Throughout the economic downtown, business managers heard virtually every cost-cutting measure, from furlough days to reducing IT investment. As we see shoots of recovery, we are reminded that no company can cost-cut its way to excellence; without some focus on the customer, eventually service starts to dwindle, products are shoddy and the company is no longer competitive. Those that persevere through both economic booms and busts incorporate a long-term view of quality and cost measures into their strategic business functions.
The last 10 years has brought sea changes to the customer service industry from both operations and technology standpoints. Organizations have moved away from traditional domestic live phone support toward new technologies and business models such as interactive voice response (IVR), intelligent scripting and offshoring. ...