Customer Support has changed over time, with new innovations and technologies helping it evolve to what it is now. Here's just some of the things that we need to realize:

1. Customers send their support tickets through social media. This is already happening, actually: We are already in a time where there's lots of support-related Twitter accounts from various brands. This allows your customers reply faster than calling the hotline and waiting in queue for long.
2. Bots are helping to sort out the important tickets from the not-so-important ones. So, how can bots notify you, especially in places where data connections are not that stable? SMS. 
3. Visual Demonstration is much, much better. In a world where almost everyone has short attention spans, words are not enough - they only pass through one ear and go to the other, or else. It's best to be brief, concise, and most of all, visual.

The ghost month this year is said to begin today, August 22, and will continue until September 19, where evil spirits from hell are released to the world (according to Chinese legend). By this time, you boss who believes in feng shui should be lying low on projects.

How about you? How's things are going on your end? Do you feel that this month's going to be awry? Here's one tip: Forget that there is a ghost month and just go hustle your way out. Do not let this dictate your targets. Though if you can't move on from this belief, it is recommended to target not just one audience, like how Warren Buffet puts his investments in "baskets."

Here's the thing: If you're in the Customer Experience industry, this should not stop you at all, since Customer Experience is round-the-clock, every day. Customers, regardless of whether they believe in this or not, will still be there, waiting to be introduced to the experience that you are offering. This should not stop you in approaching your target.

Business is half-theory, half-application; but overall, it's the effort that counts. In order to increase your chances of good luck, you need to increase your efforts. Hustle, friend, for the world will not stop for the so-called "ghost month."

While we're at it, the Customer Love Fest will happen at Tower Club Makati on October 19 to 20, featuring key personalities in the Customer Experience, Customer Relationship Management and Customer Loyalty industries. 

Visit customerlovefest.com for more info or get in touch with Ex-Link at (02) 633-0153, 643-3887, 0920-981-4376, 0920-924-2532, info@exlinkevents.com or at @CustomerLoveFest on Facebook Messenger.

Pag-IBIG Fund successfully maintained its ISO 9001:2008 certification for Membership Registration Process in 17 NCR branches. These branches passed the Surveillance Audit conducted by TUV-SUD PSB Philippines last August 18-26, 2016.

“TUV SUD, one of the world’s leading technical service organizations, informed us that our 17 branches in the NCR remain to be ISO-compliant. These are: Antipolo in Rizal; Ayala, Buendia I, Buendia II, and Guadalupe in Makati; Binondo and Manila in Manila; Caloocan; Commonwealth, Cubao, Kamias, and Quezon Avenue in Quezon City; Imus in Cavite; Muntinlupa; Ortigas in Pasig; Pasay; and SM Aura in Taguig,” said Vice President for Management Services Group and Head of the ISO Compliance Team, Voltaire M. dela Rosa.

Last December 2014, TUV SUD granted Pag-IBIG Fund an ISO 9001:2008 certification for the second time. The certification falls under the Advocacy and Capability Building Component of the Government Quality Management Program.  This component is expected to promote awareness, generate support, harness resources, and develop organizational capabilities in establishing, implementing, and continuing improvement of quality management system in public sector organizations.

The German firm’s Philippine office reviewed Pag-IBIG’s membership registration processes and found it to be worthy of the world-class certification. The ISO certification further boosts the agency’s credibility and adds value to its services. The firm gave Pag-IBIG Fund its second ISO certification that now covers all 17 NCR branches to date. This was maintained in December 2015.

Pag-IBIG Fund is the first key shelter agency in the Philippines to receive such certification in December 2011.  The agency earned the certification at a record time of three months and 19 days at that time.

This is a news release from the Pag-IBIG Fund.

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See Pag-IBIG Fund at the 2016 Customer Love Fest, which will be held at the New World Makati Hotel this October 20-21, 2016. Reserve your seats by calling 633-0153, 643-3887, 0920-981-4376 or email info@exlinkevents.com.

