Contact Center

05/27/2015

5 Good Reasons to pay Customer Service Employees a higher wage

Customer Service Representatives (CSR's) are often among the lowest paid employees in most organizations. Yet they're among the highest influencers of the customer experience. Let's look at the logic - or the lack thereof:

Employees who interact with customers all day long are in a position to influence the customer experience in a positive or negative way.  Because they're in this highly-sensitive tactical position, it would be wise select employees for this job who are inherently capable of delighting the customer with better discretion.  

CSRBut most companies hesitate  - and rightfully so - to grant such latitude to such low-paid workers.  After all, their pay is low, because they lack the aptitude and experience to warrant higher pay (and greater latitude in decision-making with respect to customers).  There are five big reasons why the Customer Service Representative should be a higher-paying position.

1:  A higher wage will attract higher-quality candidates.

If companies offer a higher wage for CSR's, they'll attract more experienced candidates for the position.  Candidates with a higher level of experience will have more likely learned and acted upon what it takes to delight the customer, and to do so judiciously, with the mutual interests of the customer and the company.  They'll be more capable of making the right decisions in those moments of truth, where the experience could go either north or south, depending on the actions of the CSR.  This type candidate can warrant the trust to please the customer without giving away ranch, as is often the fear of call center managers.  This brings us to the second reason...

2: Higher-quality CSR's can deliver a better customer experience.

CSR's who can be trusted with the latitude to make the best decisions in the moments of truth are better positioned and more capable of delivering a superior customer experience. When a first-line representative at a bank is allowed to waive an overdraft fee without putting the customer on hold to seek approval, the customer immediately has a better impression of the bank, and will feel their loyalty to the bank grow stronger.  And this brings us to the third reason...

3: Higher-quality CSR's increase customer loyalty.

A  consistently higher quality experience drives greater customer loyalty.  When a customer is delighted with the service provided every time she comes in contact with the company (often through a CSR), the customer will actually look forward to engaging with the company.  This is the heart and soul of customer loyalty.  And loyal customers often don't keep it a secret - they recruit more customers,  bringing us to the fourth reason...

4: Higher-quality CSR's are catalysts for increasing market share.

When a customer has a great experience, they tend to talk about it.  This positive talk from a customer is more credible, and more powerful than the most expensive marketing campaign. Strong positive word-of-mouth attracts more new customers, and does so at a relatively low cost.  And that brings us to the fifth reason...

5: Higher-quality CSR's generate higher profits.

One of the highest expense categories for a company is Sales & Marketing.  But when a current customer "sells" a friend or family member on becoming a customer, the company gains the customer and the additional revenue, without the expense of sales and marketing.  As a result, word-of-mouth customers are higher profit customers.

When a company invests more in their customer service team, they're more apt to generate a better customer experience.  And a better customer experience increases the loyalty of existing customers.  Loyal customers recruit new customers through positive word-of-mouth at a lower cost of sales and marketing, which increases profits for the company.  This virtuous cycle begins when an organization makes the decision to recruit higher quality, more experienced CSR's, by offering a higher wage.

United_States_one_dollar_bill,_obverse


Posted at 08:00 AM in Contact Center, Customer Experience, Customer Loyalty | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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01/23/2015

Hire people you're willing to trust. Then trust them.

I called my bank the other day to ask them to reverse a service charge.  Technically, the charge was my fault.  But given the details of the situation, I felt I had a good case for waiving the fee.  My optimistic self thought I'd spend a few minutes explaining the case to a customer service rep, before pleading my case to a supervisor. 
 
Hands are tiedMuch to my delight, the customer service rep refunded the service charge.  She said, "Mr. Watson, even though the bank policy is to enforce the service charge, I think your situation is unique, so I'm going to credit your account."
 
In that instance, my view of the bank changed from a faceless institution that knew me as an account number, to a group of reasonable, understanding people that actually cared about me.  They created a happy memory for me, and a story that I wanted to tell.
 
What exactly did my bank do, that other customer service organizations don't?  They let their first level agents make a judgment call.
 
