has come up with five trends set to transform the call centre industry next year with the assistance of industry analyst Peter Ryan.

Acknowledging that Brexit and continued digitalisation will potentially bring many new opportunities to the sector, both parties claim:

  1. Self-serve will grow with chatbots, apps and mobile: By 2020, Gartner predicts customers will manage 85 per cent of the relationship without any human interaction. The rise of mobile, apps and chatbots will revolutionise how organisations communicate with customers. Companies need to be clever to capture customers browsing the web on their mobile phones.
  2. Data security will become a top priority: Contact centres and outsourcers will have a strong focus on preventing security breaches and data theft and ensuring safe and easy to use payment options.
  3. Location and languages spoken will become less important: Where your outsourcer or contact centre is based will become less important as a new business model around automation changes established concepts of nearshoring and offshoring.
  4. CEE Region will provide huge opportunity for UK companies: Post-Brexit is providing additional opportunities for outsourcing to Central and Eastern Europe as UK companies look for additional skills. T.Kearney Global Services Index 2016 found Romania and Poland increasing as top outsourcing destinations based on financial attractiveness, people skills and availability and business environment.
  5. Digital will take over from traditional voice: Millennials prefer digital interaction. Call centres will need to leverage more channels such as email, livechat and social media to service broader customer bases. According to the 2016 Global Contact Centre report, contact centres expect to be managing nine different channels within the next 12 months.

For more information about GRS, click here

RSVP launches ‘Artists’ division at new Manchester site…

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The outsourced call centre company RSVP has introduced its in-house actors agency, RSVP Artists, to the recently opened MediaCityUK site in Manchester.

The company, which has been employing actors for the past 28 years at its London office, has extended the existing agency to its newly-appointed Manchester workforce that opened its doors in October.

RSVP Artists will offer a wide range of talent including actors, singers and dancers. Those currently on the books include recent drama school graduates, to seasoned professionals with prior experience working in TV, film and radio. The company predicts it will represent 150 creatives in Manchester alone within the next year.

Hiten Patel, director at RSVP Manchester, said: “We’re thrilled to be launching RSVP Artists here in Manchester. As a company run by actors for actors, it makes perfect sense to offer our employees an in-house agency.

“Auditions and castings take place daily here in Media City, so we are perfectly located. I still maintain that we are the only company in the UK actively trying to find our staff work that takes them away from us!”

Once staff members successfully complete an induction at RSVP Manchester, they are given access to representation at RSVP Artists and will be represented in exactly the same way as any other commercial agency. The division fully supports all employees at every stage of their career development and provides additional benefits including reduced headshot costs, free rehearsal spaces, as well as discounted beauty and hairdressing treatments.

Commenting on RSVP’s North West expansion, Mark Abernethy, managing director, said: “MediaCityUK is such a great place for us to be situated in the North. It’s a vibrant and creative environment and it suits us perfectly to be so close to The Lowry Theatre, BBC North, ITV Studios and the Coronation Street set.

“It will be great to have so many casting directors close by and they in turn will have easy access to a pool of actors, should they need to fill last minute castings. This is the perfect location for our actor agents, and also for our business growth.” 

Banking and financial services top UK customer satisfaction league…

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The banking and financial services sectors have the best levels of customer service satisfaction in the UK, according to statistics from Bright’s first ever ‘Industry Satisfaction Survey’ as part of its latest Customer Experience Report.

Based on insights gathered from more than 1.5 million post-transaction surveys in 2016, the fourth annual report considered key elements of the customer journey to make its final conclusions, including: call handler knowledge, average response time, query resolution, agent handling skill, and customer after care.

Banking was rated as best sector in the UK when it came to general customer satisfaction with 91 per cent stating they are happy with the level of service they receive; closely followed by the financial services sector at 89 per cent.

Mats Rennstam, managing director at Bright UK said: “Only a few years ago, the findings of this research would have been unthinkable. It has taken a huge amount of effort for the banking and financial services industries to turn the tide of public opinion that was so viciverous in its criticism post-2007.

“However, with the links between quality customer service and profits becoming increasingly clear, both sectors have done much to convince customers that they not only understand and care about them, but are actually doing something about it.”

Besides financial, the utility sector was rated third when it came to general customer satisfaction (87 per cent). Retail and media followed with 86 per cent and 81 per cent respectively, as well as housing (77 per cent), transport and travel (72 per cent) and the public sector coming in last with 71 per cent.

