The customer experience has proved itself. A true distinguishing feature for a brand, it helps to build customer loyalty, strengthen your brand image and create new business opportunities. Today, companies understand this and are doing everything possible to create a special relationship with their consumers.
But did you know that the customer experience you provide depends on your employees’ experience? This is the “Symmetry of Attention” principle. The concept is based on the premise that the quality of the relationship between a company and its customers is symmetrical to the quality of the relationship between that same company and its employees.
Before going into the subject in more depth, we must first define what employee experience means: the emotions and perceptions felt by the employee within the company.
Yet only 44.8% of customer-facing employees claim to be highly engaged in the experience an organisation offers its customers (1). Acting on all levels of the employee experience is therefore a real challenge. Put another way, we must put people back at the heart of the company’s priorities.
In this article we share some best practices on how to improve your contact centre operators’ experience, and how they can maximise your customer relationship.
Challenge n° 1: valuing your call centre staff
Gone are the days when operators were considered to have little added value! Today, operators have a strategic role within an organisation because of their direct contact with the customer. Our very first recommendation is therefore to develop your employees through training, empowerment and attention.
Good practice #1: invest in ongoing training for your operators
54% of employees who are in direct contact with customers want more training and support to develop their skills (2).
Today, training is taking on a whole new dimension. In addition to the traditional format, technology opens many other doors. Mentoring, coaching, e-learning, group sessions… choose the most appropriate method to motivate your staff over the long term.There can be two types of training in particular: raising your staff’s awareness about client focus and communication, and improving their technical and business skills.
Good practice #2: empower your employees and give them responsibility
It is a proven fact that the organisations that excel in customer relations are those that provide their employees with a rewarding work experience.
For example, you can give them autonomy and latitude, especially during discussions with customers, so that they feel fully involved in their role. We also recommend that you regularly give them new responsibilities with high value-added tasks, while making clear the objectives to be achieved.
Good practice #3: listen to your employees’ feedback by putting satisfaction surveys in place
It is also important to listen to your operators as the best recommendations often come from frontline staff. To do so, we suggest that you set up internal, anonymous satisfaction surveys to collect feedback and identify sources of frustration, and to encourage your staff to voice their opinions.
This is what O2 Care Services’ Customer Service department decided to do. Vanina Poirier, the Customer Service department manager, set up an anonymous satisfaction questionnaire to gather feedback from her teams and take concrete action on areas for improvement.
What are the positive impacts on the customer experience?
These three good practices will put people back at the heart of your customer relations. Especially when you know that 79% of consumers prefer human rather than digital interaction (3)! Your employees will have all the necessary tools to cope with customer challenges and provide appropriate answers. They will treat every interaction with enthusiasm and be more empathetic and responsive to customers.
Challenge n° 2: Implementing tools to make operators’ lives easier
The daily lot of call centre operators is not always easy. They often have to juggle a lot, between urgent requests and the need to be attentive at all times. Our second recommendation is to set up tools to support them as much as possible. This will allow them to focus on high value-added tasks.
Good practice #1: opt for a cloud-native, omni-channel solution that integrates easily with your other business tools
Our first observation is obvious: switching between different windows or tabs is really energy sapping for your call operators! It is therefore important to provide your employees with an efficient and intuitive contact centre tool so that they can work in the best conditions.
Choose a solution that brings together the functionality they need while allowing them to handle customer interactions from different channels. There are many solutions on the market at present: we recommend that you choose cloud-native software, i.e. a solution that provides a consistent user experience. More responsive, scalable and resilient, this kind of solution will greatly improve the user experience.
Finally, make sure that this solution can be easily integrated with your other business tools, such as your CRM. This will take you up another rung on the employee experience ladder!
Good practice #2: Give your staff a comprehensive view of customers
Second observation: customer details that are difficult to access or are incomplete can waste valuable time for your advisors.
We recommend that you provide them with an interface that will give them a 360° view of the customer journey in real time. These days there are many features that make it possible to collect, centralise and above all share customer data. User profiles and interaction history, for example, are information your agents need if they are to deliver a rich, consistent and personalised experience.
Good practice #3: automate tasks with low added value
Finally, it is very frustrating for your advisors to waste time on repetitive tasks. Many issues that are raised with your customer service department can be resolved easily through automation.
