One of the first things a voice-over acting coach says to their class is that people will hear your face. Studies have proven that, even pointing out that we all have a “smile sense” —which can tell if a speaker on the phone or radio is happy.
The same applies to customer service. Customers can tell if the agents they talk to are happy.
Focus on people
Many customer service agents are dissatisfied with their jobs. An article in McKinsey in 2021 reported that 40% of employees in general are relatively likely to leave their jobs in the next three to six months. Large call centers have always experienced high churn rates, but this exodus now includes the experienced and respected “champion customers” you can count on year after year.
While self-service and self-help continue to be a major focus of innovation for customer service organizations, the people aspect must remain at the forefront. Obviously, your customer -facing agents should be supported. It also means supporting hardworking workers who maintain vital information between the front, center, and back offices.
Empower consistent and meaningful service
The findings at McKinsey showed that while some areas like feeling “valued by the manager” require people’s actions, others like “unmanageable shipment of work” and feeling “engaged in work” is directly related to the tools and systems employees use to help them succeed.
Technology that makes logical and sensible paths between operations and people-to-people interactions can help agents stay one step ahead and map-wow their customers. Both of those pathways can be used to strengthen automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to better assign tickets to the right experts while freeing them from repetitive mind-numbing tasks.
Keep the smiles real
Vodafone agents have superpowers with a 360-degree view of customers. Agents “have an application that helps them provide great customer service,” said the company’s former head of digital experience.
The Blackhawk Network gives employees a voice in driving change. “Our frontline agents are heroes. They are the ones who interact with the end consumer on a day-to-day, day-to-day basis,” said the company’s senior director of customer service. “The amount of recognition they receive when their idea goes all the way from planning to a product … creates a great sense of engagement with the company.”
The city of Santa Monica is returning precious time to its workers. Serving citizens through digital means has saved more than 140,000 hours of staff time over the past 2.5 years.
With ServiceNow, employees are empowered to deliver seamless experiences. They are more productive, focused on what matters without being immersed in the routine and worldly. And they are happier, which allows them to serve customers better.
Customers, in turn, are more loyal, and the company sees significant improvement in its bottom line.
Gain more insights with our ebook: How to deliver a great customer experience at scale.
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