The multi-awarded chorale was also chosen as the Best Regional Entry from the National Capital Region. Its musical director, Mr. Anthony Villanueva, also received the special award for Best Conductor.

The Pag-IBIG Fund Chorale had its beginnings in the early 1990s to initially sing at Fund Coordinators’ Club meetings and other corporate occasions. It was then formally organized in September 2005. The group has become Pag-IBIG’s ambassador, performing in events of other companies, both public and private. It has joined and won in various singing competitions within and outside the country.

The Chorale supported Pag-IBIG Fund’s quest for excellence, proving that Pag-IBIG Fund employees are not only capable of providing exceptional service to the members, but also dazzle in arts and culture, particularly music.

Other winners were Tagum City Chamber Choral (Grand Champion), Bayugan City Educators Chorale (2nd), and Pangasinan Provincial Chorale (4th).

At the 8th Grand Prix Pattaya International Choir Festival in Thailand last year, the Pag-IBIG Fund Chorale won Gold Medals in Folklore A Capella, and in Spiritual, Gospel, and Jazz; and a Silver Medal in the Adult Mixed Category. It was also the 2014 Grand Champion at the Civil Service Commission’s Government Choral Competition.

The group made its public debut at the “Liwliwa: Konsierto ng mga Bayani” held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. It also participated in various music festivals including the Madz Et Al Choral Festival from 2007 to 2011 and in Maestro Ryan Cayabyab’s Thousand-Voice Choir Project. It has also guested in several TV shows and has spearheaded several outreach activities.

This is a news release from the Pag-IBIG Fund.

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See Pag-IBIG Fund at the 2016 Customer Love Fest, which will be held at the New World Makati Hotel this October 20-21, 2016. Reserve your seats by calling 633-0153, 643-3887, 0920-981-4376 or email info@exlinkevents.com.

Business owners, imagine this: You or your employees are using Grab for your work tasks (some of you might even ask them to use it), like going to a specific place for meetings, delivery of goods, so on and so forth. Chances are, your employees are required to submit their proof of their ride to be submitted to your company's HR department.

With this in mind, Grab wanted to remove the hassle of documenting every trip your employees take, and thus they offer their Grab for Work service.

• Save time by reducing paperwork - Grab for Work integrates to your HR so your employees won't think of sending receipts to HR; instead, it will be automatically sent to HR itself. Less hassle, less worries!
• Full flexibility with multiple payment options - Credit cards, debit cards, cash or even through a monthly direct billing plan, Grab for Work works with these payment options.
• Increase savings with affordable rides - Grab's competitive prices with their transparent fixed fare guarantee, will maximize your company's cost savings.
• Stay in control for better cost management - You can set your company's transportation fare limits

Considering these benefits that we mentioned, you know you want to get a grasp of Grab for Work. For more information, go to https://www.grab.com/ph/work/.

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Grab for Work is among the sponsors of the 2016 Customer Love Fest happening at the New World Makati Hotel this October 20-21, Thursday and Friday. Learn from local and international speakers how to step up your loyalty, brand and marketing approaches for the customers of now.

The Customer Love Fest is produced and organized by Ex-Link Events. For more information, call 633-0153 or 633-0088, SMS 0920-981-4376, 0920-924-2532 or email info@exlinkevents.com. 

Pag-IBIG Fund's successful partnerships with collection agencies and a tele-collection firm generated to date an additional collection of P16.5 Billion for the Fund since it tapped their services in 2013.

In a statement, Ms. Marilene C. Acosta, Pag-IBIG Fund Senior Vice President for Home Lending Operations Sector, said that the collection agencies collected P11.26 Billion while the tele-collection firm collected another P5.23 Billion, both from housing loan accounts.

"From January to August this year alone, we have already collected housing loan payments worth P5.11 Billion because of these partnerships, or P2.21 Billion from collection agencies and P2.90 from our tele-collection service partner," Ms. Acosta said.

