For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Next-Generation Contact Centers

Solutions To Keep Pace With Your Customers

by Elizabeth Herrell, November 11, 2009

Contact center customer support needs to evolve to better serve customers who no longer rely on one venue for receiving information but instead engage multiple sources. In addition to checking a company's Web site and its brochures, many customers research . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Technographics® Survey Highlights: US Insurance Channel Preferences  (608 KB PPT)

by Jacqueline Anderson, October 19, 2009

This highlight deck summarizes the key findings from Forrester’s North American Technographics® Investments And Insurance Online Survey, Q3 2009 (US).This deck covers channel preferences for researching and buying insurance, policy payments, and customer . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Using Twitter As A Customer Service Channel

by Diane Clarkson, October 14, 2009

Twitter has the potential to change its users' expectations for customer service and how companies interact with these customers. Twitter's instantaneous and personal dialogue is proving to be a valuable social engagement tool for many brands. If customers . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

The Reality Of Customer Service In Europe: How Europeans Use And Rate Service Channels

by Patti Freeman Evans, October 9, 2009

With 51% of European adults having sought company support in the past three months, customer service must be a key component of any company retention strategy. We found that Europeans favor traditional service channels like the phone and in-store interaction, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

To Invest Wisely, Know The Business Value Of Diverse CRM Solutions

by William Band, September 30, 2009

To help customer relationship management (CRM) professionals make smart decisions and navigate the complex CRM technology landscape, Forrester surveyed 286 companies. The goal was to determine the business value-add adjusted for uncertainty of 19 types . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: Yola.com Achieves Customer Service Scalability Goal Using Social Media

Best Practices In Customer Service Social Media

by Chip Gliedman, Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D., September 28, 2009

Yola.com is an online Web site builder that allows anyone to easily create, publish, and host a Web site. Founded in 2007 on the premise that Web site creation should be easy if publishing tools focused less on the technology and more on the user experience, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: Cisco Consumer Business Group Builds The Business Case For Social Media

Best Practices In Customer Service Social Media

by Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D., September 28, 2009

Consumer Business Group (CBG) — formerly Linksys — is a division of Cisco that offers a wide variety of consumer and small office voice over IP (VoIP) and networking solutions such as routers, switches, and storage systems under the Linksys by Cisco brand. . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: NetApp Marketing Takes Ownership Of Its Community Initiative To Ensure Success

Best Practices In Customer Service Social Media

by Chip Gliedman, Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D., September 28, 2009

NetApp is an industry-leading provider of storage and data management solutions. It has a presence in more than 100 countries; thousands of customers and a network of more than 2,200 partners; and a culture of innovation, technology leadership, and customer . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: Intel Uses Social Media To Transform The Customer Experience

Best Practices In Customer Service Social Media

by Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D., September 28, 2009

Most people know Intel as a provider of microprocessors for large manufacturers such as Apple, Dell, and HP. However, a large proportion of Intel's business comes from an elaborate network of customers, including resellers, from around the globe. To effectively . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Footwear Manufacturers' Cross-Channel Experience, 2009

An Industry Look At This Year's Best And Worst Of Cross-Channel Design

by Adele Sage, September 18, 2009

As part of a larger analysis of 16 firms, Forrester evaluated the cross-channel experiences of four large footwear manufacturers — adidas, New Balance, Nike, and Puma. Overall, the footwear manufacturers lagged relative to most of the other industries. . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Case Study: Nationwide Insurance Uses Mobile To Offer Customers Self Service On The Road

A Mobile POST Case Study

by Julie A. Ask, Chad Mitchell, September 11, 2009

Nationwide Mutual Insurance was the first US insurer to develop a custom mobile application for the Apple iPhone. The firm's mobile application offers customers the ability to file a claim and upload pictures of an accident, follow a detailed accident . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How To Improve Searchable Self-Service Online

eBusiness Professionals Must Focus On Site Search And FAQs To Deflect Call Center Calls

by Diane Clarkson, September 11, 2009

Searchable self-service and frequently asked questions (FAQs) are among the most commonly accessed customer service touchpoints, but there is a lot of room for improvement. Poor performance plaguing searchable self-service and FAQs surfaced in a recent . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Twelve Criteria For Contact Center Outsourcers

Questions Companies Need to Ask When Engaging A Contact Center Outsourcer

by Elizabeth Herrell, September 10, 2009

Many companies consider outsourcing their contact center or customer service centers to improve operational efficiencies and to increase customer satisfaction. However, many decision-makers know little about potential contact center outsourcers, and they . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: Lenovo Takes Ownership Of Social Media To Reduce Customer Service Costs