When a first-level customer service agent is allowed to make a judgement call, it impacts the customer three important ways:
 
The customer's anxiety is immediately diffused.
When a customer calls to right what they feel is a wrong, they're already fueled with negative emotions.  When the CSR isn't allowed to say "Yes," their default response is "No."  And the "No" response will only increase anxiety.  Giving that first person the right to say "yes" when it's warranted, can quickly diffuse the anger before it increases.
 
The customer sees the company differently.
When a first-level CSR is able to meet the customers need, that tells the customer that the company is focused on the customer; not themselves and their policies.  And this kind of impression is what builds loyalty.
 
The customer's time is respected.
The only thing worse than feeling you've been treated unfairly is having to spend a lot of precious time correcting the issue.  When first-level agents are empowered to make more decisions, the customer isn't forced to spend even more time at level two.  Customers can feel the difference.
 
What was refreshing was the fact that a CSR was allowed to make a judgement call, apply naturally common sense, and delight the customer.  Too often, CSR's are trained to enforce policy rather than make good decisions to create good relationships.  
 
There's a formula for getting there, that's actually quite simple:
 
Hire people that you're willing to trust. Then trust them.
Trust

Posted at 08:22 AM in Contact Center, Customer Service, Trust & Transparency | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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04/26/2013

Great Customer Service is About Doing the Basics Well.

 
Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach once said:

Some people try to find things in this game that don't exist; but football is only two things - blocking and tackling."
 
LombardiIn any endeavor, if you can identify the basics, and practice them to the point where you can execute them consistently well, you'll be successful.
 
This week, I called the Internal Revenue Service.  Just the idea of having to call the IRS conjures negative thoughts.  In fact, the call began just that way:  I navigated the phone menu correctly on just my second attempt.  Then I waited on hold for about five minutes.  Seven precious minutes invested, and no progress.
 
At this point, I felt myself taking on that irate customer posture - after all, it was my right as a citizen and a taxpayer.  By the eighth minute, I was completely caught off guard.  A live agent greeted me (we'll call him Bob), and after a couple quick questions to verify that I was who I said I was, Bob got right down to business.  His demeanor was calm and slightly upbeat, and he really seemed to care.  Bob showed empathy.
 
I explained why I was calling, and Bob listened.  He carefully repeated what I told him, then asked me to hold; he said he'd be back in under three minutes.  Bob was back on the line after two minutes and 30 seconds.  (Yes, I timed him.)  Bob set clear expectations, and lived up to them.
 
When Bob returned, he had a solution.  He explained it clearly, and with conviction.  I believed  Bob.  His confidence became my confidence.  I was glad I called, and felt  good about the solution.  Bob showed confidence.
 
An experience that began with all the markings of something bad, actually turned out to be something good - a very positive customer experience.  And the fact that this happened with the IRS made it even more impressive.
 
The things that Bob did so well were the basics of customer service:
  1. He showed empathy.
    Bob came across as a human - a human who cared.  Empathy at the start of a call can set the stage for a successful call.  Always begin with empathy.
  2.  He made a point to earn my trust.
    Bob listened to me.  And to prove that he listened, he repeated back what I told him.  That gave me confidence in Bob.  Always earn your customer's trust by listening carefully, and repeating back what the customer told you.
  3. He found the right solution.  
    Bob didn't immediately know the answer, so he consulted with a colleague to find the right answer - and in the process, he told me exactly what he'd be doing, and how long it would take. Bob was transparent.  And that increased my trust in Bob.
    Customer service is never an easy business, particularly when it's delivered over the telephone, and especially when your customers expect a bad experience.  But when an agent focuses on the basics, and executes them well, the chances for a positive customer experience increase dramatically.
     
    Think of some of your best customer service experiences.  What made them great?
     
    The basics

    Posted at 05:00 AM in Communication, Contact Center, Customer Service | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

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    03/11/2013

    The role of the customer in managing the customer experience

    One of the best parts about writing a blog is reading the comments of your audience; hearing interseted readers' candidly respond to your thoughts. 

    The following comment is a great example.  I'd written a post about a source of the frustrations that customers have with call centers, resulting from the call center being treated as a "cost center" by executive management.  The person that wrote this comment is a long-time call center employee.  She describes her experiences and perspectives from inside the call center.