For example, a digital channel may well be able to handle questions to do with delivery tracking and an IVR may enable your customers to pay their bills independently. In other words, implementing more “self care” for simple requests will make the customer experience more streamlined, while at the same time improving your employees’ skill set as they focus on more empowering tasks.
What are the positive impacts on the customer experience?
El impacto en sus clientes será muy positivo. Los clientes son cada vez más exigentes y esperan que el servicio de atención al cliente sea rápido, transparente y omnicanal. Las cifras hablan por sí solas: 80% de los consumidores son más propensos a comprar cuando las marcas ofrecen experiencias personalizadas (4). La implantación de herramientas eficaces y centradas en el cliente permitirá permitir a los operadores de su centro de llamadas ofrecer respuestas más rápidas y cualitativas. En consecuencia, sus clientes se sentirán valorados y más satisfechos.
Reto n° 3: Desarrollar el sentimiento de pertenencia
¿Quién mejor que sus empleados para ser embajadores de su empresa? Nuestra tercera y última recomendación es que cuide a sus operarios tan bien como a sus clientes. Las condiciones de trabajo, la cohesión del equipo y la flexibilidad que les dé son aspectos que les motivarán a diario y que se reflejarán en la relación con sus clientes.
Buena práctica #1: Proporcionar un entorno de trabajo adecuado
Un factor importante para comprometer a sus empleados es la entorno de trabajo : todos trabajamos mucho mejor con el equipo adecuado y un entorno agradable.
Por ello, es esencial dotar a sus operadores de equipos que les permitan ser productivos (auriculares de calidad, doble pantalla, asientos cómodos, etc.). También le recomendamos que defina una zona de descanso adecuada donde su personal pueda desconectar, así como áreas que faciliten la cooperación entre los operadores.
Buena práctica #2: Ofrezca flexibilidad a sus empleados
La vida de un teleoperador puede ser muy estresante. Para superarlo, nuestro consejo es flexibilidad manteniendo la disciplina que exige un centro de contacto.
Por ejemplo, no dude en introducir días de oficina en casa. De hecho, en contra de la creencia popular, ¡74% de los centros de contacto tienen ahora personal a distancia y 28% de los directivos han observado una mejora de su eficacia (5) ! Sus operadores estarán más satisfechos, serán más productivos y tendrán un mejor equilibrio vital.
Buena práctica #3: Crear cohesión de equipo
A buena dinámica de equipo marcará la diferencia. Varias prácticas han demostrado su valía en este aspecto.
Puede "gamificar" la jornada laboral de sus empleados, es decir, hacer que ciertas tareas sean entretenidas y fomentar una sana competencia entre los operarios. También puede organizar eventos de equipo, como team building al aire libre o pausas matinales para tomar café. Al final, estas sencillas prácticas le permitirán mantener motivados a sus equipos a largo plazo, con un buen ambiente de trabajo como guinda del pastel.
What are the positive impacts on the customer experience?
Estas tres buenas prácticas le permitirán crear un sentido de pertenencia y cohesión real del equipo para comprometer a sus agentes a largo plazo. Y unos empleados motivados significan menos rotación y absentismo. Esto reducirá la pérdida de talento, lo que le permitirá ofrecer una experiencia de cliente continua, coherente y sin fisuras.
Un operario motivado y eficaz es una baza real tanto para los clientes como para la empresa. En resumen, un verdadero círculo virtuoso, ¡y ahora ya sabe cómo ponerlo en marcha!
Acerca de INO CX
INO CX es una solución de contact center omnicanal diseñada para ayudarle a alcanzar estos objetivos. Gracias a sus funciones de flexibilidad, gestión de flujos de trabajo, automatización basada en IA y colaboración sin fisuras, INO CX permite a sus agentes rendir al máximo. Contáctanos para obtener más información sobre cómo INO CX puede transformar las operaciones de su centro de contacto.
(1) NTT 2021, Informe de evaluación comparativa global de CX
(2)Forrester 2021 Study, aller au-delà de l'expérience client
(4) Epsilon 2018, "El poder de mí: El impacto de la personalización en el rendimiento del marketing"
