Motorola Modem Virtual Assistant: Is it Part of Your Support Bundle?

As a consumer, I love bundles. If I package Internet, TV, and Voice, I can often get a great deal. Even when purchasing a laptop, bundled software is a great perk. I love bundles.

To most consumers, when a problem arises with these bundled products and services, it's difficult to know where to start troubleshooting the issue. For a call center agent on the phones answering questions, there is only so much help they can provide about third party products. According to the 2012 Support Services Benchmark (John Ragsdale, VP of Technology Research – TSIA), nearly a quarter of all service incidents, 23%, require expertise and/or training on another vendor’s products to resolve. And these incidents take a third longer, 32.9%, to resolve than incidents concerning the company’s own products. According to a leading PC manufacturer, 2/3 of the calls in the call center are related to third party products. 

Join noHold and Motorola (June 13, 2012 at 11:30 AM PT) as we discuss a common industry issue, and reveal a new way to provide support across company boundaries. And by the way, you can begin using the Motorola Modem Virtual Assistant right away (no development time). All attendees will receive a free one month trial.

Click the image below to register for the webinar. If you can't make it, please contact us and we will be happy to share the details. Have a great day.

Customer Case Study - Positioning the Support Organization as the Leader in Innovation

Did you miss our customer case study at Technology Services World, May 7-9?
Here is your chance to see how one of our customers has positioned the support organization as the leader in innovation.

Enjoy.

Support as leader in innovation (cisco no hold 050112)-slideshareversion

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Customer Feedback Fridays - Award-Winning

All this talk about conferences, and support as the leader has got me thinking about awards and defining what it means to be "Award-Winning." To be an award winner, you have to break records, you have to change the norm, and you have to have a great story.

Apart from technology, when I think of awards (and a great story) one of the first things to come to mind is James Cameron and his highest grossing films of all time, Avatar and Titanic. When we switch to entertainment, it's easy to see how Avatar and Titanic are award-winning films. James Cameron is a game changer. In 2009, the American Film Institute recognized Cameron's advances in CGI effects with their yearly "AFI Moments of Significance" award claiming it "will have profound effects on the future of the art form". The majority of us would agree that these movies are a game changer, not only for visual affects, but the ability to paint an experience in our minds that we will never forget.

According to leading analyst firms and industry associations, the core component of an award winner is to tell a story. The story has to begin with challenges, and the judges should be able to visualize themselves in the story. The next portions should include: your approach to solve the problem; what did you do; and a results statement. In summary, to have a compelling story the critical success factors are: a great beginning, good rhythm and pacing, and a great conclusion. The conclusion should not be that you reached 'nirvana' but that something significant happened, and there is still work to be done. Sounds like an award-winning movie to me.

A winning support organization has a difficult challenge. A winning support organization has to provide the technology and experience to the end user that makes them happy, and makes them a loyal customer. A winning support organization has to provide the Return On Investment (ROI) to justify the technology and demonstrate to the enterprise that the support provided aligns with the brand message. And because support has a finger on the pulse of the customer, the support organization has to transform itself from the perception of 'cost-center' to innovator.

James Cameron had tools: production equipment, software, cameras, etc. to help him make a film. But the ingredients to make him a game changer are his vision, the experience he created for the audience, and his ability to make us wanting more.

In support, the tools are there for everyone to partake. There are some great technology tools out there, and they are in abundance. In order to be award-winning, you have to have the right tools, the vision, create a great experience, and make your audience come back for more. You have to share your vision not only with your core audience, but evangelize your findings across the enterprise. 


With that, I will share with you a quote from an award-winning noHold customer. This particular customer has taken the tools (technology) and created a great experience for the customer. In addition, this particular support organization has caught the eye of the entire enterprise. Congrats to Cisco for winning multiple awards.

Happy Friday.

“We never stop improving. It’s just part of our daily routine – we turn our attention to every single detail that might be involved in the customer experience. And that is a very big fish to fry.” - Tarik Mahmoud, Cisco

Webinar: The Top 10 PC Issues and How to Transform Them Into Opportunities

There's still time to register for Wednesday's webinar: The Top 10 Consumer PC Issues and How to Transform them Into ROI. Join us as we reveal the top 10 issues Consumers ask about their PC. All attendees will receive a free EZintel package  - Start monitoring your own top 10 right away!

Click the image below for more details and to register. We look forward to seeing you on the webinar.

Customer Feedback Fridays: Do You Really KNOW Your Customer?

I know this topic comes up frequently, especially in self-service scenarios. Getting closer to the customer fuels the need for tools like Virtual Agents (Virtual Assistants), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software, surveys, call recording, and the list continues.

At Technology Services World this past week, during the Cisco/noHold case study, Tarik Mahmoud shared a plethera of valuable insight, and one of the key takeaways was: Knowing your customer. When building your own self-service strategy, not only do you need the tools for success, but you need to know who your customers are and how they prefer to interact with your company.

During a meeting at noHold yesterday, customer teams discussed Virtual Agent performance and shared lessons learned in implementing, maintaining, and positioning. When launching a Virtual Agent, noHold (and its customers) have the ability to perform tests to see how the audience responds. For example: When positioning a Virtual Agent for a PC manufacturer, one type of user is better served with the ability to chat with the Virtual Agent, as well as a list of hot topics, along with a menu of options. To some, the chat window may look too busy, but to this particular customer's audience, it's the best experience for them and the metrics are proof.

