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CX Leaders Q&A – How to Drive Change Within Your Organization

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 04-09-2024
Brands require innovative customer service teams to meet rising customer expectations and adapt to changing business demands. CX leaders play a crucial role in fostering a culture of change by advocating for customer-centric approaches that drive innovation. In a recent panel at Gladly Connect Live 2024 , three CX trailblazers from Samsonite , Holly Hunt , and Condé Nast sat down to speak about how they used Gladly to drive change in their industries and challenge the status quo within their organizations. Read on to learn how they recognized the need for change and their effective strategies for initiating these conversations. How Samsonite’s ...

How 3 CX Leaders Are Doing More With Less and Seeing Success

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 04-09-2024
Today’s brands face the challenge of balancing growth with limited resources. How can teams scale operations without inflating costs and maintain personalized customer experiences ? In a recent panel at Gladly Connect Live 2024 on “Doing More With Less,” CX leaders from Crate & Barrel , FTD Flowers , and SelectBlinds discuss strategies for boosting efficiency without increasing expenses. How Crate & Barrel’s Christina Sheehan Is Elevating Performance by Nurturing Associates When Christina Sheehan , Associate Director of VOC for Customer Care at Crate & Barrel , hears “do more with less,” she thinks beyond reducing the ...

The Journey to AI – Real Business Cases Brands Are Testing Today

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 04-09-2024
AI has become an integral part of the modern business landscape, with some brands already leveraging its power to transform their operations. In a recent Gladly Connect Live 2024 panel , CX leaders from three brands — Rothy’s , Breeze Airways , and BSN Sports — discuss their journey into AI adoption, the business cases they’re testing, and the diverse strategies they’re implementing for AI. The results so far? Reduced CX costs, higher efficiency, and an enhanced customer experience. How Rothy’s’ Lauren Inman-Semerau Is Using AI to Reduce Costs and Keep the Customer Experience On-Brand Lauren Inman-Semerau , Head of Customer Experience at ...

Whitnee Hawthorne on the State of Women in CX Leadership Roles

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 04-09-2024
March ushers in Women’s History Month, a time when businesses of all stripes celebrate the extraordinary contributions of women in the workplace. But while women in CX have significantly influenced their support centers, there’s still ample opportunity to elevate more of their talents to leadership positions. According to data from the Women in CX report , women make up nearly ¾ of the CX workforce, yet they only account for a little over ¼ of leadership in the industry. This gap is noticeable not just in the data — anyone can try Googling “top CX influencers” and note the gender bias for themselves. The evidence shows there is an enormous amount of work ...

The Road to AI — Evolving and Learning With Industry Leaders

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 02-06-2024
As AI and automation become more essential to customer service and support teams, brands that learn to adopt and integrate these technologies effectively will have a substantial advantage in the fight for customer loyalty. We spoke with experts in customer service from Victoria Beckham Beauty , Caraway Home , and Birdies about their experiences with AI so that brands like yours can apply their knowledge to accelerate your own AI strategy. Testing AI Experiments with Victoria Beckham Beauty After 10 years of using AI in customer service, Leanna N., Director of CX at Victoria Beckham Beauty , said she’s seen the technology evolve from being ...

How BARK Matches the Passion of Pet Parents Through Radically Personal CX

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 02-06-2024
Ecommerce brands that build passionate followings can struggle to maintain their connection with customers as they grow. To support ongoing growth, companies tend to prioritize speed over preserving personalization in customer experiences. But what if brands could have both? An example of CX excellence personified is BARK — a pet brand whose customer interactions aim to replicate the passion of dog owners across conversations. The key to the company’s success in the CX space has been investing in solutions that make forging deep connections possible and simple. This is where solutions like Gladly have helped them continue on their pathway to growth. ...

Guide to Using AI for Better Customer Interactions

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 02-06-2024
Customer loyalty is becoming the main competitive advantage and the greatest currency for ecommerce brands. To thrive in the “ loyalty economy ,” brands need lasting, high-value relationships with customers. For this reason, companies are looking for every technological advantage possible to improve CX and interactions with shoppers. The brands most successful at creating optimal customer experiences leverage AI to improve interactions in effective ways. They do so while navigating the common challenges of scaling support centers without losing efficiency. A brand that thrives in the loyalty economy balances volume and personalization. To that end, ...

Reduce Cart Abandonment by Enhancing Customer Service

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 01-09-2024
If your business is experiencing a significant drop-off at checkout, it’s in your best interest to learn how to reduce cart abandonment. Many of the reasons shoppers abandon their carts — such as price comparison, window shopping, researching gift ideas, and bookmarking items for later — seem unsolvable or unavoidable for ecommerce brands. However, several factors in the shopping experience that contribute to abandoned carts can be addressed. In the following guide, ecommerce brands will discover why customers aren’t following through with purchases, how to calculate shopping cart abandonment rate, and how to reduce lost sales through customer service. ...

