How Generational Differences are Driving Requirements for New Support Channels SSPA and Lithium Technologies When it comes to supporting customers successfully, “one size fits all” is a thing of the past. Younger customers have different expectations for support channels, and do not assume retailers and manufacturers are the best sources of information.  A joint research project conducted by Lithium Technologies and the SSPA has, for the first time, documented these trends with real data. The findings of the research demand action: companies that want to meet the new requirements must embrace Web 2.0 technology and include customer support communities in their customer care strategy.   2008 Channel Survey: Partners Want Choice, Simplicity and Tools to Enable Them to Secure More Service Contract Revenue Encover, Inc. An online survey conducted in January, 2008 by Encover, Inc., invited partners to share their experiences and describe their needs related to attaching and renewing hardware service contracts and software subscriptions for the manufacturers represented by those partners. The respondents included executives from channel partners, solution providers and direct market resellers (DMRs) focused on IT hardware, software and services.   Knowledge Engineering - A valuable information repository providing definitive directions for product enhancements Cybernet - SlashSupport Knowledge created becomes a key asset of an organization. It enables support organizations to increase their operational efficiency, improve customer experience and productivity, and drive product improvements based on the customer experience. While knowledge management has become a critical competency for technical support organizations, providing Knowledge Centered Support is also becoming ever more complex to capture the experience of solving problems. This paper aims to promote and understand the business imperative of effective Knowledge Centered Support approach and principles, towards the practice of knowledge management. It also provides a step-by-step guide to implement a Knowledge Centered Support-based knowledge management solution.   Improving Field Service Productivity & Profitability With Mobile Automation Tools Zebra, Motorola It pays to be good at field service. Efficient field service companies have lower operating expenses, better productivity, higher SLA compliance and customer satisfaction levels, and capture more service revenue than their peers. For these reasons, best-in-class operators have 2.5 percent higher service margins than average companies, and are about 50 percent more profitable than laggards. Winning Strategies for Web Self-Service InQuira Web self-service increases in importance as companies seek to reduce costs while maintaining and growing their customer bases. At the same time, and equally important, consumers look to the Web as the resource of choice for researching and answering all their questions, support and otherwise. Google and other Web-wide information sources have benefited most dramatically from this developing consumer dynamic, but do not underestimate its potential impact on consumers’ expectations for your site. To ensure your Web self-service initiative satisfies both corporate objectives and consumer expectations, we lay out here four best practices for implementing Web self-service on your customer-facing websites.     A Modern Approach to Improving Customer Support: Leveraging the Concepts of Web 2.0 for Self-Service and the Contact Center Knova Top down command and control models are obsolete. Today, the road to success means empowering customers with Web 2.0 technology and then enabling users to manage their own experiences while simultaneously contributing back content and knowledge beneficial to all.  Learn how this affects the business of service & support, and how it can benefit you.     Five Tips for Great E-Service in the Financial Services Industry Kana From ATMs to online banking, financial services institutions (FSIs) have been ahead of the curve in deploying electronic channels. But e-service has not always lived up to customer expectations. The 2007 KANA-IBM “mystery shopper” survey of more than 70 leading FSIs found that 95% of company websites could not answer a simple question, and 67% did not provide satisfactory answers via e-mail. Based on KANA’s experience with leading financial firms, the five tips in this article will help you start delivering the level of e-service convenience and quality your customers demand.     How Web 2.0 Technologies Enable a New Generation of Web Self-Service Platforms and Customers Salesforce.com Welcome to a Web 2.0 world, in which we are more connected, more available, and can more easily find and distribute information than ever before. However, the implications of Web 2.0 for customer service are enormous. On the plus side, companies are finding that peer-to-peer support offers tremendous cost savings by deflecting live agent interactions. In this paper, SSPA Research and Salesforce.com will explore the evolution of self-service, how Web 2.0 can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, and the role of OnDemand in enabling a new era of support: Customer Service 2.0.     The Power of Remote Support in Battling Today’s Top Customer-Support Issues Citrix Online Through ongoing member interviews, surveys, conferences and summits, the SSPA has identified the 6 toughest business issues impacting service and support organizations. These strategic issues represent the major obstacles to success for today’s technical support teams. For companies that want to differentiate competitively based on quality of service, responding appropriately to these issues is critical. Innovation in process and technology is required to meet these challenges head-on and lay the foundation for success in the years to come.     