When customers have a problem, call center agents are the front line of defense. In addition to using the right technology to enable them for success, make sure you have the right team to start with. Here are three ways you can create a successful support team that will service your customers with grace and efficiency.
1. Hire the Right People
As volumes of customer conversations balloon across an increasing number of channels, companies are increasing staff sizes: 46% of global contact center decision makers project 5%-10% growth in the next year, and 14% project growth of more than 10%. (Forrester)
With customer service hiring trends on the rise, what goes into a great customer service employee?
Here are some skills of a talented customer service representative:
- Is patient, actively listen, and has the ability to practice empathy
- Ability to “read” a customer’s emotional state and naturally mirror a customer’s’ language, phrasing, and tone
- Speaks and write with clarity and brevity while detailing a list of issues and takes the time to proofread and correct any mistakes
- Uses a human tone when reading from a script with a clear voice, smooth pronunciation, and allows customers can “hear the smile”
- Is friendly and able to express negative information in a positive way, using supportive language
- Summarizes the problem and ways they can help
- Moves easily between channels and solve problems with the skills that best suit each channel
- Is considerate of timeframes and communicates hold times
- Looks for cues if something is unclear, is able to extract the right information, and also determine if something should be handled by another department
Most importantly, they can adequately communicate everything that you’re doing to help.
We recommend customer service agents interested in increasing their communications skills can take this training module.
2. Share How You Use Data to Measure Success
Dashboards built into Salesforce measure consistency, trends, and growth and how Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can change over time.
Call center leaders look for quantitative information like fewer cases produced, reduction in phone calls, amount of chat sessions that engage a live person, reduction in cases, and time of human on case. They also look for length of case prior to resolution, how many articles viewed (and which ones), most viewed, and which articles were voted up or down.
Additionally, qualitative information can be garnered using surveys, pop up prompts to rate satisfaction, and user-provided positive feedback (manual text) on the document.
3. Use Rewards to Continue to Inspire Customer Service Excellence
When agents do go the extra mile, motivate them with rewards and recognition. They are dealing with the customer highs and the customer lows, and no matter what happens, they are they face the customer in need sees – and they need to be your biggest brand champions.
“Learning how to interact with customers is something that anyone starting any business must master. It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to learn the ropes at an established company and then employ your expertise at your own company.” — Marc Benioff
The key to call center excellence is a blend of enthusiastic people properly enabled to offer customers service in a method of their choice, offering consistent, efficient service at every touchpoint. Perficient helps you transform customer service for your call center by advising you on potential goals, strategies, processes, and technology. To ultimately, support your agents and empower your customers with knowledge. Download our guide below for more info.