    I'm sharing this comment because it illustrates the importance of the customer being an active participant in the customer experience.   I've highlighted those passages that best illustrate the point.  Read it, and see what you think:

    Grudge"I work for a cellular company in the states and I just want to say that we're not underpaid. We're actually rewarded quite well. I think the problem is mainly that most people who call in tend to harbor a grudge towards the last representative that they spoke with therefore starting the call off on a bad note.

    It is frustrating when you want to help the customer but the customer won't let go of their previous complaint long enough to hear that you want to resolve it. I've been that angry customer and I know what it's like to feel that you are not being helped or that the person you are talking to is just trying to get you off the phone or pass the buck to someone else.

    What we all need to consider is that one of us doing our job.. I get paid to sit at a desk, wear a headset and do my best to resolve customers issues. But sometimes that is literally impossible and it's incredibly frustrating when you want to help and you want to provide a positive experience for the customer but there is nothing you can do because of policies or because people want to blame you for what they didn't know..

    Bottom line, if you call a call center, be nice. If the representative isn't being nice to you, say so. Tell them that you understand that their job must be really hard and stressful and you don't want to make that any worse and tell them what you want specifically. Don't just tell them "this isn't what I signed up for" or "this isn't what I was told my bill would be". Tell them you want "XYZ" and chances are they will make the necessary changes. We can't read minds. We can only hope that the questions we ask are the right ones and that your answers guide us to finding the right information in our resources. 

    I have been on the phone with people who had hundreds of dollars in past due charges who wanted a credits they really shouldn't have received. But they were nice so I helped them out. I've been on the phone with people who had a zero- balance and always paid their bill on time who got screwed with long distance or roaming that I could have adjusted if I really wanted to but they were rude and disrespectful and you know what, I didn't. 

    Treat people how you want to be treated. Even if they're in another country, even if they have an accent and you assume they are overseas..in my call center, we're all American even though we may not sound like it. Don't assume."

    The point is this:

    As customers, we have more control over the experience we receive, than we may think.  The customer experience is indeed, a two-way street. 

    2-way street

    Posted at 07:40 AM in Contact Center, Customer Experience | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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    09/27/2012

    Why Call Center Scripts should be used like Bicycle Training Wheels

    The other day, I called customer service at my bank, to have my password reset for online banking.

    The conversation went like this:

    Rep: “How are you today, Mr. Watson?” Training wheels

    Me: “Well, thanks, and you?”

    Rep: “I’m fine Mr. Watson – thank you for asking.”

    Rep: "How may I help you today, Mr. Watson?"

    Me: “I can’t get into my account, and I need to reset the password.”

    Rep: “I’m sorry that you can’t get into your account, and I'll be glad to help you re-set your password.  Let me first just ask you a couple quick questions for security purposes, Mr. Watson.”

    He asked, and I answered each of the security questions.  Once I was fully validated, he asked me another series of questions, then told me that my password had been reset successfully.

    Me: “Perfect – thank you!”

    Rep:  “Is there anything else that I can assist you with Mr. Watson?”

    Me: “No thank you – I’m all set, and I appreciate the help.”

    Rep: “Well, thank you Mr. Watson, it was my pleasure to assist you, and thank you for calling Acme   Bank Customer Service.  We here at Acme appreciate your business. Have a good day, Mr. Watson.”

    Now, I realize that in his perrenial best seller “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” Dale Carnegie said that we should always make a point to use a person's name when speaking to them; that this helps us to get them to like us, and build a positive relationship.  And I don't disagree with that adage. But Mr. Carnegie probably didn't have the 21st-century call center rep in mind, when he first offered that advice.  This rep was repeatedly using my name in a way that came accross as contrived and unnatural.  But I couldn't blame him for it - he was just doing his job, follwing the script that he'd been trained to follow.  But unfortunately, it had a negative impact on my experience, as the person at the other end of this forced conversation.

