By Chandler Harrison, Account Development Executive
Surprises are best reserved for birthday parties and bouquets. When disaster strikes, customers are actively seeking answers on the web, sending text messages and scouting out phone numbers to call.
Failing to adequately communicate during emergencies means risking potentially irreversible damage — starting on social media and ending at the bottom line.
By Jarrett Schmidt, Vice President of Sales
When it comes to your communication infrastructure, which is better: multiple providers or just one?
If you said one, you may think it’s easier to have integrated solutions on one platform, managed by one entity. And if you said multiple, you must realize one provider’s tech may not always be the best at everything.
But you can get the best of both options with a provider that uses a channel-agnostic approach.
By Janet Mushrush, Director of Sales, Utilities
The power goes out, and a local utility company immediately springs into action to find a solution. But when the outage experience ends four hours later, a woman boots up her computer, opens Facebook and broadcasts to all her friends, “My electric company has lousy customer service.”
Most customers can’t describe good customer service, but they can tell when they’ve had a bad experience. It’s all about feelings. That’s right. Even in the highly regulated utility industry, good ol’ non-technical feelings still carry weight. Read More >
By Jody Kistaitis, Director of Sales
There are many ways to communicate with customers. But if you’re not effectively engaging them with SMS conversations, you’re missing an important piece of the customer experience.
According to Pew Research Center, text messaging — most commonly done as SMS messaging — is the most widely used smartphone feature, surpassing phone calls, emails and internet use. Read More >
By David Cathey, Vice President, Utilities
The world runs on data. Data drives sales, justifies infrastructure improvements and provides a visual measure of success. And utilities can even use customer data to improve customer experience (CX).
Your company has data on everything. You know how many kilowatts you produce every month; you can predict volume; and you can use that data to suggest fair rates and important upgrades.
But how are you using customer data to reduce cost and improve CX? Read More >
By Mechele Herres, Business Development Executive for West’s Utilities Team
As much as utility providers may try to create exceptional experiences for their customers, one factor often gets in the way: payments. No one likes to see a bill in the mail, but with the right messaging, your payment process can improve customer experience (CX).
When everything goes right, utilities have little contact with their customers. That’s why every piece of your business’ communication ecosystem must work together to provide great CX. Of course, that includes billing messages. Read More >
When’s the last time you updated your inbound contact center?
If your technology is still the same as when you installed it 10 years ago, it’s time for a change. New cloud-based solutions offer a more flexible and agile approach than legacy, on-premises systems.
By Jil Fisher, Vice President of Technical Product Management
Customers have been loud and clear: they want experiences to remember. And those experiences can’t be based on superficial surveys or interactions with customer service.
Instead, they’re created from inside your organization, starting at the most fundamental level. Before you undertake any project, your team must be focused on creating the best customer experience (CX) possible. One of the most efficient ways to get there is by creating stable teams.
You can’t control everything in business, but you can prepare customers and control how you respond.
When the weather starts causing trouble, the problems may not be your fault, but your customers will be looking to you for answers. And proactive communication will go a long way. Read More >
By Ben Page, Director of Sales and Customer Experience Strategist
From schools to corporations, you can find people buried in their smartphones. The ability to work, ask questions, shop, check finances and share your every thought on a mobile device has become the standard.
Technology is often blamed for widening the generational gap, but that same technology has created a new generation altogether: the self-service generation. This generation is motivated by independence and efficiency, and it spans all age groups. Read More >
