Snackable CX

One Last Bite: Season 1 Wrap-up

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 25 May 2023 19:00:00 +0000

Let's look back at all the tastiest morsels of Season 1 of Snackable CX. We'll talk hold times, connected customer experiences, Total Experience, and repeat callers. If there's ever a Snackable to be enjoyed, it's this one.

See you soon for Season 2!

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Is Knowing Your Customers as Easy as V-O-C?

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 4 May 2023 19:00:00 +0000

You know that listening to and understanding your customers is a make or break for your business.

So when a Harvard Business Review survey found that 72% of CEOs say they understand their customers, but only 35% of customers agreed, it highlights a HUGE perception gap in the customer experience. One that sets brands up for dangerous dips in sales and retention.

Getting VoC right could be the key to a performing contact center. And who doesn't like a good key?

This episode is based on the article, "Voice of Customer: What It Is (And Where Many Go Wrong)"

Sam also mentions other resources we have about improving your VoC programs. Here are a few:

https://getmindful.com/blog/real-life-voice-of-customer-examples/
https://getmindful.com/blog/how-to-measure-customer-satisfaction/
https://getmindful.com/blog/using-customer-satisfaction-score-to-empower-agents/

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Which Came First: Connected Experiences, or Connected Teams?

marketing@getmindful.com (Victoria Harrell, Sam Salerno) — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Your customers face tons of touchpoints when it comes to interacting with your brand. And, as a CX practitioner, of course you'd like that to be a nice, seamless experience from start to end. But the silos you're facing are getting in the way. The lack of collaboration is driving distance between these customer interactions. Which causes each team to buckle down on their goals and try to fix what they have control over. Which might be the very definition of a silo.

Catchin' my drift?

So we'll talk through some practical steps to both break down silos and create connected experiences. Because you kind of need both to make any progress for your customers.

This Snack features Victoria Harrell, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Medallia, dropping some great truth bombs. The episode is based on “The Executive’s Guide to Breaking Silos and Delivering Business Results."

And here are the sources for Victoria's data points:

https://bloomfire.com/blog/cs-cost-of-poor-customer-service/
https://www.callcentrehelper.com/counting-the-true-cost-agent-attrition-205142.htm

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That Free Callback Solution Costs More Than You Think

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 13:00:00 +0000

Many telephony platforms have caught on to the trend that customers actually don't like listening to hold music—and they started adding built-in callback features as a simple, no-fee remedy that could make all those hold times woes *magically* disappear.

And, since we all like getting more bang for our buck, it sounds like a dream…until it isn’t. Enterprise brands with complex call centers soon realize that these out-of-the-box solutions really aren’t as plug-and-play as they seem. They require additional costs and resources if you want to implement them correctly, they only exist in the IVR channel, and they can throw a wrench in call flows and contact center configurations.

We hate the idea of callback getting a bad wrap, so we put together a list of what “free” callback actually costs you, and what you should look for in a real-deal customer callback solution.

This episode has been adapted from our article, “The Hidden Cost of a Free Callback Solution." We also mention our Connecticut DOL case study in this episode.

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Does Your CX Help or Hinder Revenue?

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 14:00:00 +0000

While most companies talk about customer acquisition in terms of brand awareness and conversion channels—you know, paid ads, sponsorships, TV spots, social media, the works—these tools really only make up half of what a brand needs to convert prospects to paying clients.

See, people are looking for confidence when they’re buying something. And sometimes your commercial or ad is enough to inspire that confidence and overcome or answer any questions. But if you’re anything like me, you’ve been on plenty of websites that had you digging through page after page trying to find an answer to the one question you had before purchasing.

It’s at this critical point that you can step in to meet your customers’ needs and make the sale. We cover how in just three ways.

This episode has been adapted from our article, “3 Enterprise Customer Acquisition Strategies that Leverage CX.”

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2023 Contact Center Trends (A Big Bite)

Fri, 3 Mar 2023 14:00:00 +0000

In this recap of Mindful's 2023 Contact Center Trends event, we'll take on a pending recession, generative AI, customer preference, omnichannel nirvana, and even some chatter about meeting regulations. It's a wild one that you'll definitely need as you aim to hit this year's goals.

This episode included a replay from Mindful's "2023 Contact Center Trends" event.

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Get a Handle on Your Average Handle Time

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 2 Feb 2023 21:46:50 +0000

Ideally, you want to keep average handle time as short as possible…but there’s also a good bit of nuance here that can make it tricky to pin down.

Measuring and improving average handle time requires a holistic approach—one that aims to provide the highest quality resolutions in the shortest-time frame possible.

