Contact center management
Contact center management puts the customer at the center of every decision. Measuring time-to-answer, hold times and response quality are all key metrics, as are customer satisfaction and retention.
Top Stories
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Tip
05 Oct 2022
10 tips to enhance and promote self-service platforms
Self-service platforms should be visible to customers, emphasized across all touchpoints and meet customers' needs. These tips can help enhance and promote self-service. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 May 2022
Best practices for initiating chatbot-to-human handoff
Contact centers perform a balancing act between AI and human agents. Support teams must train bots on chatbot-to-human handoffs and design AI aware of customer frustration. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Jan 2021
Empathy in customer experience drives company success
Businesses that encourage employees to use empathy with customers can increase loyalty and satisfaction. Leadership must recognize the importance of empathy in the company. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Jan 2021
5 ways to improve a customer self-service strategy
In today's digital world, self-service options are a must to inform, engage and retain customers. Here are some ways businesses can improve those self-service options. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Jan 2021
The 7 most effective ways to connect with customers
Businesses need to prioritize building a connection with customers. By doing so, companies get to know their customers on a personal level and can better serve their needs. Continue Reading
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News
27 Jan 2021
Google DialogFlow CX brings industry-specific chatbots
Google releases DialogFlow CX, a chatbot and voicebot platform geared for multi-channel enterprise customer service. It connects to leading telephony systems. Continue Reading
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News
27 Jan 2021
ServiceNow, Salesforce deliver vaccine management tech
Salesforce releases Vaccine Cloud, tools that enable tracking and distribution of COVID-19 immunizations. ServiceNow also enters the technology space. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Jan 2021
How to create a customer satisfaction survey
Businesses need to have a plan in place before sending out customer satisfaction surveys. Acting on customer feedback is just as important as collecting it. Continue Reading
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News
21 Jan 2021
Acquia launches headless commerce integration
Acquia adds cloud e-commerce to its expanding digital experience platform via tight integrations with Lucidworks' AI-assisted product recommendation engine and Commercetools' headless commerce. Continue Reading
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News
21 Jan 2021
AWS contact center AI services expand to Salesforce, Avaya
Cloud contact center vendors that compete with Amazon Connect for customers will push AWS AI-powered intelligent search, speech recognition and language processing services. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
19 Jan 2021
What the loss of third-party cookies means for IT departments
Due to browsers and companies making it all but impossible to use third-party cookies, companies should consider a strong foundation of customer data to stay relevant. Continue Reading
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News
19 Jan 2021
Data privacy law is coming, big tech privacy officers say
At the digital CES 2021 event, privacy leaders at Google, Twitter and Amazon said the time is right for a data privacy law. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
19 Jan 2021
Would your customer experience strategy survive 'Shark Tank'?
Bob Azman identifies what customer experience professionals need to do to get C-suite buy-in and investment support for their customer experience initiatives. Continue Reading
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News
14 Jan 2021
Capitol riots spark e-commerce terms of service enforcement
Shopify, Salesforce and Google take action in wake of Capitol riots, as adware and customer experience platforms play an uncomfortable role in political events and discourse. Continue Reading
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News
13 Jan 2021
National Retail Federation tackles political unrest, COVID-19
Retailers at NRF discuss COVID-19 operations and how they changed retail forever. Also: the technologies that keep customer experience consistent during supply-chain disruptions. Continue Reading
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News
12 Jan 2021
Pegasystems acquires Qurious.io for Pega Customer Service
Pegasystems acquires Qurious.io for its customer service-oriented AI, natural language processing and self-service automation tools. Continue Reading
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News
11 Jan 2021
Salesforce Ventures tops $3 billion invested
Salesforce Ventures continues to invest heavily in partners to help build out its platform as the pandemic evolves customer needs. Q&A with managing partner Matt Garratt. Continue Reading
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Feature
31 Dec 2020
The psychology of UX design: How design affects CX
In her book, '100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People, 2nd Edition,' Susan Weinschenk explains how UX design relies on psychology to improve customer experiences. Continue Reading
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Infographic
30 Dec 2020
The history and evolution of CRM
