Strategies to improve first call resolution stats: II

1. Minimize call escalations:

In order to improve first call resolution, you need to analyze your call center communications to find out the most frequently escalated calls. Once you understand the issues that prompt these calls, take steps to minimize the escalations. These steps may include more training, larger number of self service options on the website, change in business operations. This would help increase the FCR stats as customers don’t have to call too often.

Call escalation
Call escalation

2. Make use of group chats:

Group chats enable all members of the help desk to add information about issues they might be having and they can post questions about issues they might not be familiar with.  Some of the softwares that can be used for this purpose are Google Hangouts, Lotus Notes Same time and Skype. You can leverage these softwares to boost your first call resolution stats insanely.

Group chats
Group chats

 

3. Avoid miscommunication:

Miscommunication occurs when either the customers or the agents start assuming things. As a result, customers call again as they are not very sure how the matter will be resolved. This further results in a decrease of FCR stats. So, agents have to be very careful to avoid any chance of  miscommunication. For an effective communication, customers must be made aware of all the aspects of the case so that there is no need for them to call again to confirm.

Miscommunication
Miscommunication

4. Offer incentives and rewards:

Offering incentives and rewards is an enticing method to improve the FCR stats. You can have a monthly award for the highest level of FCR and special incentives for the team if they achieve their targets. You can consider instituting incentive programs among employees who hit the requisite numbers. This incentive can be tied in with other perks and can be in the form of bonuses, promotions, recognition and more.

Incentives and rewards
Incentives and rewards

 

 

 

 

What is meant by net promoter score?

Net Promoter Score refers to a management tool that can be utilized to gauge the loyalty of a firm’s customer relationships. It serves as an alternative to traditional customer satisfaction research and is correlated with revenue growth. NPS measures the loyalty that exists between a service provider and a consumer. The provider is the entity that is asking the questions on the NPS survey and consumer is the customer, employee, or respondent to an NPS survey.

Net promoter score
Net promoter score

Working of net promoter score:

The Net Promoter Score is calculated based on responses to a single question: How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague? The scoring for this answer is most often based on a 0 to 10 scale. Moreover the consumers are also categorized according to the score with which they respond:

i) The ones who respond with a score of 9 to 10 are called Promoters, and are considered likely to exhibit value-creating behaviors, such as buying more, remaining customers for longer etc.

ii) Those who respond with a score of 0 to 6 are labeled Detractors, and they are believed to be less likely to exhibit the value-creating behaviors.

iii) Responses of 7 and 8 are labeled Passives, and their behavior falls in the middle of Promoters and Detractors.

NPS elements
NPS elements

The Net Promoter Score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. For calculating a net promoter score, passives count towards the total number of respondents, thus decreasing the percentage of detractors and promoters and pushing the net score towards 0.

Companies are encouraged to follow the likelihood to recommend question with an open-ended request for elaboration, soliciting the reasons for a customer’s rating of that company or product. These reasons can further be provided to front-line employees and management teams for follow-up action. Moreover, additional questions can be included to assist with understanding the perception of various products, services, and lines of business.

An example of NPS survey
An example of NPS survey

Net Promoter System also requires a process called closing the loop. It is a process by which the provider actively makes efforts to convert a detractor into a promoter.

Converting detractors to promoters 1
Converting detractors to promoters 1

Proponents of the Net Promoter approach claim that the score can be used to motivate an organization to become more focused on improving products and services for consumers. A customer is able to leave comments in the surveys sent to them which allows a company to use the VOC (Voice of Customer) to ensure that company is meeting the expectations.

Voice of the customers
Voice of the customers

 

What is customer experience management?

Customer experience management refers to the collection of processes a company utilizes to track, oversee and organize every interaction between a customer and the organization throughout the customer lifecycle. CEM aims at optimizing customer experience through gaining the loyalty of the customers in a multi-channel environment. A company needs to create a strategy that encompasses all customer interactions in order to manage the customer experience.

Customer experience management
Customer experience management

CEM depicts a business strategy designed to manage the customer experience. Moreover, it provides benefits to both retailers and customers. Customer experience management can be monitored through surveys, targeted studies, observational studies and other such methods of research. 