Best Practices In Customer Service Social Media

by Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D., August 14, 2009

When Lenovo acquired the IBM PC Computing division, it saw that customers were talking about its products in third-party forums like notebookreview.com and thinkpads.com, and it worried that it was being left out of these important conversations. Lenovo . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: ACT! By Sage Uses Social Media To Transform The Customer Experience

Best Practices In Customer Service Social Media

by Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D., August 14, 2009

Sage North America, a leading provider of customer relationship and contact management software to small- and medium-sized businesses, faced the twin challenges of unhappy customers and a sinking economy. One specific brand, ACT! by Sage, was tasked to . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

The State Of Retailing Online 2009: Merchandising And Web Optimization

by Sucharita Mulpuru, August 14, 2009

The annual fielding of "The State of Retailing Online," a Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research, asked retailers about their prioritization and success rates regarding more than 50 site merchandising and Web optimization tools. Even though retailers . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Best Practices: Five Strategies For Customer Service Social Media Excellence

Use Social Technologies To Improve Customer Experiences And Lower Costs

by Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D., August 14, 2009

As consumers rapidly adopt social media — and use it to voice their displeasure about brands and complain about products and services — customer service professionals struggle with how best to harness the power of the cloud to transform customer experiences. . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: Infusionsoft Improves Customer Experience Via Social Media

Best Practices In Customer Service Social Media

by Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D., Chip Gliedman, August 14, 2009

Infusionsoft is a Web-based provider of marketing automation software aimed at the true small business with fewer than 25 employees. Infusionsoft wanted to leverage a community of users of its products to simultaneously reduce costs and improve customer . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Online Retail Customer Service Availability Needs Some Improvement

Retail eBusiness Customer Service And Support Benchmark, 2009

by Diane Clarkson, Elizabeth Stark, August 7, 2009

As part of a larger analysis of 90 Web sites, Forrester evaluated the accessibility and availability of online customer service and support among 30 leading retail Web sites. Retail sites scored the highest compared to other industries reviewed, with . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Solving Online Application Abandonment

Ten Proven Tactics To Maximize Completion Rates For Financial Products

by Brad Strothkamp, August 7, 2009

The increasing importance of the Web in the acquisition process makes solving application abandonment a vital part of an eBusiness strategy. Most firms lack the resources or proper analytics to adequately attack the problem. This document uncovers successful . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Financial Web Sites Need Customer Service Help

Financial Services eBusiness Customer Service And Support Benchmark, 2009

by Diane Clarkson, Elizabeth Stark, July 31, 2009

As part of a larger analysis of 90 Web sites, Forrester evaluated the availability of online customer service and support among 30 leading financial services Web sites. Forrester found that most sites delivered inconsistent customer service availability, . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How US Credit Card Customers Use And Rate Issuers' Secure Sites

Customers Do Little More Than View And Pay Their Bills Online

by Emmett Higdon, Peter Wannemacher, July 30, 2009

There are more than 175 million credit card owners in the US, 85% of whom go online at least monthly. Overall, 73% of cardholders have used at least one feature on their provider's Web site in the past year, with younger cardholders showing an even greater . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Travel Web Site Customer Service Is Far From Perfect

Travel eBusiness Customer Service And Support Benchmark, 2009

by Diane Clarkson, Elizabeth Stark, July 27, 2009

As part of a larger analysis of 90 Web sites, Forrester evaluated the accessibility and availability of online customer service and support among 30 leading travel Web sites. Only 12 of the travel Web sites we reviewed received a passing score, and overall . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Who Wants Low Prices Or Good Customer Service?

Examining Four Segments Of Consumers Across 12 Industries

by Bruce D. Temkin, July 23, 2009

In previous research, Forrester found that US consumers looked for good customer service more often than lower prices. To understand this dynamic in more detail, we created four segments of consumers: Service Seekers, Price Seekers, Price & Service . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

TechRadar™ For BP&A Professionals: The Extended CRM Application Ecosystem, Q3 2009

Social Applications Stimulate Innovation But Sales, Order Management, And Service Hold The Keys To Your Revenue Engine

by William Band, July 9, 2009

Locking in customer loyalty through deeper engagement and differentiated experiences will continue to be critical priorities for organizations in all sectors in the decade ahead, but navigating the complex customer relationship management (CRM) technology . . .