Customer relationship management had simple beginnings, which evolved into a sophisticated system that helps businesses improve the overall customer experience. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Dec 2020
How the Salesforce-Zoom integration benefits sales
Video conferencing is now the primary form of communication for sales and marketing teams that rely heavily on meetings. The Salesforce Zoom integration increases efficiency. Continue Reading
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News
23 Dec 2020
Salesforce's acquisitions lead CX tech buying spree in 2020
Most CX vendors acquired new companies to enhance their platforms, none bigger than Salesforce buying Slack. Facebook's Kustomer buy might be the most intriguing. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Dec 2020
Customer data platforms dominate CX technology headlines
As the tech titans release their CDPs, it raises a question: Can this technology save itself from becoming another data silo in the marketing stack? Continue Reading
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News
22 Dec 2020
Content drives new B2B e-commerce
COVID-19 forced B2B e-commerce companies to create and enhance new revenue pathways. Two Sitecore users share how investments in digital experiences kept their companies rolling. Continue Reading
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Feature
18 Dec 2020
Advanced upselling tactics, technologies expand bottom line
Upselling technologies that segment customers, predict buying habits, analyze emotions and target campaigns arm companies with the weapons to tap new revenue streams. Continue Reading
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News
16 Dec 2020
Social media data practices land in FTC crosshairs
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking information on how social networking giants like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube collect and use consumer data. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Dec 2020
10 Dreamforce to You 2020 sessions for sales managers
DreamTX -- part of the Dreamforce to You 2020 lineup -- will offer a variety of relevant sessions for attending sales managers. Here's a peek at 10 of those sessions. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Dec 2020
Why customer-centric design is crucial for CX
In her book, '100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People,' Susan Weinschenk talks about why it is important for companies to know their audience to better design for them. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
10 Dec 2020
Prioritize human-centric CX and EX to survive the pandemic
Ricardo Saltz Gulko breaks down why businesses should consider a human-centric approach to employee and customer experience, and provides six principles upon which to do so. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Dec 2020
Standalone customer data platforms weather big competition
Standalone CDP vendors got a years-long head start on Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP and Adobe. They stand firm in a year when online channels stayed open during the pandemic. Continue Reading
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Tip
07 Dec 2020
Why companies shouldn't overlook mobile customer engagement
Companies that have a mobile customer engagement strategy can improve personalization, connect with customers over various channels and provide an easy buying process. Continue Reading
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News
02 Dec 2020
Salesforce workflow automation tools, Hyperforce debut
Salesforce delivers new Einstein workflow automation tools and unveils what it calls the most significant tech advancement in the company's 21-year history. Continue Reading
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News
02 Dec 2020
Salesforce adds customer service management features
Salesforce adds AI-powered features to enable contact center workforce management and agent staffing models for call volume, as well as email and messaging channels. Continue Reading
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News
01 Dec 2020
Salesforce to acquire Slack for $27.7 billion
Salesforce acquired the Slack messaging platform for $27.7 billion. Experts weigh on in what Slack would bring to the Salesforce platform. Continue Reading
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Tip
30 Nov 2020
10 technologies to transform customer experience in 2021
AI-powered technologies such as sentiment analysis, chatbots and real-time transcription can help customer service organizations improve the customer experience. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Nov 2020
Transactional vs. relationship marketing: Key differences
Some companies thrive on building strong relationships with customers, while others want to make a sale without long-term commitment. Either way, the business needs a strategy. Continue Reading
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News
24 Nov 2020
Adobe CDP adds B2B-friendly features
Adobe CDP customers will get new features in 2021 that create workflows for marketing teams and connect to popular B2B marketing platforms -- starting with its own Marketo Engage. Continue Reading
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Tip
20 Nov 2020
8 customer service metrics to measure call center success
Measuring call center metrics and KPIs benefits organizations by showing where issues occur. Average handle time, service level and cost per call are a few metrics to start with. Continue Reading
- E-Zine 17 Nov 2020
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Tip
17 Nov 2020
6 demand-generation strategies to drive business
Among the demand-generation activities to increase awareness of a business's products and services are creating buyer personas and investing in content creation. Continue Reading