CEM monitoring process
CEM monitoring process

Customer experience management can be related to customer journey mapping. Journey mapping is a design tool used to track customers’ movements through different touchpoints with the business in question. It shows the track starting from the first encounters people may have with the brand continuing through all the different route people can take through the different channels or marketing. Other strategy involved in CEM is integrated marketing communications which involves sending a consistent message amongst platforms such as advertising, personal selling, public relations, direct marketing, and sales promotion.

Customer journey mapping
Customer journey mapping

CEM holds great importance in terms of research. In order to leverage CEM, development into the conceptual and theoretical aspects are needed. The reason behind the interest in CEM increasing so significantly is that businesses are looking for competitive differentiation that makes them stand out of the crowd.  Therefore, they inculcate CEM in order to be more profitable. That is why businesses want to offer a better experience to their customers and want to manage this process efficiently. Researches prove that in order to gain success as a business, customers need to be understood. Academic research along with recognizing past customer experiences can help manage future experiences.

Businesses utilizing CEM
Businesses utilizing CEM

 

 

Benefits of automatic call distribution (ACD): II

1. Shorter response time:

One of the most important benefits of ACD is short response time. This call distribution system is highly capable of identifying VIP callers who have a reputation of high-ticket transactions. Since, the ACD system filters the calls on predefined criteria, these calls get answered more readily by the agents and in cases of non- availability of agents, VIP calls are placed first in the queue. In addition to all these benefits, a caller can also opt for a call back instead of waiting in the queue that further improves call handling.

Shorter response time
Shorter response time

2. Cost reduction and resource optimization:

In ACD, the call is transferred to the most appropriate agents such that the customer can get his query resolved without transferring him to other agents or departments. This reduces the time taken to answer a call and hence reduces cost-per-call of the call center. It enables the agents to use their expertise in solving the problems of a caller rather than indulging in activities that are outside their scope. ACD acquires usage data which enables the managers to assess KPIs and optimize resources more efficiently.

Reduced costs
Reduced costs

3. Enhanced customer contentment:

Callers hate it when their call is transferred to a number of agents with none of them having the solution to his/her problem. As a solution to this problem, ACD provides an option to receive an agent call back. This facility reduces their pain of waiting in the queue. For this purpose, pre-built messages are sent to callers with estimated wait times based on the length of the queue and agent availability. Moreover, automatic call distribution system aids in delivering highly responsive customer service that channels each contact to the right queue and agent resource and creates  better business outcomes. This further leads to increased customer contentment.

Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction

 

 

 

Benefits of automatic call distribution (ACD): I

So far we have discussed about automatic call distribution system, its features and its integration with the IVR technology. Apart from its mind blowing features ACD offers a number of benefits that are extremely useful in increasing the efficacy of any organization. Let’s take a look at some of those benefits:

1. Deeper understanding of customers’ needs:

Automatic call distribution system is highly efficient. However, upon integration with CRM and other communication platforms such as social media and live chat, it allows the agents to have a smarter conversation with the customer by understanding their needs thoroughly. ACD enables the entire team to view all the past communications and history of the customer on a single interface which is easy to update. This further enables call conferencing and transferring to different departments with customer’s data on their tips.

Better understanding of customers' needs
Better understanding of customers’ needs

2. Impeccable call routing:

Automatic call distribution system follows an algorithmic approach that analyzes vital caller statistics such as caller ID, area code and IVR specifications to assign the call to the most appropriate agent. This enables the contact center agents to reduce the possibility of errors, call drops and call transfer to wrong agents. Thus ACD provides an impeccable call routing or skill specific routing which improves the efficiency of the entire system to a great extent.

Call routing
Call routing

3. Improved agent efficacy:

When ACD is employed, agents are directed to handle calls  for which they are trained. Since they have expertise and the required subject knowledge to handle a customer this increases their confidence in dealing with a call and also improves their productivity. Moreover ACD provides them access to the caller’s information before answering the call, which results in a meaningful discussion. This further leads to customer satisfaction, strengthens customer relationships and increases loyalty to a large extent.