    When a customer calls to have a problem solved, they’re looking for two things:

    1. To have the problem solved.
    2.  A natural conversation with a person like themselves.

    Excessive name repetition and an over-scripted conversation can turn from a positive experience to an awkward experience in a hurry.  Solve the problem, and sound normal in the process.  

    Call scripts should be used like training wheels on a bicycle – they should be used to stabilize inexperienced call center representatives, but once those reps are up and running, the continued use of scripts can make conversations awkward.   And awkward conversations can prevent the growth of a good relationship.  Retire the script when the time is right.

    Awkward conversatoin

    Posted at 09:59 AM in Contact Center | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

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    07/16/2012

    Call Center Frustration: Is the problem in the name?

    I'll  bet that anyone who's ever been a customer has at least one nightmare of an experience when calling into a customer service call center.  It's not only the customers of call centers that get frustrated;  the people at the other end of the phone experience their own version of frustration.  In fact, some have gone so far as to create blogs focused on the frustrations of being a call center employee.

    So, we have an environment in which both the service provider and the service recipient are frustrated.  Where did the problem begin? What's the root cause?  If we want to fix this

    Frustrated call center agentThe very term "Call Center" conjures images of a facility in which low-paid, disposable employees "process" calls. There's nothing customer-centric about that. As a result, the following occurs:

    1. The company considers the call-center a cost-center, and manages it based on reducing costs at all costs.
    2. The customers resent the contacting the call center, because of the low expectations they’ve been trained to have about call centers (resulting from item #1!)
    3. The employees in the call center don't like working in the call center, because, well, they feel unloved by their employer and their customers (resulting from #1 and #2).


    So,  if the concept is reframed from Call Center to Customer Experience Center, or Customer Engagement Center, if the company invests in building culture and commitment, we'd likely see better results.

    After reading the book, "Delivering Happiness,"  I had a more clear understanding of how the call center (pardon the term !) can be transformed to contribute the brand and customer loyalty.

    Here's the point:

    If the customer support organization is seen and managed differently by the company, customers will like being a customer more, and employees will like being employees more.  And I'm sure that management would have no problem with either of those dynamics.

    Perception drives behavior, and behavior drives results.

    Reframe

    Posted at 09:01 AM in Contact Center | | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

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    06/01/2012

    3 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty in the Call Center

    When you receive a phone call from an old friend – someone whose friendship you  value – how do you talk to that friend?  What’s the tone of the conversation?  Do you open a procedures manual and read from a script, or do you open your personality, and speak from the heart? 

    Yesterday, I called the telephone company that I’ve been doing business with for years.

    A phone call from a customer is a big opportunity for any company to increase its emotional stock in the mind of that customer; it’s a chance to create a small, albeit incrementally powerful memory;  it’s a chance to stoke the customer’s emotions to leave them thinking, “I’m invested with the right company – they’re good people – I  like  them, and they like me.”

    Corny?  Perhaps.

    But real?  Absolutely.

    But here’s  how my  conversation went with my phone company yesterday:

    “Thank you for calling Company XYX.  This is Mary – may I have your account number please?”

    I gave Mary my account number.

    Then she asked me to verify my billing address.  I gave that to her too.

    Then she asked how she could help me.

    I described an issue with my monthly bill.

    Drive throughMary looked at my account record, and explained what caused the issue.  Then she told me that she would have to transfer me to the finance department. 

    “Before I transfer you, Mr. Watson, is there anything else I can do to provide excellent service for you today?” 

    “No, thank you.”

    When the “finance” person answered, she greeted me by name.

    Then she asked me for my account number.  I gave it to her, too.

    Then she asked me to verify my billing address.  I did.

    Then I explained my situation and request.  Again.

    Then she explained what  caused the situation,  and what she would do to correct it.  Then she said, “You will notice the change to your account within 24 to 48 hours. “

    I said, “OK, thanks.”

    She asked, “Is there anything else I can do to provide you with excellent service today?”

    I said, “No thanks.”

    That was the end of the interaction between my phone company and me.  I felt processed, and nothing more.  There was nothing to cause me to feel that I know these people, or they know me.  No relationship, no loyalty, just another trivial transaction in the wind.

