Agent

An Agent is a customer experience representative who handles (and solves) incoming or outgoing customer inquiries through various support channels such as voice, email, chat, social, asynchronous messaging, in-app, and SMS text.

At TaskUs, we refer to agents as “teammates”, because our focus is on humanizing these frontline support members, as they are the most critical element on the team.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is human cognitive intelligence exhibited by machines, such as “problem-solving” and “learning.”

Asynchronous Messaging

Asynchronous Messaging, also called “async messaging,” is a communication method where a message is placed in a queue and does not require an immediate response to move forward with processing. Samples of asynchronous messages include email and SMS, where both parties are free to respond on their own time. Conversely, chatting is a form of synchronous messaging, where parties expect an immediate or near-immediate response.

Back Office Support

Back Office Support functions are roles that are not directly related to customer support—but do enhance customer experience.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a subset of outsourcing that involves contracting the operations and responsibilities for a particular business process to a third-party service provider.

Chat Support

A live person-to-person conversation such, as Chat Support, is a form of synchronous messaging where the customer and the agent must both be present at the same time to engage in a conversation. Often appearing on a company’s website or in its app as a static or pop-up dialogue box, Chat Support allows the customer and the agent to communicate via short, written, and synchronous messages.

Community Forum

A Community Forum is an online “meeting place” used to debate, share knowledge, and communicate with others about topics participants are interested in.

Content Moderation

Content Moderation is the practice of monitoring and applying a pre-determined set of rules and guidelines to user-generated submissions to determine best if the communication (a post, in particular) is permissible or not.

Culture

Culture (aka organizational culture) is the set of values, behaviors, and experiences that contribute to a company’s social standards, psychological environment, and business practices. No two organizations are the same. This reality is reflected through and differentiated by its culture on a daily basis.

Customer Care

Customer Care is the process of looking after customers to best ensure their satisfaction and delightful interaction with a business and its brand, goods and services. It is closely related to “Customer Experience” but different from “Customer Support” or “Customer Service.”

Customer Effort Score (CES)

A new metric that has been developed is Customer Effort Score (CES), which measures a customer’s effort of an interaction with a company. It can be calculated in the normal rating scale using 1 to 5 or using a simple question that allows the customer to answer yes or no.

Customer Experience (CX)

Customer Experience (CX) is an aggregate of a customer’s A-Z experience with a brand. It is not a snapshot in time, such as a key touchpoint or a critical interaction.

Customer Life-Cycle Management

Customer Life-Cycle Management is the active (or inactive) A-Z management of the Customer Experience (CX) relationship that a brand consciously fosters (or does not) for each particular customer under its care.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a tool that companies utilize to store and monitor customer information. The purpose is to be a central repository of customer data for visibility into the customer’s interactions and relationship with a brand. Maintaining visibility into a customer’s journey in a Customer Relationship Management tool is important to provide the highest quality future interactions.

Customer Satisfaction Rating (CSAT)

A Customer Satisfaction Rating (CSAT) is often a leading indication as to the success (or failure) of a brand’s Customer Relationship Management program. Construction: A Customer Satisfaction Rating is generally measured on a five-point scale (with 1 being “very dissatisfied” and 5 representing “very satisfied). When reported on the individual level, a respondent’s individual 1-5 selection is the reported metric. When reported on the aggregate level, individual responses are summed and reported as a percentage of the total collected responses over the course of a predetermined time frame.

Customer Service

Customer Service (often synonymous with Customer Support) is a toolset that is utilized to ensure a customer’s satisfaction with a brand. Customer Service helps to resolve a customer’s ad hoc challenges, questions and concerns relating to a product or service. This is in contrast with customer support that refers to a comprehensive set of solutions, such as an ongoing support package offered by a SaaS organization. It is a critical component of a brand’s Customer Relationship Management playbook to foster a high Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) rating.

