Small Business Labs

APRIL 25, 2019

So are sales managers and customer service reps.    This report nicely illustrates where the war for talent is being fought - functions such as IT, research and development, financial management, marketing, sales and customer service.

2018 119

2018 Customer Service 2019 Management 119

Small Business Labs

AUGUST 5, 2021

Allowing customer-facing workers complete schedule flexibility would result in constant misallocation of resources.   This would result in bad customer service, unprofitable operations, and business failure.   But in exchange, they take on the risk that there may not be customer demand when they work.

Customer Service 167

Customer Service Email Policies 167

Small Business Labs

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

We met with Liveops last week and learned they have about 20,000 independent agents providing customer service and sales support to over 400 enterprise clients. The agents are independent workers who contract with Liveops and work remotely, mostly from home. One of their key selling points is the skill of their agents.

Retirement 150

Retirement Customer Service Travel Skills 150

Small Business Labs

MAY 1, 2018

The top three benefits existing users of automation technology see are: freeing up time to get more work done (79%), helping with customer service (77%), boosting innovation (74%).

Customer Service 162

Customer Service Forms Learning Management 162

Small Business Labs

MARCH 7, 2016

Companies use Directly apps to route support questions to a talent pool of skilled users and reward them with cash or credit when they answer a customer question. In other words, these on-demand customer service reps are not professional call center staff, nor do they work scheduled hours or defined shifts.

Customer Service 100

Customer Service Skills UPS 100

Small Business Labs

APRIL 4, 2017

The article closes with a description of the move from fixed cost business models to variable cost ones: This is starting to look a lot like other outsourcing trajectories, whether it’s manufacturing, customer service, or IT.

Restaurants 178

Restaurants 2007 2008 Customer Service 178

Small Business Labs

AUGUST 20, 2015

.  According to an article from advertising giant JWT, retailers are turning into "third places": "which are increasingly focused around experiences, unique environments and customer service – giving shoppers new reasons to spend time in these spaces" We agree that experiences are winning over things and expect this trend to continue (..)

Social Media 100

Social Media Customer Service Purchasing Twitter 100