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News
17 Nov 2020
Salesforce Customer 360 Truth services go live
Salesforce releases a new bundle of services which includes ID management, privacy, security and compliance tools for Salesforce users' customers and employees. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Nov 2020
5 ideas for a post-cookies marketing strategy in 2023
Tracking customers without third-party cookies may worry businesses; however, all organizations are in the same position. Companies should consider these alternatives. Continue Reading
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News
12 Nov 2020
Salesforce Revenue Cloud bolsters B2B e-commerce workflows
Salesforce, moving deeper into revenue ops, releases Revenue Cloud. It enables B2B digital sales with new pricing, billing and contracting models, as well as revenue forecasting. Continue Reading
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Feature
11 Nov 2020
Customer data platform tools push personalization, privacy
Evolving CDPs help companies unify the flood of consumer data collected from disparate sources, resulting in better customer insights and compliance with privacy regulations. Continue Reading
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News
10 Nov 2020
Adobe to acquire Workfront for $1.5 billion
Adobe plans to acquire Workfront for $1.5 billion to gain ground in the customer experience management market. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Nov 2020
How listening to the voice of the customer benefits businesses
Karen Mangia's book, 'Listen Up! How to Tune In to Customers and Turn Down the Noise' talks about the importance of listening to the voice of the customer in the business world. Continue Reading
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News
10 Nov 2020
Zendesk, WhatsApp cozy up with co-development partnership
Zendesk and WhatsApp team up to break bottlenecks in customer service conversations over Facebook messaging apps -- including Instagram -- by building it into Zendesk Support. Continue Reading
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Feature
09 Nov 2020
7 ways to avoid remote work burnout in call centers
Many factors contribute to remote work burnout, including juggling too many tasks, isolation and a work-life balance. Here are some tips for managers to help minimize burnout. Continue Reading
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News
09 Nov 2020
Oracle CX suite adds tools for sales teams, digital commerce
Oracle tackles sales rep and e-commerce experience in the latest update to its CX application stack, retuned for the pandemic's remote-work and digital sales uptick. Continue Reading
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News
06 Nov 2020
Adobe forges data partnerships for Experience Platform
Adobe adds bidirectional feeds to Experience Platform to manage post-sale customer data from third-party sources such as customer service and loyalty program platforms. Continue Reading
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News
05 Nov 2020
SAP customer data platform strategy comes into focus
SAP acquires Emarsys, which has a CDP included in its customer experience data handling toolbox. SAP execs shed light on how it will fit in with the company's own CDP. Continue Reading
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News
05 Nov 2020
SAP CX application stack grows with addition of Emarsys
SAP scoops up a marketing automation platform with CDP capabilities, as well as personalization and the ability to reach customers across digital channels. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
03 Nov 2020
Consider adopting extended reality for improved CX
Research shows that consumers are ready for extended reality when it comes to interacting with brands. Jason Cottrell explains why now is the time to consider adopting XR and AR. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Nov 2020
8 best practices for call center monitoring programs
To create the foundation for an advanced quality monitoring program, contact centers need to invest in call monitoring and speech analytics software. Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Nov 2020
How to write a marketing email: 10 tips
There are a number of components that make up a compelling marketing email, including content readers want, photos and videos, calls to action and mobile optimization. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
02 Nov 2020
Build trust in technology by reimagining customer experiences
During this uncertain time created by the pandemic, brands that win their customers' trust and add value through services will stand head and shoulders above the competition. Continue Reading
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News
02 Nov 2020
Twilio's Segment acquisition recasts UCaaS vendor as CX
Twilio, a contact-center-friendly UCaaS vendor, has completed the purchase of the Segment CDP for $3.2 billion in stock. Together, experts said, they could challenge Microsoft, Salesforce and Oracle. Continue Reading
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News
30 Oct 2020
Holiday e-commerce set to surge
Adobe looks at e-commerce trends to predict holiday buying, while Salesforce surveys thousands of B2B buyers and consumers about what motivates their buying choices. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
30 Oct 2020
Create a customer experience strategy before tech investment
Align customer expectations with your customer experience strategy before making any investments in CX technology. Bob Azman has 10 questions to ask yourself before making any moves. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Oct 2020
Why social media is key to collecting customer feedback
