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12 Etech Character Commitments – An In-Depth Look at 1-6

Employee development is key to any company’s success. For Etech, this principle forms the cornerstone of its approach to employee relations, which centers on 12 character commitments essential to support effective implementation of servant leadership. Integrity Employees need to know they can rely on their leadership and on one another. Fostering a spirit of integrity is the first important step towards building a cohesive, motivated team. This character commitment means delineating your company’s principles and supporting your team in adhering to them. Whether interacting with customers, vendors, co-workers, subordinates or supervisors, integrity is an essential component of building trust. Valuing People Many companies approach employees as “human resources,” only taking an interest in whether they perform their current tasks. A more foresighted approach is to not only value current contributions but to take an interest in the whole person. Valuing people for the whole range of their talents and potential paves the road to participating in an employee’s development and assuring long-term success. Teamwork An effective team is vital to maintaining productivity and achieving goals. The principles of servant leadership demand attention to developing teamwork that goes far beyond each employee performing his or her assigned tasks. Real teamwork happens when each employee understands the role of his or her functions within the larger picture of the team and of the entire company. Rather than mechanically repeating a set of actions, employees who work as a true team cooperate intelligently to reach goals they are invested in. Accountability A core character commitment, accountability builds relationships and enhances teamwork. It completes the balance between working together as a united team and taking individual responsibility for one’s own role. Accountability at all levels boosts trust between employees and leaders. Unlike the popular conception, accountability does not just mean accepting blame for when things go wrong. Rather, it is an expression of a personal relationship to one’s work and an understanding of one’s responsibility to the team. Communication It is possible to exchange words without achieving communication. All too frequently, words are used to obscure, deflect or confuse. Communication as a cornerstone of servant leadership, on the other hand, means establishing honest, informative exchanges of ideas. On a logistical level, this can mean company managers may need to review processes to ensure there are protocols in place to enable employees to share information efficiently. On a more general plane, it is important to establish a setting of trust and cooperation that encourages needed communication. Vision All too often, company leaders get caught up in short-term goals. They make the mistake of focusing on meeting today’s goals at the expense of long-term vision. However, it is essential to keep in mind that the short-term tasks are important because they further long-term organizational objectives. Vision is essential to effective leadership, as it enables managers to make strategic decisions and build relationships with their teams. If the above sounds like a lofty challenge, using the right resources can help. AI solutions can aggregate and analyze data to identify areas that would benefit from improvement, as well as paths towards achieving it. Using AI performance analytics in conjunction with the Etech character commitment can help employees attain their full potential.

Why Successful Businesses Focus on Developing People – Not Employees

State-of-the-art technology is very useful in modern businesses, but it’s impossible for computers to replace the human element. People bring essential qualities like creativity, innovation and outside-the-box problem solving to the table that successful businesses depend on. Since the most important assets in any organization are its people, helping them to develop additional abilities and assume increased responsibilities should be a priority. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case. Why not? Why Personal Development for Staff Members Often Takes the Backseat While many managers honestly desire to see team members grow, it’s easy to let urgent calls and meetings get in the way. A common misconception is that customer needs take priority all the time, and that training and development for company personnel is less important. This is a very shortsighted view of company wellbeing, however. A recent Harvard Business Review study revealed that even though many employees appreciate the added responsibilities and opportunities for advancement they receive, a large number of workers often feel that training, encouragement and mentoring is lacking in their company. What can happen when staff members feel that way? Put simply, they’re likely to leave in search of greener pastures. This means businesses lose valuable people with innate talents that could have become major organizational stars, future management powerhouses with an important forward-looking outlook. How To Help Your People Grow As Individuals and Be More Productive The answer, in a word, is mentoring. Share your valuable business and life experience to help others realize their full potential in the organization. Here are four steps to take: Be genuine: Get to know the members of your team personally. Find out details about their family, personality, and Your personal interest helps you inspire the people around you, and also gives you valuable insight into their strengths and aptitudes so you know which direction to nudge them in. Assign tasks: Micromanaging doesn’t help people learn to become good managers themselves. Give them a few increased responsibilities you think they’re ready to motivate them. Provide proper training and tools: This is where many managers fail. Besides new assignments, make sure to give your personnel the instructions and tech they need to succeed, including promoting honest questions. Follow up: After enough time has passed, check out how they did. Give plenty of sincere commendation for good work and also point out one or two ways things could go even smoother. If You Train Them, Your Business Will Prosper Viewing employees as people – with unique strengths and future potential – instead of numbers on a sheet isn’t just good for them, it’s also good for your company: Increased loyalty and honesty from staff members Improved productivity and superior work quality Stronger, family-like organization Talented individuals with in-depth company knowledge in the right leadership roles When the people who work for you feel content, valued and inspired, they have a reason to go to work every morning with a smile on their face and a sense of purpose. Motivated staff members work harder, think more clearly and develop amazing strategies because they give their all for your company. Who inspired them to reach the organizational position they’re passionate about and develop the skills that make them great at it? That’s right, you did.

Creating Genuine and Long-Term Servant Leadership Cultures

Etech’s philosophy of Servant Leadership is simple “A servant leader is a servant first, showcasing the natural feeling of serving others humbly, than to serve first”. When we hear the word Humility, it may bring to mind images of things that seem “less-than” or “weak”. Etech defines Humility as being sincere, transparent, open and honest. It has been long debatable what’s the meaning of servant leadership? It’s obviously about leadership, but it’s about leadership that’s based on dialogue rather than monologue. Servant leaders are far removed from the archetypal “boss” persona that often bears a closer resemblance to a dictator than a leader. When you hear employees referring to their manager as someone who cares about their needs, you’re hearing them talk about a servant leader. Companies have much to gain from managers who embody this leadership style – it helps to create a positive and long-term workplace culture that fosters employee growth, skill-development and dedication. Some Basic Personality Traits of a Servant Leader Empathy: A leader who lacks empathy will have a tough time understanding their employees’ point of view. It requires the ability to listen closely to what others are saying to understand their perspective. An important factor in what has been termed emotional intelligence, empathy is one of the foundations of servant leadership. When empathy is demonstrated in a leader’s interactions with their employees, those same employees will be better equipped and motivated to follow the leader’s example when they deal with customers. In this respect, a servant leader leads by example and can play a significant role in developing a highly customer-centric workforce. Foresight: Decision-making should include consideration of past, present and future circumstances while also balancing collective versus individual needs. This may sound more like an ideal to aspire to, but servant leaders typically have a wider degree of focus than leaders who only see the needs of the moment. Servant leaders tend to see the big picture and make decisions accordingly. Part of the big picture is the human element – that of employees and customers – which can often be a significant factor. Servant leaders don’t lose sight of the human element in their decision-making. Humility: It’s better to admit to a mistake than to try to hide it. Servant leaders gain the respect of others when they admit they were wrong, and if need be, offer an apology. It also sets a good example for employees when it can be shown that one can learn from their mistakes or misjudgments. Self-Awareness: The ability to be aware of how your actions and words affect others is an important part of servant leadership. The dictator-leader may not give much consideration to self-awareness other than focusing on how quickly commands are obeyed. The self-aware leader, however, understands the need to control his emotions and behavior so that others are not affected in a negative way. Two Organizational Benefits Servant leaders recognize the dangers in territoriality. When workgroups or departments become fiefdoms, the entire organization suffers. The servant leader understands the value of sharing information and skills across workgroups and stresses the need for cooperation and teamwork. This benefits the entire organization and promotes a company culture that minimizes employee turnaround while also attracting higher quality new recruits. An organization benefits when employees are in it for the long haul and when they also help spread the word that the company is a great place to work. When the internal environment is a positive one, it spreads outward to the company’s customers. In addition to displaying their customer-relations skills, employees often communicate their positive feelings about their company, which can contribute to increased customer loyalty.

