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James West reports: ignoring customer contact through social media will soon be as damaging to relationships as failing to pick up the phone or responding to an email.

Journalist and CSUKTV blogger James West follows up the #switchbanks campaign with a look at one of the new banks on the block who really walks the walk when it comes to focusing on service

Discover Bill Price's 'Best Service is No Service' principles for better service, lower costs and happy customers

Less than half of consumers understand the cost implications of smart-meters, casting doubts over the value of the project to roll out of 30 million devices at a cost of an estimated £11 billion. 

End of free banking? We’ll #switchbanks

Watch interviews from speakers at the Customer Engagement Network's March event.

Big banks refusing to respond to customers disillusioned by poor service levels may find themselves made redundant by other means, with rapid improvements in technology threatening to severely diminish their role.

Customer Service TV wants your nominations for banking providers offering top service to those seeking to #switchbanks.

James West explains why drastic change is needed

Poor service levels offered by UK banks may be caused by a virtual monopoly, but government intervention will not solve the problem.  James West explains what must happen for real change to occur, and how we can all help.

Co-Op Bank is using IT to underpin its customer-first ethos and Howard Kendall introduces Mia, a virtual assistant which could soon transform all service delivery.

Customer experience expected to be under scrutiny during London Olympics, with free wifi fuelling communication in the capital.

UK businesses sell almost twice as much via multi-channel as US counterparts because of multi-channel integration

Membership based cash-back site Quidco launch a new blog offering to entertain and inform smart shoppers, but will it be more than just a quick-fire barrage of deals and discounts?

A Southwest Airlines flight announcement becomes a viral video worldwide - see what this flight attendant does differently...

Agents don’t need any motivation to provide good service, but they do need our support.  James West says it's time to stop looking in the wrong places and start focusing on the real reasons why service fails.

80 per cent of organisations won’t offshore contact centres because of negative service impact

Embracing social media channels is essential for improving the customer experience.

Consumers are becoming more vocal about customer service via social media, with 49 per cent unlikely to do business with companies that receive bad reviews.

Businesses still treat social media as a marketing channel, ignoring customer interactions.

Customer Service TV at the December CSTN meeting. Watch short interviews with speakers and delegates and hear about their New Years Service Resolutions

UK consumers likely to leave Christmas shopping until the last minute, even though 85 per cent of websites don't make clear their holiday delivery dates.

Co Op introduces virtual contact centre assistant

Customer Service TV went along to Business Systems' conference to find out from delegates what is really happening in UK contact centres today.  Watch the video clips to find out what they say are the big issues from changing customer expectations  to employee engagement and how are these being addressed. 

A mobile app from the thetrainline.com which allows customers to check times and book tickets on the move now includes a number of support options.  Go to full article

Interviews from the annual Customer Service Network conference

Interviews from the latest Customer Service Training Network event on 10 November, hosted by British Council.

Airline Alitalia offers bespoke surveys to passengers to improve customer experience

Customer service has become more important during the recession according to 47 per cent of UK consumers.

Less than half of businesses engage in social media, with only 16 per cent seeing it as a key customer service channel

Utility company Npower fined £2 million for customer complaint failings.

The customer service technology landscape was dramatically reshaped this week after Oracle announced its intention to spend $1.5 billion acquiring customer experience software specialist RightNow.

Are consumers so blinded by the brushed aluminium they fail to see Apple’s shortcomings?  Why are Blackberry customers quick to jump to a rival ship when the network fails?  James West says there are important lessons from both technology providers about why customers are loyal, and what it takes to ensure they stick with you during tough times. 

Azzurri promises to match make customers and agents with contact centre management suite.

35 per cent of UK organisations will offer web chat within the next 12 months.

American Airlines is the world's 'most hated airline on social media' according to social media analytics firm Amplicate.

Telephone still most popular method of contacting customer service, but consumers starting to embrace new technology.

Funny and educational - this video was used in a recent TED conference. Learn how to spread enthusiasm and motivation in your organisation/community.

Using smartphones and tablets to shop is expected to grow by 55 per cent over the next five years.

Very funny video.  Can Terry keep your organisation focused?

Phone-only support route is more expensive in the long run than offering efficient multi-channel support.

Invest in multiple service channels for long-term cost savings.

A good reminder that repeat customers are our lifeblood...

The number of people employed in customer service roles in the UK has tripled in eight years, accounting for 328,000 jobs across the country, according to the Institute of Customer Service (ICS).

Great video by KLM

TalkTalk is the most complained about landline and fixed broadband services provider according to figures released by Ofcom.

Kudos for Gatorade for not just embracing social media, but making an awesome video telling us about it...

Salesforce.com says it can now help companies of all sizes deliver multi-channel service after it acquired help desk software company Assistly.

More than three-quarters of people who become aware of bad customer service via social media avoid doing business with the offending company according to research from Convergys.

Nearly half of UK consumers find call centres the most frustrating method of raising customer service issues, according to a study by analyst Econsultancy.