Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on Tuesday, 13 May 2008, opened a global call centre that will service customers for the oil multinational, Royal Dutch Shell, and improve economic growth in the country. 14 May 2008
The Software as a Service (SaaS) trend is revolutionising the call centre industry, as companies of all sizes are now discovering the advantages of going with hosted versus on-premise solutions. With SaaS for the call centre, applications such as integrated voice recognition, automatic call dialing, predictive dialing, workforce management and CRM are hosted on a shared platform in a data centre and delivered to the agents via the Internet or dedicated network. 12 May 2008
E-commerce firms are turning to Web services to streamline operations. A web service, for instance, could carry out payment validation by taking details from one system and initiate a request for other information, such as a credit card account number or expiration date. 12 May 2008
US - Traditionally, the contact centre has been a cost centre. However, with the contact centre transforming into a profit centre, the selling of products and services has emerged as an opportunity for the contact centre to improve agent and customer interaction. Yet the challenge will be balancing customer satisfaction goals and driving profits. 9 May 2008
When the going gets rough, customer retention becomes even more important. By that logic, continued sluggishness in the overall economy could have little to no dampening effect on the CRM sector, which is on a roll. 30 Apr 2008
User-generated reviews and social navigation are examples of the Internet providing an experience unavailable offline: aggregating the wisdom of the crowds. A few retailers who are leading the way in these areas are Zagat, Petco and Newegg. 24 Apr 2008
When it comes to customer service, young consumers often get no respect. 22 Apr 2008
USA - A new fashion shopping site from Florida boutique La Ti Da is banking on personalised service to set it apart. 21 Apr 2008
A shortage of pharmacists hampers grocery chains' dispensary plans. 14 Apr 2008
Handling online complaints about customer service can be tricky. You want to address the issue and assure people you're responsive to their needs, but you don't want it to appear as if you're bullying customers. It's a delicate balance, and sometimes the best answer is to hire a professional. 14 Apr 2008
This year the awards focus has moved away from the 16-year tradition of awarding brands and now recognises the dedication and contribution individuals have made to the South African travel industry. 9 Apr 2008
It's easy to forget the things that turn customers into loyal customers, such as a quick phone call or e-mail just to maintain contact. Little things can make a big difference in a tough environment. 7 Apr 2008
There is a big difference between active and passive customer communities. For an example of a passive community, take a look at Starbucks' new MyStarbucksIdea.com community site. These sites are useful ways to gather customer input, and I have referred to them as automating the suggestion box. There's nothing wrong with that, but a suggestion box is not a community. 3 Apr 2008
For small business online retailers, an e-commerce solution that quickly produces results is essential to survival. That's why FastCommerce recently launched a product submission service to Google Shopping, also known as Google Product Search. 27 Mar 2008
Having your customers comment on your policies, products or employment practices is one thing. Having them suggest ideas for improving said policies and products - in a public forum where participants can vote on these ideas, no less - is an entirely different matter. 26 Mar 2008
Virtual printer technology is driving an electronic invoicing rebirth within many industries. It's a new, innovative approach to on-boarding vendors. Vendors simply download the virtual printer off the Web. This takes about 30 minutes. Unlike electronic data interchange, there is no upfront cost or IT resource requirement. 19 Mar 2008
One of the great things about the Internet is the way people post reviews on just about anything you're considering trying, whether it's a movie, a new restaurant or the local florist. 18 Mar 2008
As a business process aided by technology, CRM is growing up. Most small businesses realise customer relationship management is about more than simply tracking customer contacts, and most CRM vendors now know a "one-size-fits-all" CRM system usually doesn't deliver what businesses need. 13 Mar 2008
Report reveals the firms that have proven themselves to be among the leaders in providing contact centre outsourcing services. 13 Mar 2008
"Buying made-to-measure clothing online is quite popular worldwide today. In the near future, we will also be able to give women the option of tailoring items to ensure a perfect fit according to their specific body measurements, rather than just ordering according to one uniform size," said Iris Ben-David, CEO and founder of StyleShake. 11 Mar 2008
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