Why Virtual Assistants will be Key to Getting through the Holiday Shopping Season on Top

Photo credit

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have kicked off the holiday shopping season this year with a bang. While it was reported that the number of shoppers increased from last year, retailers saw a drop in the average amount of money that was spent - approximately $10 less. (money.cnn.com) This drop could be attributed to a number of things. 1. More people reported all their purchases were sale items, 2. A higher percentage of people bought items that were that were 60% off and higher, (IMAGE) and 3. Businesses were ill prepared (specifically online) for the massive amount of shoppers. According to Forbes, lots of big brands' websites were experiencing server issues that couldn't handle the volume of people. 

Photo credit

"Consumers faced a variety of technical problems on Black Friday and through the so-called “Turkey Five” (the five days after Thanksgiving). Major retailer sites, including Macy’s, QVC, Walmart, Victoria’s Secret and Newegg, all experienced outages, due at least in part to server overload due to enormous boost in traffic. The Gap, Inc. family (Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athletica) was offering a massive 50% off site-wide deal fell victim to the same fate. Other retailers, such as Williams-Sonoma, saw a significant decrease in their page load time—not a great occurrence when buyers are in a hurry to empty their online carts and get on to the next sale." (Forbes)

While things like this are bound to happen,it did not effect the number of online users which continues to grow each year. From last year to this year, approximately 5 million more users were shopping online (about $3.34 billion came from online sales), while brick and mortar store shoppers decreased by 3 million people this year. Out of the online shoppers, $1.2B came from mobile purchases. This is a huge increase from previous years. 

Creating the ultimately customer experience online (via any device) is important to attract new customers and retain existing ones. A major trend this year that consumers are adopting (and preferring) is Virtual Assistants (VA's). While having a VA all year round is a good practice, VA's are also valuable to have during peak seasons as well, such as the holidays. Being able to position your Virtual Assistant as a way for consumers to get quick answers to pre-sales and post-sales questions will reduce the number of inquiries to live agents/employees and increase customer satisfaction. Check out this white paper showing how some of our customers have leveraged their Virtual Assistants during peak seasons: http://www.nohold.com/manage-traffic-spikes-better-with-self-service.html

And it is not just large brands that can benefit. Small and medium businesses, even little personal shops on eBay or Etsy can have a Virtual Assistant to eliminate some of the holiday stress. Visit albertai.com to learn more about creating a Virtual Assistant (bot) quickly and easily, no programming skills required. 

Cheers!

Black Friday: 4 Tips to Avoiding a Customer Service Nightmare this Holiday Season

Ready or not, the 2015 holiday season is among us! While it may be the happiest time of the year for some, it can quickly turn into a nightmare for customer service professionals if the right measures aren't taken to ensure smooth sailing through the season. 

Some companies have been preparing for this rush since the end of summer, and rightfully so. 2015 is expected to be the "most connected holiday shopping season - ever. Almost half of holiday shopping occured online" (thinkwithgoogle.com). "In 2014, Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday set new (online) sales records with 1.33 billion and $2.4 billion spent. This number is only expected to rise for 2015" (shortstack.com) We can't forget about the growing trend of Cyber Monday either. Check out the infogrpahic below sharing 2014 Cyber Monday results.

Photo Credit: pfsweb.com

These couple months are the biggest time of year for businesses to see growth in every aspect of their company. "Ad impressions get a 50 percent boost, [Click-through rates] CTRs skyrocket 100 percent, direct traffic grows 150 percent, average order values rise 30 percent and conversion rates increase 60 percent" (Entrepreneur).

With the expected spike in traffic during this season, consumers already anticipate long wait times and rude people; and companies witness customer satisfaction scores drop. But what if there was a way to keep up with the increase in demand AND maintain customer satisfaction, though? World-class brands have accomplished it, and with the right recipe so can you. Here are some tips to help your company continue to hit top sales all season, while (doing the most important thing) keeping customers happy. 

Tip #1 Planning ahead- As mentioned earlier, it is always helpful to get a head start so you aren't frantically trying to get everything set up in a short amount of time.

Photo Credit: capitolmediasolutions.com

Tip #2 Hiring enough help- Making sure you are not under staff during the rush season has a few positive affects. (a) customers don't have to wait for busy agents, and (b) agents don't feel rushed and can help customers completely through their issues. It's a win-win situation. Happy employees = happy customers. 

Tip #3 Providing helpful resources-  With the influx in contact volume coupled with the increase in seasonal agents, proper tools and resources should be made available to agents. One resource many call centers are equipping their agents with is a Virtual Assistant, promoting efficiency and consistency to new and seasoned agents. 

Tip #4 Self-Service- As a common theme throughout this blog, mobile and eCommerce are playing a huge role in the way people are interacting with your company. Online support holds true as well. Intuitive/ diagnostic self-service options should be readily available and easily accessible to consumers via the web.

Example of Interactive self-service solution (Virtual Assistant)

How is your company preparing for the holidays? Are you taking a different approach this year to account for the web? 

For more information on how Virtual Assistants help to alleviate some of the stress during peak seasons, please read "How Stand Out Brands Weather the Storm During Critical Spikes in Traffic." 
www.nohold.com

How Stand-out Brands Weather the Storm during Critical Spikes in Customer Traffic

Photo Credit: business2community.com

What do the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight, back-to-school, severe weather and the holidays have in common? Urgency. And when there is a sense of panic or urgency, spikes in customer contact occur. Read how a leading brand weathered the storm during a major call center outage. Learn how the company was still able to manage over 500,000 customer conversations despite the 5 day power loss. 

