Owning the Relationship - How Empowering CSRs Improves the Customer Experience

By admin, on July 16th, 2009

Your competition has raised the bar.

The Opportunity

There are very few “new” or exclusive products and services on the market. Therefore, there are almost no companies that don’t have competition.

A recent study by Mobius Management Systems Inc. found that poor customer service was the stated cause for 60 percent of cancelled bank accounts, 36 percent to insurance companies switches and 37 percent of Internet service provider drops.

Even utilities and government agencies, which used to enjoy apparent monopolies have competition- the telephone company is now competing against a myriad of long distance, cell phone and other telecommunications carriers. The electric company is now competing against natural gas, solar power, and alternative appliances like wood-burning stoves. Government agencies are facing bad publicity and calls for reform when constituents have poor customer-service experiences. Since private corporations have raised the bar of customer service, constituents are no longer willing to fork over their taxes and be willing to wait in long lines and be treated like numbers for the privilege, when they know that things could be done more efficiently.

So how do you respond to the increased competition without spending a fortune? Take a hard look at your customer service processes, and most specifically, with the ownership of that process. Your customer service representatives may be under-equipped to excel, or even play fairly.

The Customer Service Rep, or CSR, has a very vital role in your possiblities of success. Unfortunately, most companies stack the deck against their CSR’s success rates by giving them very little control of the customer relationship.

The Solution

How much of the typical customer service interaction is your front line, your CSR, in control of? By CSR, we ideally mean the first human being that the customer comes into contact with. Ideally, this person should be able to take ownership of the entire customer service interaction. Ownership means that this rep has the responsibility to resolve the customer’s issue and leave them with a positive impression of your company. There are three points to the ownership strategy-

Culture
Triage
Preparation

Culture

The elements of customer service culture are- 1) Improving the general culture and atmosphere of your workplace 2) Letting the reps know that they are in charge of the customer interaction, and 3) Giving them the motivation and empowerment to do so.

Improving The Culture of your Workplace

There’s a lot you can do to improve the culture of the workplace. This reduces turnover and motivates people to excel. Customer service reps are a very high-risk population for several reasons- they’re high-turnover, they are high-visibility to your customers, and they’re in huge demand in the marketplace. See the following articles for more information on creating a better place to work for them.

“You’re In Charge”

Developing a customer service culture is slightly different from developing a sales culture. The old sales culture paradigm sees every customer interaction as an opportunity to toward increase the company’s profits and reduce the company’s expenses. This means cross-selling items (whether or not they’re right for the customer)

The customer service paradigm includes many of the same skills and elements- you need to have good negotiation and sales skills in order to sell, and also in order to provide quality customer service. The difference is the motive. Sales has the good of the company as its driving value. Customer Service has the good of the customer as its driving value.

With competition being what it is, repeat customers and referrals will come your way ONLY if your company subscribes to the second paradigm- doing what’s right for the customer.

An example- If you have a choice between selling the customer two products, either of which will meet the customers’ needs, place the focus on the less expensive item, since that is in the customer’s best interest. Customers are more educated than ever, and will catch on to being “rooked.” They will also catch on when your reps do something that is in their best interest. In either case, they are likely to tell others about their experiences, and act on these experiences when they’re ready to buy again.

Motivation and Empowerment

Reward CSRs based on customer satisfaction, rather than on “productivity.” This may take some creativity in developing your bonus and motivational programs- you may need to monitor calls, use customer satisfaction surveys, or employ “mystery shoppers” or use other means besides call volume and sales volume statistics, but this is well worth the time and effort.

Evaluate the decision-making authority of your reps. It may be time to increase their decision-making capacity. If you can resolve a customer’s problem on the first call, rather than having to call them back or put them on hold while they consult with a supervisor, you improve the customer’s perception of the situation AND improve the morale of your reps. They see themselves as more respected and more “in control” of the customer’s experience, which is what they’re there for, after all.

Triage

A vital piece in the ownership process is to increase your reps chances of getting situations that he or she is likely to be able to handle. Instead of going through a “generalist” representative that does triage, (asks basic questions about the customers’ situation and then hands the call over to a “specialist” who is equipped to handle the type of issue) triage systems that are automated reduce the cost of this interaction, usually speed up the entire interaction, and reduce “wear and tear” on your customer service department.

Many customer service agencies use employ their new recruits as “generalists.” This is a very high-turnover position for two reasons. Customers tend to get frustrated when the first person they speak with has no ability to help them, (especially after they’ve waited on the line!) The generalists themselves get very frustrated and burned out with having no authority or ability to actually “do anything” other than hand off the customer to someone who can help them.

What Can Be Automated?

This situation can be automated through a VRU (Voice Response Unit) or Web interface that allows the customer to characterize his problem. Take the top three or so common problems a customer may have- for example, if you sell a web-based service, this may include the following three “likely” problems:

Purchasing/billing issues
Logging On (Passwords)
Technical Issues

Although many customers would rather speak with a person than a VRU, you can override that objection by making it quick and the menu options simple so that the customer gets to a person within the first minute of his call. Customers are more sophisticated than ever, and generally have a good idea of what’s wrong. Asking their opinion makes them feel more in control of their experience, and also gives the representative a better shot of being put into situations he or she is expecting and is equipped to handle.

Preparation

This includes training, equipment, and other factors that can improve your CSR’s chances of success in handling customer problems.

Training

Extensive up-front training, upon hiring, can include any of the following (the more the better!) Subject matter training (the more familiar a rep is with the details of your products and services, the better!)

Process, procedure and philosophy training (How your reps reinforce your mission, branding messages, etc.)

Equipment training (How to answer, transfer, and forward calls fluently, as well as how to access any special information or ordering computer systems and equipment. Also include any necessary paperwork.

Training methods

Different people learn best in different ways. Be sure your training program includes two or more of the following, if possible.

Classroom training
CBT (Computer-Based Training)
OJT (On the Job Training)
Tests, Quizzes or Contests on Knowledge

Equipment

While you’re developing your training programs is an excellent time to evaluate your equipment. Discuss any problems or usability issues with vendors immediately, rather than forcing your CSRs to deal with cantankerous or hard-to-use equipment. The easier this stuff is to use, the more of their attention will be focused where it should be- on the customer.

Streamline paperwork processes. Put everything where it’s easy and intuitive to find. Use a single system as much as possible. (Browser-based systems work well, because many times they can integrate the information-lookup process as well as the ordering process, and eliminate paperwork by using online routing and approval processes of requests.

Boost your network and processing speed. Neither your CSRs nor your customers like to spend time waiting for a computer screen to come up.

Conclusion

Focusing on Culture, Triage and Preparation will help your CSRs take responsiblity for the interactions with the customer. This “ownership” improves the customer experience, your CSRs’ quality of worklife, and your company’s bottom line. This gives you an edge that is absolutely vital to competing in today’s marketplace.