Customer Support

Customer Support is a tool set that is utilized to ensure a customer’s satisfaction with a brand. This tool set helps to resolve a customer’s ad hoc challenges, questions and concerns relating to a product or service. It is a critical component of a brand’s Customer Relationship Management playbook to foster a high Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) rating.

Data Warehouse

A Data Warehouse is a location and/or tool that is used by a business to store its electronic information (such as records and data).

Domestic Outsourcing

Domestic Outsourcing is a strategic solution that refers to utilizing a third-party vendor to perform services in the same country as the purchasing business.

Email Support

Email Support is an asynchronous communication channel (where the customer and the teammate do not both need to be present at the same time to engage in a conversation) to resolve ad hoc customer questions, challenges and concerns relating to a product or service. Email Support is one of the most frequently utilized and is considered a mission-critical service offering. Many view it as more convenient than phone support, although not as timely.

Employee Satisfaction (ESAT)

Employee Satisfaction (ESAT) is a description phrase that is used to reflect employees’ self-reported contentment about the business in which they work for, in addition to the extent that their wants and needs are perceived to have been met by the organization. Employee Satisfaction is a major factor in motivation, goal achievement, and morale at the workplace.

Entrepreneur

An Entrepreneur is a founder of a business and assumes the risks and rewards of business ownership, and is ultimately responsible for its failure or success.

Escalation

An Escalation is a procedure that results from the pre-established set of parameters that moves a customer’s complaint, challenge or concern to either a more senior representative or one that initiates a related process.

First Contact Resolution (FCR)

First Contact Resolution (FCR) is an instance when a customer’s questions are entirely addressed at the conclusion of the first point of contact regardless of the channel, negating the need for a follow-up communication.

Full Time Employee (FTE)

A Full-Time Employee is a term used to describe one (or more) team member whose combined work hours in a week equal the total number of hours that a business considers full time.

Gamification

Gamification is a tool that utilizes game mechanics to incentivize a user’s engagement within a non-gaming context. Strategic and tactical service or product Gamification typically rewards a user in some capacity for executing the desired task, and leverages a person’s natural competitive nature or desire to collaborate.

Hypergrowth

TaskUs is the secret behind the phenomenal scaling of some of the world’s most disruptive companies. Our expertise with Hypergrowth companies has helped Us to scale programs by over 5,000%! Our clients range from Hypergrowth startups, to businesses with $1B+ valuations, to youthful heritage companies. No matter where our client finds themselves in their lifecycle, we believe they are always scaling. We are the global leader that helps companies to scale headcount, processes and technical infrastructure successfully.

In-App Support

In-App Support is a communication delivery that is provided to a user within the currently used app, without first requiring the user to exit and use a different means to reach a support agent.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is telephony technology that reads and interprets a combination of user-generated touch tone and voice inputs to access a business’s databases and return the appropriate information to the caller.

Knowledge Base

A Knowledge Base (aka Knowledge Management System or KMS) is a repository tool to hold a business’s information that end-users can access to research and retrieve answers related to data, materials and a wide assortment of questions. A Knowledge Base case is internally facing for customer service representatives use or externally facing as a public information portal. In both instances, the goal is the same—to share readily available information quickly with the user.

Learning Management System (LMS)

A Learning Management System (LMS) is software (or a mobile app) that delivers and manages educational programs, certifications, resources, and content to enable learning. Both online and offline Learning Management Systems exist.

LizardBear

LizardBear is the TaskUs mascot. When you join our team, you welcome Lizzy the LizardBear into your life. Lizzy represents what it means to work at TaskUs. She is hardworking, dedicated and career-focused—but she has fun while doing it. Lizzy is one of the nicest and most original mascots you will ever encounter. A LizardBear is unusual, quirky, and bold all at the same time. Lizzy is the glue that unites all our different teammates, teams and offices under the common love for TaskUs. She represents our innovative and disruptive culture and brings fun and joy to those around her.

