Welcome to the June edition, of our "More Human" CX industry newsletter. As in our previous editions, we are highlighting key developments and trends within the CX industry to provide inspiration and strategic guidance to CX leaders and contact center professionals.
In this edition we are discussing the challenges of the current labor market, VIPdesk's living wage strategy, and the latest CCMC "Delight Study".
1. The big reshuffle in the employment market:
How fast did everything change! At the beginning of the year, we were still dealing with record unemployment numbers and now, just a few months later, our industry is faced with one of the most challenging job markets we have ever experienced in our history. As was so critical in the months before, being nimble and able to react quickly to the new normal continues to be the winning formula.
The last 6 weeks have produced an industry-wide spike in attrition rates. This trend is a direct result of the increase we see in the job availability rate. The reopening of the economy has provided hourly employees with a flood of new opportunities with attractive compensation and signing bonuses. In addition to this, states are still offering significant pandemic relief aid for millions of potential workers. While some states are starting to cut back unemployment benefits as early as June 12, most states will continue the programs as long as September 4th.
But it's not only the reopening of the economy, it also shows that other businesses are offering compensation and incentives which go far beyond what is offered in the customer service industry today. In late April, VIPdesk came out with a press release announcing a further alignment to our goal of providing fair living wages for all team members and setting the minimum hourly rate for any of its team-members to $15. What seemed to be an aggressive move for our industry at that time might not go far enough and $15 might just be the beginning of a long road toward compensating customer service personnel at a fair level given the increasingly critical role they play for every company.
2. Delighting customers might be your best marketing strategy
Creating customer delight goes above and beyond just offering great customer service. Delighted customers have experienced an interaction that significantly exceeded their expectations and was memorable to them. VIPdesk had the pleasure of sponsoring CCMC's latest nationwide "Delight Study" and the results were fascinating. The Delight Study is the first-ever nationwide study that surveys the impact of customer delight on purchase behavior, customer loyalty and word-of-mouth activity. To make the results representative, CCMC surveyed more than 2,500 affluent individuals with an average household income of $100,000 or more. Following are the key findings of the study:
People (genuinely engaged in servicing customers) are the strongest source of delight – stronger than money -- cheap delighters are as effective as costly ones
Honesty and transparency are powerful delighters even when conveying bad news
Cross-selling more products to high-end customers often creates delight (as well as more revenue)
Affluent customers will pay hundreds of dollars more for the same product to companies that delight
Digital delight is as prevalent as telephone or in person
Live video chat is emerging strongly
Higher-income, delighted men produce more social media and word of mouth recommendations than other customer groups
Delight can be your most powerful marketing tool – over half of the people who hear about delight are reported to go on to become customers
Moving into summer, we are expecting the impacts of the pandemic to further subside. Travel will most likely reach pre-pandemic activity and the hospitality sector will see a dramatic rebound. As a result, we will see the return of cruise lines, international travel and concerts. This is all thanks to extremely effective vaccines and broad availability of testing. The initial reshuffling of the workforce will continue to affect the labor market and attrition once again will become a main focus of our industry. However, with government funded unemployment incentives expiring, we are looking forward to another much needed inflow of human capital right before the start of the holiday season.
We would like to wish all our readers a prosperous and customer-centric June.
This whitepaper outlines the top 10 ways to delight your customers today based on the survey findings from the 2021 CCMC Customer Delight Study with John Goodman.
Key Findings:
Inexpensive delighters such as enthusiasm and empathy, are as effective as monetary ones
Honesty and transparency are powerful delighters regardless of the news
Digital channels (email and chat) can create as much delight as in person and phone channels
Affluent customers will pay more for the same product to businesses that delight
Higher-income, delighted men produce more positive WOM than other customer groups
Delight can be a very powerful Marketing strategy since the data shows at least one new customer is won for each delighted customer
Living Wage and Its Impact on Customer Service Quality
At VIPdesk we believe in paying our team members a fair living wage - that's why we announced that all employees will earn $15 or more in 2021. VIPdesk believes that happy and cared for Brand Ambassadors are the key to happy customers.
Becoming a business that believes in and practices a triple bottom line of People, Planet, and Profit is not a simple process. But it is the right thing to do if your business supports its employees, customers, and community.
10 CX Thought Leaders You Need to Follow to Stay in Tune with the Pulse of the Industry
Following a shortlist of thought leaders will allow you to better understand the environment your organization is operating in and help react with proven best practices in mind. Here are a few names you should consider.
Sally and Jen speak with customer service guru John Goodman. In this podcast they discuss the newly released Customer Delight study, a first-of-its-kind scientific, large-scale study on customer delight. The study, sponsored by VIPdesk, examines the value of creating delight, what causes customer delight, and how businesses that fail to do this are likely missing out on their most powerful marketing strategy.
Celebrating You Team With a Virtual Annual Awards Ceremony
A reflection on VIPdesk's annual awards ceremony, an event to honor the accomplishments of the team. After a difficult year for everyone, it’s even more important to take a little time to recognize the team for all that they do. They offer tips and suggestions for how you can plan a virtual celebration that gets the team involved.
2021 CX Journey Mapping Workshop, June 16 / August 11
Journey maps are a powerful tool to identify opportunities for improving customer experiences. Join SOCAP for an interactive, virtual workshop facilitated by Shellie Vornhagen, CXO at Astute Solutions, as she walks through how to leverage CX mapping to drive strategy, and how to start the process at your organization.
As the first organization, CCW is planning to hold an in-person show and provide the customer service community with learning, benchmarking and networking experiences they are accustomed to. CCW is currently developing both the event program and the safety and sanitation plan for this ambitious event.
Ecommerce Operations Summit, Nashville TN, August 17 -18
It is great to see that another major trade show will make the way back to in-person. The Ecommerce Operations Summit is exclusively about direct-to-customer operations & fulfillment. Attendees are executives, directors and managers of Operations and Fulfillment at direct-to-customer organizations, including Online merchants, Retailers, Brand Manufacturers, Home shopping networks, DRTV and more. .
This is another classic and one of our favorite shows to visit. ICMI is known for bringing together the brightest and most innovative speakers with an audience willing to listen, learn and collaborate. VIPdesk together with John Goodman will present the key findings of the Delight Study in the following session. "Best Practices for cost effective Customer Delight" - Thursday Sep 9. 2:50 pm - 3:50 pm.
VIPdesk, a premium provider of outsourced customer experience solutions, utilizes a select team of remote work-at-home Brand Ambassadors (customer service professionals), located throughout the U.S., to provide elevated customer experience for luxury and premium brands. As a certified B-Corp, Women-Owned-Corporation, and Best Workplace winner, VIPdesk is on a fast mission to elevate the human experience with its team members and its partners. Talented team members of VIPdesk not only excel in delivering superior customer service but are passionate ambassadors of the brands they serve. VIPdesk's suite of services include Omni-Channel Customer service handling including all traditional and digital contact channels, full AI and assisted AI solutions, social media management, back office support, and customer experience consulting.
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