The Positive Motivational Influence of Servant Leadership

Across the spectrum of leadership styles, those which motivate employees to approach their work with a greater degree of enthusiasm produce some of the best organizational results. Workplace cultures that foster long-term company and mission commitments also help businesses to remain competitive, innovative and successful. Servant leadership is a contemporary approach to leadership that has shown itself to be a dynamic factor in producing the levels of motivation and enthusiasm that can bring a company to the leading edge of its field. How Servant Leaders Achieve Better Organizational Results Emotional intelligence, or EQ, plays a significant role in a servant leader’s success. By remaining aware of how one’s personal behavior affects the behavior of others, the servant leader recognizes the value of emotional self-regulation. Through the visible display of high moral and ethical standards, the servant leader is able to lead others by example rather than by decree. A fundamental factor in an effective servant leader’s EQ is the ability to listen well. This is not just a method of gaining insight into what others are thinking, it also displays a willingness to hear and understand what they have to say. This builds trust by demonstrating to employees that the leader cares about their concerns and needs. Servant leaders act as mentors and encourage employee growth and development. They demonstrate a willingness to help their followers grow and become better individuals, both professionally and personally. Servant leaders make an effort to help their employees develop their full potential. They support both onsite and external training for their employees and will facilitate the implementation of new and improved company programs to help in skill and professional development. Reward and empowerment are the preferred motivational tools of servant leaders. They understand that greater long-term results are achieved through positive reinforcement than by negative threat. Servant leaders do not rely on fear or domination to achieve results – they base their authority to lead on earned respect and their visible commitment to the greater good of the workplace community. Servant leaders can see the big picture. They are not fixated on immediate goals and quick fixes; the long-term mission goal and the associated human factors are the greater priority. Servant leaders also surround themselves with people who can offer varying perspectives on a given situation so that they can get the broadest viewpoint possible. What Are the Organizational Results? Overall, an organization will benefit from a workplace culture that fosters positive motivation and employee enthusiasm. Innovation, teamwork and a willingness to go the extra mile represent valuable human assets for almost any type of organization. Studies have shown that the servant leadership model has a positive effect on customer experiences; brand name loyalty is increased and customer ratings go up. This leadership model creates an environment in which ethical conduct and a high regard for others are dominant factors – a fact which does not go unnoticed by customers and company stakeholders. In addition to producing a highly motivated workforce, the servant leadership model’s encouragement of employee development results in a knowledgeable, skilled and productive team. That alone can make a significantly positive impact on a company’s bottom line and reputation in the marketplace.

Humans and AI Can Work Together To Create Better Connections

The traditional role played by interaction analysts is changing – there’s a new source of reliable feedback that’s providing greater insights into how people interact. The new source of human relationship and engagement feedback has taken some folks by surprise – it’s Artificial Intelligence. Artificial intelligence is helping businesses to build better internal and external relationships. AI is not taking the place of human interactions; it instead makes it easier for humans to build better relationships and develop stronger connections. The old traditional methods used to understand how employees and customers relate to each other are slow and often unclear. The data is collected mainly through lengthy surveys, interviews and interaction transcripts that require collating and analysis. By the time the manually organized final output reaches the appropriate manager or team member, it may have lost all relevance. AI Is Well-Suited to Analyzing Data Quickly and Accurately – Human Data Included Measuring the degree of positive engagement between service reps and customers requires the accurate analysis of huge amounts of interactive data. AI is well-suited to the task and can discern useful meaning by quickly scanning and analyzing thousands of human interactions as they take place. Trends that would have taken weeks to spot by humans working within one of the traditional approaches can now be reduced to mere moments. The suitability of the data presented by AI enables humans actions to be taken before situations develop that can be tough to control or reverse. In this respect, AI becomes a game-changer in relationship and engagement building; it enables managers to take effective and proactive measures rather than be forced into a reactive stance when small problems become big ones. Better Human Insights leads to better Decisions along with AI Due to the timeliness and accuracy of the analysis AI provides, the actions taken remain applicable to the most current and immediate situations. The enhanced decision-making process is of particular importance when the goal is to create better connections and relationships between service reps and customers. In this respect, AI helps customer-centric organizations become more people-centric. Call Centers Have Much To Gain When AI Supports Human Interactions Positive customer experiences are a primary goal of any customer-service operation. AI can quickly detect trends in customer calls and alert the human element of an organization to a developing issue as soon as it’s first detected. Forewarned is forearmed, and the customer service team will be much better prepared to deal effectively with a developing problem when the AI early-warning system spots the first spark. AI’s quick-detection capabilities are not limited to spotting negative trends – those team member actions that bring about the most positive customer reactions will also be detected. The benefit of their detection lies in AI’s ability to quickly share what it learns with the entire team. The combination of human intelligence and AI in a customer service department or call center can build more positive and loyal customer relationships. By monitoring and analyzing the interactions taking place, AI can quickly detect and report what’s making customers happy and what their concerns are. This is valuable and actionable information that becomes even more useful when it can be shared with the front-line team members as it happens, instead of weeks later. This blog was first published on LinkedIn.