And with a little Mindful magic, you can get started on improving your handle times—and your customer satisfaction—in three ways.

This episode was adapted from the guide "Average Handle Time: The Ultimate Guide for Contact Centers."

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The Perfect Callback Recipe to Spice Up Your Metrics

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 00:30:00 +0000

Giving customers the option to skip hold times and receive a callback is table stakes for today’s brands. Without it, you’ll frustrate your customers and fall behind your competitors. Two major red flags.

But just having a callback solution in your tech stack won’t necessarily solve anything. The real game changer is how you actually use callback and present it to your customers.

So I spoke with some of our callback experts to figure out the secret sauce behind the perfect callback recipe. And that’s what I’m serving up in this Snack.

This episode was adapted from Chapter 3 of the guide, "The Ultimate Guide to Customer Callback."

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Must-Haves of Customer Callback

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 20:23:21 +0000

Some enterprise level CcaaS platforms offer a pre-programmed, out-of-the-box solution that promises to help you save money by just flipping a switch. Meanwhile, providers that focus on virtual queueing know that flipping that switch just isn’t that easy.

So which option should you choose? Or, more specifically, what features should you specifically look for when considering the best solution for your contact center?

I put together seven key elements that any callback solution worth its salt should have. And by the end, you’ll have a crystal clear picture of exactly what your contact center needs to kick that dreaded hold music for good.

This episode was adapted from Chapter 2 of the guide, "The Ultimate Guide to Customer Callback."

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Why Customers Call Customer Service Before Purchasing

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 5 Jan 2023 14:00:00 +0000

When you think about customer service, you probably think about everything that happens after you make a purchase.

But in today’s customer-first environment, contact centers are increasingly dealing with callers who have yet to hit the buy button.

They might need help thinking through a complex problem, have a question about a product or service, or just need some plain ol’ human reassurance that they’re making the right choice before committing to a purchase.

Meeting customers in the voice channel at this stage in their journey presents a HUGE opportunity for businesses to wow them early on and put them on the path to becoming satisfied, repeat customers.

This episode was adapted from the article, "The Secret Is Out: Why Customers Call Customer Service Before Purchasing."

Additional resources: here's the "Ultimate Guide to Customer Callback" that Sam mentions.

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So You Wanna Make Real Change in the Contact Center?

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 14:00:00 +0000

Today we’re looking at First Contact Resolution, Average Handle Time, Abandon Rate, and Customer Satisfaction. Why these four? Because, while there are tons of very important contact center metrics you could be keeping an eye on, these four metrics shift the focus from measuring operational efficiency to creating better customer experiences.

Don’t get me wrong, those aren’t mutually exclusive. But in a crowded, hyper competitive market — one where 88% of consumers say their experience with a brand is just as important as the product or service they buy — a customer’s experience with a contact center can literally spell the difference between business success and business failure.

This episode was adapted from the article, "How to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Your Call Center and Improve Performance."

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Best Practices from 6 Contact Center Experts

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 8 Dec 2022 14:30:00 +0000

We’ve found that often times the best way to break through the noise and figure out your next best step is to talk with peers. And, in a mostly virtual world these days, that can be tough to find. So we interviewed some incredible contact center leaders to see what advice they’d lend. And it’s real good.

This episode was adapted from the article, "Experts Weigh In: 3 Contact Center Management Best Practices."

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Your Customer Follow-ups Ignore Growth Opportunities

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 1 Dec 2022 15:00:00 +0000

So what do we mean when we’re talking about customer follow up? There are two trains of thought here: One is following up with prospects to close a sale, and the other is the process of reaching out to talk to recent customers — which usually involves a phone call after the customer fills out a survey.

In this episode, we’re focusing on that second option. And it’s this kind of follow-up that, when you do it right, can bring a ton of value to your business — specifically in three key ways.

This episode was adapted from the article, "Why Customer Follow-up Is Crucial to a Positive Customer Experience."

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Does the World Revolve Around Your Customers?

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 16:00:00 +0000

Take a look at businesses and brands today and you’ll see it over and over again: the most successful companies out there—the ones that are crushing it on practically every level—are the ones that truly put their customers first. They drive increased revenue, retain customers, and churn out brand evangelists like clockwork.

Having a customer-centric foundation is a guaranteed recipe for business success—a recipe that’s plated best as a snack.

This episode was adapted from the article, "4 Steps to a More Customer-Centric Business."

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How to Make Seamless Experiences Seem More Important

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 3 Nov 2022 13:00:00 +0000

Smooth, simple, and seamless. That’s what customers want when they interact with your brand.

And if you want proof, they’re saying so themselves.