Pag-IBIG records showed that the collection agencies started its services for the Fund in 2013 while it was just in 2015 that the tele-collection outsourcing began.

Pag-IBIG reaped several benefits from the partnerships according to Ms. Acosta.

"On top of the additional collections, Pag-IBIG also saved on administrative cost, including salaries and logistics, by about P50 Million a year. We also put at P1.57 Billion yearly our savings on loan loss provisioning," said Ms. Acosta.

"These partnerships also contributed to the increase of the Fund's performing loans ratio, which now stands at 91%, net of impairment allowance. This means that out of 10 housing loan borrowers, 9 are paying," explained Mr. Benjamin R. Felix, Jr., Pag-IBIG Vice President for Loans Remediation Group. He added that Pag-IBIG tapped the expertise of these collection firms to help them collect from housing loans accounts that are already past due.

Mr. Felix also emphasized that the objective of the partnerships is not merely for the benefit of the Fund but to help delinquent Pag-IBIG members as well.

"Since we tapped the services of the collection agencies, we have helped 210,650 housing loan borrowers save their properties by offering them settlement options acceptable both to the Fund and the borrower," Mr. Felix said.

This is a news release from the Pag-IBIG Fund.

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See Pag-IBIG Fund at the 2016 Customer Love Fest, which will be held at the New World Makati Hotel this October 20-21, 2016. Reserve your seats by calling 633-0153, 643-3887, 0920-981-4376 or email info@exlinkevents.com.

The Pag-IBIG Fund took one extra step to help its members in the Batanes area, which was recently hit by typhoon Ferdie.  In coordination with the local government of Batanes, a roving team from the Pag-IBIG Tuguegarao Office was deployed to the province to accept applications for Calamity Loan from qualified members and to facilitate their processing. The team also assisted the members with housing loans in the documentation and filing of claims for Allied Peril Insurance.

“We know that it would be difficult for them to come to Tuguegarao to file their Calamity Loan applications and claim for Allied peril insurance. So we went to them instead,” says Ophelia dela Cerna, Deputy Chief Executive Officer for Member Services Cluster.

“We hope that the proceeds of their Calamity loans can help them in repairing their homes destroyed by typhoon Ferdie, even provide them with a start-up capital for a small business, or for their medical needs,” Ms. dela Cerna continues.

To date, the roving team has already received  some  165 applications for Calamity Loan. Still they continue  to go around the different Local Government Units in the province to collect more Calamity Loan applications earlier distributed to members.  There are 1,984 active Pag-IBIG members in Batanes.

Meanwhile, appraisers from  Pag-IBIG Tuguegarao have inspected all 38 units covered by Pag-IBIG housing loans finding no major damages. The appraiser’s inspection report is required in filing claims for Allied Perils Insurance. Affected members can also apply for the End-User Home Financing Program for major home repairs.

The Pag-IBIG Calamity Loan is offered to active members who are residing in areas placed under a state of calamity. They can borrow up to 80% of their total savings with Pag-IBIG, payable in two years through salary deduction, with a grace period of three months. Interest rate is a low 5.95% per annum.  Members can still apply for the Calamity Loan even if he has an outstanding Multi-Purpose Loan or Calamity Loan. In no case, however, will the aggregate loans exceed 80% of the borrower’s Total Accumulated Value (TAV).

From January to August 2016, Pag-IBIG Fund has approved  96,051 calamity loan applications and has disbursed more than PhP 1.26  Billion.  (JRS/Faye/JRS/mtv/JRS)

This is a news release from the Pag-IBIG Fund.

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See Pag-IBIG Fund at the 2016 Customer Love Fest, which will be held at the New World Makati Hotel this October 20-21, 2016. Reserve your seats by calling 633-0153, 643-3887, 0920-981-4376 or email info@exlinkevents.com.