The Right Ways to Combat Shopping Cart Abandonment Issues

One of the biggest challenges faced by the online retailers, who are trying to increase their online conversions, is shopping cart abdication. This is one of the most crucial problems for online businesses to overcome. Abandoned shopping carts rates are an essential metric for retailers who are worried about expanding on the web change. In the era where Customer Experience is reining the business success charts, business owners are doing everything in their capability to ensure better customer engagement and higher customer satisfaction. Yet they are not able to completely resolve the shopping cart abandonment issue. Each relinquished shopping basket speaks to missed income and offers an open door for retailers to effectively convince such clients to make up the lost deals. It also could be an indication towards a broken sales funnel. A great many dollars are contributed by organizations to streamline their sites to guarantee better client commitment and higher consumer loyalty. Now, it’s time to make a paradigm shift and look at the abandoned shopping cart issue through a different lens. Reasons for Shopping Cart Abandonment There are different possible reasons for shopping cart abandonment. The most common ones being inflated shipping costs, having less positive customer reviews, inadequate information about exchange or return policy, not having clear information on the site about shipping policy and a not so friendly user interface that makes the shopping process complex. High price, technical problems, not having flexible payment options etc. are few of the other reasons. Apart from this, there can be different reasons like extravagant transportation costs, an absence of clear data with respect to delivery or trade or an arrival strategy, examination shopping, terrible client surveys, insufficient data in FAQs, and so forth. Many customers also leave if they don’t find SSL certificates on the website or if they do not find the needed information on the website about the product. Last but not the least, many times customers also make use of shopping carts to get to know the total cost of the product, including the shipping charges for comparing it with other websites and shop on another website if found the charges to be cheaper over there. The Strategy Shift Online retailers need to deep dive a little further into the actual reasons behind the shopping cart abandonment by the user. And they should start focusing more on developing strategic moves to convert website visitors into customers. For tackling abandoned cart customers, one of the effective ways would be to use the popular email marketing technique. Online retailers can use emails to remind their customers about the abandoned carts and close the sale. A thorough reviewing of the various metrics of shopping cart abandonment is very important. Focusing more on the real reasons that offer crucial insights into the behavioral flow of shopping of the customers, pricing, preferences etc. is a game changer. Live Chat – An effective tool to reduce The Shopping Cart Abandonment Placing live chat on a website does help significantly in reducing the shopping cart abandonment rates. Customers don’t like to wait, and if they don’t find the information that they are looking for, the chances are high of them leaving. This situation could be easily avoided with a live chat. Interacting with customers via Live Chat is an effective way of building trust among your customers and a proven method of ensuring the best customer satisfaction. Offering live talk amid a pivotal checkout point, on particular pages that offer item data, or in light of predefined tenets can be of awesome help to clients as they can find solutions to their inquiries rapidly and effortlessly. Incorporating Live Chat on your website would provide the customers with timely answers to their questions and would offer instant help at crucial points. This greatly helps in gaining the trust of customers and turning them into loyal returning customers.

Successful AI Systems: When Sophisticated Technology Meets Talented People

Every day, your brain sorts through myriads of signals – insignificant background noise, repetitive tasks and endless mathematical calculations to help muscles coordinate properly – in search of what’s really worth your attention. This lets you focus on an important phone call instead of hearing the dog barking next door. This ability is exactly what makes artificial intelligence (AI) such a powerful tool for modern businesses, helping companies sift through mountains of raw data in search of key tidbits that reveal everything from customer purchasing trends to overall satisfaction. To be most effective, however, AI should be used to complement and enhance the abilities of the people in your organization, not replace them. Similarly, as organization leads their way to deliver an extraordinary and high personalized customer experience using advanced artificial intelligence, it is important to factor the combination of human intelligence and machine learning to achieve and deliver what customers want. Why the Human Touch Is a Critical Component of Successful Data Analysis People have abilities that machines can’t even begin to approach: Emotional perception: People can perceive the feelings behind words, picking up on subtleties like sarcasm, disappointment and contentment. Skillful customer service agents and data analysts can even tell the difference between mild irritation, frustration, anger and outright hostility, adapting correctly to each situation. Innovation: Humans were practically born to color outside of the lines. The best company employees do the same, taking conversations well beyond simple scripted outlines when needed to guarantee real success: customer satisfaction. Effective analysis: While AI excels at pattern recognition, it takes humans to fine-tune searches and see beyond mere coincidence to larger behavioral trends. People are simply better at complex analysis than machines. How Artificial Intelligence Can Supercharge Your Customer Service The biggest strength of AI is its raw processing power and speed. Artificial intelligence software can search through millions of hours of data in a tiny fraction of the time it would take experienced data scientists. To make use of this amazing ability, modern customer service teams let AI do the heavy lifting, highlighting the most valuable moments for deeper analysis. That provides unique benefits: Optimum customer experience: People want individual attention that adapts to their needs. AI helps your entire business, from website to call center, identify those needs quickly and provide solutions that work. Valuable raw data made actionable: Instead of only using a tiny amount of your total customer interaction history, AI can enable you to use it all, seeing trends both from individual clients and larger groups. How To Create a Successful AI and Human Partnership Convert analog audio files to searchable digital text format. Choose an experienced AI partner to integrate professional systems with your team. Identify optimal examples of productive employee-client interactions. Use these pinnacle examples to set AI and call center targets. Each step towards this brilliant future is a lot easier with advisors who understand the best way to partner your staff with AI systems. Dedicating resources to transcribe audio files and analyze them can honestly seem overwhelming at first, but it’s worth the investment. Effective customer support wins you incredible brand loyalty. Clients that feel truly satisfied have far stronger purchasing intent, leading to increased profits and a larger, more solid base. Using AI to enhance your teams is the only way to provide customers with the next level of personalized attention they deserve. This blog was first published on LinkedIn.