The Evolution of Customer Experience

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 01-09-2024
The relationship between consumers and brands has always been a complex one, evolving considerably in the past few decades. Today, the dynamic between the two has been further transformed by customer experience in the age of AI. The modern movement toward a loyalty-driven economy is a natural next step in the progression of customer experience. Lessons from past eras of customer experience can help us understand how we’ve arrived at this current moment, and why powerful tools like AI play such an important role in scaling an ecommerce business today. Let’s take a look at customer attitudes across the decades. The 1980s and the Consumption Economy The booming ...

How To Boost Collaboration With Customer Service and Digital Teams — Q&A

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 01-09-2024
Every ecommerce brand’s goal should be to create a strong, loyalty-driving customer experience. Building that experience is often discussed in the context of the support center, where brands directly interact with shoppers — but digital experiences, driven through UX-focused marketing and design, can also play a huge role in winning customer loyalty. Many organizations have a communication gap between these two crucial departments. If brands do the hard work of removing interdepartmental barriers, their customer experiences will improve across their digital presence. Bridging the Gap Between Support and Digital Marketing for Unified CX Digital marketing ...

How to Prepare for CX Software Renewals

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 12-01-2023
Whether it’s semi-annually, annually, or even after several years, software contract renewals are a crucial moment for technology buyers at every company. From picking CMS infrastructure to choosing customer service software, these third-party solutions play an integral role in an ecommerce brand’s success for the next year — and beyond. Software renewals are an opportunity to evaluate current solutions and decide whether to stick with that partner or find a better fit. CX leaders should keep a close eye on their technology to identify the gaps, strengths, and likelihood of the same solution operating just as well for the following renewal period. To help, ...

Top AI and Automation Training Courses for Customer Service Teams

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 12-01-2023
AI and automation have rapidly increased the efficiencies of CX teams across the globe, making daily tasks far easier while empowering agents to do more with less effort — and in less time. But some support centers still have hesitations around adopting AI, especially ones that might not fully understand the benefits of AI, and its ease of implementation. It’s up to CX leaders to overcome agent apprehension if they want to take advantage of the technology. One of the best ways to stoke enthusiasm for AI on support teams is by providing useful, engaging training courses. By investing in and encouraging their teams to explore AI and automation training courses, ...

How to Balance In-House vs. Outsourced Customer Service Teams

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 12-01-2023
CX leaders have long relied on outsourced customer service teams — also called business process outsourcing (BPO) call centers — to provide additional CX resources. This practice is especially common during busy seasons, like the holidays. But while BPOs can provide a quick boost of temporary agents, there could be more cost-effective and sustainable ways to improve capabilities and productivity across the board. In this post, we’ll take a close look at: The value and shortcomings of customer service BPOs How outsourced customer service teams fit into an overall CX strategy What investing in your internal staff can do to help offset your budget How ...

Busting Common AI Misconceptions in Ecommerce

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 10-31-2023
With the promise of improved efficiency , deeper insights, and richer customer experiences , artificial intelligence (AI) has captured the imaginations of companies across all industries — and ecommerce is no exception. But how can ecommerce companies cut through the hype to implement AI in ways that deliver true business value? We spoke with Joe Ciuffo, former Director of Product Marketing at Gladly, to debunk popular AI misconceptions and outline a blueprint for using it to unlock success while avoiding common pitfalls. #1: AI Is a Magic Wand That Provides Instant Value Joe Ciuffo (JC): Many think AI is a simple plug-and-play technology that ...

Can Companies Implement AI In-House? An Expert Weighs In

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 10-31-2023
Taking AI in-house is an option many businesses are exploring with the hopes to maintain full control over their technological infrastructure. But is it smart to implement homegrown generative AI solutions without the ongoing assistance and knowledge of seasoned experts? The decision to build out homegrown AI is a lofty one — bringing with it enormous expenses, technical implementation challenges, and employee frustrations. To find out the true cost of creating in-house AI infrastructure, we tapped Gladly AI Training Manager Spencer Parsons . Why In-House AI Is on the Rise AI tools are becoming an integral element of many businesses’ daily processes. ...

The Benefits of Investing in Customer Service Agents

By Gladly CX Marketplace posted 10-31-2023
Your customer service agents are the backbone of your business and the front line of your brand — the main drivers of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and overall experience. Agent influence on customer satisfaction is the reason consumers consider customer service a key factor of their brand loyalty. In fact, 59% of consumers recommend a brand because of great customer service. The ROI of Investing in Your Customer Service Agents Well-cared-for agents produce a higher return on investment because they give customers personalized experiences , which in turn leads to higher rates of retention, loyalty, and returns. With the need for personalization ...

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 ...