January 15, 2020
The share of renewables in global power should more than double by 2030 as part of a ‘decade of action’ to advance global energy transformation, achieve sustainable development goals and a pathway to climate safety, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Renewable electricity should supply 57 per cent of global power by the end of the decade, up from 26 per cent today. (more…)
January 13, 2020
Ever since call centres were introduced as a business function in the mid-20th century, they have been subject to plenty of change and transformation. Customer expectations have been on a gradual rise, and CX strategists and leaders have had to adapt to meet these increased demands. Previously, call and contact centres were viewed as a cost centre – whereby the primary goal was to run them as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible, whilst still being able to respond to customers competently. Nowadays, customer experience is being ramped up on the priorities list, with call and contact centre success shown to be a key driver for customer retention, enrichment and advocacy.
Most importantly, customer expectations have evolved which has put a great strain on how call and contact centres adapt. Customers now expect customer service to quick, convenient and available 24/7.
What do customers want from contact centres?
Living in a social media world has not only brought plenty of benefits for businesses, but also presented its fair share of challenges. With consumers now having the ability to communicate and get instant information online, contact centres have had the same expectations placed on them to provide quick response times whilst still maintaining high service levels.
A study conducted by Lithium Technologies found that when asking about a product or service, 66 percent of consumers expect a response to their query on the same day, and over 40 percent expect a reply within the hour. This has put a large strain on contact centres to improve efficiency and be able to respond so quickly to customer queries.
In addition to wanting a quicker service, customers today also want convenience. ‘Gen Z’, having grown up with social media and digital technologies are used to shopping, browsing and completing tasks online through research and self-informing. What does that mean for contact centres?
Customers don’t want to call contact centres and wait to be put through to the right advisor – It isn’t the most convenient option anymore. What customers want instead is the ability to solve the issue themselves using self-serve/ FAQ sheets, or at least to see if they can solve the problem before having to get in touch with an advisor.
A study carried out by Zendesk found that 67 percent of consumers preferred using a self-serve portal when looking to help themselves online, with 40 percent of customers calling a contact centre only after they have at least attempted to find their solution on the internet first.
On top of wanting a quicker service and convenience, customers are also expecting help to be readily available whenever and wherever they need it.
Today’s customers want to be able to get in touch with a company across multiple channels and be able to hop in between channels to continue their interaction. For example, a customer wants to be able to message a chatbot online, then follow up with a phone call, and expect the company know their name, information and query. These conversations should be able to take place across a whole host of channels including social media, websites, mobile, text, chatbots, telephone, email, self-serve and more.
By having interactions across multiple channels, customers also expect help in one form or another to be available 24/7. Banks, for example, outsource call centre functions to countries abroad to ensure customers calling in the later hours have a representative that they can speak to.
This piece has been published in partnership with Call & Contact Centre Expo
Image by Stefan Kuhn
January 7, 2020
Toyota has revealed plans to build a prototype city of the future on a 175-acre site at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan. Announced at CES 2020, the global consumer technology show in Las Vegas, the Woven City will be a fully connected ecosystem, powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Envisioned as a “living laboratory,” the city will be home to full-time residents and researchers who will be able to test and develop technologies such as autonomy, robotics, personal mobility, smart homes and artificial intelligence in a real-world environment. (more…)
January 7, 2020
Imagine a world with no freelancers, holiday cover workers, or people to help fill the hiring gaps on projects. With IR35 extending into the private sector, this could be a reality; and we should be worried that a skilled and flexible workforce of freelancers could soon be extinct. Instead of dealing with the headache of the new regulations, 20 percent of UK businesses said they plan to axe contract workers. Freelancers themselves might be worried about how the new iteration of IR35, due to come into force in April next year, will affect their ability to work, and hastily take on permanent positions. (more…)
December 17, 2019
Self-driving cars are set to have a significant impact on society and change our future the most over the next 20 years, according to research from CWJobs. Working in collaboration with “futurologist” Melissa Sterry, the report (registration) surveyed over 2,000 UK business decision makers and IT workers to determine the technological inventions with the greatest impact on society since 2000 and what’s to come in the next 20 years. (more…)
December 16, 2019
One of Labour’s flagship policies for its 2019 general election campaign was to introduce a four-day week. More accurately, its policy is to introduce a 32-hour week. This brought flexible working again into the media spotlight. Research suggests that flexible working and reduced hours can have multiple benefits, including improved mental health and greater productivity. (more…)
December 11, 2019
The next decade promises to offer both incredible opportunity and challenge for all of us. Technologies like artificial intelligence will no longer be considered new but will instead be at the heart of some huge disruptive changes that will run right through our society. In particular, AI will start to enable the automation of many things that were previously deemed too complex or even too “human”. We’ll see these changes and tech trends at work – traditional professions like accountancy, lawyers and others will over time, see significant portions of what they do be taken over by virtual robots. Vocations such as lorry drivers, taxi drivers and even chefs may disappear as machines are introduced to perform the same function but with more consistent results and less risk. (more…)
December 11, 2019
Today, seven major global private sector companies including Goldman Sachs and Lendlease have announced pledges to slash emissions from their buildings to net zero, by signing up to the World Green Building Council’s (WorldGBC) Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment (the Commitment). The organisations have pledged to take urgent action to ensure their own portfolios of buildings operate at net zero carbon by 2030 or sooner. (more…)
December 11, 2019
More than half (57 percent) of UK companies are confident their staff are prepared for an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled workspace according to a new report from Genesys. This is broadly in line with the attitudes of workers themselves, according to another report from the company which claims that 46 percent of people say they are ready to work with the technology. The latest survey claims that over half of employers (55 percent) think their employees are anxious that their jobs will be eliminated by AI. However, employers believe this fear is unfounded with only 11 percent saying AI will actually put jobs at risk. In fact, 51 percent of UK based companies don’t anticipate any major staffing changes as a result of AI, despite recent headlines that portraying it as a threat to jobs. (more…)
November 29, 2019
Following the recent Gartner study describing the unpreparedness of the HR function for the future of work, another report is exhorting managers to step things up. According to the KPMG International global Future of HR survey, close to 3 in 5 (57 percent) Human Resources executives believe that if their function doesn’t modernise its approach to understanding and planning for the future needs of the workforce, it will rapidly become irrelevant within the modern organisation. (more…)
November 27, 2019
New research published today by City & Guilds Group claims that the UK risks being left behind as employers across the world race to upskill their workers. As digitalisation and fluctuating economies transform the skills needed in the workplace today, employees are less confident than their bosses that they’ll have skills they need for the future. The study, conducted by City & Guilds Group business Kineo, surveyed 6500 employees and 1300 employers across 13 international markets. It found that employers in developing countries with rapidly emerging economies are among the most likely to ramp up investment in upskilling their workforce in the near future, compared to developed economies such as the UK.
January 14, 2020
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us and we`re not ready for it
by Jamie Morgan • Comment, Technology