Running the latest version of the app ensures you’ve got the latest features, enhancements, and fixes. Now, updating your app is as easy as hitting the “update” button.
New: Auto-accept meeting guests
Eliminate the need to manually accept your meeting guests. Click “auto accept guests” during scheduling, and your guests will let themselves in.
How to:
On the right menu, click the calendar icon and click the expand icon
Click the day/time of your meeting
Enter meeting details and click “Advanced options”
Select “Automatically accept guests”
How to: Create an instant meeting
Get everyone together right now in a virtual meeting. Make it face-to-face by turning your camera on.
Start an instant team meeting
Step 1: In the left menu, click Rooms and copy your personal meeting link
Step 2: Share your meeting link via NextivaONE text or team chat
Nextiva is the future-of-work software company that helps sales, service, and marketing teams achieve higher productivity and deliver better customer engagement. Nextiva’s cloud-based platform brings together business communications applications, intelligence, and automation to help companies build deeper connections with customers and manage all conversations and relationships in one place.
Scaling your customer support team is not easy, but this guide will offer a helpful perspective so you can exceed customer expectations, keep costs in check, and breathe a little easier as a customer service manager.
Scalability is all about optimizing, streamlining, refining, and perfecting your processes, expanding your team’s capacity, and supporting the needs of your business as it grows.
But you can’t just add more reps to your customer service team when you want to scale customer support. You need to think holistically about customer success and the customer experience.
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There are a lot of contributing factors to how to scale a customer support team. From the nature and scope of support tickets or customer inquiries to the autonomy an agent has over each customer interaction. It’s also possible that certain customer segments scale more easily than others.
Customer support is one area that can be especially difficult to scale. But great customer support is necessary for your business to succeed. Without quality support, you won’t be able to keep customers around, and support metrics like customer satisfaction and NPS will suffer – hurting retention and your ability to grow.
Conversely, with great support, you’ll ensure happier customers. Plus, with new approaches to scaling customer support, you can maintain a positive employee experience, too – all of which builds toward deeper customer engagement and higher customer loyalty.
So, how do you go about scaling a customer support experience that meets the demands of a growing business while keeping your support team engaged and motivated?
Let’s check out four tactics you can use to supercharge your team and get prepared for the road ahead.
4 Tactics You Can Use to Scale Customer Support
Growing your support operation involves building replicable processes that lead to shortening response times to customer inquiries and, ideally, maximizing staff potential without overburdening customer-facing teams.
Let’s look at the first tactic: using automation to take over manual work over the customer journey.
1. Leverage automation to reduce manual work
Sometimes, customer service automation gets a bad rap. The main issue most had with early automation technologies was that they tended to feel impersonal and weren’t particularly beneficial for the customer, just the company.
The truth is that automation is only worth it if it doesn’t compromise the overall customer experience compared to a human agent. And that can be a bit of a balancing act. It comes down to being very intentional about which customer interaction you choose to automate.
I recommend classifying each customer request. Most support ticket software offers the ability to add tags to messages based on rules you set. For example, you could set a rule that a “billing” tag should be added to any incoming message containing language about payments in the message and then be automatically sent to a billing-specific inbox.
Right off the bat, you can shorten the response time with less reliance on a technical support agent to triage each support ticket.
You could even set up an initial response that includes links to knowledge base articles on the topic they’re contacting you about. For many, it’s possible those articles contain the answers they need, and proactively sharing them means the customer can solve their issue faster.
Another way to leverage automation is to create a bank of canned responses. Instead of writing out the same response to similar questions over and over, you can simply use the pre-written response to decrease handle time. Consider developing a series of specific articles for the long tail of customer queries rather than one “ultimate” article — this will help you meet customer needs, who are also typically short on time.
This is relatively basic automation that’s standard in most ticketing systems these days – so it’s a simple tactic but effective. Once you’re ready to implement artificial intelligence technologies, these responses can feed into that process.
Encourage your customer success team to add personal touches and customize your canned responses as needed so that you avoid coming across as robotic or rigid.
One way to address this same problem at a higher level is to direct loyal customers to ask questions in your customer support community or to start by searching there.
As with any new customer success initiative, test out and determine if this actually improves the customer experience and actually renders great customer service. Just because something works well, it may not stay that way forever. So, be sure you have a regular cadence to review any automation effort to ensure it still serves everyone well.
2. Lean on a customer community for peer-to-peer support
Anyone who’s worked in customer service knows that it’s not uncommon for customers to teach you things about your product. Maybe you’ve seen them come up with a creative workaround or valuable (even game-changing) product enhancement that you hadn’t considered.
Though your customers have a great wealth of knowledge, that knowledge isn’t always accessible to others – unless you’ve built an online customer community. If you’re not familiar, online customer communities are where your customers can connect with one another, share insights, and find education.
Online customer communities are a great resource to utilize to help scale your support operation and improve customer support as a whole. The name of the game is scaling customer interactions – and a customer community is how you make those important peer-to-peer and peer-to-staff interactions happen consistently.
The classic pitch for customer communities is case deflection. Though that’s absolutely a great use of a customer community, it’s just one small use. A community is a valuable tool to engage customers further and foster stronger brand connections. Customer communities also empower customers to find answers independently, making a much more seamless customer experience.
3. Build a strong knowledge base
Your customers want to self-serve, according to Forrester Research. Though it might seem counterintuitive (now they’re doing the work instead of being served), it makes sense. They’re busy and don’t want to put aside what they’re doing to contact an agent.
A great way to create self-service opportunities is your knowledge base. Knowledge bases allow your customers to solve issues on their own and at their own pace. It’s an empowering experience.
However, not all knowledge bases are created equal.
Many of us have experienced clicking through a bunch of links to find a company’s knowledge base. After getting past that first hurdle, you still face the issue of finding the information you’re seeking, which adds up to a less-than-stellar experience.
To give the best experience when using a knowledge base, there are a few items to prioritize:
Make your knowledge base easy to find. Place a link in your website’s main navigation bar or at the bottom of your homepage. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s easily accessible.
Group related articles under different sections to make navigation easier. For example, you may have a section for billing, common account issues, and troubleshooting guides. You could also consider having some sort of internal search to make the process even faster.
Regularly update content so articles are helpful and relevant. You might even consider setting up a regular cadence to have your support team review articles to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.
Remember, when you make your knowledge base more accessible and usable, you improve not only their self-service experience but also the overall customer experience.
4. Make sure onboarding sets support staff up for success
One of the best ways you can help scale your support team is to ensure you’re getting the most out of everyone on the team. The best way to do that is by ensuring you’re offering comprehensive training for anyone who joins your team and opportunities for continued development for current employees.
Comprehensive training helps you scale better in two main ways:
When you have strong onboarding processes, you’re able to get new hires up to speed faster. Not only does it mean they’ll learn quicker, but they’ll also be more equipped to start handling requests sooner.
For existing team members, additional training can help maintain engagement. And engaged employees are productive employees. In fact, around 86% of employees say job training and development are important to them. Additional training and development opportunities are also a great way to show your commitment to existing staff.
Depending on the size of your organization and the resources you have available to you, you might take a few different approaches to onboarding. It probably makes sense for those in earlier stages to start by creating internal documents. Make sure to consult your most senior team members to understand what any potential new hire needs to be successful.
For those in larger companies with more resources at their disposal, it may be worth taking the time to build out a formal training program and possibly even consider having dedicated staff for training.
Bonus: Review documentation. In addition to onboarding and professional development, ensure you document and continually update your standard operating procedures (SOPs). Solving a frequent customer issue becomes much easier when your team knows exactly where to go for guidance.
Your Hard Work Will Pay Off with an Improved Support Experience
Maintaining quality while growing your contact center or call center can be hard. But with the right suite of processes and tools, you can grow your capacity while maintaining quality.
Introducing automation and building a robust knowledge base can be great places to start scaling efforts.
From there, consider creative solutions like building out an online customer community. Investing in an online community helps scale your support operation but can help further engage your audience and improve brand loyalty.
It’s also worth pointing out that you can source some no-fluff actionable insights from your customer base. Sometimes, you have to look beyond the transaction to recognize that the secret to good customer service is listening. Harness customer feedback so it legitimately improves the customer experience as a whole.
These actionable insights can improve agent training, uncover product ideas, enhance your social media strategy, and lift your net promoter score.
As long as you keep the success of your customers and staff at the center of your efforts, you’ll be heading in the right direction.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rick Black
Rick Black is the director of global customer support for Higher Logic. He’s passionate about scaling world-class customer service organizations for the past decade. Before Higher Logic, he spent five years with Snagajob, leading the evolution of their customer support functions for applicant tracking and onboarding software.
Have you ever been on a business phone call where the call quality dropped and then came back? This annoying error is caused by network jitter and packet loss, two common and intertwined factors that disrupt Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems.
Troubleshooting these persistent VoIP problems is a headache, even for seasoned IT pros. The good news is that anyone can tackle the common cause of network jitter: network congestion.
All you need is the right knowledge and the right tools. And soon, you’ll be back to enjoying crystal-clear voice quality and smooth communication.
What Is Network Jitter?
Jitter is the time delay or variation in latency between the transmission and reception of data packets over a network. VoIP experiences jitter when the connection has inconsistent delays between sending and receiving data packets. It occurs primarily due to network congestion, routing issues, hardware limitations, and network interference.
Network jitter measures the irregular arrival time of data packets at their destination, also known as the jitter score, measured in milliseconds (ms). High delays result in a high jitter score, negatively impacting call quality.
Jitter affects online activities that depend on two-way, real-time communication. Examples include online gaming, audio and video conference calls, IP security cameras, and more.
Here’s a helpful video that provides a simple explanation of network jitter.
Why Does Network Jitter Matter?
When data packets arrive at different intervals, fluctuations result in voice packets being dropped.
When you start a movie on Netflix, the first few seconds are spent buffering the content. This process preemptively downloads a portion of the video, so you don’t even notice if your Wi-Fi signal drops. However, in real-time communications, jitter has a more significant impact on audio and video quality and latency.
High network jitter causes glitches and delays that detract from the smooth experience VoIP connections offer. No one wants to be stuck on a crappy phone call endlessly, and you don’t want to lose customers because of a network issue that’s easy to fix (but thought of otherwise).
Here’s a visual representation that illustrates what happens behind the scenes.
When packets arrive at unexpected times, VoIP calls can be interrupted.
Revisiting IP Network Fundamentals
It’s a good idea to brush up on network connectivity terms to better understand jitter.
1. Data packets
Data packets are the backbone of reliable internet communications. They’re the basic units of information transmitted across a network.
Data sent over a network is broken down into smaller packets for efficient and reliable transmission. These packets are then routed individually through the network and reassembled at the receiving end to compile the original message.
Each packet consists of a header and a payload section.
The header contains the source and destination addresses, sequencing information, error detection codes, and other control data for proper routing and delivery. The payload section contains the actual data being transmitted — text, images, audio, video, or any other type of digital information.
With many computers and active devices on a network, large chunks of data could slow everyone down. Packets allow everyone to send and receive information reliably.
Hardware address information (e.g., MAC addresses)
Optional Quality of Service (QoS) data headers
Diagram of an IP Data Packet via Khan Academy
With VoIP traffic, phone calls become voice packets in milliseconds. To do this, VoIP uses different transport protocols for optimal performance.
2. Transport protocols
Packets themselves are neither reliable nor unreliable. It’s data. Applications use transport protocols to reach their destinations quickly and reliably.