Improved agent efficacy
Improved agent efficacy

 

 

Capabilities of automatic call distribution system

Automatic call distribution refers to the process of routing incoming calls to the most suitable agent who can answer the caller’s need appropriately. Moreover, it comes pre-integrated with a Computer telephony integration technology and an IVR that provides the options of self-service and helps in reaching the appropriate department directly. ACD is a highly capable technology. Some of its capabilities include:

1. Skill-Based Routing :

Skill based routing means that incoming calls can be routed to the specific agent or department based on pre-determined criteria. In other words, the call is routed to an agent with appropriate skill-set and who can address the customer’s needs properly and efficaciously.

Skill based routing
Skill based routing

2. Quick responses to VIP Callers:

Some of the callers are regarded as high value callers based on pre-determined info. With the help of ACD, such callers are immediately routed to the most appropriate agent. In cases of non- availability of agents, they are placed first in the waiting queue.

Immediate responses to high value customers
Immediate responses to high value customers

3. Meaningful and valuable conversations with the customers:

CTI stands for computer telephony integration. Upon integration with CTI and skill-based routing, ACD allows agents to view the customer’s information such as past communications history, before they answer the call. This results in a very meaningful conversation with the customer.

CTI technology
CTI technology

4. Route calls to agents at different locations:

ACD has a provision for connecting agents at multiple locations. In other words, it can easily route calls to agents sitting at remote locations. Therefore, all the agents working in different geographies can function as a single team.

Connecting agents at multiple locations
Connecting agents at multiple locations

5. Call-back Feature:

With ACD, callers can opt for call back instead of waiting in a queue. Due to this facility, the callers do not have to wait and as soon as an agent is available, he calls back immediately.

Call back service
Call back service

6. Upgrade agent coaching processes:

Call center managers can go for call monitoring, whispering and call barging with the aid of automatic call distribution system. This can help in upgrading agents’ skills by leveraging the call monitoring facility.

Utilizing call monitoring to coach agents
Utilizing call monitoring to coach agents

 

 

Incredible benefits of IVR technology: III

1.Faster problem resolution:

IVR system offers a faster problem resolution. When this efficacious system is employed, it routes the callers to the best employee to service their needs, questions are often answered and problems are resolved in the initial attempts. This further results in an improved customer support system and contented customers.

Problem resolution
Problem resolution

2. It reduces the cost of operator talk time:

IVR helps cut down on answering service talk time as well. Using front end IVR with your answering service means giving callers the opportunity to service their own needs or promptly transfer themselves to the right person which further leads to the reduction of the cost of operator talk time.

Cost reduction
Cost reduction

3. It exempts call transfers and saves time:

Since the callers are always directed to the most capable agent or most appropriate department, so the probability of instant problem resolution is high. Moreover, the agent who receives the call will be more qualified to answer the caller’s question and will be less likely to transfer the call to another agent. Hence, IVR systems prove to be real time saviors.

Time is saved
Time is saved

4. It improves the quality of customer service:

As a matter of fact, the agents working in a company that uses an IVR are more proficient at solving specific problems and meeting specific needs of the customers that they are assigned. This results in an increase in customer service efficiency.

Improved customer service
Improved customer service

5. It boosts the inbound call capacity:

With the aid of IVR, more calls can be answered simultaneously. Unlike the traditional reception, where there is  a flurry of please holds or funky hold music while customers await transfer, IVR technology encourages a speedy problem resolution. It allows for a higher call volume and eliminates the need for additional reception staff, and its low cost means a higher ROI.

Boosted inbound call capacity
Boosted inbound call capacity

 

 

 

Incredible benefits of IVR technology: I

As mentioned earlier IVR technology refers to an automated telephony system that interacts with callers, gathers information and routes calls to the appropriate recipient. IVR is a simple and efficacious system that will significantly reduce costs and increase efficiency within any company. It has to offer a number of benefits to the organizations employing it. Some of those benefits have been listed below:

1. It helps attain valuable information about your customers:

IVR technology helps collect information about customer’s needs and transfer calls to the most appropriate agent or department depending on their IVR input. Making use of technology to direct calls, reduces the probability of the caller being transferred to the wrong agent or department, hence, increasing the efficacy of the entire system.

