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How to Evaluate Customer Service Technology

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 08-24-2023
When evaluating customer service technology, you must ensure the solutions they provide will give you the desired impact. Whether you’re looking for higher CSATs, lower operation costs, or a combination of the two, knowing how to assess a tool is invaluable. It can save you time, money, and headaches. From help desk software to AI live chat to customer feedback surveys to community forums — there are a number of different options to sift through, which can be a daunting task to take on. Luckily, there’s a method for evaluating them. Check out the must-have essentials of any customer service technology worth your investment. 7 Steps to Evaluate Customer ...

How Digital Service Channels Benefit the Modern Customer

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 08-24-2023
While many shoppers still rely on traditional customer service channels like voice, others — like millennials and Gen Z who use SMS , chat , and social media regularly in their day-to-day — prefer digital channels. In fact, 87% of service professionals have seen an increase in digital channel use. At Gladly Connect Live 2023 , we sat down with a panel of experts from Chegg, Deckers, and Zenni to discuss how they are using contact center digital channels to improve their customer experience. Use these insights to optimize and leverage your brand’s digital service channels for an invaluable boost to your customer service ...

How AI for Customer Support Agents Maximizes CX Efficiency

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 08-24-2023
There’s one question popping up across the tech space, from boardrooms to water coolers, and everywhere in between — “How is AI going to change our daily work lives?” The conversation around AI has moved from curiosity to its potential widespread impact — with bold predictions that the tech will increase global GDP by 7%. Brands want to utilize the technology for better business practices (and profits); employees want reassurance that companies will use AI to complement their abilities, not replace them. For call centers, we’re already seeing how AI for customer support agents can empower employees rather than shuffle them aside. At Gladly Connect ...

Introducing Gladly’s New AI and Automation Platform

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 07-31-2023
Today, I am excited to announce Gladly Sidekick, our new AI and automation platform that enables personalized self-service. It’s designed to work hand-in-hand with Gladly Hero, our people-centered platform for delivering personalized agent-assisted customer service. We’re introducing Gladly Sidekick as a result of our acquisition of Thankful, a generative AI and automation solution for customer self-service. Gladly and Thankful have been partners since 2020, powering personalized service at scale across our shared customers – some of the world’s most-loved brands like Bombas, Breeze Airways, Crate & Barrel, JOANN and MaryRuth Organics. We decided to acquire ...

Common Customer Service Myths

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 07-31-2023
Customer service agents are usually the first point of contact most people have with a brand. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, to point out that your customers’ engagement and overall satisfaction with your brand is directly linked to your agent experience. When your agents feel undervalued and unmotivated, it can threaten the way your brand is perceived and valued. But with so much information available on what will and won’t improve your customer service agent experience, how can you know what to believe? In a recent Gladly Connect Live session , Meredith Klee, Director of Communications and Content at Gladly, and Chris Van Wagoner, Director of Lifecycle ...

How To Build Team Resilience — 3 Tips From FTD Flowers

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 07-31-2023
The way your business adapts to change is how you are (or aren’t) remembered down the line. And one such way to successfully withstand change is through the resilience of your team. Understanding how to build team resilience is a lesson many businesses faced during the COVID-19 pandemic — and it was a lesson that came with a steep learning curve. Matt Powell, Chief Technology Officer at Florists’ Transworld Delivery (FTD) , is a student of change himself as it relates to business. At our 2023 Gladly Connect Live event, Powell spoke about how his team at FTD worked to navigate the new normal post-COVID and learned to reframe uncertainty as an opportunity, ...

What Is Customer Experience Maturity? [Free Assessment]

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 06-20-2023
As your business grows, your needs will shift to match both your customers’ evolving expectations as well as those of your agents . Not having the right customer service infrastructure in place can be detrimental, which makes understanding your customer experience maturity vital to your success. What Is a Customer Experience Maturity Assessment? A customer experience (CX) maturity assessment measures how much your customers’ needs and inputs impact business decisions, strategies, and priorities. Maturity levels are typically based on a business’s tactics, customer input, customer retention, and comparison to competing businesses. By looking at these ...

Build a Customer-Focused Organization in 5 Steps

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 06-20-2023
Customer-focused brands often have more high-value and longer-lasting relationships with their customers. To build an organization that’s focused on the customer, customer experience (CX) managers should leverage the existing strengths of their agents, encourage agents’ continued professional development, and ensure team members’ full support to strive for that goal of customer-centricity. Establishing a customer-first ethos in your organization is most critical on the front lines of your shopping experience, which is in your customer service center. As a CX leader, you need to empower your staff to take a hands-on approach that’s optimized for your customer’s ...

6 Disadvantages of Using Ticket-Based CX Software

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 06-20-2023
While legacy ticketing platforms have their advantages, the disadvantages of ticketing in customer service can leave your team without the tools they need to create personalized interactions and drive brand loyalty. This is especially true since loyalty and personalization are now considered key factors in the customer experience , with shoppers valuing their relationships with the brands that treat them like humans, not numbers. Modern customer service solutions are designed to focus on people versus tickets , creating a more personal approach. Follow along as we compare the advantages and disadvantages of ticketing systems, and break down ...

How Transparency in Customer Service Builds Brand Loyalty

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 04-24-2023
In the daily hustle of a support center, being completely honest and open to each customer often feels like a service element brands have to do without. Many CX leaders assume that their role should focus solely on immediate performance and don’t consider how direct, transparent communication — while difficult to do — is part of long-term value. Transparency in customer service, however, is a huge value driver for brands because it’s how they develop sustainable relationships with their customers. Transparency also helps brands reach effective solutions more consistently because honest feedback on performance and product quality makes service stronger and more ...