User Datagram Protocol (UDP) reduces round-trip time — the amount of time it takes to send and receive data. In UDP, applications maintain reliability and error checking and enable faster communication.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) can be used with less urgent communications. Got it? Are you sure? Good. That’s an example of TCP in action. When using TCP, two devices involved confirm the receipt of each data packet and retransmit any missing packets.
Glitches in transport protocols affect data transmission, causing latency and delays in the form of network jitter. Deep-packet inspection firewalls
What Causes Network Jitter?
VoIP services are susceptible to network jitter and connectivity issues. Here are the top culprits to look for.
Cause #1: Network congestion
Routers have a big task to support today’s bandwidth-heavy needs like video calls. Routers segment the Wide Area Network (WAN) from your local network by default. The segmentation efficiently routes, manages, and optimizes traffic between two networks.
This hands-off approach is nice until everyone watches YouTube, streams music, and joins video conferences. Oh, and don’t forget all those laptops connected to the Wi-Fi, either.
What happens to a congested network? It experiences jitter.
How are VoIP, bandwidth, packet loss, and jitter related?
Every packet matters since VoIP converts sound into data packets. A congested network sees frequent packet loss and delays, creating gaps in conversation or drops in connection quality. A packet’s path from your desk to a VoIP service provider isn’t always so direct.
As you exhaust bandwidth, network congestion results in queuing delays that lead to even higher latency. Data packets have to be reassembled at the receiver’s end. The delay in this assembly contributes to jitter. Higher the delay, the higher the jitter.
VoIP is prone to jitter problems since people can perceive and notice delays above 30 milliseconds on calls. Depending on the jitter level, the audio can be choppy or unintelligible.
Diagram: An example showing how Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) works.
While network congestion is the bedrock, many other network issues cause jitter.
Cause #2: Network interference and poor network systems
Electromagnetic interference (EMI), faulty wiring, or radio frequency interference can cause network interference and jitter.
Similarly, outdated or inadequate hardware, such as routers or switches, contributes to jitter. Poor network hardware struggles to handle high call volumes, causing inconsistencies in packet arrival times and degrading call quality.
For smartphone users, pay attention to your surroundings. You’re bound to have call quality issues if you get in an elevator, go into a supply room, or go underground. Certain building materials (concrete, metal, and window films) affect and potentially block cellular and Wi-Fi signals.
Cause #3: Wireless signal quality degradation
Jitter problems can affect any network connection, but end-users often experience it on Wi-Fi. Wireless networks use wireless signals to transmit data packets between devices and the network access point.
Unlike wired connections, they’re more prone to interference from other wireless devices, Wi-Fi networks, and even environmental disturbances. Signal degradation or fluctuations from interference can lead to inconsistent packet delivery and trigger jitter.
The good news here is that with today’s wireless networks (“Wi-Fi 6”) that operates on the IEEE 802.11ac or 802.11ax standards, latency and reliability is much improved over predecessors.
Cause #4: Packet prioritization, QoS, and network configuration
An easy-to-overlook but critical factor that underlines high-quality VoIP calls is packet prioritization. Routers can prioritize traffic from specific devices and classes of traffic. This strategy is known as Quality of Service (QoS) and can be simple to put in place. However, many overlook or fail to configure it properly on their network infrastructure.
Missing or misconfigured QoS increases latency and jitter and degrades call quality.
How Jitter Affects VoIP Call Quality
All internet connections have some network jitter. It’s normal. You’ll likely experience higher latency between your office and a VoIP service provider during business hours. Packet delay variation affects customer communications and conference calls.
This video explains some common VoIP problems and how you can fix them.
Think about it this way. If parts of your speech arrive in a different order, that impacts your conversation. VoIP isn’t any different.
If you have no jitter, phone calls have excellent sound quality. High-definition VoIP codecs like G.722 and G.729 offer more fidelity and clarity in VoIP calls.
But if you have a high jitter, the sound quality of phone calls and video conferencing suffers. These applications use many packets of data; if packets are slow, routers will drop them.
What Does VoIP Jitter Sound Like?
This video by Cee Tee simulates network conditions that cause a high degree of jitter and some packet loss. The SIP media stream arrives out of order, which affects the audio clarity of the call.
What is an acceptable jitter?
For VoIP, jitter measures the variation between packet delays for voice communications. The metric for this is expressed in milliseconds or one-hundredth of a second. Cisco recommends jitter on voice traffic should not exceed 30 milliseconds. Ideally, 30 ms is considered a good ping and jitter rate.
Let’s say your internet connection reaches your VoIP provider in 150 milliseconds. A jitter metric of 30 milliseconds reflects a 20% variance.
The acceptable level of jitter depends on the severity of call quality issues. Is it temporary? Or is it impacting many users?
Keep in mind that network jitter isn’t a one-way street. Latency applies to both sides of a conversation, which causes people to talk over each other. Also, packet delay variation is a symptom of other troubling network connection issues.
Measure jitter from more than one endpoint to isolate local VoIP quality issues. From a troubleshooting perspective, you should inspect both routes for network congestion.
How to Measure Network Jitter
There’s no one-size-fits-all jitter test, but you can add plenty of useful tools to measure jitter to your toolbox. Keep in mind that jitter measures the variability of your network latency.
Nearly all network diagnostics measure jitter in milliseconds, so it’s easy to understand. You can determine the level of jitter by running various tests.
1. Online speed tests
Bandwidth tests don’t always tell the full story. They do clue you into problems with your internet speed and connection. You can confirm issues like bandwidth, packet loss, and latency in seconds.
Nextiva’s VoIP Network Quality Test – This VoIP speed test determines your network’s quality and how well it can handle VoIP calls. It’s highly accurate and tailor-made for VoIP connections. It simulates realistic network loads for simultaneous VoIP calls. Simply choose the concurrent calls starting point (location), punch in the number of VoIP lines to simulate, and get the results in a few minutes.
Cloudflare’s Internet Speed Test – This tech-focused speed test shows your vitals beautifully. It displays bandwidth, latency, network jitter, and performance by file size.
Ookla’s Speed Test – This simple speed test also measures your connection speed and ping. Its endpoint testing can be useful to confirm high bandwidth conditions. It’s also handy to use their free mobile app.
2. Terminal-based ping jitter test
Browser-based testing can leave you with a misleading view of your network congestion. Business VoIP calls depend on low-latency connectivity to a specific VoIP server.
Open up a terminal (“Command Prompt” for Windows users) and conduct manual ping tests.
This command shows you the speed for each packet to reach that network.
macOS and Linux:ping -c 20 8.8.8.8
Windows:ping -n 20 8.8.8.8
This command will ping a server (Google public DNS) with 20 packets. Observe the values displayed at the end.
--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics --- 20 packets transmitted, 20 packets received, 0.0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 21.897/28.623/38.247/3.979 ms
Take note of the “sdev” (standard deviation) value. In the example above, that would be about 4ms of jitter. Be sure to confirm that there was zero packet loss.
Instantaneous jitter measurement reveals which upstream or downstream routes are problematic. Testing from many endpoints uncovers the real-world packet delay variation.
3) Advanced network monitoring tools
For enterprise phone systems, you might already have access to robust network diagnostics tools. These tools monitor all inbound and outbound traffic at the router level. They analyze all kinds of traffic from different endpoints, including SIP.
LogicMonitor
Cisco DNA
Dynatrace
ManageEngine OpManager
These alert you to high jitter, packet loss, and real-time metrics to troubleshoot. Plus, you can hold vendors accountable with Service Level Agreement (SLA) monitoring.
? Pro Tip: Perform a network check when evaluating cloud phone systems. Knowing the speed and stability of your connection gives you the confidence to move to the cloud.
How to Fix Jitter (Troubleshooting Tips)
The good news here is that you can reduce jitter and latency quickly. VoIP phone calls have a maximum jitter of 30 ms and 100 Kbps bandwidth for optimal call quality.
The first step is to power cycle your existing network equipment, including the modem. Often, this solves temporary VoIP jitter issues.
Here are eight solutions to fix high jitter that you can try:
1. Test your connection for jitter issues
Your approach should be to determine the root cause of high latency. Adjusting VoIP Quality of Service settings can only get you so far.
Use network diagnostic tools to keep tabs on jitter issues as they occur. Run tests at different times of the day to see if the jitter intensifies during specific periods.
Digging underneath jitter helps you determine the pain point, whether it’s with your network, internet service provider (ISP), or other external factors. When you know the exact issue, you get the right head start to solve it.
2. Use a wired internet connection.
Wi-Fi calling remains vulnerable to interference from microwaves and electrical motors. If users experience jitter during lunch when the network’s not so busy, it’s a cue to check for environmental causes. If jitter occurs during peak business hours, check your device frequency.
There may be interference from other wireless devices operating in the same frequency band.
Upgrading existing Ethernet cables to Category 6 cabling can rule out defective wiring. Additionally, its superior twisted pairs resist interference and support low-latency gigabit speeds.
3. Disable packet inspection-based firewalls.
Firewalls that analyze incoming voice packets can contribute to latency in a network. These barriers inspect every frame within a packet and add up in a speed-sensitive application like a VoIP call.
You should configure your router to perform simple tasks. When broadband gateways take on too many duties, they slow down. Consider enabling the Cut-Through Forwarding (CTF) feature to speed up local network performance.
4. Set up a jitter buffer.
In situations with constant jitter, you can set up a buffer to accommodate jitter. Jitter buffers work by delaying VoIP audio enough to reorder voice packets correctly.
Too much buffer and your calls will be hard to follow. Too low of a buffer, and you could increase packet loss. If your router offers jitter buffer functionality, set it to under 200 milliseconds.
Network jitter causes voice packets to arrive out of order. A jitter buffer corrects this. (via Tieline)
5. Enable Quality of Service (QoS).
Many networks get saturated with non-voice traffic. This can limit the availability of VoIP phones and access to VoIP networks. Schedule large data transfers outside of business hours to avoid packet prioritization concerns.
Be sure to assign all VoIP traffic to get the highest priority and minimize unnecessary bandwidth usage. Assign DSCP class 46 (voice packets) the highest priority. QoS doesn’t hurt your download speeds or upload speeds — it ensures voice traffic doesn’t get queued. The idea is to dedicate bandwidth for Real-Time Protocol (RTP) packets found with VoIP and video conferencing.
Use up to 85% of the bandwidth from your ISP to give headroom for overhead. Cisco has advice for enhancing VoIP performance over wireless networks. Its recommendations can apply to many other business-grade routers.
6. Increase your WAN network bandwidth.
If all else fails, you’ll likely want to switch WAN providers. For the lowest latency, opt for a fiber-optic connection. This step is more of a last resort but a worthwhile upgrade. Afterward, set up Quality of Service for Voice over Internet Protocol traffic.
We recommend consulting with your VoIP provider to analyze your network configuration. Sometimes, the fix could be as simple as a firmware upgrade on select VoIP systems. Disabling SIP ALG has little to do with VoIP jitter but is highly recommended.
Quick story here. I was troubleshooting why I could only achieve about half of the gigabit network performance from my ISP. After testing everything, it turns out the router’s WAN port simply couldn’t reach 1000 Mbps, despite the advertised hardware specs. Sometimes, upgrading your router is the fix.
Once you have lowered jitter, you’ve solved one obstacle to business communication.
7. Opt for a high-quality VoIP provider.
You can fix thousands of problems with your network and still have issues without quality and reliable VoIP service.
To avoid and mitigate network jitter, you need robust network infrastructure and optimized routing mechanisms without worrying about managing the underlying infrastructure. Your VoIP service should reduce the jitter and simplify your life, not add bottlenecks.
When choosing a VoIP phone system:
Prioritize stability and advanced tech to minimize packet loss and delay.
Look for excellent diagnostics and faster issue resolution.