Gathering valuable information
Gathering valuable information

2. It aids in an increased productivity:

Directing callers to the perfect department or agent to address their issues exempts the wastage of time. It also means that there won’t be any sort of confusion in finding the right answer or transferring the caller around for a query resolution. Thus, it would lead to more problems being solved in lesser time.
Increased productivity
Increased productivity

3. It has a provision for personalized greetings:

IVR technology allows you to record any sort of personalized greeting you want, and include the appropriate prompts to transfer callers to the corresponding department.

Personalized messages
Personalized messages

4. It exempts any sort of errors:

Since an IVR system does not require a receptionist for answering your calls, so, there is no chance that in the hundreds of calls received daily, a couple of them will wind up in the wrong place. Error exemption is yet another benefit provided by an IVR auto attendant.

Error exemption
Error exemption

5. It allows the usage of pre- recorded messages:

Its not always preferable to use your own voice on the IVR. In such cases, you can use pre-recorded IVR messages to make your task easier.

Pre- recorded messages
Pre- recorded messages

 

Tips to reduce average handle time: III

1. Encourage agents to provide top- notch service:

Average handle time boosts up in cases where many customers are waiting on hold. Reasons responsible may be that agents get exhausted handling call after call and hence, slow down. This leads to customers’ dissatisfaction and hence frustration. Therefore, it needs to be dealt appropriately. One of the most efficacious method of doing so is to encourage agents to take breaks between calls and get refreshed from time to time.

Exhausted call center agents
Exhausted call center agents

2. Leverage call control:

Call control is a skill and can be taught to the customer support agents through specialized training. The nature of calls being received at a call center is heterogeneous. In other words, the content of a call may vary from customer to customer such that, while  some might come straight to the point, others might go into irrelevant details before they come to the reason for their call. Therefore, it is extremely important for agents to remain focused and encourage customers to get back to the real point. Call control is a skill and can be taught and trained.

Call control
Call control

3. Make the most out of experienced customer reps:

As a matter of fact, nothing can beat the real, on-ground experience. Therefore, processes should be established leveraging the inputs of the most experienced customer service agents. Valuable experience can actually let the newbies know about the popular shortcuts and workarounds to achieve a target. On the other hand, managers should identify those agents who have a low AHT and discover what tactics they employ. Thereafter, these agents should be held as role models and be encouraged to share practical tips with others so as to improve their efficacy as well.

Nothing beats experience
Nothing beats experience

4. Access AHT data carefully:

As mentioned earlier, the nature of calls being received at a call center is heterogeneous. A variety of calls can be encountered there like some deal with billing while others may be related to accounts or general queries. As a matter of fact, AHT for all these are different, and thus an agent’s performance should take into consideration the nature of call handled by him or her. Therefore, the result for AHT should be analyzed accordingly. Similarly, if the marketing strategies or management decisions change, the impact should be calculated accordingly.

Assessing average handle time
Assessing average handle time

 

 

Tips to reduce average handle time: I

Average Handle Time (AHT) refers to a call center metric that calculates the average duration of contact between a customer and an agent. This includes both hold time and talk time.

The formula for calculating AHT is:

Average Handling Time = (Total talk time + Total hold time + Total wrap-up time) /Number of calls handled

A low AHT indicates a good performance, while a high AHT signifies that the call handling technique needs improvement. Here are some effective tips that help reduce the average handle time to a large extent:

Average handle time
Average handle time

1. Set up regular training sessions for customer support agents:

Customer support agents should have a thorough understanding of the company’s products and services so that they are able to contribute towards conversions and also resolve queries instantly. Agents should be trained at frequent intervals in order to help them reduce AHT. This training should include educating them about the usage of the contact center software and tools such as CRM and chat to ensure that the call is answered in the lowest time possible leaving the customer satisfied. Moreover the agents should also know whom to contact in case of any doubt and from where to extract any relevant information.

Training call center agents
Training call center agents

2. Record all inbound and outbound calls:

Recording every inbound and outbound call makes it easier to assess the productivity of an agent and other issues that might affect his or her output. This can also be helpful in case managers are not able to review calls in real time such that they can always refer to the recorded version and get the desired insights. Moreover these calls can be leveraged to train the customer support agents and improve their performance. Making them listen to some of the good examples of calls wherein the customer’s problem was resolved and the handling time was less can help them learn valuable tactics for reducing AHT.

