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Jan 18, 2017

Making the Most of Chatbots and Artificial Narrow Intelligence in Customer Interactions

With so many business buzzwords out there these days, the true meaning can become easily lost. One such word? Seamless. A fancy word, but what does it mean and how does it apply for your business? Why should you care? As Forrester notes, “Successful brands focus on developing a seamless experience that ensures each touchpoint interconnects and contributes to the overall journey.”

Customer Data Security Part 4: Consumer Privacy and You! The Shared Responsibility Model

Cloud services have increasingly become a critical part of many organizations today -- and cloud customer service is no exception. The ability to solve business problems without having to deal with the headaches of owning the technology is extremely compelling. Many companies are reaping the benefits of the cloud, cutting costs and focusing on their core business. However, there are a few things to think about when you purchase these services, especially when it comes to compliance and privacy issues.

Product Updates: October 2016

See the updates and enhancements the Astute Product Team has been working on! We've made changes to ePowerCenter, Astute Social, and Astute Knowledge to help our customers serve their consumers more effectively.

Customer Data Security Part 2: What You Need to Know about PCI Compliance

In this article, we are taking a look at regulations that have unique characteristics due to their focus on a particular industry sector. We'll use the example of PCI DSS, or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Many of the requirements for PCI DSS fall into some the patterns we discussed in our previous article. But what is notable in this case is the increased focus on a very specific type or class of information: The information required to execute a credit card transaction and access to any related financial records.

The Changing Customer Experience, Part 4: New Trends in Automotive

While the automotive industry has continually evolved, it hasn’t seen many major upheavals. But a combination of technology advances and shifting demographics is affecting just about every aspect of the customer experience.

Win at Customer Engagement Marketing with These 3 Principles

Although existing customers drive more revenue, most marketing teams spend a disproportionate amount of time on new customer acquisition. Research tells us that, no matter the industry, the majority of revenue comes from a small percentage of customers. Still, marketers spend more time on acquisition tactics -- only 16% of marketing organizations say their primary strategic focus is retention!

Real Time Engagement via Video: Why, How, and When to Use It

Real-time video engagement has seen enthusiastic adoption from customers who have experienced it first-hand, and brands who support it will be better equipped to provide a higher level of service.

See How to Build a Rock-Solid Business Case for Omni-Channel

We live in an omni-channel world, where constant switching between devices, interactions, and conversations has become commonplace. The customer experience is no exception. In fact, 74% of consumers use three or more channels to connect to customer service. Plus, 60% actually change communication channels depending on where they are and what they’re doing.

Product Updates: July 2016

What's new this month? Check out the latest product updates for Astute ePowerCenter CRM.

Product Updates: June 2016

From new image drag and drop capabilities in Astute Knowledge to an affinities screen for listening in Astute Social, find all the latest features and updates to Astute products in June.

What CX Pros Need to Know about Natural Language Processing

Natural language processing (NLP) refers to technology's ability to understand human language and converse with humans. It can apply to both voice and text-based conversations. When NLP works, it feels a little like magic. Customer-facing systems equipped with advanced NLP technology can provide incredible benefits for customer engagement.

6 CRM Trends to Help Make You Stand Out

“If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you jump too?” We’ve all jumped off a bridge at some point or another, falling under the spell of the latest craze or caving to peer pressure. It’s not easy to distinguish a fleeting fad from a lasting shift in technology or best practices, but we’ve made it easy this time. Here are 6 CRM trends you can trust:

Product Updates: May 2016

The latest updates to Astute's suite of products, including ePowerCenter CRM and Astute Social. New case audit, dashboard, and address tools make customer service management simpler. Astute Social's new interactions and publishing interface allow social media managers a more in-depth look at social engagement and scheduling.

Featured

Dec 30, 2016

Does Your Customer Experience Strategy Need a Tune Up?

Getting from satisfying to stellar doesn’t happen overnight—it takes thoughtful and proactive planning. With a customer experiences strategy that turns dissatisfaction or indifference into delight, you can increase your market share, generate revenue, and create loyal brand advocates who will help you sustain that growth.

3 Ways to Keep Your Knowledgebase in Great Shape

Creating and maintaining a knowledgebase is like going to the gym. You know you should do it because it will be good for you in the long run, but it's difficult to get motivated. And despite what those late-night infomercials might say, there really isn't a quicker, easier way to get to the end result -- not for fitness, anyway. But there is an easier way to create and maintain an accurate knowledgebase despite constant organizational changes. Here are three ways to tackle the task of knowledge management without losing your head.

Product Updates: April 2016

Check out these exciting new enhancements to ePowerCenter and Astute Social! Updates include new reports, Facebook reviews management, and a sneak preview of the new Social Command Center.

