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Employee Autonomy is Critical for World-Class Customer Support

Customer Support Software Featured Articles

Employee Autonomy is Critical for World-Class Customer Support

 
December 12, 2014

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  By Tara Seals, TMCnet Contributor
 


What leads to better customer support from an HR perspective? Support employees that put the customer at the center, of course. But to be able to do that effectively, customer support reps need to be given the software tools and the decision-making capability to put the idea into action.


As the Economic Voice points out, customer support tools are only as good as the ability of workers to leverage them in such a way that it makes it easier for customers to do business with the company.

Take, for example, invoicing.

“By using an online invoicing/book keeping system and giving the relevant people within the team access to certain areas of the system, they can easily see if an invoice has been paid,” the column explained. “So if a customer calls, they can access the necessary information, feedback to the customer, and even re-send the invoice if necessary.”

Throwing a monkey-wrench into the works by requiring approvals by superiors to access certain kinds of information or give out access to certain documents adds an extra layer of hassle for the customer calling in.

Employee empowerment and autonomy is vital if you want to ensure customer experiences are delivered at a high level. An example of this is Radisson Blu Hotels, which has a “Yes I Can!” policy for the staff, which allows them to make the decisions necessary on the fly to ensure a positive guest experience.

“Being hospitable is all about giving guests your undivided attention and when guests stay at a Radisson Blu hotel; the hotel manager, the waiter, the receptionist, the porter- everyone plays a vital role in delivering a memorable guest experience,” the hotel chain said.

In short, businesses should realize that they have a valuable resource in the people who are on the front lines of customer communication.

“Your employees are your most valuable asset,” Economic Voice noted. “Not only can they help you grow your business by giving customers a great experience that leads to referrals and recommendations, they also often have firsthand experience in dealing with customer enquiries; so they know what works and what doesn’t, and they know where the ‘problems’ are that can negatively impact upon their ability to deliver great customer care.”

Bottom line: companies should take a look at their policies and procedures, and ask employees for their feedback on how they do their customer-facing jobs.

“Actively encourage front-line staff to tell you about their own experiences of dealing with customers and ask them how it can be improved,” Economic Voice concluded. “And most of all, give them autonomy to make the decisions needed to deliver a positively memorable customer experience.”




Edited by Alisen Downey
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