    So, what can a call center do to take advantage of these live, human-to-human touch-points as a way to build  loyalty?

    First, change your perspective.  Instead of viewing inbound calls as transactions to be processed, view them as what  they are – conversations  with human customers.  Yes, it’s important for the representative to be efficient in order to handle to volume of calls, but call center reps don’t have to be robots.  Handle customer calls as you would any purposeful, free-flowing conversation with a friend.

    Second, ditch the scripts.  While scripts might enforce consistency, they don’t enforce customer loyalty.  When Jim Bush took over as VP of Worldwide Customer Service at American Express, one of the first things that he did was to get rid of the scripts used in the call center.  Tell  the  representatives what to accomplish with the calls, but don’t tell them what words to use in the  process.  When they’re not chained to a script, a representatives personality is free to engage with the customer on a more conversational, human level.  Customers feel this stuff, and they are drawn to  it.

    Third, hire for personality; not for call center experience.   You can easily train a person to give them the call center skills that are necessary, but you cannot change an employee’s personality.   And over the long haul,  personality always trumps teachable skills.  Especially when connecting with customers.

    An experience with a call center can be like an experience going out for  dinner:

    A cashier in a fast-food restaurant quick, efficient and quickly forgotten by the customer.  They have very little impact on our loyalty.

    A good waiter is someone who we remember; they converse with us; and they provide us with a memorable dining experience that we'll talk about online and offline.   We remember them, and can't wait to go back again.

    Does your call  center process transactions, or create loyal customers?

    Wiater

    Posted at 08:31 AM in Contact Center | | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

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    09/02/2011

    Your Customers Want to See Your Human Side. Don't Let Technology Hide it!

    There’s something about the neighborhood bank, where friendly tellers know your name, give lollipops to your well-behaved children, and dog biscuits to your dog at the drive-up window.   Retail bank branches do things to build personal relationships with their customers, and to bring out the human side of banking.

    Lolipop bank But not all is human at the neighborhood bank.   When I called my local branch this morning, I was surprised to hear a very non-human automaton greet me with in a contrived tone that didn’t sound anything like those nice people inside the bank.

    Here’s what I heard:

    “Thank you for calling Key bank’s Millcreek branch, where we strive for excellent customer service, and appreciate your business.  To insure that your call is properly directed, please listen to the following menu.”

    That's definitely not the voice of anyone at my branch. They're so much more genuine than that voice!

    Now, this isn’t a rant about not getting a real person when I call.  I understand that a recorded voice is far more efficient and cost effective for everyone.   But it is a rant about the voice on the other end of the phone, and the way that voice speaks to me. 

    When the bank goes out of its way to be human in so many other ways, why not incorporate that same humanity into the out-going message that every customer hears, when he or she calls the branch?

    Your phone greeting is a very big touch point.  If you have real people that work at the branch, why not have one of those real people record the greeting in their own voice, with their own demeanor?  Extend that same personality that’s inside the branch, to the outside of the branch.

    Think about JetBlue and Southwest Airlines for a minute.  Those are very big, very regulated companies in a very regulated industry.   But when it comes time for the pre-flight safety information speech before takeoff, their flight attendants don’t just recite it in an institutional-sounding manner get through it.  Instead, they do it in their own, down-to earth human style, and often incorporate a little bit of humor.    It extends the personality of the airlines.

    This approach makes the flight attendants real.  It makes them human, just like their customers.  And that’s the subtle stuff that helps to build a loyal relationship.   How are your customers greeted when they call?  Is the greeting an extension of your company’s personality, of an antiseptic-sounding voice that at best, leaves no impression at all?

    Southwest crew 

    Posted at 10:50 AM in Branding, Contact Center | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

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    08/15/2011

    Why Employee Satisfaction is the Key to Customer Satisfaction.

    There’s a going on in the LinkedIn Group for .  The question that started the debate is:

    "Does Employee Satisfaction Come First, or Customer Satisfaction?"