Consider its network infrastructure, customer reviews, service level agreements (SLAs), and ability to effectively handle and manage real-time communication traffic.
8. Regularly maintain and monitor your network.
Finally, effective VoIP calling boils down to closely monitoring your network, detecting jitter problems early, and mitigating them before they become bigger.
Maintain: Keep your hardware and software up to date. Regularly update firmware and drivers for routers, switches, and other network devices. Outdated or buggy software contributes to network instability and increases jitter. Additionally, configure your network equipment appropriately to optimize it to handle large VoIP traffic volumes.
Monitor: Track key performance indicators (KPIs), including latency, packet loss, and jitter levels. Your diagnostic tools should provide real-time insight into your network’s health and alert you to any anomalies or excessive jitter to effectively monitor network jitter.
Easy and Reliable VoIP Calls Ahead
Voice over Internet Protocol technology has evolved over the last 28 years. Today, more than nine out of 10 people have access to a broadband connection. Smartphones use blazing-fast 5G connections.
Virtual phone service is already optimized for peak performance. You provide a fast internet connection, and the provider handles the rest.
Nextiva has built one of the most reliable VoIP networks for businesses. We leverage several data centers across North America to provide ultra-low latency. You get superior call quality backed by Amazing Service anytime you need it.
Skip the guesswork when it comes to your VoIP phone service. Our cloud telephony experts will walk you through every step. We’ve helped well over 100,000 companies — we know what works and what doesn’t.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joe Manna
Joe Manna was a senior content marketing manager at Nextiva. He blends his marketing acumen and deep technical background to improve people's lives with technology. His expertise helps companies large and small serve more customers. He enjoys a rich iced latte and a non-fiction business book when he's not pressing words.
This month, instead of showing you what’s new in NextivaONE, we’re recapping some cool capabilities that make life sooo much easier.
Name your group conversations
Organize your team chats into a dedicated, named space. Works great to corral conversations around a specific project, like “Office renovation”.
How to:
On the left menu, hover over “Rooms” and click the “+” icon
Create a name for your room
Follow the prompts to invite others to join your room
Add a note to your calls
During or after a phone call, type important details you learned during your call. Call notes are private to you and will be saved and paired with the respective call within your call log and conversation view.
How to:
Add notes during a live call: Within the active call widget, click on the notepad icon and start typing
Add notes after the call: Click the call within your call log or conversation view. To help locate a specific call, from the top menu, filter by calls. Click on the notepad icon and start typing
Start an instant meeting
Send a quick invite for an impromptu meeting. Make it a video meeting by clicking to turn your camera on.
How to:
Click on the blue “+” button and select “Start a meeting”
Invite guests by searching their name or email address (if external)
Click “Invite”
Guests will instantly see the join-a-meeting request pop up within their NextivaONE
Call a department, not just an individual
Call or transfer a call to a team, like Support or Sales.
How to:
Click on the phone icon at the top right
Instead of searching for “Jim Smith” or dialing a number, just type “Support” or “Sales”
Talk to your admin if you don’t have teams set up in your system (and if you’re the admin, here’s how to set up a team).
Silence all incoming communication
Create focus time by muting all incoming calls and messages via “Do not disturb.”
How to:
Click on your profile/avatar in the top right corner
Click the first option (e.g. Online, Busy, etc.) then “Do not disturb”
Follow the prompts to set the duration of your quiet time
Sarah Skidd is a Product Marketing Manager for Nextiva. Former small business owner and mom of a bunch of kids, Sarah’s a mix of strategist and boots-on-the-ground doer. Off the clock, she’ll sneak in a hike or bribe her kids to join her in Rummikub.
We are thrilled to share that Nextiva was recognized by customers on Gartner Peer Insights as a Customers’ Choice in two categories in the April 2023 Gartner Peer Insights ‘Voice of the Customer’: Unified Communications as a Service.
“We believe every business should have access to the technology that gives the largest corporations in the world an advantage. We’re on a mission to level the playing field, and arm the underdogs with tools that help provide amazing experiences for their teams and customers.”
Tracy Conrad
Co-Founder of Nextiva
h3#feedback-from-customers {font-weight: 800;}
Here is some of the feedback our customers shared with Gartner:
The “Voice of the Customer” is a document that applies a methodology to aggregated Gartner Peer Insights’ reviews in a market to provide an overall perspective for IT decision-makers. The aggregated peer perspective, along with the individual detailed reviews, is complementary to expert-generated research such as Magic Quadrants and Market Guides. It can play a key role in your buying process, as it focuses on direct peer experiences of buying, implementing and operating a solution. The full methodology can be found here, and a complementary copy of the 2023 Gartner Peer Insights “Voice of the Customer for Unified Communications as a Service (April 2023) can be accessed here.
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark, and PEER INSIGHTS is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
The graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available here upon request.
Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed, or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Unified Communications as a Service, Worldwide, 26 April 2023
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lindsay Lapchuk
Lindsay is the Director of Public Relations at Nextiva. She tells illuminating stories about the fast-evolving world of business communications, and the people and technology on the frontlines of this change. Before Nextiva, Lindsay led Communications at FreshBooks, and has consulted for several successful start-ups and founders.
A VoIP phone is any phone that uses an internet connection to make and receive calls instead of traditional landlines. Instead of a traditional “hard-wired” phone that uses direct connect copper wires to provide telephone service, a VoIP phone gives you greater mobility, interoperability, and connectivity. The best part? A VoIP phone isn’t restricted to a specific desk location. You can use an app to make calls from any desktopcomputer or mobile device.
VoIP vs. Traditional Phone Systems
The biggest difference between a VoIP phone and a traditional landline telephone is that the local telephone provider installs a landline phone in a physical location.
On the other hand, a VoIP phone makes and receives calls over the internet and is not limited to a specific location or provider.
This way, you can use that phone number from anywhere you have internet access.
Because of this, there are two big differences in functionality between VoIP phones and traditional phones. The first is that a VoIP phone will work in any location. As long as you have an internet connection, you’ll be able to make and receive calls without being tied to one place.
Not sure which VoIP phones to pick? We got you.
Talk with an expert at everything VoIP. We'll help you save with the right devices that you and your team needs.
A VoIP phone operates by using digital signals to authenticate and establish phone calls. VoIP phones associate themselves with a VoIP service provider. The process entails the following steps:
The VoIP provider sets up and manages incoming and outbound calls.
When a call is placed from a VoIP phone, the provider sets the call up over the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
When a user talks on a VoIP phone, the handset converts and compresses the sound into data packets and sends them instantly to the VoIP provider.
Depending on the other party’s phone provider, the provider relays the data packets or converts the sounds back into analog audio.
All these steps take less than a few seconds to establish a call, but the conversation happens in real time without delay once it’s connected. Want to know about the technology behind VoIP? Check out our beginner’s guide to SIP.
So, Why VoIP Phones?
Historically, the local phone company had to connect each and every phone number to a phone handset. A technician had to run a physical line from a neighborhood terminal to your building and wire up the telephone network interface.
In the 90s, businesses wanted to manage phone features themselves, especially with the rise of call centers as a business function. So they managed the phones in the office using specialized equipment known as a Private Branch Exchange (PBX). One of the PBX limitations was that operators still needed to purchase lines and numbers from the phone company.
Less than a decade later, today’s phone system began to take shape.
Communication providers like Nextiva became the industry standard for business phone systems. Instead of purchasing expensive telephone equipment with proprietary phones, the industry evolved to provide reliable phone service using interoperable equipment to connect to the PSTN.
Today’s VoIP phone features offer many more features and higher reliability than those available on old PBX systems.
Since VoIP phones work by handling telephone calls from the internet, or the cloud, the technology employs existing computer network cabling or Wi-Fi to access telephone networks.
Now, with modern technology, VoIP phones work by converting analog voice signals into digital signals over your broadband internet connection. The easy way to say it? VoIP uses the internet to make and receive calls rather than traditional landlines.
All you need is an internet connection and a business VoIP provider to place and connect the calls.
Check out how Tony breaks it down in this video.
VoIP technology uses existing computer network cabling or Wi-Fi to access telephone networks.
No more wires or boxes are needed to use your VoIP business phone service! Now you can take a call from anywhere you have internet — even from an app on your computer — and your phone number can stay the same as before, so you won’t have to change it.
So whichever telephone device your company chooses, you can connect it to the VoIP phone system simply and easily. Just plug the phones in and have your tech team configure the system to best suit your particular needs.
“Many medium and large enterprises already have significant investments in PBX systems and are reluctant to eliminate systems that have worked well for many years to switch entirely to a software-based phone service. The good news is that many cloud phone service providers have a feature called SIP trunks that allows you to connect your PBX system to a VoIP network.”
Sometimes, businesses prefer to retrofit an existing PBX to a cloud-based system instead of entirely switching to a VoIP phone system. This type of migration would rely on Session Internet Protocol, known as SIP trunking, to connect phone calls over IP networks.
VoIP phone systems offer many benefits, but the most popular reason why they’re popular is that you can make and receive phone calls from any high-speed internet connection. No more being tethered to a desk to work. You now have virtual phone numbers to protect your privacy. Use Nextiva’s business phone app to receive calls from your desktop computer or any mobile-compatible device with our mobile app.
Businesses like VoIP because it’s easier to scale (vs. traditional landlines) and add phone numbers as your team grows. Why? Because you don’t need technicians to come out to install physical phone lines. VoIP has easy installation — you only need an existing broadband connection and VoIP provider.
Other popular VoIP features for business include integration with existing software applications, like Microsoft Teams integrations. Advanced voicemail features like visual voicemail and voicemail transcriptions are also sent to your email.
Lots of businesses like the lost-cost approach to maintenance. Not only do you not need your own PBX or server since the data is hosted and managed by your VoIP provider, but you will get automatic software updates, so no one needs to be monitoring your phone system.
VoIP phones provide high-definition sound quality (twice that of traditional landlines). And your VoIP phone system can be set up for Power over Ethernet (PoE). That feature means they get power over their Ethernet network cable instead of a traditional power adapter. This results in fewer plugs that can get knocked out of power strips around the office.
VoIP Phone Equipment
There are two main types of VoIP phones: wired phones and softphones. You may need only one type to suit your needs, or your business may operate best when you combine a few different types.
VoIP hard phones are physical phones that you can see, touch, and feel. On the other hand, softphones are basically apps you use on a computer or mobile device to accept and make calls.
If you choose Nextiva for your cloud phone system, you will get a softphone included in your package. Nextiva also offers a variety of certified VoIP phones and equipment guaranteed to work for your needs.
Nextiva has assembled a chart showing the most popular VoIP phones on the market to make the decision process easy. All of these models have been tested and reviewed, and each has been benchmarked to the highest industry standards.
Remember that countless other models are available (some with either more advanced features or additional lines). Here’s a more comprehensive list of the best business VoIP phones.
Best Picks for VoIP Phones
Poly VVX 250: A high-quality, four-line, IP phone ideal for knowledge workers who need to meet today’s modern business environment demands and the ability to multitask or handle multiple calls. Pricing: $160
Nextiva X-885: A sleek, twelve-line, color, IP phone ideal for executives and receptionists. It has a multi-page approach to provide twelve additional programmable keys. Pricing: $190
Yealink T57W: Designed for busy executives and professionals, the Yealink T57W is an easy-to-use business phone with an adjustable 7-inch touch screen. With integrated Bluetooth 4.2 and dual-band 2.4G/5G Wi-Fi, the T57W IP Phone allows for multiple wireless connection options. Pricing: $310
A conference phone differs from a desktop phone in that it is optimized for broadcasting high-quality sound in a group setting like a conference room because it has an omnidirectional microphone configuration.
