Customer Support Software Featured Articles

The contact center agent is measured by success in a number of different categories. Management wants to know how long it takes agents to complete a call, the rate of first contact resolution, the number of calls per hour and several other metrics. When capturing all of this information, however, does it really point to the agent’s success in terms of customer support?

Business2Community recently posted a piece on the idea of agents developing their own scorecard to drive success. Customer support software is often used to help streamline complex customer care initiatives. In the development of the scorecard, the agent has the opportunity to complete an honest assessment of areas of strength and those that need improvement.

To that end, there are specific areas the agent should evaluate. First, training levels need to be determined. While management is ultimately responsible for the level of training agents receive, agents have the ability to assess their adoption of concepts learned in training. This is also an opportunity to identify areas of weakness that could be adversely affecting incentives.

Agents should also measure escalations to better understand how often they need to push a customer to someone else to solve a problem. The results can point to either lack of authority or a lack of skill in working with the customer. Likewise, the agent should also be able to identify when a customer is at risk. Customer support software can help in the process, but the agent needs to be trained on specific cues to help mitigate the risk.

Renewals are the lifeblood of many a business and may also be referred to as repeat purchases. Whatever the lingo, the important point is that the agent is able to identify those opportunities for renewal or repeat sales through conversations with the customer. Whether it’s an add-on product, an upsell or a cross-sell, agents need to be excellent at this process to produce the desired outcomes, generate loyalty among the customer base and secure additional revenue.

Finally, agents must be trained to listen to the voice of the customer. It’s very easy to let customer feedback get lost in the script. While the scripts are there for a reason, they don’t have to dominate the valued feedback the customer wants to share. Agents can play a big role in capturing this voice with the right customer support software and strategic tools.

Overall, agents want to do well at their jobs if they have their sights set on advancement and incentives. Customer support software is a great place to start, but developing that scorecard and assessing performance over time allows the agent to take ownership of his or her performance and make changes as needed.