Workforce Management Featured Article
The Most Critical Support Pillars of Customer Engagement and Loyalty
Call center management is both an art and a science. Some of the best call center managers are those who have mastered not only people skills, but have a thorough grasp on getting the most out of the solutions that underpin the contact center. They also understand customers, and are willing to listen to their agents who (after all) spend the most time speaking to customers.
There is a wild disconnect today between the quality of customer support organizations think they are providing, and the quality of customer support their customers report they provide. Most companies think they are doing “okay” with customer support, when in fact, customers are rating them as “poor” or “dismal.” The gap between the companies that consistently offer great service (according to customers) and those that don’t is full of best practices that many companies skip over in their quest to keep calls as short as possible and keep headcount dangerously low in the contact center.
In a recent article for Business2Community, Tricia Morris of Parature (News - Alert) noted that many financial services organizations (which have a reputation for spotty customer support), particularly mid-size institutions, are missing the mark in several areas, particularly when it comes to younger customers, who want multichannel customer support, options in mobile customer support and personalized customer service. In other words, the “one size fits all” model simply isn’t working anymore.
All companies, and not just banks, need to be sure their channels are integrated so they can offer a seamless experience even if the customer switches channels (which they frequently do). Operating a series of parallel but unconnected channels simply won’t do anymore. It’s also critical to ensure that representatives have the information they need so they can hit high marks with first-call resolution every time.
“Customer service representatives should be empowered with a view of key customer data, as well as recent feedback and support histories,” wrote Morris. “This is not just so customers don’t have to repeat their information or their support issue (which is a key frustration), but to better and more personally connect with individual customers regarding their products and services, as well as their brand sentiment and brand loyalty.”
Customers don’t want to be treated like an account number, they want to be treated like an individual, and they will take their business elsewhere when companies fail in this regard. And while all channels are critical, Morris writes that customer-facing companies need to be thinking about their mobile channels going forward, since it’s a favorite with younger customers.
“Yet, increasingly important is the mobile service offering,” she writes. “Think about every major service or communication channel your customer uses. They’re all now in your customers’ hands 24 hours, seven days a week via smartphone. Make sure at very least your website or customer support portal is mobile responsive.”
There are those who say customer loyalty is dead today. This isn’t true. It’s just that customers have changed the criteria for their loyalty: instead of basing it on a company’s products or services, they instead base their loyalty on how a company treats them as a customer. Offer indifferent service, and you’ll find that you have indifferent customers.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi