Retail stores has thousands of choices for fashion and the salesperson may influence you in your decision but with the help of AI and Machine learning your experience is going to more simpler and engaging.AI monitors the browsing patterns of any customer and give product recommendation according to that.AI powered chatbots can work more smarter and intuitively than humans. Machine learning in AI is improving product search capabilities on e-commerce sites.With the tremendous potential of AI, it can revolutionize the retail and e-commerce sector.Read more at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/296657

Getting people to visit your website is not so easy especially today. If you are using the payment the third party or payment redirection then you are giving opportunity to your customer to go away and never come back. This article by Sandra Wrobel-Konior(Content marketing manager) discusses about the cons of payment redirection. Cons of Payment redirection:

1. Client’s reaction: When a customer adds some product to the cart and goes to payment button and then if it is redirected to an external website with different logo and URL, then it may discourage, creates a confusion and frustration.

2. Control and customer support: In case the payment process goes wrong, then due to third party you may have limited access over what is happening and you can’t fix it immediately.

So, for customer satisfaction, attraction and retention you should create your payment gateway and ensure the security, seamless and hassle free operation. Read more at:

http://www.business2community.com/cybersecurity/payments-redirection-affect-business-01744133#I2bbOtz6T6YdoQ6G.97

Nowadays, organizations need to increase a good enterprise resource planning system or ERP that can help in increasing productivity without increasing workload. Sometimes, small business owners think that they don’t need an ERP system but, many issues can quickly get backlogged without a good ERP system. This article explores the benefits of having an ERP system. They are: Instant access to information, accurate financial reports, and less need for other software systems. Moreover, a good ERP system will help in increasing sales, better customer support, higher customer satisfaction and retention. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/inside-erp/erp-systems-what-to-look-for-and-why-you-need-one-in-your-business-73573

Just when customer satisfaction has become a very important issue, the introduction of User Explorer took place. With user explorer you can now analyze what action an anonymous user has taken on your app or site. You can also get a visitor’s insight who spends quite a lot of time within a given time frame and analyze each of their journeys to your site in that given span. Using User Analytics, a Google Analytics “Segment” can be created which can be applied to the group of users and understand how this group reacts across your site. These features will help gain the insight that is needed to build amazing experience for your consumer thus improving your relationship with them. Read more at: http://analytics.blogspot.in/2016/05/better-insight-into-your-customer.html?m=1

Cloud marketing is influencing many industries including marketing. The banner ad and pop up you see online is stored in the cloud. But, marketing cloud also needs to upgrade itself in a few areas. They are – Security, Customer Satisfaction, New Technology, and many more. Read more at - http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/tech-advances-business/5-aspects-of-the-marketing-cloud-that-need-foolproofing-71413

Businesses nowadays are consolidating customer data, from the sales contact history of service data into one place. Everything from the customer's service history of sales records is pulled together in one place. A single view of the customer has many advantages. It keeps everyone up to date and on the same page with the customer, for one thing and thereby increase customer satisfaction, build customer loyalty and allow contacts with the customer to proceed much more easily. Read more at - http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/a-single-view-through-crm-70579

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a management tool that gives businesses the opportunity to engage and interact with current and potential customers. The advantages of CRM are numerous. It streamlines customer service, provides customers with a channel for communication, and allows businesses to manage and control interactions in different ways that benefit the organization and their clients . CRM increases customer satisfaction and improve clients' experiences, integrating CRM with social media provide several benefits to businesses and customers. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/using-social-media-integration-to-optimize-crm-70291

Any business needs to sell products and answer the need of their customers in order to grow their business. Every business need to quantify customer satisfaction, but, you need to collect data first to quantify customer satisfaction. This is where CRM comes in. CRM helps you pull in more profit and also helps in maximizing marketing tool. CRM can also look into the customer trend. A CRM system can record all your past interactions, meetings and even business presentations. It will not just collate and analyze data, but it can also group your customers into different segments based on their budget or preferences. So, CRM as a marketing tool, not only relies on the products or services you offer, but it also relies on actual customer feedback. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/how-to-maximize-crm-as-a-marketing-tool-70038

Customers are most important for any business. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Small Business Administration, nearly 70% of customers leave a brand because they were unsatisfied with the overall service they received. This dissatisfaction leads to lower revenue and brand’s negative publicity. It’s important to maintain a good relationship with customers. To know more about how you can increase customer satisfaction, while boosting both sales and your bottom line, follow: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/utilizing-customer-relationships-to-build-on-small-business-profit-69960

Customers or clients are important in today’s world. If a customer doesn’t have a good experience, they will not only leave your company, but also tell about their negative experience. That is why customer experience has become important for any competition. Jeanne Landau (Director of Marketing, 800response), in her article writes about four things companies need to do to satisfy their customers and earn repeat business. They are: Engage in a dialogue with customers; properly train your employees; provide a seamless cross-channel experience; and invest in the right tools. Read more at: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Home/tabid/37/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/395/CategoryID/1/NewsID/1020/Default.aspx

They are often first point of contact with the customer, and a happy encounter makes a happy customer. Taking care of experienced call center agents and making employee satisfaction a priority produces numerous benefits for the company. ? Below is a list of a few things that you should be doing to take care of those employees who take care of your customers. • Excellent salary. Even in a very competitive industry, experienced agents can command high salaries befitting their expertise. They can get salaries that are higher than the average day job. Aside from their base salaries, these agents also deserve additional benefits and overtime pay for their hard work

• Incentives and commissions.  Aside from their salaries, agents also get additional money for reaching sales quotas or other milestones. 

• Awesome working environment. As a reward for their hard work, call center agents get all the pampering they can get through excellent workplace facilities. This is why most call centers provide their employees the works – immaculate bathrooms, cozy sleeping quarters, play areas, clean pantries with free coffee and so on.

• Career growth opportunities. If you’re like most agents, chances are you won’t be satisfied with being an agent for the rest of your working life. You will look for opportunities that can push you up the corporate ladder. A good call center provides its agents the chance to add more skills to their resumes so they can become eligible for higher positions in the company. A call center that takes care of its people’s career advancement produces agents who are not only successful with their jobs but also those who are actually happy staying in the organization.

Read more here- http://www.callcentertimes.com/Articles/tabid/59/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/407/CategoryID/1/NewsID/1028/Default.aspx

Customers are delighted to get gifts for companies. But, some companies fail to do so in a consistent manner. Companies might begin with good intentions, but sometimes they lose their way. Jake Sorofman (a former CMO), writes in his blog how companies sometimes fail to keep consistency. For more information, visit: http://blogs.gartner.com/jake-sorofman/in-customer-experience-consistency-is-the-new-delight/

Hospitality industry has not been concerned about technology and big data which resulted in widening of the gap between customers and industry. Big Data can result in improved customer satisfaction and personalized marketing campaigns. In addition, Big Data results in a boost in employee productivity and more efficient operations. The advantages of Big Data for the hotel industry are enormous.

1. Improving Customer experience through Personalization  

To improve customer experience, businesses must work towards gauging preferences .There is likely to be an enormous amount of information about every person on the Internet, so the key is to mine this information, and get the most relevant details out of it

2. Marketing Strategies

Big data can help companies devise the best marketing strategies for each target segment, based on their activities and preferences. When businesses understand their customers well, they can devise the right strategies to reach out to them. For example, if a company knows that a particular target group is spending an average of thirty hours a week on social media, they can devise their marketing strategies through social media channels. Such a strategy will give the greatest visibility for the company within their target group. 

3. Competitive Advantage

Companies that make use of big data have edge over others. They are able to foresee trends and make pricing strategies accordingly.

To know more- http://analyticsindiamag.com/how-big-data-is-leveraging-the-hospitality-industry/

Nowadays, business challenges across industries are same due to increasing commonality. Some of these challenges are customer satisfaction, market insight, cost reduction and supply chain efficiency. A solution to one of these problems in an industry can be applied to clients facing similar issue in another industry. This cross pollination can happen internally also between teams and departments. For prediction of the customer behavior we use analytical models by which we can give out the right message at the right time. These models can be used across industries to solve analytical problems because customers are often similar only and face same challenges. Read more here: http://www.callcentertimes.com/Articles/tabid/59/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/407/CategoryID/1/NewsID/1000/Default.aspx

All major corporates employ customer call centers to incline to the needs of their customers. A client usually calls the customer center and the first impression he receives is that of the service tended to him by the customer care representatives. So, organizations have started using automatic voice response systems to reduce the workload of their agents, attain to their customers round the clock and reduce operational costs. However, it has been found that many customers are disappointed with the automatic voice response systems due to various reasons. Companies need to design effective voice response systems that are brief and serve the needs of the customers. Find the detailed view point here: 

Businesses have started to realize that understanding the social media is of prime importance. However they often make the mistake of not utilizing the social media in the proper way. It is not only necessary to provide the customers with the requisite information and the various goods and services but also it is important to listen and help the customers if the need arises. So learning and understanding everything about the customer is of utmost significance. It is crucial for every business to do something which the customers are eager about so that they would be able to share their incidents through various social media channels. This however helps the organization to earn trust and cooperation of the customers.

Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/social-media/how-social-media-is-the-key-to-customer-success-01258473

Social media has changed the retail environment by becoming the new consumer watchdog and has bring forth new challenges. It has changed the way people see news and learn about new products. If used wisely, mobile, digital and social media can be a powerful business weapon. Another great weapon is Customer service!
For instance a good customer service where you resolve a problem quickly can have a great influence on repeat purchases.
By being ferociously committed to customer service you can contribute to the success of your company. We need to remember a few basics-

1- Understanding customer needs- its very important to listen and show interest in customer needs.

2-Stepping into your customer’s shoes- Human beings like to be treated nicely so it’s important to show the customers you care about them and they matter.


3-Providing extra benefits- Going beyond customer’s expectation insures speedy success.


Read more here- 


http://www.callcentertimes.com/Articles/tabid/59/ctl/NewsArticle/mid/407/CategoryID/1/NewsID/988/Default.aspx

Most of us must have heard these sayings – “Customer is the King” or “Customer Satisfaction should be the Top Priority”. We surely focus on satisfying customers but, what we sometimes fail to remember is the fact that the route to customer satisfaction goes via employee satisfaction. Thus, essentially, employee satisfaction should be considered as “the key focus area” for any organization.

Satisfied and loyal long term employees are an asset for the organizations. One way of enhancing employee satisfaction and thus customer satisfaction is by creating a digital workplace with intranet as its hub. Kevin Conroy, Founder and President of Blue Rooster, in his article at cmswire.com, has talked about the importance of employee satisfaction and has also listed out few steps that need to be taken before creating intranet for the organization. They are:

• Talk to employees
• Consider the user experience
• Map the top priority use cases and how they affect customers
• Define metrics
• Build an employee and customer-centric culture

So, creating a digital workplace with an enthusiastic consent of employees will eventually lead to gain of customers for life.

To know more, please visit the following link:

http://www.cmswire.com/social-business/creating-employees-for-life/

Maximizing ROI has become the ultimate goal for Marketers. Increasing visibility, likes, followers and tweets seems to be the major indicators. Daniel Newman, author of The Millennial CEO and a Forbes contributor, in an article in Forbes term these indicators as vanity metrics which distract marketers from the actual story. Rather than measuring likes, focus should be on how many of the likes were converted into new customer and other measures which go beyond customer acquisition and sales that will help discern their real growth story. 

He lists out 7 things that marketers should measure: 

• Top of funnel conversions

• Engagement

• Customer satisfaction

• Customer Retention 

• Employee satisfaction 

• Employee retention 

• Attributable Revenue

For more on this, follow the link http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2015/05/12/7-things-marketers-should-measure-big-data-can-help/

Customer analytics deals in the evaluation of consumer satisfaction, from the purchase of a product or service. The insights obtained from the data, assists in assessing a company's principle performance indicators, the sales division's performance and in making future sales forecasts. Customer loyalty aids in generating profits for the company. Customer relationship management (CRM) analytics, when applied efficiently, generates the best insights on customer satisfaction. CRM analytics analyses data, ranging from the profile of the consumer to customer feedback, to ensure the best possible results. Read more at:

http://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/the-secret-to-measuring-customer-experience