Social media offers companies a way to hear opinions about their products, as well to interact with customers to improve CX. Businesses must know how to gather and use feedback. Continue Reading
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News
29 Oct 2020
Oracle CX targets communications industry with new apps
Oracle moves into vertical-specific digital experience customizations, starting with Oracle Digital Experience for Communications, with more to come. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Oct 2020
5 benefits of developing diversity in customer service
Creating an environment of diversity and inclusion within customer service teams is essential in today's market. Here are some ways that businesses can benefit. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
26 Oct 2020
Mobile wallet mania: Contactless payments are here to stay
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected a lot of B2C industries and one aspect of customer experience that is likely permanently shifting is the increase in mobile wallet adoption. Continue Reading
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Feature
23 Oct 2020
A breakdown of inbound marketing vs. demand generation
Inbound marketing and demand generation are easy to confuse, but they are different. While inbound marketing is marketing-centric, demand generation tends to be more sales-centric. Continue Reading
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News
22 Oct 2020
CEOs discuss Twilio's Segment customer data platform buy
Twilio plans to acquire Segment's customer data platform for $3.2 billion. The CEOs for both companies discuss the deal and 'the great digital acceleration' caused by COVID-19. Continue Reading
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Infographic
21 Oct 2020
The evolution of customer service
Today's customer service meets the consumer where and when it is convenient for them, with multiple contact channels, self-service and always-on coverage. Continue Reading
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News
20 Oct 2020
Salesforce Work.com gets customer, employee experience tools
Salesforce continues to build out Work.com as a place for broadcasting pandemic-specific employee and customer communications, as well as to enable remote work. Continue Reading
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Answer
19 Oct 2020
8 ways to improve call center agent performance
Side-by-side evaluations, reinforcement, training resources and coaching can help call center agents improve their performance and catch up to the pack. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
14 Oct 2020
How to build a world-class customer experience system, part 2
Building off the previously discussed foundation, Megan Burns explains what's needed to complete an XM system: diagnostic guidelines, micro-design process and rollout infrastructure. Continue Reading
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News
14 Oct 2020
SAP CDP the latest customer data platform on a crowded block
SAP released a customer data platform, following its CX platform competitors Microsoft, Salesforce, Adobe and Oracle. The SAP CDP extends outside of the common marketing use case. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Oct 2020
5 digital customer experience trends for businesses to consider
Improving digital CX is important in a market cluttered with choices for the customer. Here are some trending strategies to help businesses enhance their offerings. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Oct 2020
Call center customer experience ROI is more about metrics
When measuring contact center ROI, don't get caught up in dollar signs. Focus on CX metrics, including the length of customer calls, wait times and net promoter scores. Continue Reading
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News
08 Oct 2020
Twilio adds video developer tools, field service app, Flex apps
The developer-centric UCaaS vendor Twilio offers users new tools to support video chat, field service workers and aggregation of customer activity data. Continue Reading
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News
06 Oct 2020
Pega Value Finder marketing tool uses AI to find segments
The Pega Customer Decision Hub adds an AI tool for marketers to uncover new customer segments and test campaigns for audiences that humans may have written off as not viable. Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Oct 2020
2 Customer Workflows: Drive Customer Loyalty with Connected Digital Workflows
When the unexpected happens, customers want to know they can depend on you to hear them and meet their needs. Continue Reading
- 02 Oct 2020
- E-Zine 02 Oct 2020
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News
01 Oct 2020
Microsoft CDP adds cross-channel analytics
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights CDP adds integrations with other CX systems that perform analytics, customer data governance and sentiment analysis. Continue Reading
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News
30 Sep 2020
Salesforce Vlocity acquisition gives rise to new industry clouds
Four new vertical-specific clouds debut from Salesforce -- for media, telcos, government and utilities -- as fruits of its Vlocity acquisition earlier this year. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Sep 2020
AI improves customer experience, call center efficiency
Customers and employees can benefit from the use of AI in contact centers. Businesses can use AI to provide customer self-service options and help make agents more productive. Continue Reading
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Answer
29 Sep 2020
CDP vs. marketing automation: What's the difference?