However, there isn’t a big functional difference between desktop and conference phones. You can easily use the other if you learn how to use one.
The models shown below are among the most popular VoIP phones in the market. Each comes with standard features like speakerphones and speed dialing. For information on additional features and capabilities, refer to the chart below.
Best Picks for VoIP Conference Phones
Snom C520: A high-quality conference phone with 2 additional rechargeable wireless microphones to extend the vocal range and built-in noise reduction that is ideal for any conference room. Pricing: $389
Poly Trio 8500: A powerful conference phone with a color LCD touch screen, 14-foot optimal vocal pickup range, plus USB and Bluetooth connectivity. The Poly Trio 8500 is ideal for medium and large conference rooms. Pricing: $740
Poly Trio 8800: A powerful conference phone with a color LCD touch screen, a 20-foot optimal vocal pickup range, Wi-Fi, USB, and Bluetooth connectivity. The Poly Trio 8800 is ideal for large and extra-large conference rooms. Pricing: $900
What Type of VoIP Phone Does My Business Need?
In the end, you cannot go wrong with any of these popular devices. You’ll notice that each offers the features you would expect from a phone system.
Here are the primary requirements to consider before choosing a device:
Consider the brand reputation.
Are there names you trust more than others? Think about longevity and past performance.
Poly is the global leader in effective business communication with colleagues, partners, customers, and prospects. You can’t look at a serious VoIP solution without including its product line in your decision-making process.
Cisco is a big name in business networks and internet infrastructure and another lead player in the VoIP hardware realm.
Panasonic is one of the world’s leading VoIP phone business systems innovators. Their reputation for making quality electronic devices goes back decades.
VTech is the world’s largest manufacturer of cordless phones and is well known for its electronic educational toys.
Check the number of line registrations.
How many lines does each VoIP phone in your office need to handle? Some team members will need many more than two lines. Likewise, look at how many line appearances you can see on the screen so you know if another user’s line is available.
Do you use headsets?
What type of connectors do they have? An RJ-9 is a familiar type of connector for telephones but is less popular. Today’s headsets use USB for connectivity. If you need Bluetooth, then make sure your device supports it. Some devices require a USB-to-Bluetooth dongle that might not be included.
Ready for Power over Ethernet (PoE)?
Most Voice over IP phones now support PoE but ensure you have the power adapters since most employees working from home do not have PoE-capable network equipment.
Don’t forget about reliability.
Does the phone receive regular security updates? VoIP phones that receive these updates tend to be more reliable than devices that need firmware delivered by hand. (Hint: Many, many internet-connected devices never get updated.)
Frequently Asked Questions About VoIP Phones
Got questions about VoIP? Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Here are some of our most frequently asked questions about VoIP phones.
Can I transfer my phone number to VoIP?
Yes, you can keep your current business phone number if you want to move to VoIP. To transfer a phone number to VoIP, you would port it to your new phone system. You can transfer any phone number, including cell phone, toll-free, or any other telephone number you are authorized to manage.
Number porting is the process of moving your phone number away from your current provider and transferring it to another provider, like your new VoIP provider. If you transfer your phone number to VoIP at Nextiva, you need a Letter of Agency and a recent bill from your current provider.
It can take 2-4 weeks to complete the transfer process. In the meantime, you’ll be given a temporary business phone number to use.
How are VoIP phones different than regular phones?
VoIP phones use internet protocol to transmit voice data, while regular phones rely on traditional copper lines or cellular networks. This enables VoIP phones to offer better call quality, enhanced features, and lower costs. VoIP also supports other forms of business communication, such as video conferencing, chat messaging, and text messages.
You may lose connectivity in the event of a power loss or internet outage. During those instances, you can still make calls using your VoIP app on your smartphone, which relies on your cellular data internet connection.
What’s the definition of a VoIP phone?
A VoIP phone is any phone that uses an internet connection to make and receive calls instead of traditional landlines from the local phone company. Instead of a traditional hard-wired phone that uses copper wires to provide telephone service, a VoIP phone works on any data connection, such as Wi-Fi or mobile phones, giving you greater mobility, interoperability, and connectivity. The best part? A VoIP phone isn’t restricted to a specific desk location. You can use an app to make calls from any desktop computer or mobile device.
Can a VoIP phone receive text messages?
Yes, a VoIP phone can receive texts. The easiest way to send and receive texts on your VoIP phone number is to use a softphone app like NextivaONE.
With NextivaONE, you can turn any computer or mobile device into a phone that can make calls or send and receive texts.
How do you use a VoIP phone?
You would use a VoIP much in the same way you use any other phone you’ve used. All you need is an internet connection, a VoIP provider, and a compatible device, such as a desk phone or a softphone app, to use VoIP. You simply connect the phone to the internet, configure it with your VoIP provider’s settings, and start making calls.
Note that VoIP phones route calls through the internet, and you’ll want to be certain of your physical address with the E-911 address on file. This address may differ from your company address as users may use VoIP phones at home or while traveling.
Check our list of 40+ VoIP features for more VoIP phone features and functionality.
Can I change the service for my VoIP desk phones?
Yes, you can change your VoIP desk phone’s service provider. The process involves signing up for VoIP phone service, configuring your devices with the new provider’s settings, and transferring your existing phone numbers. The FCC states that you have the right to keep your existing phone number when switching providers.
Most VoIP phones can be updated to make calls with your new VoIP provider. A Nextiva expert will confirm for sure whether your existing IP phone can be used and will walk you through the steps to reset your device.
Do I need a VoIP phone to use VoIP?
No, you don’t need a VoIP phone to use VoIP service. While dedicated VoIP phones offer an optimal experience, you can also use softphone apps on computers, tablets, or smartphones. These communication apps, while reliable, lack the tactile feel of a VoIP desk phone. On the other hand, they are very easy to use, and anyone can make calls in minutes.
With Nextiva, you don’t have to choose. You can use VoIP apps alongside your hardwired VoIP desk phones. Many users can seamlessly transfer calls between their mobile phones and desktops.
Growth Starts With VoIP Phones
A phone call is behind every sale, team meeting, and customer service interaction. You need a flexible VoIP phone system that propels your business further. As you grow, easily set up features like call centers and the like.
There are many choices when buying and configuring your business VoIP service. Making sure you have the best VoIP provider, phones, and features, gives you more confidence to run your business.
Not sure which VoIP phones to pick? We got you.
Talk with an expert at everything VoIP. We'll help you save with the right devices that you and your team needs.
The good news is that you are not alone in this journey, and there are professionals to guide you along the way. Talk to a Nextiva VoIP specialist who can help you select the perfect phone system for your company.
Setting up a VoIP phone takes minutes after signing up, setting up call flows, and placing business calls. You can choose pre-configured VoIP phones or download an app to make calls from your company.
Alex Doan is an experienced senior marketing professional specializing in propelling growth for both B2B and B2C companies. Proficient in streamlining marketing operations for seamless sales transitions, utilizing analytics and consumer insights to achieve measurable outcomes. Committed to enhancing lead and customer experiences through effective journey mapping.
Sarah Skidd is a Product Marketing Manager for Nextiva. Former small business owner and mom of a bunch of kids, Sarah’s a mix of strategist and boots-on-the-ground doer. Off the clock, she’ll sneak in a hike or bribe her kids to join her in Rummikub.
When a rival takes off like a rocket ship and grows faster than you, you’re going to search for answers. Did they get more funding or win an elusive account? You could turn over many rocks to find crickets.
The answer is much simpler.
They mastered the art and science of asynchronous communication. It helps companies cut wasted time and get more work done faster.
Business communication makes or breaks every company. Too little, and projects stall and get derailed. But too much, and you distract your team from making any real progress.
Giving your team the ability to work without expecting an immediate response unlocks a whole new level of performance.
Let’s dive deeper into its benefits, limitations, and best practices to improve the way remote teams work.
Asynchronous communication is a method of exchanging information without the expectation of real-time feedback. It reduces various live checkpoints by placing greater emphasis on the initial request.
This form of communication reduces face-to-face status updates without inhibiting output. As a result, it has been a boon for remote workers who carry out deep work at their own pace.
An example of asynchronous communication includes emailing the VP of Sales to update this quarter’s projections or offering feedback on a shared document. There’s no expectation for the recipient to respond instantly. Instead, they can read and reply when it’s ideal for them.
As companies embrace remote work across many time zones, interest in async has increased. Asynchronous communication increases productivity and morale, so it’s no surprise the fastest-growing companies adopt it.
Source: Smartsheet
Synchronous communication, also known as real-time communication, involves engaging with a teammate and expecting an immediate response. For example, if you’re in a meeting and ask a team member a question and need an answer now. Synchronous doesn’t only mean face-to-face. It’s found across Slack channels, video calls, and weekly standups. On the surface, async and sync sound like a simple distinction. Emails usually don’t need an immediate response, yet in-person conversations do. These expectations aren’t concrete. And with more teams telecommuting, that line is blurrier than ever. For example, chat and instant messaging can be both real-time and asynchronous. The same goes for email: ask anyone who’s gotten a late-night message from a manager. It’s irresistible to put off a reply ’til the next workday. The secret isn’t the technology but your company’s culture and expectations. Unfortunately, too many companies don’t set clear expectations or give guidance. And this is where people get frustrated, signals get crossed, and productivity grinds to a halt. According to our State of Business Communications report, more than half of businesses face a crisis every month or more due to communication issues.
But unlike using a new project management tool, company culture is harder to change.
You’re most likely already practicing asynchronous communication in a few ways. However, the default is to deal with issues and requests as they happen. The pandemic has dramatically changed the future of work, but not necessarily for the better. Many remote teams cite that they are in endless meetings. The Work Trend Index by Microsoft revealed that 62% of calls and meetings are unscheduled. This stat is aggregated from over 31,000 firms. Most employees spend 80% of their day in meetings, on the phone, and responding to emails, according to HBR. But if your team is always available, how can they focus on deep work? The truth is they can’t. Relying on synchronous communication steals your team’s focus. It’s also hurting your business in several ways:
Rewards presence over productivity. When fast response time is the expectation, your team prioritizes being present instead of doing their work. An anonymized study of 50,000 office workers found that most people check their email or chat app every six minutes or less!
Adds unnecessary stress that drives turnover. Being always available creates anticipatory stress – a constant state of anxiety. High-stress workers are up to three times more likely to quit.
Silos actionable information. When the context of a decision only exists during a live meeting, it becomes privileged. Instead of knowing where to look for answers, your distributed team asks the same questions and cannot proceed at their own pace.
Limits your team’s flow. ‘Flow’ is the state of deep focus that only comes from a long uninterrupted period. In a 10-year study, McKinsey found that workers in flow are five times more productive than those regularly interrupted.
Alienates people in different time zones. Synchronous communication requires everyone to be present at the same time. If your team works across time zones, this means only some of them can be present. It also limits team members from managing their own time.
Asynchronous communication benefits
On the other hand, asynchronous communication gives your team the freedom to work around their ideal schedule.
A culture of asynchronous communication has several noteworthy advantages:
Curbs interruptions for higher productivity. Knowledge workers like engineers, designers, and writers need prolonged deep work cycles to perform their best.
Places results above responsiveness. Rather than assessing your team for response time, measure the outcomes. Even for complex topics, an app like Loom makes it easy to record short screencasts.
Emphasizes strategic thinking. The pace of async communication gives more space to think deeply about your answer. This means fewer back-and-forth conversations and better output. Responses can be more rational and thought-out versus uninformed and ad hoc.