Rennstam added: “There is no silver bullet solution for achieving a world-class customer experience. However, there are things that can be done in customer service departments that do not require a lot of time or monetary investment.

“The fact is that today, most customer feedback is available verbatim via voice of the customer recordings that are fed back to staff and managers, which is having a much greater impact than traditional stats and charts, if analysed and monitored in the right way.”

 

Download a copy of the report here

Guest Blog, Heather Richards: The ‘crystal ball’ of customer service…

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If the US election result tells us anything, it’s that the ability to predict results is neither easy nor guaranteed. Any pollster or political commentator can now tell you that there’s a world of difference between what someone says and what they actually mean. It’s something that centre agents instinctively know to be true; customers can ask the same question in thousands of ways, sometimes skirting around the subject or simply not having the technical terms they need to address it.

Deciphering what the customer wants and resolving the query efficiently and effectively is compounded by the pressures of accessing the right information against a backdrop of having to handle an increasingly diverse range of issues, which could potentially affect almost every aspect of a customer’s experience with a business. As larger businesses use consolidated contact centres that support multiple products and services, heavier burdens fall on a fewer number of agents who, in most cases, have difficulty finding the information appropriate for each enquiry. 

Despite the best efforts – and investments – in CRM over the years, it can still make a centre agent or customer service rep feel like what they really need is a crystal ball if they’re ever going to reach customer satisfaction.

Sadly, no crystal ball exists. So to be successful in consistently delivering outstanding customer experience, contact centres need provide instant access to information by supporting the complete customer journey. In essence, giving agents the tools. 

In any customer interaction, the agent is essentially being asked to follow a three-step process:  

  1. Understand the intent and context of the inquiry to eliminate time consuming research and get to the answer quicker.
  2. Anticipate the answers needed and predict what the customer might ask next.
  3. Learn from the conversation to improve future interactions, giving better customer service and less admin. 

The certainty and consistency in customer service interactions, reducing , and satisfaction on both sides. Gartner’s ‘Knowledge Management Will Transform CRM Customer Service‘ report supports this, noting that “the use of tools such as semantic search engines tied to well-curated knowledge repositories can accelerate time to answer queries by 80 per cent” and increase customer satisfaction by 12 per cent. 

Transversal has worked with some of the largest and most customer-service focused and busiest organisations in the UK, from John Lewis to Mothercare, to the BBC, RAC and more. Transversal’s Prescience platform works in much the same way as the human mind works, to understand, then predict, and finally improve customer interactions by continually learning and improving knowledge as it goes.

Armed with CRM data and case detail, Prescience work by anticipating what agents need from the moment they begin entering text into a service request form, or by contextually understanding information in a chat or email response. Bringing in elements of artificial intelligence and cognitive knowledge management, the platform begins to process what people are asking before they have even finished their sentence. This simple but intuitive function eliminates unnecessary research, increases knowledge usage, and naturally reduces the effort for everyday agent tasks.

Independent  research has found this leads to a 28 per cent increase in customer service rep productivity and reduces call times by 40 per cent. 

But customers usually ask more than one question. It uses ‘smart links’ to mimic a person’s train of thought to identify what they are likely to ask next, enabling the agent to provide a better service and increasing first contact closures by 18 per cent, according to the same research.  

 

Heather Richards, CEO, joined Transversal in 2001 and has been instrumental in the company’s growth from a Cambridge technology start-up into the successful business it is today. Heather holds BA degrees in English and Philosophy from Westminster College in the US, and an M.Phil. in European Literature from the University of Cambridge.

Industry Spotlight: New original research produced by Kura and the CCA…

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Service executives are challenged on a daily basis with improving their customer service offerings. Through new, original research, Kura and the CCA asked the critical questions to understand where businesses are positioned today and their ambitions for the future.  
 
Our infographic displays some of the key highlights from this research. Interestingly, one in five respondents believe that their customer service advisors do not receive the correct level of training to sufficiently service customers during complex interactions. Moreover, 75% state multi-channel capabilities are an essential requirement for their organisation to succeed in the future.

Download our infographic and check out these highlights here 

Looking for a new call centre event to attend? You need the Call Centre & Customer Services Summit…

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With the next Call Centre & Customer Services Summit taking place on April 24 & 25 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, London Stansted, we thought we’d give you a few reasons to book your place at the event nice and early.