74% say they’re likely to buy products based solely on the purchase experience.
42% say a seamless experience across all channels is a TOP priority when considering doing business with a company.

These seamless experiences will look different between industries, brands, and maybe even departments — but the foundation they’re built on will always look the same.

This episode was adapted from the article, "How to Create a Seamless Customer Experience."

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What Is This Whole “Total Experience” Thing?

marketing@getmindful.com (Meghan Hussey, Sam Salerno) — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 13:00:00 +0000

Total Experience is quickly becoming the next step in customer-centric evolution. It's not just another X—it's the intersection of customer, employee, user, and multi-experience. It holds the key to addressing both customer and agent expectations, and could drastically change how you align goals and projects across teams.

In this special episode, Meghan Hussey guest hosts the show to take you through an in-depth look at Total Experience, with thoughtful and practical ways to bring it home to your organization.

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Harness That "Wow" Feeling For Customers

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 23:30:00 +0000

Really, there’s a LOT that goes into creating winning experiences for your customers. But, at the same time, the principles of creating great customer experiences are pretty universal.

You know a great customer experience when you have one. It’s that “wow” feeling you get when the business you’re dealing with not only gets you, but makes you feel like they’re going out of their way to make sure you’re taken care of.

Brands that are crushing it right now understand customer loyalty. They take an objective look at their CX. And then they adapt, evolve, and implement winning experiences that keep their customers feeling like a million bucks…which they’ll typically reinvest back in the brand.

And the ingredients that go into this magic CX? Sam's the chef about to walk you through the recipe.

This episode was adapted from the article, "What Makes a Great Customer Experience."

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5 Most Common Call Center Service Frustrations

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 6 Oct 2022 13:00:00 +0000

You don’t need an MBA to know that unhappy customers are bad news bears. Yeah, there are all the stats that tell you…but I mean, just conceptually, if your customers aren’t happy, you don’t have a business.

So when it comes to preventing customer frustration—particularly frustration with your contact center—you really need to get it right. Because, most consumers will leave after one—yep, just one—poor experience.

And fixing it all starts with knowing exactly what sets your customers off.

This episode was adapted from the article, "5 Causes of Customer Frustration with Call Center Service (and How to Fix Them)."

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Hot Takes on Forward-Thinking CX

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 13:00:00 +0000

Customer experience is the top competitive advantage for brands today. We're not making this stuff up—studies consistently show consumers are willing to pay more for great experiences, while they’re more likely to take their business elsewhere after bad ones.

You’re looking at CX all day every day, battling budget constraints, lowering OpEx, trying to hold onto talent, all while refocusing on the customer. And customer experience is definitely a competitive advantage in today’s marketplace. But on the flip side, if you’re not looking forward and evolving, it’ll become your downfall.

We’re all about looking forward around here, so Sam's rounded up some innovative and advanced strategies to make your brand stand out for its experiences.

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How to Improve NPS with Your Contact Center

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:00:00 +0000

When you forecast business growth, it's often in terms of P&L, EBIDTA, MRR, and other top-line metrics. And, while many brands sleep on NPS and CSAT, you chose to listen to this episode—and that means you know that these customer perception metrics play a critical piece to longterm business growth.

The contact center is a central part of a CSAT or NPS evaluation. But there are dozens of factors that go into these metrics, right? Sure, that may be true. But we're about to see how your contact center can be the human-powered rudder that steers your NPS toward a brighter tomorrow.

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5 Non-AI Takes on Contact Center Efficiency

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 13:00:00 +0000

You’ve heard a million different snake oil pitches to tune up your contact center. And, you know, AI is super beneficial, but it's not the cure-all we all hoped it'd be. Sometimes we need to get back to the fundamentals. It’s often the tactics we’ve ignored as mundane that can boost efficiency and, in the words of author Jim Collins, go from “good to great.”

I’ll take on five fundamentals in this episode: measurement, agent workflows, self-service, employee experience, and feedback. Sound good? Let’s roll.

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Mission Possible: 5 Tools To Keep Your Contact Center From Self-destructing

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 8 Sep 2022 13:00:00 +0000

If your contact center is running on outdated tech, you’ll quickly lose the race to provide customers with seamless experiences–ultimately tanking your customer retention and costing you revenue.

And it’s not just me saying that. The stakes are high as studies show that one in five customers will almost immediately abandon a brand after a single poor experience.

That should make all of us in the CX space pause and reflect on how well we serve our customers.

Your tech stack is a critical piece of the CX puzzle, so today we’re reviewing five pieces of CX tech that will help you keep your edge and expand your influence through personalized, customer-centric pathways.

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Is a Virtual Queue Worth it?