Implementing Software as a Service: Getting it Right Best Practices for Selecting an SaaS Solution for Customer Service KANA Software as a Service (SaaS) can reduce up-front costs and resource needs as well as create fast time-to-value with quick deployment. To implement SaaS for customer service, consider the SaaS vendor’s ability to offer best practices and flexible, adaptable software. In addition, make sure the vendor can provide seamless, integrated expansion into multi-channel service and a proven strategy for migrating to on-premise implementation.     Aligning Agent “Supply” with Inbound “Demand” to Achieve Operational Efficiency: It’s All About Flexible Workforce Scheduling in the Contact Center UCN Today’s modern contact centers are tossing aside their spreadsheets in favor of more flexible, feature-rich WFM tools - tools that facilitate real-time communications between mangers and agents and improve tracking of real-time schedule adherence, while reducing the complexity and associated costs. These advancements have improved scheduling, giving managers greater control with accurate forecasts and automated outreach during unplanned demand fluctuations.     Implementing KM InQuira Most customer service organizations today will admit that effective knowledge transfer is the most crucial element to resolving customer problems. When done correctly, knowledge transfer accelerates problem resolution processes, fuels customer satisfaction and leads to greater organizational efficiency. No amount of analysis and planning, however, will uncover every potential challenge or roadblock. Here, practitioners who have been through successful large-scale knowledge management initiatives share their insights and lessons learned.     Redefine Customer Service with Service Intelligence KANA Most customer service organizations today will admit that effective knowledge transfer is the most crucial element to resolving customer problems. When done correctly, knowledge transfer accelerates problem resolution processes, fuels customer satisfaction and leads to greater organizational efficiency. No amount of analysis and planning, however, will uncover every potential challenge or roadblock. Here, practitioners who have been through successful large-scale knowledge management initiatives share their insights and lessons learned.     The Next Big Thing in Call Centers! UCN Learn the key issues surrounding agent monitoring and coaching. Find out the shocking truths surrounding why almost every call center that uses traditional methods of evaluation struggles. Gain insights regarding what processes companies with significant results incorporate to increase their customer and agent satisfaction.       Your Business at the Crossroads: Preparing for the Age of the Distributed Workforce UCN Today, virtually all business organizations face fundamental changes in workforce management – do they stay with the 20th century centralized model and related systems or do they begin migrating to a 21st century distributed workforce model that manages and supports employees they can’t see? How they respond to this fundamental paradigm shift impacts who will flourish and who will flounder.         Hosting for business continuity in times of interruption: A Datamonitor whitepaper UCN This whitepaper will examine the case for hosted customer interaction centers, highlighting the ability of hosted service providers to deliver high levels of business continuity through resilient systems. In addition, a case study will illustrate how an organization can continue to provide an uncompromised level of service to its endusers during a period of business interruption.     On Demand Service and Support: A Datamonitor Whitepaper Salesforce.com Learn about the key issues driving change in customer service. Read deployment case studies that show how an on-demand service and support application can help relieve the increasing pressure placed on service and support departments.     Ten Principles for Knowledge Management Success Tom Tobin, Director, Business Consulting, Knova This KNOVA white paper explores ten areas of concentration, including: Common pitfalls of implementing KM and how to avoid them; Championing the initiative and setting expectations; Managing cultural change for employees; Integrating KM with existing support technologies. Read this paper and learn more about automating the resolution process across channels with KNOVA.     An ISV's Guide to Faster Application Problem Resolution BMC Software in Conjunction with Identify Software This paper examines the challenges of problem resolution for ISVs across the product lifecycle. It presents three case studies that demonstrate how leading ISVs are using best practices and application problem resolution technology from Identify Software to meet their product release schedules and reduce their service and support costs significantly–all with a rapid ROI.       Answering Customer Questions the Intelligent Way KANA This paper demonstrates how KANA knowledge management can be used to guide users to precise and relevant results. In addition, the paper discusses how KANA IQ enables enterprises to efficiently implement and maintain a knowledgebase that increases the value of existing information located in enterprise systems, as well as captures experiential knowledge from inside and outside the enterprise.       Creating a Great Customer Self-Service Experience KANA Self-service must do more than just cut costs. When customers perceive self-service as simply a means to shift interaction costs onto their shoulders, it can reduce customer satisfaction. Customers need a self-service experience that provides them with higher levels of interaction convenience and information availability, faster issue resolution and more personalized interactions.       Enhancing Customer Self-Service with Web Collaboration KANA To improve customer satisfaction and success online, enterprises are turning to Web collaboration so that they can affect the transaction while it is taking place. In this paper, KANA demonstrates how its Web collaboration solutions bridge self-service and assisted service, enabling agents to assist customers with online transactions in real time.