Establishes clear expectations. There’s no more sitting around waiting for a response or getting upset when a teammate doesn’t get back to you right away. Instead, everyone knows when to expect a response and can go on with their workday until then.
Cultivates a culture of knowledge sharing. Decisions from meetings become company-wide updates rather than being only available to attendees. This enhancement speeds up the checkpoints across various projects. Templates minimize the guesswork for capturing takeaways from meetings.
Evens the playing field for remote and in-office staff. You’ll get more comprehensive input from remote workers who are excluded from the perks of an office. It also reduces the odds of unplanned ideas thriving in the office.
Forces you to plan out work effectively. When team members are only available at specific times, it forces you to plan more in advance. A few extra minutes upfront saves hours of meetings later.
Making sync and async communication work better
While synchronous communication is invasive, asynchronous gives your team control over when to respond. Some teams can’t rely on asynchronous communication alone. For instance, when sales or customer support handles inbound calls. Likewise, there are situations where you need to hear many viewpoints and voice a decision to a group. The best teams understand that both communication styles are essential for peak productivity. And research backs this up as well. Harvard researchers observed that teams collaborating in ‘bursts’ were more productive, better at coming up with unique and innovative ideas, and spent less time-solving complex problems. An example of this collaboration is having short moments of real-time communication followed by extended time apart.
Building a balanced communications strategy
A lasting communications strategy balances time for work and collaboration.
But, unlearning your previous communication habits takes time and dedication. Not only do you need the right tools, but also clear expectations and new workflows. This is crucial for remote employees, though everyone benefits from balanced communication.
Here’s how you can go from a culture of chaos to a healthy blend of sync and async:
1) Take stock of your communication ‘stack’
Businesses use more communication tools than ever, from virtual phone systems to chat and video conferencing. Unfortunately, spreading communication across dozens of channels leads to confusion. Transition to asynchronous communication by first taking stock of all your communication tools. This includes:
Phone
Chat
Email
SMS/text messaging
Video meetings
Project management
Document collaboration
File sharing
For each of these channels, write down how your team typically treats them. Do they use chat mostly for real-time conversations? If not, how long do they wait for a response before following up or getting frustrated? Get a solid understanding of your team’s current communication practices so you can optimize them with the right tools.
2) Create a pyramid of responsiveness
Next, map out how you want your team to use each of your communication channels. Think of this as a comms plan. For example, in the IT world, they use runbooks to handle situations like server crashes. For other issues, your runbook outlines when to use each tool, the expected response time, and their style. These three styles are:
Synchronous: These are urgent and must happen in person or using a real-time tool (like chat or video conferencing).
Asynchronous: These don’t need an immediate response. However, you’ve set clear expectations for response time. Each person answers on their own time.
Semi-async: There are some situations where you’re best off with a combination of both styles. Before getting everyone on a live meeting, provide the context over email. Invite them to attend the meeting with a specific set of outcomes desired. This way, everyone gets up to speed and can make a meaningful contribution. Afterward, circulate the decisions made in a recap.
Seeing all your company’s communications in one place drives home how few conversations need to happen in real time. The ones that require a real-time approach, such as emergencies, team-building, or complex decisions, should only make up 10% of your team’s time. Related: Communication Plan Template For Better Messaging & Planning
3) Develop a culture of async-first
Now, it’s time to bridge the gap from how you engage today to your ideal workflow. Where can you add clarity to response time or change habits to embrace asynchronous communication? For example, instead of using chat as a synchronous tool, provide more context to messages so they can respond without your presence.
Low context: Requires live discussion
High context: Can be handled asynchronously
Can you look over this report and let me know what you think?
Can you please look over this report before Wednesday at 1 PM EST and provide me with feedback?
Specifically, can you confirm and update the following metrics: Average Wait Time, First Call Resolution Rate, Self-Service Usage, and Customer Effort Score.
I’m meeting with our new head of customer experience on Thursday morning and want to get her up to speed with where we are now. Here’s a link to one of our previous reports if it helps! Thanks!
Rather than use separate tools, Nextiva increases productivity with phone, chat, and video meetings in one place.
Along with using the right platform, we’ve rounded up proven ways to communicate asynchronously.
Delegate as if you were going on vacation. For example, what meetings can be turned into an email or shared doc? Ask your team to do the same and make a list of alternatives for live scenarios. Are there specific paths forward that people can follow in your absence?
Over-communicate project plans. Avoid vagueness at all costs. Each message should set expectations, give a clear timeline, and share links to resources to reduce back-and-forth conversations. Anticipate knowledge gaps and address them before they hold up a project.
Ask for a ’round up’ of any decisions made. Make it a practice of documenting and sharing the results of conversations. Store these in a virtual workspace that everyone can access. Assign an owner to each item on your to-do list.
Set ‘office hours’ for live availability. Time block moments in the day when they need to be available on chat. Otherwise, set a reasonable time to respond to each channel and let them sign off or turn off notifications.
4) Know when it’s best to use synchronous communication
With any culture shift, there’s a chance not everyone will be on board. Real-time conversations are essential for brainstorming, building rapport, and dealing with sensitive subjects. While your goal is to minimize their frequency of them, there are four scenarios where real-time, synchronous interaction is preferred:
One-on-ones: Conversations between managers and their reports help employees stay on track. Instead of an aimless discussion, discuss it with a few pointed one-on-one questions.
Building rapport: Despite the benefits of asynchronous communication, it lacks the influence of verbal and non-verbal cues and celebrating accomplishments.
Project kickoffs: Walk through a plan when you need to keep everyone on the same page. For example, when you’re educating your sales team before launching a new product.
When making urgent or high-stake decisions: When responsiveness is vital, you’ll need to avoid miscommunication. Real-time conversations can ensure everyone is on the same page. (But don’t forget to document and share it internally as appropriate.)
An easy rule to follow is that real-time meetings are necessary for topics that depend on an emotional response. Otherwise, build autonomy into your team’s workflow.
5) Bring asynchronous communication to your customers
Asynchronous communication improves your employee experience. But you can also use it to strengthen your customer experience. The most common customer touchpoints involve phone calls and live chat. These are synchronous and real-time, requiring you to staff up to customer demand. Gartner found that only 13% of customers can fully resolve concerns via self-service. The rest? They land on your website and require assisted live contact. This inefficiency is expensive — upwards of $8.01 per live interaction compared to $0.10.
Here are some ways to deliver asynchronous work practices for customers.
Simplify your navigation and help docs. Many websites have cluttered navigation that makes it hard to get help. Additionally, help documents should be super easy to consume, avoiding jargon and complexities. Listen to your inbound call center conversations to get a feel for the verbiage and skill level.
Optimize self-service resources for search. Search is the first touchpoint for people, so it’s best to produce extensive documentation that search engines surface to users. Ensure that support documents are accessible, use FAQs, and include videos and images. Audit your site performance so pages load in less than two seconds.
Offer automated customer solutions. Solutions like chatbots and IVRs can help you both deflect live help volume and assist people. Today’s contact center solutions meet today’s rising customer needs and conserve your resources.
Deploy proactive messaging to known call drivers. When you know an issue impacts many customers, push out simple messaging about it. This includes updating your website, adding a message to your phone system, and revising support articles. However, a mass email might startle more customers than help, so choose wisely.
Not everyone will instantly adopt the new style of business communication until you do. Instead, focus on progress — not perfection. Find small ways to introduce more async communication to your team’s workflows every day. Resist the urge for a daily huddle. Instead, scribe your thoughts and data points in a shared document and ask for feedback. Your actions matter. Studies suggest that company leaders cause significant ripple effects on your team. If you message at all hours, expect instant responses, and don’t respect boundaries, neither will your team.
Mastering team communication requires the right mindset
There are plenty of people out there who would love to tell you that asynchronous communication is the future of work. But, in reality, it’s just another style of work at your disposal. It’s up to you to decide when and how to use it best.
A feature-rich unified communications platform alleviates the uncertainty of synchronous communication. With the advice mentioned above, you can use it to the fullest.
You hired your team to do their job, not to be full-time emailers, chatters, and meeting attendees. Use asynchronous communication to give them the time and space they need to do their best work.
Asynchronous communication FAQs
What is the difference between asynchronous and synchronous communication?
The primary difference between async and sync communication is the speed of interaction. Synchronous happens in real time but requires more “overhead” to express ideas and expectations. On the other hand, Asynchronous conveys complete ideas without live interaction.
What are examples of async communication?
Examples of async communication include reference materials, recorded videos, and document collaboration. If people contribute at their own pace without impacting others, that’s asynchronous communication. Conversely, functions like video conferencing, live chat, and back-and-forth emails use synchronous communication.
Which tools provide asynchronous communication?
Asynchronous communication is a process or mindset that software can make easier. When you front-load requirements and context in your initial communication, you’ll be adopting async communication principles.
The following tools provide asynchronous communication:
Nextiva Asana Google Docs Loom Tella Dropbox Confluence
Within the above communication tools, lean on features that don’t require live interaction.
What are the disadvantages of asynchronous communication?
There are a few downsides of async communication you should know.
Unfamiliarity — Async might be unfamiliar for many accustomed to real-time chat and engagement from their colleagues and superiors.
Change Management — Async requires more effort placed at the initial request. This change means more data gathering upfront.
Speed — Since fewer live interactions exist, there are fewer opportunities to calibrate and get real-time feedback
Joe Manna was a senior content marketing manager at Nextiva. He blends his marketing acumen and deep technical background to improve people's lives with technology. His expertise helps companies large and small serve more customers. He enjoys a rich iced latte and a non-fiction business book when he's not pressing words.
You must be proactive about building a swell of positive online reviews to outweigh the rare negative reviews.
Reputation management isn’t a “nice to have” feature in your marketing tool belt – it can make or break your business.
We’ve rounded up the best (and worst) reputation management examples. We’ll also share helpful best practices to improve your business reputation.
What is reputation management?
In about two minutes, Jessica breaks it down for you.
Reputation management consists of influencing your brand’s perception. It involves promoting a positive image and downplaying any critical views. The goal behind managing your reputation is to increase trust and credibility among your audience.
Why You Need a Reputation Management Strategy
What comes up when potential customers find your brand online? Whether it’s a Google search or a TikTok video, ensuring your brand appears favorably online is crucial.
An online reputation management strategy has become the bread and butter of a successful digital marketing strategy.
Brand sentiment isn’t all about warm and fuzzy feelings, either. Research from BrightLocal found that 98% of consumers use the internet to research small businesses before purchasing from them. Your brand’s online reputation hinders your ability to grow leads, sales, retain customers, and bottom line.
Reputation management is the process of monitoring and improving the public sentiment of a brand. The approach uses a combination of social media management, online reviews, and customer testimonials in reaction to an event or can be proactive in avoiding unwanted negative attention.
These days, most reputation management happens online. As such, there are some advantages and disadvantages of carrying out a reputation management strategy.
Pros
Cons
Customer reviews persuade potential customers
Improves customer satisfaction and loyalty
Boosts online SEO and web presence
Grows referrals from new customers
Social media marketing takes considerable time and resources
Public relations can be costly, especially when working with an agency
Mismanagement of reputation management strategies can hurt the brand image.
Ways to Track Your Online Reputation
Depending on the budget and resources available, there are a few different ways to freshen up your brand’s online reputation.
1) Do It Yourself
Take inventory of how your brand can improve its online presence. Consider testimonials, social media posts, customer support, and other online touchpoints. If any area isn’t delighting customers, roll up your sleeves and jump in.
This can be a very low-cost but time-intensive approach. Providing 1:1 customer support in a personalized way doesn’t scale, but it sure makes a difference in fending of negative reviews.