How to Provide Customer Service With Servanthood

Regardless of how many employees your call center has, customer service should always be on everyone’s mind at all times. Treating customers in a cordial and friendly manner should be a requirement, not an option, and call center employees should understand the value of providing exceptional customer service. When a customer calls, the person who answers will essentially serve as a representative for the entire company, and if the interaction goes imperfectly or the customer does not feel their needs have been addressed, they will simply take their business elsewhere. This sounds harsh, but in reality, by using the principle of servant leadership in call centers, you can prevent loyal customers from looking elsewhere. The Strength of Leadership and Customer Service Combined Many people do not know customer service is a leadership skill that must be properly taught and executed. Unlike other types of leadership, which emphasize an overt assertion of authority, servant leadership is based on using leadership skills to serve others. This involves actively listening to customers and addressing their issues in a timely and professional manner. Cultivating an attitude of servitude and leadership can be difficult for call center managers, but there are steps you can take to encourage your employees to use hone their servitude leadership skills. Establish a Customer Service Vision or Mission Before a company can begin to implement any type of servant leadership principles, they must first establish a customer service vision or mission. Having a vision gives call center workers something to work towards, and when times get rough, they will remember why they must provide stellar customer service at all times. Talk to your employees about what behaviors they should display (ex: happiness, active listening) so everyone will be on the same page. Make Customers Feel Appreciated Everyone wants to be appreciated, especially customers who remain loyal to a single company or brand. Encourage your employees to make customers feel appreciated by using words such as “please” and “thank you.” Always let your customers know their business is valued and it is a privilege for your company to serve them. Monitor and Measure the Performance of Employees As a leader, you must be capable of evaluating your call center employees’ performance. There should be measurable ways to evaluate an employee’s performance, such as providing customer feedback forms, sending out surveys, and speaking directly to customers. If an employee doesn’t meet your customer service goals, they should receive additional assistance until they are capable of doing so. When discussing the performance of an employee, always provide constructive feedback if you believe they can improve in a certain area. Take Pride in Your Commitment to Customer Service It is immensely important to take pride in your culture of customer service if you are a manager or supervisor. This shows employees how serious you are about serving customers, and your enthusiasm will lay the groundwork for integrating service leadership into your company’s vision and framework. Providing customers with the respect and professionalism they deserve is a must for any successful call center. By employing the service leadership skills listed above, it is possible to create an atmosphere of servant leadership throughout your entire call center while keeping customers satisfied at all times.

Ways to Successfully Transform Your Workplace

Creating a customer centric workplace is no easy task, but it is necessary if you want your employees to deliver the best customer experience possible. As the name suggests, the customer centric approach to the workplace asserts customers are the most important component of any company’s success. This means that companies and their employees should go to great lengths to keep them satisfied and retain their business. If you are ready to reap the previously mentioned customer centric workplace benefits, here are five ways to successfully transform your workplace. Establish a Single Set of Customer Experience Values Chaos can easily ensue if a company allows all of its employees to interpret the concept of a “customer centric” on an individual basis. To prevent any potential issues, managers, supervisors, and executives should make sure all employees are on the same page. This involves creating a single set of customer experience values and a mission everyone can adopt. Reward Exceptional Customer Experience Have you ever considered rewarding your employees for providing outstanding customer experience? By rewarding employees for doing the right thing, you can show your appreciation and set a standard for lower-performing employees at the same time. When a company rewards its employees and regularly acknowledges their accomplishments, the employees begin to realize they are valued and they will almost certainly take note of the type of behavior managers and supervisors reward. Get Your Employees on Board If your current company is not centered around customer satisfaction, your employees will need some sort of incentive to change their current behavior. This is understandable, especially if your company has condoned and encouraged such behavior up until now. Regardless of what values your company held in the past, you will need to make sure everyone is onboard and fully committed to providing phenomenal customer experience at all times. Get employees on your side by making the connection between a customer centric workplace and company success. Provide them with case studies that show how successful this approach can be. Consult Executives Before you attempt to completely change the way your employees approach customer experience, you may want to secure the support of higher-level executives. Having the CEO, president, or even the vice president on your side can go a long way and show employees how serious the company is about satisfying its customers. Allow your company’s CEO to lead the charge when it comes to making major culture changes in the workplace. Measure Company and Employee Performance To successfully implement any culture change in the workplace, you must be able to measure the performance of your employees to see how well they are adapting. By working with department heads and executives, you can create acceptable metrics for employee performance. Use these metrics to provide feedback to your employees and identify employees who may need additional help. Transforming the culture of a company is difficult, but it can be done. By keeping the tips listed above in mind, you can ensure a stress-free and relatively simple transition for your employees. Your customers will also be more than appreciative of the culture change.

Security Brief – Protect Your Medical Information and Identity

Your personal health insurance information, including your Social Security number, address, and email address, is valuable and vulnerable. When it gets into the wrong hands it can be used to steal expensive medical services—even surgeries—and prescription drugs or to procure medical devices or equipment such as wheelchairs. Your medical identity is a commodity that can be hijacked and used to falsify insurance claims or to fraudulently acquire government benefits such as Medicare or Medicaid. Your personal medical information may also be sold on the black market, where it can be used to create entirely new medical identities based on your data. And more often than you might imagine, people outright share their own medical coverage with an uninsured friend or family member in need of care, which is against the law. Because current consumer protections aren’t specifically designed for medical identity theft, experts warn, people need to understand that they may have to take on extensive work to clear up fraudulent bills. Some frustrated victims of medical identity theft simply give up and pay the bills themselves. But there’s another, far more dangerous problem with medical identity theft: The thief’s own medical treatment, history, and diagnoses can get mixed up with your own electronic health records—potentially tainting and complicating your care for years to come. And that isn’t a hypothetical problem. “About 20 percent of victims have stated that they received the wrong diagnosis or treatment, or that their care was delayed because there was confusion about what was true in their records due to the identity theft,” says Ann Patterson, a senior vice president of the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance (MIFA), a group of several dozen healthcare organizations and businesses working to reduce the crime and its negative effects. Spotting Medical Identity Theft and How to Prevent It Experts say detecting the fraud in the first place can be the most difficult part. “Medical identify theft and fraud is much harder to spot than financial fraud,” says Michelle De Mooy, acting director of the Privacy & Data Project at the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology. “The bank calls you if they see charges in the system that raise an alarm. This kind of fraud is much easier to hide for a longer time.” That’s why you need to be especially smart and careful about how and when you share your personal, medical, and insurance information. Here are a few basic ways you can safeguard your medical privacy and identity: Read those explanation of benefits letters as if they were bank statements Carefully check all of the correspondence you receive from health insurers and healthcare providers for accuracy and for bills of service that you don’t recognize Review your credit reports for unfamiliar debts. Be stingy with your personal health information, Social Security card, and insurance cards. If someone asks for them, inquire whether it is really necessary.

Chatbots are useful, not powerful!

