Training, technology, and the customer experience

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) December 17, 2003 -- Looking Ahead: Training, technology, and the

�customer experience�



(New York, NY, December 17, 2003) -- E-learning,

certification for reps and managers, ongoing training and, of course, more demanding customers are just a few of the issues which customer service and call center managers will face in the new year.



According to Masha Zager, editor of �Customer

Service Newsletter,� it will be a year of change and growth as the industry reacts to the following trends:

* Customers will be more demanding than ever.

The Internet has acted as a great equalizer allowing us to have anything we want, 24 hours a day. In response, many businesses will be focusing their attention on delivering customer experience, not just customer service in the New Year.



* E-learning will continue growing. While the

classroom will always have its place, e-learning

is a faster way to introduce staff to new products and campaigns. It also supports different learning styles -- auditory, visual, and tactile -- and automates testing.

* Managers will use more sophisticated metrics.

Customer service managers, long preoccupied with

call handling time and service level, are adding

measures such as first-contact resolution. In the

New Year, companies will focus on drilling down

and using their call resolution data for business

improvement.



� Certification of customer service managers and

CSRs will gain support. Although no industrywide

certification standard has gained traction, companies are creating their own in-house certification programs. Certification raises the skill levels of the workforce and is a career asset for employees.



� Ongoing training will expand. Companies with high levels of employee satisfaction are paying more attention to ongoing training, some offering as much as 200 hours a year.



� Customer service will be raised to the C-level. More companies will be appointing chief customer officers or chief service officers. As they recognize that for service levels to improve significantly, customer service has to be owned at the corporate level.

The full text of the annual �Looking Ahead� article, including details on the evolving use of technology is available at

http://www.customerservicegroup.com/csnsample.php

or by phoning the publisher at 1-800-232-4317.



�Customer Service Newsletter� reports on practical, action-oriented techniques and tactics for improving customer service and call center operations.



Website: http://www.CustomerServiceGroup.com





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CONTACT:

Adam Reis

(212) 228-0246 Ext. 105

mailto:areis@CustomerServiceGroup.com

and the customer experience     technology     Training