Astute is now Emplifi

Featured

millennial driver engaging with auto brands

Featured

Feb 14, 2018

4 Ways You Can Increase Higher Education Enrollment Using the Voice of the Student

Looking to boost student enrollment? Engaging prospective students for their feedback is the key. Here's how.

These 3 Silver Linings Make for Better Customer Service in the Cloud

“The cloud” started out as a flexible, more disaster-proof alternative to onsite file and data storage. But companies are now realizing its value to the organization as a whole. One major benefit is to customer service: cloud-based service enhances omni-channel engagement, thanks to improved agility and a unified view of the customer.

3 Tips for Using Video Chat for Customer Service

Many brands are exploring an increasingly popular channel for communicating with customers: video chat. Using live video chat in customer service drives ROI, decreases resolution time, and increases customer satisfaction. Here are three tips for using video chat as a customer service channel.

Bot, or Not: Should Chatbots Pretend to Be Humans?

In 1950, computer scientist and mathematician Alan Turing developed his Turing test, and the race to build a machine that can flawlessly mimic a human conversation began. But when it comes to customer service chatbots, the real test isn’t whether they can pretend to be humans—it’s whether they should. That might sound like a complicated question, but it’s actually surprisingly simple.

Introducing Astute’s Customer Experience Maturity Framework

The customer experience has never been more important. That's why we created a framework to help organizations determine their level of maturity when it comes to five core CX competencies.

The Changing Customer Experience, Part 3: New Trends in Consumer Packaged Goods

While other industries have picked up in recent years, CPG companies are still searching for growth. Unfortunately, consumers are still keeping a tight rein on their budgets—and using technology to help—while at the same time increasing their expectations. Here are five current trends in the CPG industry that are affecting the customer experience.

The 8 Messaging Apps Marketers Need to Know

Messaging apps can be a marketer’s dream. They make up 6 of the 10 top smartphone apps globally, and their popularity keeps growing, especially among Millennials and Generation Z teens. As the space expands, existing platforms continue to evolve while new ones keep popping up. And each one has different implications for brands. Here are the important chat apps—both established and up-and-coming—to have on your radar.

When Bots Reach Their Limit: The 4 Rules of Intelligent Escalation

Bots are ideal for providing personalized self-service, and in most cases, they can handle whatever the customer throws at them. But they will still encounter situations that require nuance and analytical thinking beyond their capabilities. That’s when they call in a human. To maintain the exceptional experience the customer has enjoyed so far, though, that escalation needs to be done intelligently.

Chat Apps for Marketers: Everything You Need to Know about Messaging

Globally, 6 of the 10 top apps are messengers. By 2018, 3.6 billion people are projected to be using messaging apps (that’s 90% of total internet users). They have a larger user base than social media, and it’s made up primarily of Millennials and Generation Z teens who are loyal and engaged. In other words, chat apps can be a marketer’s dream.

What You Can Learn from These 9 Amazing Instagram Ads

As brands continue to see organic social media engagement rates plummet, more marketers are turning to social media advertising to gain traction. In this three-part blog series, we've already covered the basics of advertising on Facebook and Twitter. Now it's time to turn our attention to the popular photo-sharing platform, Instagram.

Featured

Oct 20, 2017

Call Center Knowledge Management: 6 Ways You Might Be Getting It Wrong

Today’s consumers want answers, and they want them now. When they contact you for support, they expect to be served by someone who knows your products and services inside and out, but for most companies, that involves more memorization than even a Jeopardy champion could handle. So what are you doing wrong? Here are six best practices for using knowledge management in the call center to make every agent an expert.

How to Create the Restaurant CX Your Customers Crave

So much of our lives are touched by technology, improving the experience. What's the impact on restaurant brands?

Trend Alert! 3 Predictions for the Future of Social Media Marketing

Brands are benefiting from the content their fans create, and the ability to provide a better customer experience via social networks. Yet despite the many social tools in their arsenal, marketing professionals have hit a ceiling with social media. As a result, brands need to get creative and start using social media differently in their outreach efforts.

The Bot Revolution: 5 New Laws of Customer Communication

Consumers are demanding to talk to brands as casually as they talk to their friends, and they expect an immediate response 24/7. Providing that level of service is impractical—if not impossible—for most brands, without using some form of automation. Until recently, though, the limitations of automated technology meant compromising the seamless, robust experience that’s been proven to create loyal customers. Now, bots are radically changing everything we know about customer communication.

Managing Multiple Channels? 7 Reasons You Need Integrated CRM Software

Today's contact centers look almost nothing like their ancestors. Agents communicate via multiple channels – often in real time – personalizing interactions, recording conversations, and multitasking in unprecedented ways. The right CRM software can provide a single, integrated solution that puts the customer first.