Put simply, if you’re looking for a new and informative call centre and customer service focused industry event, you’ve found it.

First and foremost, the Call Centre & Customer Services Summit provides a platform for highly-targeted one-to-one meetings between industry professionals and trusted suppliers. But it also comes with a full programme of educational seminars, allowing all attendees to increase their industry knowledge and develop their skill sets while on site…

Plus, there’s full hospitality throughout, including lunches, drinks reception and an evening gala dinner, offering copious networking opportunities to build new business relationships.

But we think the enduring success of the event is best summed up by visitors who have attended previously:

“We found the Summit to be an excellent investment of our time; a pleasant and productive way to meet new customers.”

Netcall Telecom Ltd

“Fantastic event! Well organised; definitely will attend future ones.”

Tesco

“Excellent Summit with genuine buyers and senior people seeing what is new for forthcoming projects; no time wasters.”

MplSystems

“Fully packed event with lots of food for thought. Well organised and facilitated; great event to make new connections.”

Boots UK Ltd

“Another great bunch of interested, potential customers, ready for follow-up meetings.”

Premier CX

So there you have it. More bespoke than a conference and more focused than an expo, the Call Centre & Customer Services Summit is the only event you need to attend in 2017.

The next Call Centre & Customer Services Summit takes place on April 24 & 25, 2017 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, London Stansted.

For more information or to book your place, call Gayle Buckland on 01992 374063 or email g.buckland@forumevents.co.uk.

Alternatively, visit www.contactcentresummit.co.uk.

Online billing making customers ‘disengaged’ with service providers…

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New consumer research has revealed that one in three customers are ‘disengaged’ with businesses due to the growing use of online billing.

Surveying 1,000 UK households, Echo Managed Services suggests online billing is potentially placing businesses and service providers at risk of losing touch with their customers. The outsourced centre does acknowledge the benefits to online billing, with 70 per cent of respondents preferring digital communication, and a third stating that online is the only method they use to receive bills. However, its increased prevalence has made some people ‘detached’ from what they are paying for everyday services…

  • 27 per cent of customers claim bills are the only method of communication they have with their service provider;
  • More than one in 10 state that online billing has made them less aware of what they pay each billing period;
  • 17 per cent only notice the bill amount if it is higher than they had expected;
  • Only one third of those surveyed said they read every bill in full.

Nigel Baker, managing director at Echo Managed Services said: “It’s clear that a large proportion of customers favour online billing, however this mustn’t become a reason for businesses to lose that all-important contact with their customers. As more and more customers switch to online billing, service providers must find opportunities to engage with them so that they’re not at risk of becoming invisible.”

Furthermore, the research also found that not everyone is happy with the level of communication they receive from their service providers:

  • 27 per cent would like to receive pre bill alerts to warn them of higher than usual bills;
  • One in 10 would prefer more regular contact;
  • Only nine per cent said they had received such useful alerts from their providers in the past.

Access ‘The Secrets of Better Billing’ here

TDBC to apply 8×8’s cloud-based telephony system…

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Taunton Deane Borough Council (TDBC) will introduce cloud-based technology provided by 8×8 from early December in a bid to improve the council’s staff productivity and service offering for its 140,000 local residents.  

The roll-out will give staff members access to advanced telephony features including intelligent call routing for residents to be directed to the most appropriately skilled agent first time. The new cloud system will also improve internal communications, and, as 8×8’s communications systems are based completely in the cloud, TDBC can quickly increase and decrease the number of staff working, based on demand.  

Fiona Kirkham, ICT and information manager at Taunton Deane Borough Council and West Somerset Council said: “We’re always looking at how we can innovate and improve our systems to help residents in Taunton and the surrounding area. It’s important for us to use cutting edge technology to make sure we are as efficient as possible and ensure local residents receive the best possible support. The 8×8 team is really supportive, working quickly and efficiently so that we can meet our very tight launch deadlines.” 

TDBC needed a provider that could quickly replace its existing legacy system to open an additional site in early December, before rolling out to further sites early next year. In addition, 8×8’s full compliance with PCI DSS standards and acquiring accreditation under the UK government’s ‘Cyber Essentials’ scheme gave TDBC the peace of mind that its system was secure.