Call recording
Call recording

3. Tailor agents’ workflow and processes:

Tailoring agents’ workflow and productivity can help optimize their productivity. Managers should work hard to spot inefficiencies and work out strategies to eliminate them thereafter. One of the best method of doing this is automating all their manual tasks so as to minimize their busy time and hence reduce AHT.

Automating manual tasks
Automating manual tasks

 

 

Benefits of co- browse technology: III

1. Increased grade of customer engagement:

An increased grade of customer engagement is one more benefit offered by co- browse technology. Co-browsing teaches customers how to do things rapidly and effectively. Moreover, proactive invitations to shop together drive customer engagement, giving agents the ability to make offers, answer questions, and provide the help needed to close more sales as actively engaged customers convert. Co-browsing feature is of potential use to serve the customers that aren’t tech savvy.

Customer engagement
Customer engagement

2. Boosted e-commerce sales:

Co- browsing is not just meant for instant query resolution or instant guidance through the purchase process. In fact, agents engaged in a co-shopping session can be trained to up-sell, cross-sell, and encourage opt-in for future sales opportunities. These offers may include joining a mailing list, connecting on social media, subscribing newsletters and more.

Increased sales
Increased sales

3. Identify the weak points and help in customer service improvement:

Co-browsing can actually be used to monitor or keep a track of customer queries through screen shots of issues. These screen shots can be used for knowledge base, training, or bug fixes. It helps companies maintain real-time visibility into the customer experience and further assist in improving the customer service.

Co- browsing screenshots
Co- browsing screenshots

4. Enhanced buyer experience:

 

According to a study conducted by Forester, co-browsing has the highest customer satisfaction ratings of any customer support tool. The study shows that live-assist communication channels like phone, chat, co-browse have much higher satisfaction ratings than asynchronous electronic channels such as email, web self-service. Satisfaction ratings as stated by the above mentioned study are as follows: phone (74%), chat (69%), co-browse (78%), email (54%), and web self-service (47%). Thus, the study clearly proves that with co-browsing the customer achieves another level of customer service. Many a times it is seen that the customers ask the agent to co-browse because they understand that co-browsing will easily resolve the issue that too faster.

Enhanced buyer experience
Enhanced buyer experience

 

Benefits of co- browse technology: II

1. Long term adoption of self service tools:

Showing customers how to utilize self service tools leads to the long term adoption of self service tools which is yet another benefit of co- browsing. It is extremely beneficial when:

i) a company is launching new online tools or updating existing tools or procedures

ii) when specific customer segments are having trouble using online tools

iii) when white-glove service can be provided to top-tier customers.

Utilization of self service tools
Utilization of self service tools

2. Differential customer service experience:

These days customers ask to co-browse when they contact an agent because they know co-browsing allows them to get help instantly and conveniently. In other words, co- browsing creates a differentiated customer service experience. This exempts the risk of losing customers and results in returning customers. Hence it improves your business performance.

 

Customer service experience
Customer service experience

3. Customer service agent satisfaction:

There is a possibility of agents being frustrated when customers articulate issues and agents are required to verbally direct the customer to perform actions online. Thus, providing the agents with technologies such as co- browsing reduces this frustration and leads to an increased efficiency of customer support. Moreover, agents appreciate being given the tools they need to be more efficient and productive so they are able to meet their performance goals.

Contented agents
Contented agents

5. Reduced call handling time and improved efficiency of customer support system:

Co-browse technology helps in the reduction of call handling time. As a matter of fact, the less call-handling time agents will take, the more level of customer service they will provide. Thus, co- browsing promotes efficiency by enabling agents to handle issues more quickly and accurately. It can also be used as a real-time live training tool to help on board new agents and familiarize them with the customer experience quickly and efficaciously. The customers also get satisfied as they get faster resolution and the agents save their time.

Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction

 

 

 

All you need to know about co- browsing

Co-browsing, in context of web browsing refers to joint navigation through the world wide web by two/ more people accessing the same web pages at same time. Complete co-browsing supports automatic synchronization of the browsers’ state and content, including frames, portlets, or even content of the form fields and controls. Various tools are employed for this purpose some of which can even identify complex media objects such as audio and video players and offer capability of synchronous playback with start/pause/stop functionality.