2) Work With a Public Relations Firm
Consider hiring a public relations (PR) agency to overcome a poor brand image. They can lend their expertise to improve your business reputation in ways that in-house teams can’t. This option is best for companies that need ongoing help with crisis management, as working with agencies often comes with a hefty price tag.
PR firms aim to book favorable media appearances, distribute customer testimonials across media channels, and facilitate positive events like giving back to the community. Broadly speaking, these deflect customer complaints found in a Google search.
3) Use a Brand Reputation Management Tool
An easier way to stay on top of your online reviews and customer complaints is to use an online reputation management tool. These services are an affordable way to get a bird’s eye view of all your review sites and respond promptly.
These tools can offer review management, track social media activity, and alert your customer support team in real time. This omnichannel approach makes sure that no customers fall through the cracks.
The top reputation management tools monitor reviews from social media posts, forums, and 50+ review sites, including Google, Facebook, and Yelp.
10 Good Reputation Management Examples
Here are 10 examples of brands that have knocked it out of the park when managing their online reputation.
1. Effective crisis management — Chipotle
In 2015, Chipotle faced backlash when dozens of customers contracted food poisoning from contaminated produce. This crisis generated significant media coverage and plummeting sales.
Chipotle closed all stores for an all-hands meeting. (Via MarketWatch)
Chipotle’s public relations response was swift. They quickly closed all affected locations and implemented new food safety protocols.
The chain offered free meal coupons nationwide to earn back the trust of its customer base. This effective PR response (it’s hard to say no to free burritos!) helped Chipotle restore its brand image to one of America’s most beloved burrito bowl suppliers.
2. Proactive customer service — Zappos
Few companies have a better customer experience than Zappos.
A fun and positive atmosphere for contact center agents at Zappos
Zappos’ philosophy is to “WOW” every customer through excellent proactive customer service. This philosophy means contact center agents can go above and beyond by hand-written cards or even delivering flowers to customers during difficult times.
Other customer satisfaction initiatives, such as their 365-return policy, regularly create positive social media and press for the brand.
3. Surprise Acts of Kindness — Chewy
Chewy is a popular online retailer specializing in pet food and supplies shipped to customers’ doorsteps.
The surprised thousands of customers with custom-painted pet portraits of their “fur babies.” Often, these were gifted to grieving pet owners after a loss as a way to remember their loved ones.
These unique acts of kindness spread like wildfire in social media, including TikTok and Reddit. It’s also an effective investment to complement its SEO marketing strategy with many media mentions.
4. Responsive customer service — Nike
In addition to selling shoes with a loyal following, Nike has made strides to elevate the digital customer experience. The brand is known for its dedication to excellent customer service.
Hmm, that's odd. Let's have you meet us in DM with the following for a closer look.
– Nike Member email – Is this happening on our website or the Nike app? – Screenshots of the error you're receiving https://t.co/dsJjx1OYXB
Notably, the brand’s customer service Twitter account supports anyone 24/7 in English, Spanish, and French. Also, their voice and tone are key to being approachable and trusted.
5. Community building — Glossier
Minimalist beauty brand Glossier has grown a positive following on major social media platforms.
Glossier launched popular user-generated content campaigns, like “Skin First, Makeup Second,” to feature their customers through social media.
Glossier’s motto helped it attract a community of like-minded consumers. (via IMA)
As a result, Glossier has built a strong community of loyal customers. A Glossier-branded subreddit boasts over 41,000 active members.
6. Aligning with customer’s values — Patagonia
Few brands put their money where their mouth is like the outdoor clothing brand Patagonia.
The company’s environmental focus is far from lip service: they donate 1% of all sales to environmental organizations, have pledged to use 100% recycled materials by 2025, and have been a vocal advocate in campaigns to protect public land.
This commitment has built a strong sense of trust with their value-aligned customers.
Patagonia also prioritizes customer satisfaction through its Ironclad Guarantee. This brand promise allows customers to return any Patagonia product for a replacement, refund, or repair regardless of when customers purchased it.
7. Growth through expertise — Beardbrand
Beardbrand, a men’s grooming supplies retailer, skyrocketed to over 120,000 in sales in only 12 months. How? By producing a series of videos educating men about how to take care of their beards.
Rather than pouring money into expensive media channels, Beardbrand produced helpful videos on the craft, making it clear they’re more than just a retailer — they solve customer needs.
Beardbrand collected customer feedback on their Shopify website, Amazon product pages, and other online review sites. The customer reviews were overwhelmingly positive, and the brand’s online influence soared.
8. Social media customer service — Adobe
Like Nike, Adobe’s Twitter account doesn’t just publish marketing updates. The brand leverages social listening to help designers who run into technical issues, have questions, or need extra support.
Their team responds to questions publicly and privately through direct messages. @AdobeCares has replied over 400,000 times since 2010.
As part of its marketing strategy, solving user needs impacts customer retention. The company has increased competition from the likes of Canva, another rival with raving five-star reviews.
9. Customer convenience — Amazon
Amazon has undoubtedly had its fair share of negative press over the years. Yet the tech giant continues to sustain a very loyal customer base and increased market share year over year.
The retailer solves many types of customer feedback with automated support deflecting requests to its inbound call center. In some cases, customers can obtain refunds without the hassle of physically returning a defective product.
The reason for this trust? Amazon’s dedication to customer service, feedback, and convenience. Support agents are available 24/7 to help with order errors, offer refunds within 30 days, next-day delivery, and more.
10. Active social listening — Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is one of the most widely recognized brands in the world, yet it still makes personal interaction with customers daily through social listening.
Coke’s social media team tracks all mentions of their brand on social media– even when not explicitly tagged.
In the social media post above, they make a humorous reference to a popular TikTok trend. This example humanizes and gives the brand a sense of humor.
Bad Reputation Management Examples
11. Threatening legal action — KlearGear
How to not respond to a negative review? Threatening the customer with a lawsuit. In 2013, KlearGear, an online novelty item retailer, did just that. They responded to a bad review about an undelivered item with the threat of a $3,500 fine – citing a non-disparagement clause in their terms of service.
It wasn’t a good look. The incident led to public backlash and a lawsuit against the company.
12. Shaming customers — Boners BBQ
When receiving negative feedback isn’t ideal, writing negative things about a customer online is even worse.
In 2012, a local BBQ joint put a customer on blast on social media for not leaving a tip. Not only did the post include the customer’s name, but also photos from their private social media profile.
The public response was swift: negative online reviews flooded the business’s profile. Several news reports documented the public backlash and subsequent boycott of the restaurant.
13. Fighting with customers — Amy’s Baking Company
We can’t talk about reputation management examples without mentioning Amy’s Baking Company.
This now-shuttered business was infamous for its appearance on Kitchen Nightmares, where expert chef Gordon Ramsay was unable to continue filming because of battles with the owners.
But the TV episode was only the tip of the iceberg. Business owners Amy and Samy earned a notorious reputation for arguing with customers’ feedback in Yelp online reviews.
14. AMA that went wrong — REI
While a public Q&A can be a great way to promote transparency for your businesses, it’s not always the best idea if your brand has skeletons in your closet.
This is something REI’s CEO Jerry Strizke learned the hard way when participating in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything.” Rather than building community, the comments with the most upvotes questioned REI’s labor conditions and low wages.
The disastrous AMA made headlines, further highlighting REI’s questionable practices.
15. Diminishing customer pains — Chase
While humor can be a great way to connect with your community, knowing your audience’s real-world needs is crucial to relate to them.
Chase Bank faced public backlash after posting a #MotivationMonday tweet in 2019, poking fun at a hypothetical person’s spending habits.
The internet was quick to bite back, putting Chase under fire for their multi-millions in taxpayer bailouts, high overdraft fees, and bloated executive salaries.
So, enough with the bad ways to handle your brand’s online reputation. What should you do instead?
How to Build a Positive Online Reputation
Follow these best practices to build a five-star reputation for your business.
✅ Be proactive about customer satisfaction
While the adage “the customer is always right” might not always ring true, customer feedback and satisfaction play a central role in your brand’s online reputation.
Adding a handwritten “thank you” card to an order or offering a discount code to loyal customers can make render a positive customer experience
Create a customer success team or support channel and promptly respond to customer complaints. Quickly reach out to customers who leave negative comments, share poor experiences on online forums, or otherwise share a problematic e experience with your brand.
The customer may not always be right, but everyone should be happy. For more ideas, check our guide on how to build an award-winning customer service strategy.
✅ Monitor social media platforms consistently
Keep a close eye on social media mentions, reviews, comments, and brand names. Engage with these social media posts, and where relevant, show that you care about your customer’s individual experiences.
Doing this manually takes a lot of time. Consider using a social media monitoring tool with integrations with top social media platforms and review sites.
The last thing you want is for your brand to go viral for the wrong reasons. Ensure your reputation management system keeps tabs on your entire social media ecosystem.
✅ Encourage your best customers to write reviews
Happy customers can be your brand’s most influential advocates. Reach out to loyal customers and encourage them to leave a positive review – most are happy to do so.
While automated surveys help, we’ve found that talking to customers over the phone goes a long way to building a personal connection when you ask them to leave a review.
Make the process easier for them by including direct links in your email signature on review sites.
✅ Audit your brand’s online reputation
Take an inventory of your brand’s online reputation: what’s working? What needs improvement?
Google what comes up about your brand in search engine results. Take a look at online directories. Check social media for brand mentions. Ensure your business phone number is found on emails, your website, and social media.
What gets measured gets improved. Track key metrics and report on them from a single dashboard. When you do this, your team will see that customer satisfaction and maintaining a good reputation are important.
✅ Create your own media buzz
Don’t wait for critical customer feedback to create buzz and interest in your brand.
An effective online reputation management strategy involves being proactive with how people might discover and consider your brand over the long term.
Create an influx of positive sentiment by launching a new brand initiative. Build a newsworthy campaign to give back to customers, support a worthy cause, or make a splash with a new TikTok trend.
Be creative here – parodies and irreverent humor can sometimes go viral as often as polished public relations campaigns.
In a day and age where 76% of consumers regularly read online reviews before buying a product, too many negative reviews can turn a thriving business upside down.
Too many poor reviews will sabotage your business growth. They can also tank your search engine rankings, which can take months to recover from, as a mere Google search influences perception. All in all, it’s far better to have a proactive, rather than reactive, plan for customer reviews.
How does online reputation management work?
Online reputation management is the process of monitoring and improving your company’s brand sentiment.
Effective approaches to reputation management adopt a holistic strategy. Often, that includes monitoring social media channels, online directories, star review platforms, messaging apps, and other online touchpoints.
All these puzzle pieces combine to improve how your brand is perceived online.
How can small business owners improve their reputation?
Reputation management doesn’t have to be an expensive, complicated process. Business owners can stick to these fundamentals:
1. Proactive customer review creation: Create an automatic customer satisfaction survey to capture customers’ sentiment and willingness to recommend the brand. Review responses individually so you can assist them as needed. 2. Create safe and effective escalation paths: Empower customer service teams to flag customer experiences at risk for a negative customer review. These workflows can mitigate potential poor customer experiences with senior business leaders. 3. Actively monitor customer review portals: Routinely audit and respond to all customer reviews published on legitimate customer review platforms.
By now, these reputation management examples should inspire you to build your brand proactively by delivering a brag-worthy customer experience.
The above digital marketing strategies will help you can make a difference in how current and future customers perceive your brand.
Ken McMahon leads Customer Success for Nextiva. His 25 years of experience leading various aspects of the customer experience including professional services, customer success, customer care, national operations, and sales. Before Nextiva, he held senior leadership roles with TPx, Vonage, and CenturyLink. He lives in Phoenix with his wife and two children.