Today’s world is strangely divided when it comes to views and belief systems involving artificial intelligence. This is not a new thing, as new ideas have always been regarded with skepticism and distrust until they take hold in society. Even the first automobiles were thought of as little more than toys that would never gain a foothold in society. The first popular opinion, with reference to modern technology, is that artificial intelligence equals something out of a science fiction or Marvel movie. In essence, AI will soon look better and perform more efficiently than all humans. This will lead to a world of humans who are completely dependent on witty AI systems to solve every problem, no matter how large or small. The second popular opinion, when looking at advancing AI technology is less grand and more filled with fear. Instead of viewing the future of AI as a beneficial larger-than-life presence, they instead view it as competition that will take over all of the work that humans currently get paid to do. There are studies that do point to this kind of a future. For instance, a recent Forrester study shows that Ai, automation, and robots are predicted to replace humans in at least 7% of jobs by 2025. Recent AI advancements technologies such as Salesforce Einstein and IBM Watson lend reality to the fact that technology is, indeed advancing at a very rapid pace. The Truth About AI Perhaps it is only in discovering the truth about AI that both opinions can come together to a realization that though both sides contain some truth, neither is completely correct. The fact that AI that can function completely on its own is untrue. In fact, AI is still very dependent on humans as systems cannot learn on their own and are still incapable of completing tasks that are complex. A great example of this is a chatbot. This AI system is limited both in what types of transactions it can perform and the types of questions it can answer. In order to function correctly, these systems must be programmed in advance with specific answers or steps to follow. They are not, however, self-learning technology. This means that a chatbot is not going to be able to replace the human element, though it can increase a company’s efficiency rating when properly programmed. In essence, chatbots can be extremely useful but are not powerful in their own right. The Benefits of AI + HI Etech Global Services is a company that has shown that it is, indeed, possible to benefit from just the right combination of human and artificial intelligence. The insights gained by the AI can be sorted into preferred categories, then presented to human counterparts who have the expertise to analyze the data and make changes accordingly. Such intelligence partnerships have been shown to increase actionable data and offer reports that are far more precise than simply depending on human intelligence. Perhaps by realizing the real benefits of AI + HI, more individuals and companies will be able to make use of this ever-improving technology. Because AI is never going to take over completely and replace the human element. It is only when they work together that the best results are seen. This blog was first published on LinkedIn.

Build Your Team by Building Connections

Walk into any contact center and you will hear it. That energetic hum from the floor created by scores of agents fielding questions from customers, taking control of each unique situation and working toward a successful outcome, one after the other. It takes a special type of person to create order from that chaos. Not only does a leader have to get his or her team to meet the company’s goals, but he or she must also keep employees motivated and enthusiastic about their work. One of the best ways to do this is for the supervisor to foster rapport with the entire team so there’s a sense that everyone is in this together, while also addressing individual needs. Here are a few ideas used by some of the most successful leaders in contact centers around the world. Communicate It might seem ironic that leaders don’t talk to their employees in a contact center, but it happens far too often. The first step, make sure everyone understands what success looks like for the company and the team. This bonds you, and helps everyone to rally around a common vision and goal. Next, be present…on the floor. You’ll have a real-time sense of what’s actually happening while also fielding feedback about things that are and aren’t working. Let your team know their input and ideas are necessary and appreciated. The best solutions come from those closest to the problem. No doubt a listening ear, goes a long way toward feeling valued. Feeling valued builds trust, and trust builds commitment. Engage A contact center can be a stressful environment with high employee turnover where engagement is low. Successful leaders are the ones who are able to retain staff members and keep everyone engaged, challenged and growing. Try creating incentive and reward programs to encourage higher levels of productivity while also fostering friendly competition among workers. Offer development opportunities, as well as an opportunity for your top performers to assist in the development of others on the team. Early on in my career, I was tapped for ‘newbies’ to sit with me. It was an honor to be trusted in this way, and in turn, motivated me to be at my very best. Be Committed Think about the people in this world you are most committed to. Casual acquaintances probably don’t fall into this category. Likewise, in the workplace, it’s important to invest in your relationship with those you lead. Share something about yourself, and allow your team members the opportunity to do the same. This is a great way to identify common ground, similar likes, experiences, and aspirations. We all do what we do for a reason. It’s important for your team to see you as a real person, and likewise for you to see your team as individuals and understand what is important to them. In the words of John Maxwell, “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”. Would you run through a wall for your leader? If you answered yes, I’m guessing you have a pretty good relationship. This is a two-way street, and it’s important your team knows you will be there for them, and in turn, they will be there for you and the team. Personalize Coaching When it comes to training your employees, you can do so on a macro and micro level. While group sessions are great to disseminate company and team-wide updates or policy changes, utilize one on one coaching for constructive feedback and address individual opportunities. Side by side sessions and one on one skill transfers are both effective ways to personalize coaching while minimizing any downtime. Focus on behaviors that drive success, and more importantly don’t tell, show. It’s important to make the connection on how this behavior will advance your employee toward their goal, whether it’s to be at the top of the stack ranking, move up the ladder, or buy a car. There must be a connection with how the behavior will help benefit the individual. Role play is a great way to practice behaviors. After the role play have your employee share what specifically they will do as a result of the coaching in their own words. Coaching is a partnership and to be successful both you and your employee must be actively engaged and committed. Your employee is committed to exhibit a new or refined behavior, and you must be committed to providing feedback after. Lastly, express confidence, and let your employee know when you will follow-up with them. This will create an opportunity to provide praise for great execution, support if clarification is needed, or correction if the agreed behavior has not been executed on. These are just some suggestions used by successful leaders in call centers but don’t be afraid to try new things on your own. By consistently and effectively engaging with your team, you’ll be able to keep your contact center operating like a well-oiled machine.

4 Best Practices to Becoming a Customer Centric Company

Would you say your company is customer-centric? If the answer is no, you may be missing out on prime opportunities to build relationships with new customers and keep your current customers coming back. Implementing a customer-centric business transformation is no easy task, and you will need to make sure all your employees are on board with the transformation first. If you are determined to transform your company, here are four simple ways to achieve your goal. Take Existing Customers Into Consideration Many companies do not understand the importance of retaining current customers, and many simply focus on attracting new customers. This is understandable, but in reality, companies should always have a plan for satisfying current customers and ensuring they do not go elsewhere for business. Many companies achieve this by incorporating customer satisfaction with their branding strategy, so when consumers see their brand, they automatically associate them with exceptional customer service. Simply put, remember your loyal existing customers make up the bulk of your customer base. Encourage Employees to Build Relationships With Customers Does your company encourage its employees to actively build relationships with customers? If it doesn’t, you may be missing out one of the primary benefits of having a customer-centric culture. Forging relationships with customers doesn’t have to be difficult and creating a relationship can start simply by saying “Thank you for your business.” Always encourage your employees to verbally express your company’s gratitude. When interacting with customers, employees can even make small talk to add a personal touch. Develop Products and Services Customers Need Customer-centric companies understand customers are the most important component of any business. These companies do not take profit or prestige into concern when dealing with customers, and they are fully committed to offering products and services current and potential customers need. Companies devoted to customer service also take the buying experience into consideration by offering various conveniences, such as fast returns or multiple payment methods. These simple touches make customers come back and again and again and ensure customers do not give their business to others. Try to See Things Through the Eyes of the Customer Customer-centric companies always attempt to see the world through the eyes of the customer. By taking the time to fully understand the needs and desires of their customers, businesses can offer them products and services no one else can. They can also provide those products and services in a way that cannot be duplicated. To do this, companies must involve every person at every level of the organization and emphasize customer service comes before everything else. Employee performance should be monitored, especially in the beginning of the transition, to ensure they are capable of providing exceptional customer support on a consistent basis. Can Your Company Survive in Modern Times? Creating a customer-centered company is necessary if you want your company to survive in modern times. Customers have a wide variety of businesses to choose from, and you must do what you can to ensure they continue to choose yours. By making customers the focal point of your operations, you can keep your profits and customer satisfaction rates high.

