October 1st – 5th is Customer Service Week, an event now firmly established in the international business calendar. Celebrated in over 20 countries, Customer Service Week is an annual focus on: The importance of customer service (to customers, organisations and economies) and the recognition of the efforts of people who work in customer service. The Customer Service Group’s official CS Week website has some great ideas on how to get involved. … [Read more...]

Whether shopping for jeans, a suitcase or insurance, consumers are spoilt for choice these days. So how do we decide where to spend our money? More than ever, it's a matter of trust. Building a trustworthy business is vital given consumers seek out reliable brands in response to ongoing economic instability. But building trust isn't as easy as it sounds. The recent Brand Asset Valuator report found that trust in insurance, retail, utilities and … [Read more...]

The struggling department store Myer has put in place a change of tactics in a bid to improve declining profits.  By improving their customer service levels, Myer have seen a slight uptick in sales over the past few months. Chief executive Bernie Brooks says a key part of the strategic plan introduced to help turn around Myer's flagging profits had been to provide longer shopping hours, better training for staff and better merchandise for … [Read more...]

Everyone has experienced exceptional customer service before.  Whether it was an attentive waiter topping up your glass or a retail sales person giving an honest opinion. These extra bits of attention are delivered because great service goes beyond customer retention and satisfaction; it creates new business, because people talk. An amazing story of outstanding customer service comes from Yahoo Small Business courtesy of the Ritz Carlton To … [Read more...]

As you may or may not be aware, Telstra announced last week that another major round of redundancies is set to strike, after the telco giant announced plans to cut more than 650 call centre jobs. The job cuts will be made as Telstra prepares to implement 'Project New' by shutting down two contact centres in Lismore and Townsville, and as it consolidates a range of testing roles conducted in Melbourne and Sydney into other existing call centres. … [Read more...]