Here’s Jake to show you four new ways you can streamline customer and team communication.
Login less and still be secure
We introduced a 7-day login stretch on our desktop app.
Now you’ll stay logged in even after your computer wakes from sleep or hibernation.
Control the call with your headset
We had a lot of in-app requests for this one.
Our customers like to answer, end, and mute calls directly from their fancy headsets.
So we made sure NextivaONE plays nicely with most Jabra and Poly/Plantronics headsets.
Note: Plantronics devices will require the hub software, available here.
Forget remembering extensions
Say you’re in Sales, but your caller actually meant to contact Support…
To hand them off to the correct team, you no longer have to both remember that the Support extension is 8376 and then dial it.
Now you just hit transfer and choose “Support team” from your contacts.
Relieve the hosting burden
It’s really hard to focus on giving an A+ video presentation when you keep having to click to accept incoming meeting attendees.
Now you can delegate what Jake (?watch the video at the top) calls the bouncer job.
Where do you find this setting? We moved all audio, video, and host settings into one place.
Find meeting settings at the bottom of your screen both during a video call and on the pre-call staging screen (where you choose if want to be on camera or muted).
Nextiva is the future-of-work software company that helps sales, service, and marketing teams achieve higher productivity and deliver better customer engagement. Nextiva’s cloud-based platform brings together business communications applications, intelligence, and automation to help companies build deeper connections with customers and manage all conversations and relationships in one place.
When it comes to customer reviews, embracing the good, the bad, and the ugly is essential.
While everyone loves a five-star review, it may be tempting to sweep the occasional one-star rating under the rug — what’s one unhappy customer, after all?
Anticipating negative reviews, and responding when you get them, should be a pillar of your reputation management strategy.
A staggering 77% of consumers view brands more favorably1 if they respond to and act on customer feedback, including online reviews.
This guide will round up the top strategies for responding effectively on review sites. We’ll also include negative review response templates you can copy and revise to suit your business needs.
A Bad Review is Bad for Business (Sometimes)
While only 6% of consumers have left a negative review in the past 12 months, a single negative review can cost your business’s bottom line.
On the flip side, businesses can create a silver lining to negative online reviews through thoughtful responses.
Here’s an example of a business that pushed back against a bad review and won.
Meet Geraldine Hernandez, CEO and co-founder of Savory Crust Gourmet Empanadas. One day in 2019, she received a dreaded one-star Yelp review from a customer claiming they got food poisoning from her restaurant.
Many business owners are familiar with what happened next. Despite a pristine online reputation, Yelp refused to take down the customer review. Rather than acquiesce to a drive-by fake review, Hernandez explored her options.
It didn’t take much sleuthing to find that the reviewer who posted the review had previously mentioned she had a medical condition (IBD) in other Google reviews, which could cause some discomfort with certain foods. Despite her earnest attempts to reach the customer, she took a different tact.
An excerpt of the business’s response to the bad review.
With a loyal following, Hernandez made her case in the court of public opinion. She shared her findings, proudly explaining they never had such critical reviews, and even boasted a flawless inspection from the local health department. And then she went even further.
Rather than being upset, she donated a portion of her profits to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation on behalf of the disgruntled customer. In addition, she encouraged her audience to donate as well, including a special offer for anyone to redeem on their next visit. The post garnered nearly 400 reactions and 300 comments.
TLDR: As a business owner, you don’t need to be the victim of a bad review. You should do your best to monitor and respond to negative feedback offering assistance to customers in need. But if all else fails, create a marketing opportunity to tell your side of the story.
Apologize and offer a resolution or refund. Investigate the root cause of the issue and take steps to prevent it from happening again. Consider offering compensation or incentives for future purchases.
Respond promptly and empathetically. Acknowledge the customer’s frustration and apologize for the inconvenience. Provide a clear explanation of what went wrong and how the issue will be resolved. Consider offering a discount or free service to compensate for the poor experience.
Listen carefully to the customer’s concerns and investigate the issue. Provide a clear and transparent explanation of the charges or fees in question. If an error has been made, offer a refund or credit. Consider reviewing and updating billing and pricing policies to prevent similar issues in the future.
Respond promptly and provide regular updates on the order status. If there is a delay or issue with the delivery, apologize and offer a resolution, such as expedited shipping or a refund. Consider offering a discount or coupon code for future purchases to compensate for the inconvenience.
Examine the customer review to determine if this was an isolated incident or relates to actual policies from the company. Acknowledge the customer’s perspective and recommend you speak to them to discuss it further. If appropriate, mention that you considered their feedback as you review and update your company policies.
Review the customer complaint and determine if this was a human error or if the customer was frustrated by an unexpected charge. Approach their concern with empathy. Seek to understand the situation before pointing them to your billing policies.
Waiting on hold is never fun. Take a look at the customer review and determine if this is a one-time incident or a growing pattern in other online reviews. You might need to revamp your on-hold music to let people know the expected wait time and offer a callback option. Otherwise, you can respond to the review by being cordial and offer to call them directly at a time that works. Follow up to ensure their primary issue has been resolved.
Respond promptly and provide regular updates on the issue’s status. Provide clear instructions or troubleshooting steps to help the customer resolve the issue. Consider offering a refund or credit if the issue cannot be resolved.
Apologize and address the customer feedback directly. Provide a clear and transparent explanation of any discrepancies or misunderstandings. Review and update marketing and advertising standards to ensure accuracy and avoid misleading or false claims.
Be strategic in how you respond so you don’t land in a legal mess. In most cases, someone simply wants to be heard at the highest level. Seek to understand the impact of a contractual issue. Respond with empathy and understanding — and make it right. Offer your direct phone number for future concerns.
Acknowledge the customer’s concerns and provide a clear straightforward explanation of environmental policies or initiatives. If feasible, consider addressing the issue, such as implementing sustainable practices or reducing waste.
Restate the main concern without admitting fault or assigning blame. Advise that you will look into the situation and consider the online reviewer’s feedback.
Review the customer’s concerns and briefly summarize your accessibility or inclusivity policies. If appropriate, mention your efforts to improve accessibility or inclusivity, such as translation services or providing accommodations for customers with disabilities.
Examine the customer review and try to get to the root issue. Rather than addressing each point, focus on the most obvious concern. Then follow up with a positive element they shared in their review. Lastly, conclude with an offer to talk it through over the phone.
Listen to the customer’s feedback and take steps to improve website or app functionality. Respond promptly to technical issues or errors. Consider offering tutorials or support resources to help customers navigate the site or app.
Listen to the customer’s preferences and needs and provide personalized recommendations or solutions. Consider offering customization options or personalized experiences to meet the customer’s expectations.
Review Response Templates for Negative Reviews
Here are some effective negative review response examples that you can use to handle critical customer reviews for common situations. Some templates you can directly copy and paste, and others you may want to personalize based on the specific circumstances of the review.
Beneath each template, we’ll offer some recommendations for the next steps you can take to resolve the situation. Treat these as flexible guidelines rather than hard-and-fast rules.
Tip: Bookmark this page and come back the next time you get a negative online review.
1. Product or Service Quality
Hi [CUSTOMER NAME],
We’re really sorry to hear that the clothing you received didn’t meet your expectations, and would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
We take customer feedback very seriously and are looking into the cause of this issue so that production errors like this won’t happen in the future.
In the meantime, we’d like to make it right. I’ve just sent you a direct message— please respond to it and provide your order number. We’ll issue a full refund to your original payment method. We truly appreciate your support of our business and will do our best to make sure you have a positive experience moving forward.
Next Steps
Process compensation or discount to the customer
Follow-up in one week to ensure they are completely satisfied
2. Customer Service
Hi [NAME],
Thanks for sharing your experience with our team, I’m sorry to hear that we didn’t quite hit the mark here. We always strive for high standards of customer service, and we didn’t meet that for you.
If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear more about your interaction with one of our staff. Please reach my office at [EMAIL/PHONE]. In the meantime, I’ve talked with our team about ways that we can improve our customer experience in the future.
Next Steps
Attempt to contact the customer and listen to their concerns
Make adjustments to the customer service experience, if applicable.
Follow up with the customer to let them know adjustments have been made.
3. Billing and Pricing
Hi [NAME],
Thank you, [NAME], for bringing this to our attention. We absolutely understand your concern about pricing. You can reference our package and billing policies here: [LINK], but please reach us at [EMAIL/PHONE] if you have any further questions. We try to be as transparent as possible about our pricing.
Next Steps
If the error is on your end, offer a refund or discount
Adjust pricing or billing policies if necessary to prevent further confusion
4. Shipping and Delivery
Hi [NAME],
I’m sorry to hear that your order is taking longer than expected. Would you be able to provide your order number so I can check the status of your shipment? I’m happy to provide updates on when your order is estimated to arrive.
Please accept my sincerest apologies for the mixup. I’d also like to offer you a 15% discount on your next purchase with us to make up for the delay.
Next Steps
If suitable, offer a discount or coupon code
Follow up with the carrier to ensure the package is delivered
Contact the customer to confirm receipt and satisfaction
5. Company Policies
Hi [NAME],
Thanks for reaching out — I understand your frustration about our inability to process a refund. We do allow and gladly process returns up to 60 days after purchase, provided that the item is returned in new condition.
Looking into your order details, you requested a refund outside of our return policy window. You can view our Terms and Conditions of Purchase at this link: [LINK]
We appreciate and value your business. As a gesture of good faith, I’d like to offer you a 20% off discount on your next purchase with us.
I’ve already emailed your coupon code to the email address on file for your account. If you have any additional questions, please respond directly to that email and I’d be happy to help.
Next Steps
Consider offering a discount or refund to the customer, depending on the situation
If needed, revise company policies to offer more clarity
6. Cancellation Issues
Hello [NAME],
Thank you for reaching out to us! We’re sorry if our policies on cancellations weren’t clear. You can review our policy here: [LINK]
On the booking page, we do clarify that the deposit will not be returned for cancellations within 24 hours of your appointment time. We do this so that our stylists can appropriately manage their client schedules. If you have any additional questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them for you.
Next Steps
If a mistake has been made, offer a refund or credit
Update written policies or procedures if necessary
7. Long Hold Times
Hi [NAME],
I know a long hold time can be extremely stressful and frustrating. We’re a small business, and try our very best to make sure our customers receive support as quickly as possible. Our average hold time is between 1-5 minutes.
However, as you experienced, some days can be much busier than others. We’ll work to expand our support team to minimize this impact on hold times.
If you don’t mind me asking, was your support issue resolved? If not, here is my direct contact information:
[EMAIL]
[PHONE]
If you wish, please contact me, and I’d be happy to look into this personally for you.
Next Steps
Follow up to ensure that the customer’s issue has been resolved
If resources allow, consider expanding support resources
Oh no! We’d like to resolve this for you as quickly as possible, could you please reach us at [PHONE] at your earliest convenience? We’d like to get some additional information on this issue and help you troubleshoot a solution.
Next Steps
If there is a technical issue, immediately pass the feedback along to the technical team for resolution
Follow up with the customer to ensure the issue is resolved
9. Marketing and Advertising
Hi [NAME],
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. [ISSUE] is absolutely not what we want to communicate at [COMPANY], and we apologize for the misunderstanding. We’ll keep your feedback in mind for future marketing campaigns to avoid this confusion again.
Next Steps
If necessary, make adjustments to marketing or advertising communications
10. Contract Disputes
Hi [NAME],
Nice to hear from you again. I understand that you felt your [SERVICE] was delivered too late, and I’m sorry that that’s impacted your marketing team’s plans.