How To Work With Your Leaders

Leadership can be a tricky concept in the workplace. One employee may have the impressive title, but a lower-level employee may seem like he or she runs the show. How do you use everyone’s talents to your company’s benefit? First, you must understand what leadership is. What Makes a Leader? In the wise words of Theodore Roosevelt, “it is a boss who drives, whereas the leader leads.” The born leaders on your teams are not necessarily in roles of power. Instead of being managers or principles, they may be assistants or entry-level new hires. What makes these people leaders are their unique life experiences, personality traits, and abilities to project authority. When you lead a team, you are responsible for how your employees work together. It is important to identify those with leadership traits and place them in the best possible positions to ensure organizational success. How Do You Identify a Leader? If you don’t have the time or resources to conduct a sociometric test to find out where your employees fall in a group structure, analyze them yourself with some simple questions. Which team members create new ideas and suggest proposals? Which members communicate issues and complaints? Who do they refer to for professional advice? Who do they socialize with when not discussing work topics? The leaders in your team are typically the ones who step forward during brainstorming sessions or controversies. However, it is important to differentiate between destructive and constructive workers. Destructive workers tend to cause an adversarial atmosphere among the group. Constructive workers generate helpful ideas and motivate their team members to do their best. It is the constructive worker who is an asset to your business. Types of Leaders There are generally three types of workplace leaders you want to have on your side. They each have different styles, so it is key to understand how to work with them and draw their best qualities to the forefront. Coordinators: These people are well-organized and prepared to answer questions. They work best as right-hand men (and women) who can be trusted with delegated tasks. Use them to strengthen your own authority. Humorists These people are charismatic and charming. Others enjoy spending time with them and they lead with their fun presence. Task humorists with social projects such as orienting new hires, spearheading mundane tasks, or planning team-building activities. Crisis Managers Crisis managers usually keep their heads down and perform their work sufficiently and quietly. They shine, however, when unforeseen circumstances throw a wrench into plans. Let them know when it is time to take the reins and they will help solve a problem with intense focus. They also thrive on recognition, so be sure to thank them in front of other team members. Good leaders can only strengthen your business. Learn to work with them and take advantage of the skills they bring to the table. The more trusted advocates you have in the workplace, the more success you will find. Once you discover the right role for these leaders, your company and its employees will be prosperous and happy.

Robocalls – Why I Stopped Answering my Cell Phone

Depending on your viewpoint as a consumer or from your professional life, you may have felt either relief or apprehension in June of 2003 when the FTC’s Do-Not-Call list was created. Most hoped that when the enforcement date of October 1st rolled around, nuisance phone calls would be a thing of the past. However, others felt the FTC may have been overstepping and creating rules and regulations that negatively impacted how legitimate business served their clientele. By creating the Do-Not-Call registry, the FTC was providing an easy way for all landline telephone users to opt out of unwanted phone calls just by registering their phone number online. Once the October deadline had passed, telemarketers were required to review their phone number list every three months and remove numbers that were registered on the FTC website. Unfortunately, 15 years after the hype and excitement, the overall level of frustration with unwanted phone calls has not diminished. The FTC Do-Not-Call list now has over 230 million phone numbers registered, yet unwanted calls have gotten exponentially worse due to the number of “robocalls” or automated phone calls that now come to landlines, business lines, and even cell phone numbers. In fact, the FTC states that complaints of unwanted calls had risen by more than 30% in 2017. While companies may have been forced to slow or stop the calls from human agents who were paid to power through a phone number list, technology has brought about more advanced phone systems that can dial much more quickly, efficiently, and to multiple numbers at once. Types of Robocalls One company that specializes in blocking robocalls did a study in 2016 and found that Americans received 76% more robocalls in 2017 than they did in 2016. All too many of us have stopped answering the telephone altogether, preferring instead to check voicemails if and when one is left. Those that do still answer every phone call state that the variety of robocalls is almost endless including: Credit Card Offers Request for Charitable Contributions Mortgage Reduction Offers Debt Reduction Offers Political Phone Calls Solar Energy Sales Calls Vacation Package Offers Healthcare Organizations Survey Takers The FTC does allow some of these calls such as those from political organizations, charities, healthcare providers or companies that take surveys. The rest of the calls are illegal but trying to catch and fine those companies is a daunting task and almost impossible. Spoofed Numbers The newest tactic for sending out illegal robocalls is to “spoof” a phone number. Instead of showing an unknown phone number, companies have found a way to make the receiver’s caller ID show any phone number they want. Most of the time, they try to use a phone number in the same area code where the calls are being made to, as that makes the calls more likely to be answered. Some may even have a name show up on the caller id designed to make it appear more legitimate. Legitimate Contact Centers Though many are becoming increasingly frustrated, it is important to realize that there are many contact center-related businesses, such as Etech, that are legitimate businesses – and that never send out robocalls, spam calls, or act maliciously or illegally. Instead, these contact centers work with companies to improve customer service, provide valuable information, and truly engage with each customer. Etech offers the following advice about unwanted phone calls: If you are apprehensive about answering, don’t. If it’s important, they can leave a voicemail. If you answered and find out it’s spam, just hang up. Do not talk and do not press any buttons or your phone number may be sold to other illegal companies because it was answered. Look to see of your call provider offers call blocking for the numbers you are continuing to get calls from that are unwanted. If the issue continues, consider filing a complaint with the FTC.