    Happy employees The answers have ranged from:

    “Customer satisfaction should come first because the survival of the business and the satisfaction of the employee (pay cheque) depend on the customer. When a customer becomes a company brand ambassador everybody in the organisation wins.”

    to…

    “I heard a comment that hits a nerve for me, and I would love to hear others’ views. The comment was around understanding or differentiating between internal customers and external customers. My personal view is that there is only one type of customer – the external one who buys your organization’s products or services.”

    to…

    "ESAT=CSAT...You have to remember what it is like on the front lines in order to best support the experience."

    to…

    “You cannot wait to get the employee experience right, because this is all to do with culture, and this can take years to change. You must work on both. You cannot deliver a great customer experience without delivering a great employee experience, they go hand in hand. It is not really a question of what comes first.”

    Since this is my blog, I get to have the last word (until you leave a comment!), and the last word is this:

    Customer Satisfaction is inextricably linked to Employee Satisfaction.  When Employees are eager to go to work in the morning, engaged when they’re there, and excited about the work that they’re doing, they’ll transfer those positive emotions to every customer with whom they engage.

    For statistical proof, read the examples of Zappo's and HCL on the Spoken Communications blog post.

    Call it Karma if you wish, but it’s real, and it works. Happy employees make for happy customers.

    What do you think?

      Happy customers

    Posted at 07:34 PM in Contact Center, Customer Experience, Customer Service | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

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    08/03/2011

    2 Core Principals that Drive more Customers to Self Service Support Channels and Lower the Cost of Support!

    Companies love when customers go to the Self Service Portal for support. 

    Dilbert Companies love it because resolving an incident through self service may cost $1, compared to $7 via email, compared to $15 or more, with a live agent over the phone.  There's money in self service, if you can just get your customers to go there. 

    So what’s the secret?  How do companies who are successful at coaxing customer away from the phones, and into self service, make it happen?

    There are essentially two factors to consider:

    1. Make it easy for the customer.

    2. Make it valuable for the customer.

    Easy begins by making the self service portal easy to find.
    Don’t bury access to the portal deep on your website.  In fact, treat it like a marketing “call to action.”  Make the link to the portal as clear as day to see; and place it in more than one place on your website, so that the customer can’t miss it!  Obvious, right?  But too many companies get it wrong!

    Make it easy to navigate.
    A site that’s hard to navigate is a sight that won’t get much traffic.  When designing your self-service sight, design with the theme of making the customer’s life easy.  Finding your way around the self-service portal can be a big part of the customer experience, so do it right!

    Make it easy for the customer to find their answer.
    This means putting the right content in the portal; Identify those 20% of the solutions that solve 80% of the problems, and make them very findable.  Employing a “recommendation engine” can also help.   If the customer has to manually search for the answer, you'll lose too many at hello - too many won’t invest the time or effort, and the'll go straight for the phone.  But if the search can be automated – by interpreting some key words from the customer’s question, or using other search algorithms to find and present precisely relevant content, you’ll have made life a lot easier for the customers, by saving them the hassle of searching.

    OK, so you’ve made the Self Service Portal easy to use.  But remember that line from the movie “Field of Dreams?”   Just because you build an easy Portal with easy access to the right answers, doesn’t mean that the customers will come running.  They won’t.  Customers want value, and customers want convenience.  The more reasons you can give your customers to go to the portal, the more they’ll go there first.

    That leads us to the second factor – Make it valuable for the customer.

     

    Making it valuable means making the Self Service Portal the "go-to" place for the customer - the default source for anything and everything that they might get from your company.

    Example:
    A particular software company (real story, by the way) wanted to increase the percentage of customers utilizing their Self Service Portal.  So, in addition to Knowledge Base content and other support tools, they relocated other resource to the portal: software downloads, sales chat, and their customer forum to the portal.  Weekly reports were previously delivered through email, but clients now could access their reports anytime, through the Portal (which was easier for the clients to manage).

    Within six months, the percentage of support requests initiated in the Portal increased from 12% to 69%, and the customers loved it!

    So, by making Self Service easy to use, and by focusing it on more of the customers' interests (beyond simply support), more customers to come to your on-line support party.

     Customer support party 

     

    Posted at 03:36 PM in Contact Center, Customer Service, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

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