How to create meaningful connections with your customers

The fear of abandoning that what once made you successfulIt’s hurricane season for American business

Organizational Insanity

Doing the same things over and over again every day, but expecting a different result

Customer experiences could be amazing but, they are not…

Bolstering your brand image Call agents build intimate one-on-one

relationships with customers “Delivering Happiness (Tony Hsieh), “Our

belief is that the telephone is one of the best branding devices out there.”

E-Harmony executives believe their agents must have empathy, heart and adaptability

Garner Customer Loyalty

Customers who connect with the Zappos call center give the company higher scores than those who shop online

Zappos has the Net Promoter Scores to prove it http://bit.ly/p2ayem

American Express customers who learn about their card benefits and features from phone agents show an average increase of more than 10% in “Recommend to a Friend” scores.

Boost Revenue

When agents help customers feel more comfortable about a purchase decision, those customers are more likely to buy. Once they’ve built rapport, agents can share information about coordinating products that customers are more likely to find interesting. Such benefits aren’t limited to companies that serve consumers.

Call center interactions disappoint customers and fail brands

Customers report lackluster interactions with call center agents-Consumers were asked about how satisfied they were with their interactions with brands across 13 different industries. For all 13, satisfaction rates for phone interactions with call center agents were lower than those for 2011,

Reinvent Your Call Center Culture To Create Amazing Customer Experiences

Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction

Call center interactions disappoint customers and fail brands

Younger consumers are the least enamored with phone interactions

Across most industries, Seniors and Older Boomers had the highest satisfaction rates for phone conversations, while Gen X and Gen Y generally had the lowest.

The difference of opinion between the older and younger consumers was striking in some industries.

Call center interactions disappoint customers and fail brands

Phone satisfaction rates have dropped for four years straight

Consumer satisfaction with phone conversations has been tracked across multiple industries since 2007 and 2008.

All but one industry saw their satisfaction rates sink during this time period.

Satisfaction rates for interactions with call center agents trail those for other channels

Consumer satisfaction with phone conversations is low and getting worse by the year. So why haven’t firms been able to make improvements?

Companies intentionally ditch — or inadvertently miss — the path to improvement

Research shows that companies ignore call center customer experience in favor of sexier channels

Customer Experience Peer Research Panel Findings and objectives for 2011

32% say that they’ll focus on improving interactions with call center agents

76% of respondents who say that they’ll be improving the online customer experience

46% say that they’ll be focusing on mobile interactions and social computing

Companies intentionally ditch — or inadvertently miss — the path to improvement

Invest millions in misguided technology improvements-“Technology is an enabler, but you can provide a great customer experience without great technology.”

Treat call center employees like slave labor- Some large call centers hold agents accountable for strict metrics like time to answer, average call handle time, talk time, idling time, nonproduction time, and adherence to script –these practices are considered draconian and you see the impact in churn

Solutions

Develop a Customer Centric Culture To Improve The Customer Experience For companies that have been ignoring their call center

or find themselves mired in a factory mindset, a cultural shift will mean big changes. Leadership will need help developing new hiring and training practices and then revising internal incentives and metrics.

Hire For Passion and Culture Seek out people who love working in customer service.

Run candidates through a simulated call

Invite candidates to sit in the call center

Solutions

Train To Fine-Tune Conversation Skills - focus more of your training programs on tactics that help agents create a strong connection with customers over the course of a call. How to create an emotional connection.-70% of agent training

time at American Express focuses on skills such as actively listening to what the caller is saying and helping customers understand the value of their relationship with the company.

What to say and how to say it Zappos guides agents on what to say through one-on-one

coaching sessions in which a supervisor and agent each take a call and then the two discuss what the agent did well and what could be improved next time around — without relying on grading or scorecards.

Motivate with meaningful incentives

Give agents titles and perks that make them feel important

Provide recognition and bonuses for excellent service

Create management and frontline career progression plans

Develop programs that encourage agents to stick around

Motivate with meaningful incentives

Ditch the one-size-fits-all mentality Throw out meaningless quality assurance

checklists Relieve agents from average call handle-

time targets

Call Center Metrics

Our company prides itself in its ability to consistently achieve excellence and consistently exceeds our client’s expectations.. Our approach is values driven, care and compassion, accountability and hands-on.

Our clients speak very highly of us; they trust us and appreciate our honesty and integrity, coupled with our great work ethic.