Agent Churn – The Costs of Losing Agents and How To Stop It

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 04-24-2023
Like any workplace, support centers lose employees every now and then, whether they find another job or move up in the company. Unfortunately, customer service attrition goes beyond those reasons — a report from Cresta Insights shows that contact center attrition is 1.3x the national average. This unnaturally high agent churn is a consistently unsustainable issue within the service industry. This churn negatively impacts the customer experience as well. As a joint report from Salesforce and the Harvard Business Review notes, 55% of CX leaders agree that great CX is impossible without an equally great employee experience. In other words, unhappy ...

5 Customer Retention Metrics for CX Leaders To Track

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 04-24-2023
Loyal shoppers are the backbone of any successful business, and while customer churn is a common issue, it’s one that you can solve. By paying attention to the right customer retention metrics for ecommerce, you will be able to determine how your team is succeeding and where there are areas for improvement in order to keep valuable shoppers happy. What Are Customer Retention Metrics? Customer retention metrics indicate how your brand is properly nurturing customers and whether there are gaps in your customer service that could be causing churn. Customer retention metrics, such as customer retention rate, customer lifetime value, and repeat purchase rate, ...

Balancing Customer Obsession With Employee Success

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 02-23-2023
Many ecommerce marketers have taken a particular Jeff Bezos quote to heart: “There are many ways to center a business. You can be competitor-focused, you can be product focused, you can be technology-focused, you can be business model-focused, and there are more. But in my view, obsessive customer focus is by far the most protective of Day 1 vitality.” In those few words, Bezos captured the essence of customer obsession and modern ecommerce’s prevailing focus on serving and supporting shoppers above all else. Balancing Customer Obsession and Employee Retention This customer-centric passion is a core reason Amazon has such astronomical retention numbers ...

Genesys and Gladly Comparison

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 02-23-2023
Selecting the perfect customer support solution is a major undertaking, requiring CX leaders to carefully research and audit all available options. Topping many lists of favorite support platforms are Gladly and Genesys, two innovative options for companies of all sizes. But which one is a better fit for your organization? Start your research with this walkthrough of their key features, pricing structures, and usability reports. By the end of this technological speed-dating, you’ll have a much clearer idea of who can be the right long-term partner to help grow your business. Genesys vs. Gladly — An Introduction Who is Genesys for? Genesys is a leading ...

Customer Service Quality Assurance Checklist for Support Teams

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 02-23-2023
Ecommerce retailers constantly check their support center for areas of improvement to maintain a superior customer experience. If you want to evaluate your own imperfections, a handy customer service quality assurance checklist will help you see how you stack up in your progress to create a seamless experience for your shoppers. Quality in customer service not only maintains consistency but also inspires loyalty in your customers. In our Customer Expectations Report , nearly a third of customers said they’d “fall in love” with a brand from great service alone — more than enough incentive to assess your quality assurance. What Is Customer Service Quality ...

Comparing Gorgias Customer Service and Gladly

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 01-30-2023
Choosing the right customer service platform for an ecommerce business is no easy task. Brands should make sure the technology they use is capable of handling the various needs of their shoppers, easy to access in order to train their agents, and worth the price. The wrong decision can be problematic to long-term revenue success, as these platforms are instrumental to how brands build customer loyalty. Two top options many companies consider are Gorgias and Gladly, which are both high-quality, cloud-based service platforms used by thousands of brands around the world. To get a better idea of which one is right for your own brand, let’s explore the two popular ...

The Expectation Economy and What It Means for Customer Service

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 01-30-2023
Customers have unlimited access to a wide variety of products and services, making it harder now than ever for brands to get and keep their attention. In today’s expectation economy, ecommerce companies have to look to their customer service teams to provide the personalized experiences that will lead to loyalty. Let’s define the expectation economy, how it affects demand, and what your brand can do now to keep up with the rapid pace of change. What Is the Expectation Economy? The expectation economy is the result of customers demanding more from brands, including better products, transparent information, and quality customer experiences. How Do Expectations ...

How the Top Customer Service Brands in 2023 Use Gladly

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 01-30-2023
Every year, Newsweek releases a list of the top companies providing the best customer service. This thorough ranking highlights excellence across industries and incorporates both ecommerce and brick-and-mortar retailers, helping set service expectations for both consumers and businesses by celebrating those who excel at it. Some of the support centers recognized in 2023 use Gladly to provide superior support to all their shoppers. Here’s how Newsweek formulates their list of the brands with the best customer service, which key metrics of success they measured, and how Gladly played a role in maximizing four of those brands’ service capabilities. Newsweek’s ...

Using Self-Service Solutions to Make Support More Efficient

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 12-31-2022
The modern ecommerce customer has higher standards than ever before, demanding a certain level of quality and personalization. In Gladly’s 2022 Customer Expectations Report , we found that 66% of consumers prefer brands that know them and can recommend things they would like. As a result, every digital retailer has an obligation to build and maintain a support center that can inform customers fast, otherwise they may choose a competitor. An important part of informing customers is implementing self-service solutions, especially as the customer experience increasingly starts online. Our research shows that 45% of shoppers are buying directly from brands’ ...

Zendesk and Gladly — Comparing CX Platforms

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 12-31-2022
Ready to see what radically personal customer service looks like? Sign up for a free demo with Gladly today. With more customer service platforms to choose from now than ever before, navigating the crowded market can be a challenging task. Zendesk and Gladly are two of the more popular options companies opt to use, with each offering its own take on how to best help brands manage their customer-facing operations. But how do the two platforms compare regarding features, pricing, and scalability? Which one is better for your brand? We’ve got the answers right here. Zendesk and Gladly — An Introduction What is Zendesk used for? Zendesk is ...