Then, stay tuned in the coming weeks for our next edition to get: 

• Real metrics on the impact of customer contacts during outages, major holidays, and peaks in volume. 
• Advice from industry experts Bill Rose from Bill Rose, Inc. and David Hare, SVP of Customer Success, as both offer their own take on the biggest support related challenges, and recalling how each weathered the storm during critical events.  

Read now: How stand-out brands weather the storm during critical spikes in customer traffic

How Self-Service Can Increase Revenue and Customer Satisfaction this Holiday Season

Photo Credit: newyork.cbslocal,com

While the holidays are a time filled with love and joy, they can also be one of the most hectic times of the year. Yes, I am talking about the infamous holiday shopping experiences. No parking, long lines, and crazy crowds are something everyone can agree does not put cheer into the holiday season.

While shopping for consumers is hectic on its own, the companies are feeling the holiday pressure as well. Large and small businesses alike must strengthen customer service options to prepare for the increased volume of sales. Not just for the initial sale, but also for the customer service, care, support and overall customer engagement that follows.

According to an article from salesforce.com, one tip for your company’s customer service to conquer the holiday rush is to “improve self-service support.” Since companies can already predict the high volume of customer interactions (and the short fuses they have by the end of a long day), implementing a web-based, Virtual Customer Assistant (VCA) for consumers to find the answers to questions on their own terms will take some of the load off, while making consumers happy they didn't have to spend even more time waiting on hold or getting passed around to different representatives.

VCA’s aren't just useful for support questions though. For example, many electronics require product registration. The VCA can quickly offer guidance through the process, while answering any questions that may arise, and/or cross-sell other products/services when appropriate.

Mobile shopping is another major factor effecting companies this year. “If it wasn't official last year, it will be this year – holiday shoppers are eager to shop online for gifts and other needs. According to a survey, 56 percent plan to shop online, up from 51.5 percent last year and the most in the survey’s 13- year history. Additionally, the average person plans to do 44.4 percent of their shopping online, the most since NRF first asked to 2006.” (National Retail Federation) Providing customers with the tools they need to make the holiday shopping experience easier is key to increasing sales, but moreover, increasing loyalty.

How is your company enhancing self-service and engagement options this year? Does your strategy incorporate usability for mobile shoppers?

We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving weekend. Enjoy!

www.nohold.com     

Throwback Thursday: This Time Last Year

Throwback Holiday Card - Circa 2011

2013

Hi all, 
As the end of the year is approaching, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at 2013.

Throughout 2013, noHold (with the influence of our customers) has focused on many different facets of the business. Towards the middle of the year, we officially launched the premiere of our updated website, www.nohold.com, and also announced our newest Knowledge Management platform, SICURA™, designed to augment our products portfolio. SICURA™ provides a better way to organize, store, and share information, securely. 

Our customers have expressed more interest in eCommerce, and focusing on ways to increase sales for companies in brick and mortar stores as well as online. eCommerce made quite an impression this year and is expected to continue to grow. SalesAdvisor™ makes it easier for companies to provide exceptional customer service, while providing support. Simple QR codes placed on the packaging of an item serve as a Virtual Agent that shows up on your smart phone and answers any questions you have regarding the product and ratings; and provides the end customer with limited time coupons and ability to share the experience via social media.  Virtual Agents enhance self-service and are quickly becoming a preferred interaction channel. 

This year, our customers have shown more interest in the integration of Virtual Agents to augment Salesforce.com. In particular, the Virtual Agent enhances Salesforce.com in five ways: 1) Integrates with Salesforce Knowledge, 2) Escalates to leads, 3) Pre-empts live chat, 4) Escalates to case, and 5) Provides personalized responses, all in an interactive and diagnostic experience. To get more information on augmenting Salesforce.com with a Virtual Agent  click here. 

Next year is going to be another busy year for noHold. Stay tuned for more details about how Virtual Agents play a role in the Internet of Everything (IoE) next year. 

Happy Holidays!

Throwback Thursday: Holiday Traditions

The smell of pine trees, the sound of sleigh bells all around, red and green decorations, and twinkling lights can only mean one thing... the holidays are here! The holiday season is a time of tradition no matter what you celebrate. Here at noHold we have a few holiday traditions of our own. Before the office closes for the holiday, all the employees gather around for a cup of hot chocolate and Pandoro (a traditional Italian sweet bread that is popular around the Christmas season). We participate in a small gift exchange game all while enjoying the holiday treats. 

eCommerce is no exception to holiday traditions! The traditional Cyber Monday, which occurs a few days after Black Friday, where you can find major savings online and avoid the holiday crowds. Another customer service holiday tradition is the "12 Days of Giveaways." This is a contest when different stores donate items to giveaway to lucky contestants! In fact, just this year Apple decided to join the tradition and bring the "12 Days of Gifts" to the United States. Apple will be giving away a free download for 12 days throughout the holiday season.  

With the abundance of holiday shoppers looking for those yearly discount, this is the busiest time of year for customer service and support representatives. A new holiday customer service tradition is the ability to ‘share’ purchases, support solutions, wish lists and more via social media. Today, Virtual Agents are capable of taking the load off of the contact center while increasing Customer Satisfaction. Check out the slideshare below as an example.

How to Increase Sales by providing a great Customer Experience that is easy to socialize. from noHold, Inc.

What are some of your holiday traditions?

Happy Throwback Thursday!