3 Ways Social Media Management Tools Make You a Better Marketer

It's like trying to eat a bowl of cereal with a toothpick -- the right tools just make things easier! For social marketers and community managers, having great social media management tools in your toolkit is critical to success. These tools must address three main areas: listening to the social media conversation, responding to customer or prospect questions and comments, and distributing content.

Call Center Management Best Practices: 5 Ways to Build a Customer-Focused Experience

If you’re like most companies, you’ve spent a lot of time designing your contact center around easily-measured metrics like response times. You’ve trained your agents to closely follow a script and to resolve calls in a matter of minutes. But in all that planning, have you given your customer a seat at the table?

How You (Yes, You) Can Win at Knowledge Management

Take a moment to think about where the knowledge surrounding your products and services is stored in your organization. Is it on the product labels, intranet pages, product briefs and training manuals? How easily accessible is this information when your consumers need it? Providing the right information to the person who needs it, exactly when they need it, is efficient knowledge management.

Create an Excellent Customer Experience

As a consumer of products and services, can you really tell the difference between a good experience and a truly excellent one? Well, depending on the situation, it’s likely that most people can. But, for brands to deliver a truly exceptional consumer experience, the bar is constantly rising. The evolution consumer expectations can be partly attributed to consumer access to and use of technology.

Managing a Social Media Crisis

In today’s digital age, social media has given everyone a platform to voice their opinions. Regardless of follower count or intent, a single retweet easily spreads sentiment like wildfire to everyone from friends and family to followers and fans. As easily as praise for your brand can spread online, so too can a potential crisis that could damage your reputation.

Featured

Dec 28, 2016

The Customer Experience in 2017: 6 Trends You Can’t Afford to Ignore

It’s almost New Year’s, and we couldn’t ring it in without sharing our predictions for the new customer experience trends coming our way in 2017! Not surprisingly, they’re technology heavy yet customer-centric, just as this year’s best practices have been. The customer is king, and meeting their high expectations can’t be done without some pretty advanced technology.

The Changing Customer Experience, Part 2: New Trends in Retail

Shoppers are fickle, demanding, contradictory, and confusing, but you wouldn’t be in the retail biz if you didn’t love a challenge! There’s never a shortage of new advances and ideas for how to win the hearts and wallets of consumers, but do you know which ones are a good fit and which will leave you with buyer’s remorse? Here are five trends in the retail customer experience you can’t afford to ignore.

Product Spotlight: November 2016

Check out the recent word cloud enhancements in Astute Social.

The Changing Customer Experience, Part 1: New Trends in Travel

With today’s widespread use of social media and online review sites, it only takes travelers a minute to tell hundreds of people exactly how their trip was. And those opinions carry a lot of weight with consumers booking a flight or hotel. Affordable, on-time, and satisfactory is no longer enough to set you apart. You need to find ways to create delightful and memorable customer experiences.

Product Updates: August 2016

See what's new this month in the Astute Social and Astute Knowledge platforms. Updates include new social image detection filters and self-managed knowledge content.

Product Updates: September 2016

See the latest updates to Astute Social and Astute Knowledge, including exciting new globalization features!

Psychic Pizza: How Proactive Service Enhances Customer Experience

De-Stress Your Agents: 3 Automation Tips

Up Your Self-Service Game: 4 Tips for Using Virtual Agents

Making the Most of Chatbots and Artificial Narrow Intelligence in Customer Interactions

Customer Data Security Part 4: Consumer Privacy and You! The Shared Responsibility Model

Product Updates: October 2016

Customer Data Security Part 2: What You Need to Know about PCI Compliance

The Changing Customer Experience, Part 4: New Trends in Automotive

Win at Customer Engagement Marketing with These 3 Principles

Real Time Engagement via Video: Why, How, and When to Use It

See How to Build a Rock-Solid Business Case for Omni-Channel

Product Updates: July 2016

Product Updates: June 2016

What CX Pros Need to Know about Natural Language Processing

6 CRM Trends to Help Make You Stand Out

Product Updates: May 2016

Does Your Customer Experience Strategy Need a Tune Up?

3 Ways to Keep Your Knowledgebase in Great Shape

Product Updates: April 2016

3 Ways Social Media Management Tools Make You a Better Marketer

Call Center Management Best Practices: 5 Ways to Build a Customer-Focused Experience

How You (Yes, You) Can Win at Knowledge Management

Create an Excellent Customer Experience

Managing a Social Media Crisis

The Customer Experience in 2017: 6 Trends You Can’t Afford to Ignore

The Changing Customer Experience, Part 2: New Trends in Retail

Product Spotlight: November 2016

The Changing Customer Experience, Part 1: New Trends in Travel

Product Updates: August 2016

Product Updates: September 2016