Multi-Channel Support

Multi-Channel Support is a set of two or more individual support channels that a business utilizes to communicate with end users in its care.

Nearshore Outsourcing

Nearshore Outsourcing is a strategic practice where a business hires a third-party supplier to perform contracted work in a nation that is geographically (and relatively) near to the hiring company’s home country.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a prominent customer satisfaction metric. At its core, the Net Promoter Score embodies the fundamental idea that all of a company’s customers fall into one of three categories: promoters, passives, or detractors. Promoters are dedicated, repeat customers who enthusiastically recommend your products or services to others. Passives are customers who are satisfied, but lack any enthusiasm or loyalty; passives could easily switch to a competitor. Detractors are customers who are decidedly unsatisfied with your company.

Offshore Outsourcing

Offshore Outsourcing is a strategic practice in which a business hires a third-party supplier to perform work in a nation other than the one in which the hiring business primarily conducts its operations. This form of outsourcing is differentiated from “nearshore outsourcing” in a way that the location of the sourced third-party vendor’s operations occur in a country that is not near to the hiring company’s home nation.

Omnichannel Support

Omnichannel Support is a descriptive term related to support channels. Omnichannel’s prefix, “omni,” comes from the Latin word “omnis,” meaning “all.” Consequently, Omnichannel Support transforms multi-channel support to a more impactful level in which a business that uses an Omnichannel Support engagement strategy utilizes all support channels available to communicate with end-users in its care.

Onshore Outsourcing

Onshore Outsourcing is a strategic practice in which a business hires a third-party supplier to perform work in the same nation that the hiring business primarily conducts its operations. Another term for Onshore Outsourcing is domestic outsourcing.

Operations Managers

Operations Managers (OMs) are managerial-level leaders that support and lead teams who focus on operational functions.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is a strategic practice and process set that allow a business to focus on core competencies, scale quickly, increase efficiencies, increase competitiveness, and reduce costs by using third-party suppliers to perform aspects of its business that typically are performed in-house.

PCI Compliance

PCI Compliance (Payment Card Industry Compliance) is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment.

Quarterly Business Review (QBR)

Quarterly Business Review (QBR) is a quarterly in-depth analysis that our Client Service Managers provide to our clients.

Queue Management

Queue Management is the process of managing and optimizing queues to improve end-user waiting times and teammate productivity.

Resolution Time

Resolution Time is the amount of time that it takes for a teammate to resolve an end user’s service request, concern or question. Our email Resolution Time is, on average, 1-6 minutes.

Self Service Portal

A Self-Service Portal is a website or app that enables users to perform transactions without the aid of a customer service representative.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is an agreement between a provider and an end user that clearly states and defines the level of service that the end user expects from the service provider.

Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a business management strategy used to improve product and service quality through the removal of defects and errors.

SMS Support

SMS Support (Short Message Service Support) is an asynchronous form of communication where the customer and the agent do not need to be present at the same time to engage in a conversation. Texting is the most widely used form of SMS Support and is the most commonly used feature on mobile phones. In fact, apps account for 90% of smartphone use.

Social Media Support

A Support Channel is a communication channel utilized by a business to interact with end users in its care.

Startup

“Startup” is a state of mind. TaskUs is the global leader that helps companies to scale headcount, processes and technical infrastructure successfully. Our Startup clients are newly funded, youthful heritage companies and businesses with $1B+ valuations. TaskUs is a scaling partner and leader for businesses that are just starting out and for those that are rapidly expanding. We help Startups grow quickly while reducing cash burn. We facilitate hypergrowth like no other outsourcer. We have been there; we have done it hundreds of times. In fact, 74% of our clients are first-time outsourcers. We have the insight and expertise to get businesses to the next level.

Support Channel

A Support Channel is a communication channel utilized by a business to interact with end users in its care.

Support Ticket

A Support Ticket is a service request from an end user that is received by a ticketing system. Emails are often referred to as Support Tickets.