CDPs and marketing automation software collect customer data, automate processes and increase efficiency, but they also have features that set them apart from each other. Continue Reading
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News
29 Sep 2020
Adobe Experience Platform, Oracle CX add CDP connections
Adobe bridges its CDP with Experience Cloud apps as well as third-party apps such as Salesforce. Oracle adds privacy compliance tools to its CDP stack and deepens hooks into Eloqua. Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Sep 2020
6 customer retention best practices for businesses to heed
Customer retention is essential to an organization's success, so it's important to keep customers educated, engaged and feeling as though they're part of the business family. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Sep 2020
21 lead generation tools to fill the sales funnel
While live events are on hiatus, there are other tools that businesses can use to generate sales leads, such as email tracking, marketing automation and social media. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 Sep 2020
Sales funnel vs. flywheel: How sales and marketing has evolved
The sales funnel is evolving into a more customer-centric approach named the flywheel. These processes approach sales and marketing differently, but both are useful. Continue Reading
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News
23 Sep 2020
Salesforce delivers CDP, DXP and sales meeting tools
Salesforce drops a customer data platform, new virtual sales meeting tools and makes the case for its own Experience Cloud to give users an Adobe alternate. Continue Reading
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News
22 Sep 2020
HubSpot CRM gets enterprise makeover
HubSpot might not yet frighten Salesforce with its competing platform, which now includes enterprise CRM, but the company definitely pushes upmarket with its latest offering. Continue Reading
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News
22 Sep 2020
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service to add voice channel
Leading a host of CX releases, Microsoft plans to add native voice telephony and voice-channel hooks for chatbots and transcription into its contact center platform. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
22 Sep 2020
How can companies handle CX opportunities during COVID-19?
The COVID-19 impact on in-person shopping experiences has changed customer service expectations; now companies must find ways to compete in e-commerce against Amazon and others. Continue Reading
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News
18 Sep 2020
Oracle CX upgrades focus on field service, contact center
Oracle adds self-service features, field tech tools and call center capabilities to its CX stack in response to customers' business needs in pandemic. Continue Reading
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Answer
18 Sep 2020
What's the difference between CRM and database marketing?
Database marketing is a component of customer relationship management. CRM includes all processes, strategies and tools to support sales, marketing and customer service initiatives. Continue Reading
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Feature
16 Sep 2020
Customer success vs. customer support: What's the difference?
Customer success and customer support are important terms for businesses to be familiar with if they want to provide great CX. They sound similar but are different. Continue Reading
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News
08 Sep 2020
Salesforce e-commerce capabilities to expand with Mobify
Salesforce beefs up its headless e-commerce platform capabilities for enterprise retail customers with the acquisition of Mobify, a Canadian headless commerce hosting vendor. Continue Reading
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Tip
08 Sep 2020
Evaluate call center outsourcing costs and benefits
Outsourcing call center operations can take some financial burden off businesses -- depending on what partner they choose. But there can also be some drawbacks. Continue Reading
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News
03 Sep 2020
Emerging Genesys cloud strategy makes Amazon friend and foe
Amid a leadership change, Genesys retools cloud strategy, adds partnerships with Infosys, Adobe and others as its relationship to Amazon and AWS veers toward 'co-opetition.' Continue Reading
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Guest Post
02 Sep 2020
The importance of personalized experience in CX
Musa Hanhan breaks down the three stages of customer experience and explains why personalized experiences offer companies the best chance at customer retention. Continue Reading
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News
01 Sep 2020
Salesforce Field Service features added to Winter '21 Release
Salesforce Field Service users can better pinpoint arrival times for their customers as well as other new capabilities coming in the Winter '21 Release. Continue Reading
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Tip
31 Aug 2020
How video chat improves customer service and engagement
As restrictions continue due to the COVID-19 crisis, many organizations adopt video chat capabilities to continue business operations and keep customers engaged. Continue Reading
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Guest Post
28 Aug 2020
Are you a customer experience leader or laggard?
Organizations need to invest now in customer experience to ensure they're leaders in their industry. They cannot risk falling behind their competitors with their CX initiatives. Continue Reading
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News
28 Aug 2020
Twilio Flex deployed for COVID-19 contact-tracing agents
Tech teams supporting agents working remotely on COVID-19 surveillance efforts in several U.S. cities and the state of Illinois eschew traditional IT and opt for cloud platforms. Continue Reading
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News
26 Aug 2020
Salesforce confirms around 1,000 layoffs after monster quarter
Salesforce says COVID-19 did not precipitate the layoff of about 1,000 employees, but the pandemic did show the company where customer needs are headed. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Aug 2020
How customer transparency helps companies maintain loyalty
In an age when customers have more options than ever before, it's essential that businesses gain and maintain customer trust -- and that happens through customer transparency. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Aug 2020
How businesses can align sales and marketing
Many organizations are moving away from siloed marketing and sales departments and instead choosing to work more closely, which can both grow a business and reduce costs. Continue Reading