Prior to starting any new contract, I provide an estimated delivery date on the scope of work documentation. However, I include on the contract that this is an estimate only and the actual delivery date may vary by 1-2 weeks.
On larger projects like this, many factors can influence a project timeline. Considering the increased scope of work, we delivered the [SERVICE] only five days after the initial estimated delivery date.
Next Steps
Emphasize or re-write areas of the contract, if needed
If the error is on your side, offer the customer a discount, refund, or remedy the situation in another way.
11. Environmental Concerns
Hello [NAME],
Thank you for expressing your concerns here, really. We take environmental sustainability seriously here at our small business and continually improve our procedures to minimize our environmental impact.
I’ll pass this along to the relevant team and we’ll evaluate to see if there are any changes to be made to make [PROCESS] more eco-friendly.
Next Steps
If possible, address the issue and implement more sustainable practices
If changes are made, follow up with the customer to let them know
12. Ethical or Social Responsibility
Hi [NAME],
Thank you for bringing up your concerns about our brand working with [INFLUENCER]. Until now, we were not aware of their affiliations with [CAUSE]. As a business owner, I’ll take your feedback into consideration of our partnership.
Thanks again for letting us know (and for being a loyal customer!), it’s much appreciated.
Next Steps
If necessary, discuss the situation with the influencer regarding their statements or activities
If the ethical issue has made headlines, consider a PR response upon issue remediation
Consider taking steps to ensure ethical guidelines are being met in the future (such as hiring an ethics officer)
13. Accessibility or Inclusivity
Hi [NAME],
Really appreciate your taking the time to bring this to our attention. At [COMPANY], we try to make every effort to accommodate visitors of all abilities, but we may have missed the mark here. I’ve been in touch with our web developer about making our website more accessible to those with visual impairments, and we’ll be implementing changes very soon. Thank you again for doing your part to make our brand more inclusive.
Next Steps
If reasonable (or legally mandated), make adjustments to accommodate users with disabilities
Follow up with the online review to confirm the changes have been made
14. Overall Experience
Hi [NAME],
I wanted to first thank you for taking the time to visit and support our business. We’re a small, family-owned shop and, out of all the options in town you have for lunch, we appreciate you choosing us.
That being said, I’m so sorry that you didn’t enjoy your meal. We’re always happy to make adjustments or re-make your meal in person, just let your server know in the future.
I’d like to offer you a free appetizer on us next time you visit to make up for your bad experience. I hope you give us a second chance!
Next Steps
Consider offering a discount, free item, or refund to the customer
If the review mentions valid areas of improvement, work to remedy them
15. Website or App Usability
Hi [NAME]
Really appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback on [WEBSITE/APP]. It’s important to us that [PRODUCT] is easy and intuitive to use, so your feedback will be passed along to our user experience team for review.
In the meantime, I’d like to share with you a knowledge base article that should help guide you with [ISSUE]. Feel free to reach out to our customer success team at [EMAIL] should you have any additional questions.
Next Steps
If there is a technical issue, immediately pass the feedback along to the technical team for resolution
Consider building out additional product tutorials, if necessary
16. Personalization or Customization
Hello [NAME],
I understand that you’d like to make some personalization changes to our existing products. While this isn’t something that we typically offer, we may be able to make an exception depending on your order and the personalization requested.
Could you please contact our support team at [EMAIL]? We’d like to hear more about what you had in mind to see if we can accommodate your request.
Next Steps
Follow up with the customer in a timely manner
If there is a significant demand for customization, consider offering it as an added service
Nobody’s perfect — own up to your mistakes or acknowledge a negative customer experience. However daunting a review may seem, most customers simply want to be heard and validated for their experience.
✅ Empathize with a customer’s negative experience
Put yourself in their shoes. While a lukewarm coffee or slightly delayed order may not seem worth a one-star tirade to you, try to understand their experience as much as you can. In the right context, empathy can be a customer service superpower.
✅ Take the conversation offline
After a personalized, empathetic public response, it’s best to try and take the conversation offline. Let the customer know how to contact you directly via an email or phone number so that you can sort out the issue without being in the public eye.
You might not know the customer’s name, but with virtual phone service, you can dedicate a special phone number for handling these customer satisfaction matters. You’ll know with certainty why someone is calling.
✅ Personalize the response
Even while using a template, it’s critical to include personalized bits and pieces that show the customer you’re listening to them.68% of people feel brands should have personalized experiences in every interaction.
Pro-tip: You might want to adopt “I” versus “we” in your response. Why? This subtle difference conveys you take responsibility for the situation. It also puts the onus on you to personally address the negative review.
✅ Don’t be defensive
Now is not the time to armor up for battle. Practice grace and empathy, even when a customer is wrong or irate. Remember that your response is not just for the unhappy customer but for other potential customers who will see your response. It’s also not a bad idea to record calls from your call center for reference purposes, such as defending against customer service complaints.
✅ Follow up to ensure customer satisfaction
After you’ve offered a solution, check back in with the reviewer to make sure their issue has been resolved to their satisfaction. An email is fine, but a phone call or a text is even better. This shows that you truly care about their experience.
When you make it right, you’re able to leverage that as a highlight of your excellent customer service. When the time is right, ask, “Would you have a few moments to share a supportive review? We depend on our business reviews and would appreciate you mentioning we resolved this for you. Can I text you a link?”
On the other hand, take care to avoid these common mistakes when replying to customer complaints.
❌ Being defensive
When replying to negative reviews, it’s best to steer clear of defensive language. Acknowledge the customer’s experience, thank them for their feedback, and keep it polite and professional.
❌ Failing to acknowledge the issue
Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. If your business missed the mark somewhere, take responsibility and offer remediation. Playing the blame game will only further irritate your customers.
❌ Providing a generic response
The most important part of responding to a negative online review is making sure that customers feel heard. No one wants to get a robotic response that refers to the company name in the third person, like a legal proceeding. Include details in your response that warmly recognize the individual negative experience.
❌ Blaming the customer
Regardless of who is truly at fault, don’t use accusatory language or play the blame game. Remember, it’s about resolving an issue with dissatisfied customers and showing new customers that you genuinely care about their experience. No one wants to be a bad customer.
❌ Failing to follow up with the customer
Always follow up to ensure the customer is satisfied with your solution. Doing so may remind the customer to edit their negative review or, at the very least, leave them with a positive sentiment toward your business.
Turn Negative Reviews into Positive Customer Experiences
Strike when the iron is hot — 53% of customers expect businesses to respond within a few days, but it’s best to reply within ONE day. An online reputation monitoring tool lets you respond minutes after a review goes live, so you can resolve a poor experience and show the online community you care.
Some of the best success stories come from raw, passionate customer experiences. No matter how negative a review is, there’s always an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade.
In many cases, responding to customer reviews publicly isn’t always the best approach. In collaboration with Amazon Web Services, customer service expert Shep Hyken surveyed consumers’ preferred contact channels2. The results might surprise you.
A company’s phone system is the #1 channel for customer service.
Build a Positive Reputation With Proactive Review Management
It’s hard to overstate how important online reviews are to your company’s reputation management. Nearly eight out of 10 consumers would go out of their way to support a company with excellent customer service, including review management.
Bad service costs you business — it’s as simple as that.
The best way to combat negative customer feedback? Prevent it from happening in the first place.
Short of a time machine, the best thing you can do to prevent poor online business reviews is to be accessible.
Make sure your customers know they can you via phone, email, social media, or other channels. Be active in these spaces, and make it clear that you’re available to lend a listening ear.
Said differently, you want people to voice concerns to your customer service team so issues can be addressed promptly rather than letting them fester over time.
Negative Customer Review FAQs
How should I respond to a negative customer review?
When responding to a negative review, remove the emotion and the desire to be “right.” Acknowledge their concerns, demonstrate a willingness to remedy the problem, and be helpful. You’re trying to address the customer review and signaling to potential customers that you care about their experience.
Can negative reviews actually help my business?
Surprisingly, a modest amount of negative feedback can actually help your business. A study conducted by Northwestern University has shown that consumers are skeptical of a 5.0 review rating. It turns out that buyers hold a stronger opinion of a 4.6 review rating over a “perfect” 5.0 score.
What is online reputation management?
Online reputation management is the practice of actively monitoring and improving a positive perception of your business online. It consists of reactive and proactive strategies to collect, respond to, and optimize a business’s online reviews.
The benefits of online reputation management include increased search engine visibility (SEO) and positive reviews and ratings associated with the business name.
How do I encourage happy customers to leave positive reviews?
Happy customers are your most valuable asset in online reputation management. Encourage them to leave positive reviews through follow-up emails, incentives, IVR prompts, strategically placed QR codes, or simply asking.
Sources:
Microsoft: 2017 State of Customer Service Report [#]
Shep Hyken: 2022 Achieving Customer Amazement Study [#]
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ken McMahon
Ken McMahon leads Customer Success for Nextiva. His 25 years of experience leading various aspects of the customer experience including professional services, customer success, customer care, national operations, and sales. Before Nextiva, he held senior leadership roles with TPx, Vonage, and CenturyLink. He lives in Phoenix with his wife and two children.
Nextiva and Simplify360 are joining forces to help businesses cut down on apps, boost team productivity, and deliver amazing experiences for their customers.
Simplify360’s technology will help Nextiva bring its “one workspace” vision to market faster.
The acquisition expands Nextiva’s core offerings to include social media, reputation management, live chat, and helpdesk CRM.
Managing all the conversations that fuel your business just got easier! Nextiva has acquired Simplify360, an AI customer experience platform based in India. Simplify360 uses AI and automation to help over 5,000 global businesses seamlessly deliver world-class customer support across multiple channels, including email, live chat, social media, online reviews, and e-commerce.
Amazing support across online channels is now table stakes: it’s a deciding factor for customers when engaging with a brand and expectations are only growing. But businesses are having a hard time keeping up. Teams are juggling multiple applications, conversations are in silos, and the customer journey is fragmented. This leads to frustrated teams and unhappy customers.
From day one, Nextiva’s vision has been to bring together all your conversations and collaboration tools in one place, from voice, text, email, team chat, and meetings, and the single applications associated with all your files and contacts. Nextiva has developed the future of simplified business communications: one platform, one workspace, zero friction.
With the addition of Simplify360’s social media, reputation management, live chat, and helpdesk CRM, Nextiva aims to become the most robust end-to-end business communications platform that enables teams to do more and deliver amazing experiences for customers along the way.
Starting today, Nextiva customers will gain access to Simplify360’s offerings, including:
Social media – All-in-one social suite for publishing, listening & more
Live chat – Provide real-time support to your customers
Helpdesk CRM – Streamline customer support with an organized and efficient system for managing requests and issues
And the best part? Customers can look forward to a full integration of these features into Nextiva’s platform in the near future.
Nextiva CEO, Tomas Gorny and S360 CEO, Rohit Gupta.
“Our mission is to level the playing field so businesses of all sizes can compete with the big tech companies, and deliver amazing experiences for their customers and teams,” said Tomas Gorny, Co-founder and CEO of Nextiva. “No more time wasted toggling between multiple applications – Nextiva keeps teams productive and connected with customers, colleagues and vendors from wherever they are in the world.”
The acquisition also opens the door for Nextiva to expand into the Asia-Pacific market, as we continue to grow and support more businesses globally.
One place to manage it all.
Easily manage, monitor, engage, and analyze all social media channels in ONE PLACE.
Lindsay is the Director of Public Relations at Nextiva. She tells illuminating stories about the fast-evolving world of business communications, and the people and technology on the frontlines of this change. Before Nextiva, Lindsay led Communications at FreshBooks, and has consulted for several successful start-ups and founders.
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