Co- browsing
Co- browsing

Co browsing is a short form of collaborative browsing. It is a software-enabled technique that allows someone in an enterprise contact center to interact with a customer by using the customer’s web browser to show them something. In case of a B2B scenario, it can actually be used ease out the complex purchasing process for the customers. For instance, a B2B customer facing difficulty placing an order could call a customer service representative who could then show the customer how to use the ordering pages by sharing screen on the desktop or whatever device is being used. Collaborative browsing may include e-mail, fax, regular telephone, and internet phone contact as part of an interaction.

B2B co- browsing
B2B co- browsing

Co-browsing has so far evolved to support a full user web experience. It has come up as a great tool for customer service and support teams. You need to keep the following points in your mind while considering a co- browsing solution for your business:

i) co-browsing solutions must be offered in a seamless manner irrespective of the communication channel the customer initiates the conversation from.

ii) solutions that cannot share critical information that exists outside of the browser will inhibit the experience your customers expect.

iii) co-browsing technology that mandates tagging each and every page that a customer may want to share may be a technical challenge and, in many cases, not feasible.

iv) co-browse solutions that share a browser experience may help with simple web page based content but are not capable of extending to view the rich content on every web page, so make sure that all viewers are seeing the same and synchronized content

Co browsing solutions
Co browsing solutions

 

 

Your guide to omnichannel customer service

Omnichannel refers to a cross-channel business model that companies employ to increase customer experience and improve the quality of customer service. This approach has verticals in healthcare, government, financial services, retail and telecommunications industries, including channels such as physical locations, FAQ webpages, social media, live web chats, mobile applications and telephone communication. Companies that utilize omnichannel contend that a customer values the ability to be in constant contact with a company through multiple avenues at the same time.

Omnichannel
Omnichannel

Previously customers expected to receive service from an organization on the channel of their choice. Thus companies employed multi-channel customer service technique which made use of voice, email, SMS/text, web, mobile or social media. Omnichannel customer service takes the multi-channel customer service to the next level as with an omnichannel solution that integrates channels to provide a consistent customer experience.

Multichannel customer service
Multi-channel customer service

As far as the customers are concerned, channel is the least important matter of concern for them. What’s important for them is finding an answer to their question or a solution to their problem. For this purpose they may reach out via voice, mobile website or over a social media channel like Twitter. In today’s era, as more consumers adopt mobile devices, the lines between channels tend to blur. As a result, customer expectations for the convenience of starting a conversation in one channel and then continuing in another, become even higher.

Customer query resolution
Customer query resolution

Omnichannel self-service is a solution to such high end expectations of the customers. It empowers the customer to initiate an activity in one channel, and seamlessly transition to another such that a conversation that begins on Twitter can be continued via text message or phone call with all of the relevant context preserved across channels. Omni-channel solutions don’t require implementing every possible channel  and it also ensures the service level, responsiveness, and quality of service received on individual channels and across channels would be exceptionally high.

Contented customers
Contented customers

 

Strategies for generating B2B leads online: II

1. Content Marketing:

Content marketing refers to the marketing focused on creating, publishing and distributing content to online targeted audience.It is a crucial element for B2B lead generation. It is often used by businesses in order to attract attention, generate leads, expand their customer base, generate online sales, increase brand awareness or engage an online community of users. While pursuing content marketing, the main focus of the businesses should be the needs of the prospect or customer.

Once a business has identified the customer’s need, information can be presented in a variety of formats, including news, video,white papers, e-books, infographics, email newsletters, case studies, podcasts, how-to guides, question and answer articles, photos, blogs, etc. The appropriate type of content for any business will depend on the business’ goals and target customer.

