Posted by on November, 15 2019 8:29 pm
If your contact center is like most, you’re constantly looking for ways to improve your agent’s performance - and therefore the performance of your facility overall. It isn’t enough to train your agents toward meeting goals and focusing on metrics. It’s just as important to strive for call center agent success via a deeper understanding of the work your staff does and the way you serve your customers.
One of the best ways to understand the customer experience that your company providers for consumers is to experience it yourself. How? By taking a turn as a customer of your company’s goods or services yourself or asking your agents to do so. Gaining the perspective that this kind of hands-on experience offers is one of the best ways to ensure call center agent success.
It is easy to lose sight of what life is like for others when we are isolated in our experiences. This is certainly true of those in the customer service industry. Day after day of providing service to consumers who have questions, concerns, or complaints can thin a person’s patience and give a person a jaded perspective after a while. Likewise, agents who are making hundreds of calls a day in an outbound contact center can begin to feel as if the people they are speaking to are simply numbers on a page. In both cases, call center agents lose sight of what it’s like to be the other person - they lose sight of the fact that consumers are human beings.
Regaining this perspective is vitally important for call center agent success. It isn’t just important for the sake of their own humanity. Agents must remember that the people they are talking to are human and have unique perspectives so that they can provide excellent service - and benefit their business in the process.
Knowing what a consumer wants or needs is a key factor in providing that good or service. This is why so many companies invest in focus groups. Knowing how people will genuinely react to a product or service allows companies to make adjustments and improvements. However, focus groups can be flawed and skewed in the perspective they offer, since they take place in such a controlled environment. This is why real-world measures - such as a call center agent doubling as a customer - are so important in gaining a deeper perspective as a customer service provider.
With all of this focus on providing a better customer experience, you may be wondering why it’s so important. Why all the fuss about customer experience?
Customer experience is perhaps the most important part of the service industry today. Modern consumers are increasingly focused on experiences rather than simply having their concerns addressed or their needs met. With that in mind, it only makes sense that customer experience would be a primary focus of the efforts of today’s customer service companies.
A positive customer experience breeds brand loyalty and repeat business. Consumers who are pleased with the experience your agents provide are more likely to tell others, to provide free advertisement in the form of testimonies and so-called “brand evangelism” that can be more meaningful and impactful than any kind of advertising you or your partner companies could ever invest in. This, in turn, leads to the creation and conversion of new customers. These are things that cannot be purchased, only created through call center agent success.
Going through the actual customer experience process as if your agent were themselves a customer provides a valuable, real-world experience that a focus group simply cannot. It allows them to see firsthand how consumer needs are being met or what gaps exist in the service process, as well as what changes need to be made. By observing the process firsthand, they also have the benefit of remembering that experience when interacting with their own consumers, so that they can draw on that experience to improve their own customer exchanges. It is a valuable tool that is as easy as asking your agents to volunteer to patronize your business or that of your partner company.
Not sure your agents would be interested? Offer incentives. Few agents would turn down the opportunity to buy and try new products with rewards such as full rebates and participation bonuses to be had. What’s more, rewarding and recognizing participation as part of the process of improving agent performance and securing call center agent success can go a long way. It can help an agent build their career and help your business improve from the inside out - what’s not to love about that arrangement?
When you’re ready to take the way your agents serve customers to the next level, implement this system of doubling as a customer in your facility. You’ll be surprised at how much better agent performance becomes in a short amount of time - and how much more invested your agents become in the customer experience they provide.
Of course, you can’t tackle improving the way you do business without the right tools of the trade. Your agents will need software that helps them keep track of the experiences they have from both sides of the screen - and apply that experience to providing better ones for consumers.
Looking for the tools and technology your center needs to ensure call center agent success? Consult the industry experts at ChaseData. We have everything you need to outfit your facility - and your agents - with the tools to provide great customer experiences and clench sales and deals. Whatever you’re striving for, we have the technology to help you make it happen. Give us a call today to learn more!