Decoding the top 5 cybersecurity risks of generative AI

  5 Contact Center Best Practices to Increase Retail Sales and Strengthen Customer Loyalty The role of contact center agents has transformed from handling customer service inquiries to becoming key drivers of sales and customer loyalty. Modern retailers rely on their contact centers not just for support but also for revenue generation through upselling, cross-selling, and outbound sales. While AI is making processes smarter and more efficient, human agents remain at the heart of customer interactions, delivering empathetic and personalized experiences that drive loyalty. This blog explores five best practices to empower agents, maximize sales, and strengthen customer relationships. Best Practice #1: Invest in Comprehensive Agent Training Well-trained agents are more confident, knowledgeable, and effective in sales conversations. Training should cover product knowledge, sales techniques, and communication skills to ensure agents can handle objections, identify customer needs, and pe...

  Top 5 Innovative Tactics to Boost Retail Contact Center Performance The retail landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, with over 20% of sales now taking place through digital platforms. This dramatic transformation is fueled by  AI-powered personalization , the rise of social commerce, and the advent of immersive XR experiences — forces that are fundamentally reshaping customer experience standards. What does this mean for retail contact centers? Today’s contact centers must deliver faster, more personalized, and more seamless interactions to foster loyalty, drive conversions, and boost engagement — all while optimizing operational costs. Delivering Outstanding CX: The Next Challenge for Retail Contact Centers Craft Intelligent, Omnichannel Journeys In the dynamic world of online retail, customers expect swift, personalized service across every touchpoint. Retailers must design intelligent, omnichannel engagement strategies that seamlessly blend AI, chatbots, and hum...

  CXM Leader What’s the single most-effective action you can take to improve the customer experience? Centralize customer experience (CX) responsibility under a single leader or team. That’s just one key learning from the  CX Leader of the Future 2022 report . To uncover today’s best customer experience management (CXM) practices, [24]7.ai partnered with CMSWire for this second annual survey. The CMSWire research team interviewed hundreds of CX leaders, examining how organizations address the customer experience and whether their approaches have changed from a year ago. If you prefer watching and listening to reading, register for our upcoming (August 31)  How the Leader of the Future Drives CX Forward webcast . This session features a discussion of the research results with Sarah Kimmel, CMSWire VP, Research, and Nidhin Varghese, [24]7.ai Sr. Director, Solutions and Product Marketing, and Lisa Matherly, [24]7.ai SVP, Marketing. If you prefer a quick snapshot,  read ...

  The hype around hybrid and how it work Navigating the new normal Work-From-Home (WFH) as a concept skyrocketed during the pandemic. For most companies, this was a herculean effort given that offices shut down rapidly, and both work and employees had to be transferred to their homes almost overnight. After nearly two years of the remote work set-up, businesses are considering the best back-to-work plan given that some employees prefer the perks of working from home while others (companies included) have missed the office option. The question on everyone’s mind now is whether to work in-house, continue to work remotely or adopt the hybrid model. The most common preference seems to be the shift to a hybrid working model which is a blend of flexibility between remote work and in-office work. Seemingly straightforward, the hybrid model still needs to be customized to best-fit your company, your workforce and your growth agendas. The key criteria across industries seems to be how to ac...

  Need BPO Agents Although it might sound like an “over-expected criteria” to consider your BPO agents to know your brand thoroughly, modern agents operate at a higher level, striving to meet desired outcomes. For an agent to understand your business just like you, an ideal agent services provider will always hire them from a pre-vetted talent pool — emotionally intelligent agents trained rigorously to deliver best-in-class customer service. The best agent services provider will not just ramp up agents as per fluctuating customer support demands, but also ensure that their agent training program provides synergy between the internal BPO culture and your brand. Are you wondering how this synergy is maintained? The best BPOs can fail as great strategic partners if the agent training program does not blend with the client’s brand. With agent training being one of the main criteria of our recent win  CCW Excellence Award for BPO of the Year 2022 , [24]7.ai stood out with its abili...

  It’s interesting how customer service has evolved from being a mere operational necessity to a major factor that can make or break a company’s reputation. Providing personalized experiences to customers across all channels has become a top priority and to achieve this, companies are embracing an omnichannel approach that prioritizes “cohesive” customer journeys. According to  Forrester , “A typical contact center agent manages 10 to 12 interactions an hour, and as many as three concurrently.” So, for customers to experience a true omnichannel journey and for agents to effectively manage their interactions, they must have access to the whole story. Businesses need to embrace this omnichannel drive by investing not only in technology and channels, but also in the training and support of their customer service representatives who are at the forefront of customer interactions. Decoding the Omnichannel Puzzle Having an omnichannel plan means more than just having different ways t...

  Measure, analyze, and improve performance metrics with the right BPO Are you still stuck in that era where you believe that brands can rely solely on intuition or anecdotal evidence? Well, if you want to survive in a data-driven and competitive business landscape, you might have to move beyond that and bring performance metrics to the strategic table. A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value or metric used to evaluate and gauge the performance and progress of an organization, department, team, or individual in achieving specific objectives or goals. KPIs are quantifiable and typically tied to critical success factors or desired outcomes. You can assess the performance of customer service providers and measure their effectiveness in delivering services by using KPIs from the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. Performance metrics are crucial for evaluating the success and efficiency of contact center operations. Being a winner at  CCW in 2022 for the B...