Content marketing
Content marketing

2. Search engine marketing:

Search engine marketing includes both paid search results (using tools like Google Adwords or Bing Ads, formerly known as Microsoft ad-center) and organic search results (SEO) and plays a crucial rule in B2B lead generation. It includes the following steps:

  • Keyword research and analysis: It involves ensuring the site can be indexed in the search engines, finding the most relevant and popular keywords for the site and its products, and using those keywords on the site in a way that will generate and convert traffic.
  •  Website saturation and popularity: It means how much presence a website has on search engines, can be analyzed through the number of pages of the site that are indexed by search engines (saturation) and how many back links the site has (popularity).
  • Back end tools: These include Web analytic tools and HTML validators which provide data on a website and its visitors and allow the success of a website to be measured.
  • Whois tools: They reveal the owners of various websites and can provide valuable information relating to copyright and trademark issues.
  • Google Mobile-Friendly Website Checker: This test will analyze a URL and report if the page has a mobile-friendly design.
Search engine marketing
Search engine marketing

 

 

Top factors that cause cart abandonment: II

1. Costly products:

Extremely high cost of products is also a reason for cart abandonment. If your products are costly, people will not buy them. In other words, if you are driving up the prices, the users may look elsewhere or consider buying it for less elsewhere.

High costs
High costs

2. Discount coupons

Discount coupons may not always lead to sales because when a website has discount coupons or promotional offers, the users go in search of the coupon code and come back only if they find one.

Discount coupon
Discount coupon

3. Forced registration:

It is true that the more information you have about a client, the better you can market and deliver your products to them. moreover, registered users are more likely to visit the site again and develop loyalty. However, many commerce stores try to get this information through a forced registration. Not all are willing to register, so, the sites that do not allow the users to buy goods as guest visitors see a high rate of shopping cart abandonment.

Forced registration
Forced registration

4. High or late listed shipping prices:

In today’s era, people buy online so that they can get the goods delivered at their doorstep and also get a discount at the same time. But high shipping costs increase the price and may even drive the customers away. In many cases, websites try and get the customers interested in a product and once they have placed a product in the shopping cart, they cleverly add the shipping cost to the total cost.

High shipping prices
High shipping prices

5. Complex checkout process and lack of payment options: 

As a matter of fact, the checkout process is required to be as simple, smooth and quick as possible. Making a user fill out too many forms will make him/ her abandon the cart and leave. On the other hand, there are customers who want to buy products but are forced to abandon the carts because the e-commerce website doesn’t make provisions for their convenient method of payment.

Simple vs complex checkout process
Simple vs complex checkout process

 

 

Tips to increase conversion rate: II

1. Provide transparency:

Today’s consumers know when you’re being transparent and when you’re covering up for a defect with colorful or manipulative language. So, if you wish to increase your conversion rate, instead of trying to sugar coat things to sell your product, be straightforward about it. Mention precise, honest bullet points about the uniqueness and advantages of your product. The more honest and upfront you are, the better the transparency that you provide to your customers and higher the level of their trust in you.

Transparency
Transparency

2. Develop trust:

Once you provide transparency to your customers you have already developed some amount trust in your customers. Another means of increasing website credibility is by providing third-party support which includes citations, testimonials, articles in well-known publications, source material etc for the information you present, especially if you link to this evidence. This is a way of showing confidence in your material. Further listing a physical address, posting a photo of your offices or listing a membership with the chamber of commerce, making your contact information clear are some other techniques of increasing website credibility. Moreover, you can make your site easy to use by avoiding ads on your site. If you must have ads, clearly distinguish the sponsored content from your own. Also, try to keep your site fast, up and running.

Building trust
Building trust

3. Keep it simple and enticing at the same time:

Researchers have proved that sight is the strongest sense, so, instead of writing about your product, include a video or image-based demonstration of what it is and how it works. Visuals always make it easier to sell, so, leverage the power of visuals to increase your sales. But you need to avoid aggressive popup ads, flashing lights, or tons of exclamation points to make a good case for conversion. These things may drive the users away. You need to know that the simpler your design and offers are, the more likely your customers will be willing to convert.

Visual demonstration
Visual demonstration

 

 

 

Inbound marketing strategies to grow your business: II

1. Email opt-ins:

An email list is an important aspect of inbound marketing and one of the most crucial factors in building a business and growing it thereafter. Opt-in email is a term used when someone is given the option to receive email and is some sort of mailing list, newsletter, or advertising. Without obtaining permission before sending email, the email is spam. Email opt-ins are categorized as:

i) Unconfirmed / single opt-ins:

Someone first gives an email address to the list software, but no steps are taken to confirm that this address belongs to the person submitting it.

ii) Confirmed opt-ins:

A new subscriber asks to be subscribed to the mailing list, but in this type of opt- in steps are taken to confirm that the address provided belongs to the person submitting it.