Moving from “Big Data” to “Big Mind” To Create Human Customer Experience

As counterintuitive as it many sound, Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used to improve the human centric customer service experience. Today, customers have come to expect the speed and accuracy of AI functions combined with the emotional intelligence and human intellect of a real person. When blended well, they can create a seamless interaction with satisfying results for both companies and consumers. Artificial Intelligence Alone AI cannot provide the human touch customer experience consumers desire. Those interacting with a call center want a professional response that is flexible enough to address their own specific needs. AI programs can become rigid and frustrating, throwing callers into an unending loop of repeated phrases or unhelpful call transfers. Who hasn’t found him- or herself stuck on the phone for too long and then hanging up without a suitable resolution? When customers become frustrated, they give up and take their business elsewhere. Gathering Analytics When analytics correctly inform the AI program, magic can happen. Call centers can listen in on agent interactions and examine caller queues to find out where most problems or success stories occur. The AI can then, through machine learning, understand how to behave in a certain way during each of these points. Perhaps it can automatically transfer the caller to the most appropriate department or allow the caller to skip all automated information and speak directly to a live agent. The data collected can also be used to train employees to change their behaviors and make callers happier. Introducing the Human Factor With customer experience, human connection is often the ultimate goal. An AI program that is designed with analytics can bring a live agent into the equation when it deems itself inadequate. Instead of becoming frustrated to the point of hanging up, the caller gets personal attentional at the exact time it is necessary. Often, a few understanding words from another person can satisfy the caller and keep him or her on the line until the problem is satisfactorily resolved. Your human employees are also a great resource when designing helpful AI features. Many times, experienced agents go “off script” to adapt to their caller’s unique needs and find the solution that works perfectly for him or her. AI can be trained to mimic these successful behaviors and even coach other employees to practice the same behaviors in their own calls. In this case, your entire company benefits. The Perfect Balance An AI call center experience can still feel human. It is comforting when an AI program collects important data so that once a live agent is on the line, the caller does not need to repeat key information such as a name or address. This small act of personalization can make customers happier and more pleasant for the employees to interact with throughout the call. As technology continues to advance, it is important to find the sweet spot between AI and human interaction. Even the most tech-friendly customers crave the efficiency of AI and the personalization of the human experience. When well-integrated, they can help optimize customer experience, enhancing operations and providing clients with excellent service that fosters repeat business.

Can a Servant Leader be an Exceptional Leader?

A successful leader is often defined as a person who meets goals and accomplishes assigned tasks. However, there is much more involved in exceptional leadership. An exceptional leader not only performs his or her own work with success but develops, coaches and inspires each team member to do the same. Exceptional leaders also develop other leaders, creating opportunities for others to believe in themselves and reach for the stars! This sure sounds like servant leadership to me! How to Create Exceptional Leadership Skills There are several methods leaders use to develop and inspire their team members to exceed company goals and develop into leadership positions: Assign Tasks with Confidence If your employees pick up on your lack of confidence in them, it can lead to poor job performance. When you are outwardly sure in your decisions, your confidence becomes contagious and others begin to believe in their abilities. Point out the employee strengths that led you to choose a team for a specific role; this information will help them see the project in a new light and invite them to use their unique skillsets to get the job done. Instead of anticipating failure, they will rise up to the new challenge. Show how you value each team member and they will value you. Encourage Participation Even the most experienced team leader can benefit from collaboration. When you invite your employees to contribute, you discover hidden talents, fresh approaches, and personal passions. Open discussions can lead to brilliant solutions. Perhaps one of your employees is in a department that doesn’t take full advantage of his or her skills and that employee may be able to make greater contributions on another team. A comfortable, collaborative environment can reveal that person’s true value to the company and open new doors. Be a humble leader and ask for input. The return will be invaluable. Communicate Transparently It is important for everyone on the team to understand the department’s big picture. If every team member is working from the same information, they can each focus on their specific objectives. This helps the employees understand where they fit into the overarching goal and gives them a sense of pride and ownership in the final results. Being transparent and an effective two-way communicator is critical in both leading and serving your team. Reward a Job Well Done If you want to keep your best talent with your company long-term, it is important to reward and recognize good efforts. Recognition is easy and doesn’t cost much. A public word of thanks in a company-wide meeting, a special lunch, or a meaningful trinket can all make an employee feel appreciated and motivated to continue doing good work. Employees must understand that you are invested in them and their career growth; otherwise, talented team members may start polishing their resumes for new job prospects. Exceptional leaders know the importance of designing a path of upward mobility so that skilled team members always have an eye toward further achievement within their current company. Walk the Walk Exceptional leaders don’t make exceptions for their own workplace habits. They constantly assess their own performance and serve as role models for their team members. If you don’t follow your own codes of professional conduct, your employees will not respect you. Consistency, integrity and credibility are key to building a workplace where team members feel comfortable stepping out of their comfort zones to make an impact. A successful leader focuses on their people and not results. They invest in their people, coaching & developing each member to contribute to the best of their abilities. They great an unity of team, not individuals working on the same time. They do this by being present, consistent, humble, communicating and credible. All these attributes define not only a successful leader but one who leads by serving.

The best of both the world’s is required, but it is PEOPLE who add more value

“Integrating HI + AI into daily contact center business operations has the potential to reshape the workplace and provide beyond belief opportunities for growth.” It seems that more and more everyday processes and jobs are starting to include a measure of automation, where there’s less for flesh-and-blood humans to do a specific task to be completed. That’s most certainly become apparent when it comes to call centers. With that in mind, you should know there’s much to be gained when you harness the power of AI and people rather than letting it become a source of anxiety. Artificial intelligence is good, but it is people who are working on the information derived from the technology. Let’s look why Humans cannot be replaced by Bots/Machines/AI. Some People Prefer Human Interactions Even though consumers have grown accustomed to interacting with automated services and not having to interact with another human when paying their bills or receiving answers to their questions, there are some situations that entail human touch. When that time comes, your callers expect efficient and professional service. Something else to think about is the fact that if your AI program is not sophisticated enough, it can cause more problems than it solves. Customers become frustrated while repeating the same responses, which can send them straight into the arms of your competitors. So how can you utilize such technological capabilities the right way? Customers Like to Be Entertained For all its technological advances, AI isn’t well-known for its humor. Sometimes all that’s needed to make a customer’s day or to diffuse a tense interaction is to inject a bit of humor into the situation. Your representatives are able to do this on the fly, usually in a way that’s neither too much for the situation nor too little to elicit a genuine laugh (or at least a smile). This use of humor paints your company as well as your call center in a positive light, one that’s sure to delight your audience and keep them on as loyal customers. While delivering impeccable service is certainly one of your top priorities as a call center leader, part of that quality service is putting your customers and callers at ease, and what better way to relax than with a good laugh? Find the Right Balance Between People and Machine The best and the first place to start is with analytics. It’s important that your AI program recognizes when it encounters a situation that’s best left to an agent. Some calls and issues require a bit of human empathy, and even the most well-programmed automated call center program can’t deliver that. There are occasions when a caller just wants to know your company truly cares and is making an effort to resolve an issue, even if it takes longer than he or she might like. On the other hand, an agent can provide the human touch in ways that are still beyond the capacity of AI. Look Ahead to Stay Ahead Customers have always wanted a seamless and effortless form of responses to their issues. According to Forrester’s report of 2014, understanding customer emotion and empathy are the most critical components to gain successful customer experience. Here, to touch the heart of the customer services being delivered, the human touch is required. When you have both, your investment in AI software can facilitate a marked improvement in agent success and retention, customer satisfaction and overall operational efficiencies. Artificial Intelligence along with people represents a huge step forward in delivering exceptional customer service experience. However, for its success, AI technology needs to be combined with conventional people skills to deliver a seamless customer experience which can balance your customer interactions with empathy. This ultimately provides a tailored experience for every customer issues and needs. Our Solution – Etech Insights Because meeting and exceeding customer expectations is the only priority. Etech’s quality solution, Etech Insights, works as an AI+HI solution. By synchronizing human intelligence with the data gained from artificial intelligence, Etech Insights helps you in identifying your customer’s/agents behaviors that enhances overall performance. We help businesses to connect with what customers really want. Learn how to make use of 100% of interaction data while understanding insights that are sure to improve and enhance every part of the contact center with Etech Insights. This blog was first published on LinkedIn

