3 Values Every Call Center Needs To Be Successful

In a recent article, Benjamin Payne discusses the following five things contact centers need to stop doing if they want to give a high-quality customer experience:

1) Ignoring employee satisfaction

2) Leaving customers on hold

3) Repeated customer transfers

4) Operating in a non-cloud environment

5) Relying on tacit knowledge of agents

3 Values Every Call Center Needs To Be Successful

While reading Benjamin Payne’s article, I started thinking about company values. Kind of strange considering I was reading an article about things contact centers shouldn’t be doing in their customer experience, right? While it may seem somewhat abstract, the five items Payne discussed can all be related to a lack of company values, or a lack of follow-through on existing company values. There are many great things call centers can hold valuable, but the following three values can help call centers that are struggling with the issues pointed out in Payne’s article:

1) Respect

Items 1, 2, and 3 in Payne’s list could all be avoided if the call center valued respect. Call center agents need to hold respect for the customers calling them so they will not ignore them by putting them on hold for excessive amounts of time or repeatedly transfer them without providing real help. In the same way, call center managers and supervisors need to have respect for their agents in order to ensure employee satisfaction. If a call center agent knows their supervisors respect them, they’ll be more likely to care about the job and their customers’ time.

2) Empathy

In addition to respect, items 1 and 2 in Payne’s list could be the result of lack of empathy. Customers who reach out to a call center are often frustrated or concerned about a product or service. They’re looking to have their issue resolved, but they’re also looking for empathy and for their voice to be heard. In order to instill empathy as a customer service value for call center agents, managers and supervisors need to practice what they preach. A call center is often a very chaotic environment to work in, and managers having empathy for agents will help alleviate some of the stress. If call center agents feel that they have empathy from their supervisors, they’ll be more likely to reciprocate that empathy towards customers.

3) Open Mindedness/Innovation

Items 4 and 5 in Payne’s list require an open mind geared towards embracing innovation. For example, with #5 specifically, call centers can utilize outstanding agents and their calls for training purposes. In addition, having an open mind to agent feedback can lend insight into ways that the call center can improve its processes. With item #4, a call center focused on being innovative will have the proper technological tools to give their agents the opportunity to provide industry-leading service. As Payne pointed out in his article, customers and their needs are constantly evolving, so it’s crucial that call centers keep up with technology to serve their customers in whatever channel they prefer.

This blog post is based on an article from CustomerThink. To read the original article, please click the link below:

5 Things to Stop Doing In Your Contact Center – Benjamin Payne

Need an outsourced call center? We can help!