Opt- ins
Opt- ins

2. Personal branding:

Personal branding refers to the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. Personal branding is essentially the process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others about an individual, group, or organization and often involves the application of one’s name to various products. When someone starts a business, it’s virtually impossible to separate oneself from that business. So, a personal brand can actually be used to build that business. Brands such as Tim Ferriss’s and Ramit Sethi’s depend almost exclusively on the power of their personal brand.

Personal branding
Personal branding

3. Free guides and reports:

You can actually create advanced guides and give them away for free. You just need to make sure that the guide is relevant to your business. So, you are required to keep your guide as specific as possible, because you are using it to gain a certain type of visitors such as the ones who will convert to become your customers. These guides can actually be used to showcase your expertise in your work and to provide other marketers with valuable information that can help them in growing their business.

Free guides and reports
Free guides and reports

 

Inbound marketing strategies to grow your business: I

Inbound marketing refers to the technique of drawing customers to products and services via content marketing, social media marketing and search engine optimization. Inbound marketing provides information, an improved customer experience and builds trust by offering potential customers the valuable information they desire via company sponsored newsletters, blogs, and entries on social media platforms.

Inbound marketing

We have mentioned a number of inbound marketing strategies to grow your business:

1. Leverage the power of keywords:

In order to rank higher in SERPs you need to identify the most relevant keywords and optimize your content accordingly. This will help you to successfully gain traffic for relevant keywords if you use those keywords on your site. So, you need to focus on keywords, specifically long tail keywords that are important. Having a quality website and content optimized for SEO ensures that Google’s web-crawling technology is able to identify and index your site’s content to have it appear for free to people searching and rank higher in the search results.

Keyword optimization
Keyword optimization

2. Social media interaction:

This is an era driven by social media. These days, potential customers find companies, follow those companies, and interact with those companies.Since there are real people behind every like and share, so, in order to connect with those people, you need to ask questions, answer questions, respond to tweets, and be a presence. Each of these social mentions provide an opportunity for your business to interact with the mention, thereby increasing its brand image and its reach into other social networks as well.

Social media engagement
Social media engagement

3. Use guest blogging:

Guest blogging is a new way to promote your web blog or website. In this strategy you may post your article or blog on others blog by getting their permission. Guest Blogging is used by bloggers to increase traffic for their blog by posting published blog on other blogger’s blog.

Guest blogging
Guest blogging

Tips for an effective online chat: II

1. Transfer chat sessions when required:

Since individual agents may have different areas of expertise, so, provide them with a list of other agents and their levels of expertise. This helps in cases where a chat agent is involved in a conversation that has got to do nothing with his current level of expertise. Such that, without much ado, he quickly transfers the chat to another agent ensuring that the customer is aware of the transfer.

Chat transfer
Chat transfer

2. Make use of typing indicators:

Your live chat software should include typing indicators. It should enable the agents to see a customer’s words as they type, and issue an alert when the customer has hit the “send” button. This feature gives the agents insight to what the customers are thinking as they type and also allows the respective chat agent to respond quickly without making the customer wait for long time periods. The alert should be audible, visible, or both such that it lets the agent know that a customer is awaiting a response.

Typing indicator
Typing indicator

3. Program targetted pages to raise chat offer:

As a matter of fact, just raising the offer to chat is enough to convey a sense of goodwill. Allow customers to browse on your site for a time before raising the offer to chat. Identify a list of target pages where you want to increase the conversion rate, and program them to automatically raise the chat offer after a period of 30 – 60 seconds such that the customers get enough time to be oriented for the chat.

Targeted chat
Targeted chat

4. Create a set of professionally designed canned messages:

Customers should be greeted professionally when they arrive within a live chat conversation. Professionally designed canned messages can be employed for this purpose. Carefully worded standardized canned messages can be used to automate parts of the conversation and augment your professional profile in order to greet the customers with courtesy.

Canned message
Canned message

5. Employ CRM tool along with online chat:

All your chat agents should have access to customer sales records. Integrating online chat with CRM tool allows them to update the CRM records at the end of a chat session.

CRM tool
CRM tool