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 1 Sep 2022 13:00:00 +0000

When you factor in things like agent payroll, toll fees, tech costs, and contact center upkeep, it’s clear that every operating minute significantly impacts a contact center’s bottom line.

The simple truth is: virtual queueing can reduce these daily operating costs and increase customer satisfaction. But rather than just spout off a bunch of numbers to prove it, I’m going to break down exactly how you can measure this ROI in your contact center and see for yourself.

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Finally Fix Your FCR

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 15:00:00 +0000

No one wants to have to contact customer service twice to get an answer to their question. Don’t serve them right the first time, you’ll have hell to pay when they call back all flustered and frustrated—clogging up your hold queues, berating your “incompetent” agents and demolishing your contact center efficiency.

That’s why it pays to get first contact resolution right, well, the FIRST time. Sam's going to give you a holistic, six-step road map for improving FCR from the top down.

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Is It Really Service if They’re Waiting On Hold?

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 13:00:00 +0000

What if there was a way you could reduce call center costs, smooth out peak call volume, increase customer satisfaction, boost your bottom line, and take the burden of an infinite queue off your agents’ shoulders?

At risk of sounding like an infomercial, we're using this episode to hit you with the reality that implementing a callback solution in your contact center can do all that. And we know this first hand because we have almost three decades of experience working with brands to transform their contact center and customer experience.

Join Sam to take a deep dive into callback—what it is, how it works, and the massive benefits that this simple, customer-centric technology can bring not just to your contact center, but to your entire brand.

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Reducing Repeat Callers, Repeat Callers, Repeat Callers

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 12:00:00 +0000

You might have the friendliest contact center on the planet, but odds are good that when a customer calls twice in a row, it’s not because they’re looking to shoot the breeze or catch up with their favorite agent.

Repeat callers are typically frustrated callers. And the reality is, they’re a massive drain on a contact center’s time, resources, and capital. I mean, they might even be inflating your call metrics to a point that you don’t even know how many unique callers you’re actually getting. We'll dig into the specifics of battling this runaway train.

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Everyone and Their Dad Expects a Connected Experience

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 4 Aug 2022 13:00:00 +0000

It’s no mystery that customers have HIGH expectations of the brands they do business with. They want personalized experiences, self-service options, quick response times, stronger customer support, and a slough of other wish-list items that businesses are rapidly trying to keep up with.

But when 42% say their TOP expectation is a seamless brand experience across all their devices—at every stage of their journey—brands NEED to listen up and hyper-focus on delivering excellent, connected customer experiences.

Whether you’re just getting started or you’re working on tightening up your CX, you’re in the right place, because today we’re gonna show you EXACTLY what you need to do to create winning connected experiences for customers, every time.

This episode has been adapted from Mindful's article, “3 Must-Haves of the Connected Customer Experience.”

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Can We Extinguish Call Center Burnout?

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 14:38:32 +0000

We love call center agents. They’re human. They’re brand ambassadors. And as consumers gravitate to more human-centric marketing, they’re the voices that drive revenue for business.

We have a lot of love for our agents and reps out there. But do they feel it? Because call center agents are experiencing the highest level of burnout and turnover in years.

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Staying Trendy: 4 CX Trends To Stay Ahead Of

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 14:34:24 +0000

What do customer experience trends and Katy Perry have in common? They’re hot then they’re cold, they’re yes and they’re no, in and out, and up and down.

Customer expectations and preferences can–and DO–change rapidly. And if you’re banking on your customer experience being what sets you apart from competitors, you need to stay on top of the trends and meet ever-changing customer needs.

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The (Scary) Science Behind Long Hold Times

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 17:31:59 +0000

It’s a common misconception that hold times are just bad for CX, because it’s actually more of a domino effect. There are major business implications to every single minute that your customers have to wait on hold. We'll explore and offer some solutions along the way.

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CX Transformation in the Contact Center? Believe it.

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 17:01:46 +0000

Whether CX transformation is the air you breathe or a box on buzzword bingo, the reality is that the contact center is often the last place to be touched by any transformation. It’s an area that’s locked down by SLAs and deflection goals. So how do you shift the culture and makings of a decades-old machine?

It’s definitely easier said than done, but today we’re talking about the exact steps you need to take to make CX transformation a reality in your contact center.

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A Quick Bite Into Snackable CX

marketing@getmindful.com (Sam Salerno) — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 16:31:00 +0000

This business pod is different. We're all in on a customer-first total experience, but in a fun, quick, bite-sized way. Each episode will dive into a different topic within the customer experience world, where you'll get a quick rundown of the problem, with a few actionable takeaways—all within 10 minutes. Time to get snackin'.

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