Customer Data Security Part 3: Privacy Shield and Engaging Consumers in the EU

One of the biggest consumer privacy events of this year was the release of the new EU/US Privacy Shield agreement. This installment of our Consumer Data Security Series will give you some background on the agreement, what it entails, and how to comply with it.

Answer These 5 Basic Questions Before You Build a Chatbot

Here a bot, there a bot, everywhere a chatbot—there's no denying that chatbots are drawing a great deal of attention lately! You may be asking yourself, "Is now the right time for our business to hop on the chatbot bandwagon?" Here are the five key questions you should answer before launching a chatbot.

Digital Self-Service 3.0: Personalization Is About to Get a Whole Lot Easier

What does a personalized customer service interaction look like? Are you picturing a live agent? Until the not-too-distant past, you had no choice, because only a human had the intelligence and decision-making abilities to pull off personalization. But that’s all about to change with the latest advances in self-service technology.

Featured

Oct 6, 2017

Are Your Call Center Metrics Lying? 4 Questions To Ask About Call Center Analytics

In the world of customer service call centers, first contact resolution (FCR) measures how many customers had their issue resolved after just one communication touchpoint with a service agent. The related metric of talk time, or how long an agent spends communicating with a customer, is often examined in conjunction with first call resolution rates. However, when analyzed in a vacuum, these two numbers can lead to a dangerous misinterpretation of call center metrics.

Don’t Make Your Customers Come to You: 5 Reasons to Embrace Mobile Channels

As the technology matures, consumers will increasingly demand access to customer service through mobile.

3 Emerging Customer Journeys Automakers Need to Support

We've said it before, and we're saying it again: Consumer behavior is changing. Every industry is dealing with the ramifications of these behavioral shifts, and the auto industry is no exception. Trends such as ride-sharing and new developments in autonomous vehicle technology are challenging automakers to stay relevant.

Top 4 Tips for Awesome Real-Time Social Media Engagement

More than any other channel, social media allows for brands to communicate directly with their customers and act on a moment's notice. To stand out in this noisy space, savvy brands capitalize on what's already happening instead of trying to generate buzz from scratch. Rewards -- and risks -- are elevated in this type of real-time social engagement. So before the next big event, set yourself up for success by creating a plan with built-in flexibility for any surprises.

What Makes a Successful Facebook Ad (Plus 5 Real-World Examples!)

It's no secret that Facebook represents huge opportunities for advertisers. In fact, 70% of U.S. Facebook users log into Facebook daily. For half of users aged 18-24, it is literally the first thing they do when they wake up in the morning. But is Facebook advertising right for your brand? What components will make it successful?

Engaging Millennials, Part 1: 4 Ways Auto Brands Can Drive Engagement

The 4 Most Important Customer Experience Metrics

Is Your CRM Getting in the Way of Great Customer Service?

How Social Media Insights Can (and Should) Drive Business Strategy

Don’t Leave Your Franchisees on An Island: 4 Ways to Manage the Relationship

How to Improve Escalation (and Delight Your Customers)

Taking Customer Self-Service to the Next Level

4 Ways You Can Increase Higher Education Enrollment Using the Voice of the Student

These 3 Silver Linings Make for Better Customer Service in the Cloud

3 Tips for Using Video Chat for Customer Service

Bot, or Not: Should Chatbots Pretend to Be Humans?

Introducing Astute’s Customer Experience Maturity Framework

The Changing Customer Experience, Part 3: New Trends in Consumer Packaged Goods

The 8 Messaging Apps Marketers Need to Know

When Bots Reach Their Limit: The 4 Rules of Intelligent Escalation

Chat Apps for Marketers: Everything You Need to Know about Messaging

What You Can Learn from These 9 Amazing Instagram Ads

Call Center Knowledge Management: 6 Ways You Might Be Getting It Wrong

How to Create the Restaurant CX Your Customers Crave

Trend Alert! 3 Predictions for the Future of Social Media Marketing

The Bot Revolution: 5 New Laws of Customer Communication

Managing Multiple Channels? 7 Reasons You Need Integrated CRM Software

Customer Data Security Part 3: Privacy Shield and Engaging Consumers in the EU

Answer These 5 Basic Questions Before You Build a Chatbot

Digital Self-Service 3.0: Personalization Is About to Get a Whole Lot Easier

Are Your Call Center Metrics Lying? 4 Questions To Ask About Call Center Analytics

Don’t Make Your Customers Come to You: 5 Reasons to Embrace Mobile Channels

3 Emerging Customer Journeys Automakers Need to Support

Top 4 Tips for Awesome Real-Time Social Media Engagement

What Makes a Successful Facebook Ad (Plus 5 Real-World Examples!)