Another example: A Virtual Agent with an avatar or cartoon image tends to receive more verbose questions, and conversational aspects like "hi" and "thank you" from the end user. Users interacting with a 'faceless' Virtual Agent are more inclined to type key words, or browse to a solution.

So what's the best self-service experience, you ask? There's not one answer. Here's what Cisco thinks:


“Channel selection, or the rational behind it, all depend on the customers and which tool they would
like to use to get support from. After time, customers will always use the tool that brings the most value to them, and the most enjoyable experience.” - Tarik Mahmoud, Cisco

Happy Friday!

Technology Services World 2012 Lookbook

As promised, our experience at Spring TSW 2012 in a Lookbook.

TSW Spring 2012_LookBook

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TSW Day 3 - Final Day and Awards

It was another great day at TSW. The morning began with a session hosted by John Ragsdale as he revealed details of his tell-all book, Lessons Unlearned.  John described his life long journey in support, stories from his vault, and the approach he took to compile the book. All attendees received a free copy, and it looks like an interesting and provocative read!

Another highlight (and a favorite) of the day, was the Service Revolutions Competition. Attendees filled the ballroom and had the opportunity to vote for cool new products, services, and start-ups.  According to TSIA, Service Revolutions is like American Idol for the technology industry.

Following the voting, attendees ended the day with an awards luncheon. If you are interested in the awards, the selection criteria, and the winners, click here for more. I do want to give a shout out to Cisco for achieving the Star Award for Excellence in Online Support. Tarik Mahmoud took the stage to receive the award. Cisco is no stranger to accolades and has received the Star Award (as well as others) multiple times for their commitment to the customer.

Tomorrow I will share more pictures to highlight the excitement at TSW. Overall, great experience.

TSW Day 2 - Cisco/noHold Case Study

The second day of TSW was full of excitement, case studies, networking, and finished with prize drawings. One of the highlights of the day for noHold was the customer case study session with long time customer, Cisco. Tarik Mahmoud, eSupport Manager joined Diego Ventura (noHold's CEO) to discuss: Positioning the Support Organization as the Leader in Innovation. Diego began the presentation by introducing noHold to a full room of attendees. Tarik followed by discussing his approach to Cisco's award-winning multichannel support strategy, understanding different types of customers, and providing them with the right experience for their needs. After 'knowing' the end customer, Cisco provides the tools to create a successful engagement. In addition to providing a great experience to its customers, Cisco drives innovation by listening to the Voice of the Customer and providing that intelligence back to the Business Units, who in turn transform the voice in actionable ROI.

For example: If a new product is launched, and the Guide Me tool reports that there is a connectivity issue, Tarik's group can push that information back to product development and/or engineering. The respective business units can decide if there is a real issue with the product and quickly take action.

Big thank you to the Cisco team for being a great customer, and for sharing your self-service journey today.

If you would like to hear more details about the customer case study with Cisco at TSW, please contact us.  Stay tuned for more highlights tomorrow as we wrap up Spring TSW 2012.

Technology Services World (TSW) 2012 - Day 1

Today, Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) officially kicked off Technology Services World (TSW) 2012. The first presentation open to all attendees was the The Innovation Tour, with TSIA's analyst John Ragsdale announcing the finalists for the Innovation Awards. Following the Innovation Tour on the Solutions Stage, attendees began attending keynote sessions, followed by the open Expo toward the end of the day. All attendees received a copy of John's new book Lessons Unlearned.  For more info on John's book, click here.

We are excited to be a sponsoring partner of TSW Spring 2012, and are looking forward to presenting a customer case study with Cisco tomorrow. Come see our case study during the breakout sessions at 11 AM in room: Grand D. If you are attending the conference, we would love to meet with you there - Stop by and see us at booth 4 in the Expo. If you are not, and would like more info, please contact us. 

Look for my blog post tomorrow as we share more details about our experience and customer case study with Cisco's Tarik Mahmoud.

Customer Feedback Fridays - Virtual Agents for the Personal Computing (PC) Industry

Today's blog is about the PC Industry top 10. After analyzing millions of interactions handled by our Virtual Agents, it's time to reveal. For years, noHold customers have asked:  How do I measure up? Are the issues I'm seeing the same or different than other companies in the industry? After I have identified the top issues, how can I turn them into up-sell opportunities all while increasing Customer Satisfaction and Net Promoter Scores?

The "PC Industry Top 10" is a list of the top 10 most frequently asked questions directly from the end user. If you are a company in the PC and/or related industries, wouldn't you want to know? And would you like to know how you can zero in on your top 10? By the way, to capture your own top 10, it's free.

You can register for the upcoming webinar by clicking the image below. What's your feedback on the industry top 10? Stay tuned as we reveal the top 10 for other industries in the near future.

Happy Friday!

Multilingual Support Lookbook

We have blogged about the importance of multilingual support a few times. Specifically, Is Your e-Service Strategy Multilingual? 72.7% of Internet Users Say it Should Be...

To add to our position on the importance of a multilingual support strategy, take a look at our Lookbook.
Enjoy the rest of your day!

Multilingual Support Lookbook 2012

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