How To Measure the Effectiveness, Impact and Efficiency of Your Human Resources Strategies

A company can invest money in technology, real estate, and other expenses, but the people within an organization are still the most important asset. Your employees represent the entire organization whenever they interact with community, clients and vendors, which is why it’s important to hire the best employees and keep them happy. Employees want to know how they are performing, therefore; it is important to conduct periodic reviews of your effectiveness strategies. Here are a few human resources measures of effectiveness your company can use during your review process. Establish Metrics Before you start analyzing the effectiveness of your human resources efforts, you must first identify a set of metrics. Think of them like the statistics used by a baseball team to measure hitting or pitching abilities, only create them with your company’s priorities in mind. While your business might have its own specific points of emphasis, there are a few common values used by most companies: Cost per hire, which measures efficiency by taking the entire amount spent during the hiring process and dividing by the number of employees it yielded. Time to hire, which also measures efficiency by calculating the average number of days it takes to fill positions. Early turnover, which is simply a tally of new employees who leave the company during the first year. Conduct Analysis Using Your Values Once you’ve established your human resources development measures, the next step is to analyze the data you’ve collected and take action. This isn’t always a clear cut procedure, as you need to take your company’s needs into account before making a decision. A high cost-per-hire value could indicate an expensive hiring process, but the solution might not be as simple as spending less money on your hiring efforts. There are times when it’s necessary to conduct an exhaustive search for the ideal candidate, especially when you’re bringing in an executive-level employee, and this could throw off your cost and time averages. Analyze Impact of Strategies You must consistently strive to analyze the effectiveness of your new strategies. Using a call center as an example, if you’re fielding most of your customer contacts through internet chats or email, you might want to prioritize employees who are better at that skill set. Conversely, if your customers prefer to interact over the phone, it would be a good idea to avoid taking your operations online simply for the sake of modernizing. Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment Finding the best human resources development measures is not an exact science, which is why experimentation is worthwhile. Every company is unique, which means there’s no guaranteed way to get the results you desire. When you design an experiment for your business, you can ensure accurate results by employing the scientific method: Observe Hypothesize Conduct experiments Collect data Analyze results These are just a few ways to get the most of your human resources department, but don’t hesitate to work with a consultant to tailor a solution for your company’s specific needs. By maximizing the efficiency of your personnel staff, you’ll be able to get maximum value out of your organization’s most important asset.

Protecting Your Privacy

Data breaches are all too common now-a-days. Personal privacy on the web might be less secured; however, malicious software apps, viruses as well as phishing scams are growing in numbers causing identity theft becoming frequent. With new released announcements from Federal Trade Commission as part of the Privacy Awareness Week (PAW), PAW has fostered the importance of protecting personal information. How do you know if your privacy is being protected? • Privacy policy – Before submitting your name, email address, or other personal information on a website, look for the site’s privacy policy. This policy should state how the information will be used and whether or not the information will be distributed to other organizations. Companies sometimes share information with partner vendors who offer related products or may offer options to subscribe to particular mailing lists. Look for indications that you are being added to mailing lists by default—failing to deselect those options may lead to unwanted spam. If you cannot find a privacy policy on a website, consider contacting the company to inquire about the policy before you submit personal information, or find an alternate site. Privacy policies sometimes change, so you may want to review them periodically. • Evidence that your information is being encrypted – To prevent attackers from stealing your personal information, online submissions should be encrypted so that it can only be read by the appropriate recipient. Many sites use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure (https). A lock icon in the bottom right corner of the window indicates that your information will be encrypted. (See Understanding Web Site Certificates for more information.) Some sites also indicate whether the data is encrypted when it is stored. If data is encrypted in transit but stored insecurely, an attacker who is able to break into the vendor’s system could access your personal information. What additional steps can you take to protect your privacy? • Do business with credible companies – Before supplying any information online, consider the answers to the following questions: Do you trust the business? Is it an established organization with a credible reputation? Does the information on the site suggest that there is a concern for the privacy of user information? Is legitimate contact information provided? If you answered “No” to any of these questions, avoid doing business online with these companies. • Do not use your primary email address in online submissions – Submitting your email address could result in spam. If you do not want your primary email account flooded with unwanted messages, consider opening an additional email account for use online. (See Phishing Scam for more information.) Make sure to log in to the account on a regular basis in case the vendor sends information about changes to policies. • Avoid submitting credit card information online – Some companies offer a phone number you can use to provide your credit card information. Although this does not guarantee that the information will not be compromised, it eliminates the possibility that attackers will be able to hijack it during the submission process. • Devote one credit card to online purchases – To minimize the potential damage of an attacker gaining access to your credit card information, consider opening a credit card account for use only online. Keep a minimum credit line on the account to limit the amount of charges an attacker can accumulate. • Avoid using debit cards for online purchases – Credit cards usually offer some protection against identity theft and may limit the monetary amount you will be responsible for paying. Debit cards, however, do not offer that protection. Because the charges are immediately deducted from your account, an attacker who obtains your account information may empty your bank account before you even realize it. • Take advantage of options to limit exposure of private information – Default options on certain websites may be chosen for convenience, not for security. For example, avoid allowing a website to remember your password. If your password is stored, your profile and any account information you have provided on that site is readily available if an attacker gains access to your computer. Also, evaluate your settings on websites used for social networking. The nature of those sites is to share information, but you can restrict access to limit who can see what.

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