Many organizations want to do the right thing for customers, but too often put a multi-layered, time-eroding approval process in place to get there. By then, the customer is gone, or the loyalty that could arise from their experience has dwindled. That’s not effective empowerment; in fact, it’s not empowerment at all. Your agents must be able to take action …
The cornerstone of an effective quality observation process is documenting specific, observable behaviors and tailoring coaching accordingly. An effective way to consider performance (quality) standards is to categorize them as either “foundation” or “finesse.” Foundation standards measure whether something was done, and can be assessed with a simple yes or no. For example, the agent uses their name in the …
How equipped are your agents for those situations when something is going wrong? When customers are clearly upset? Here are some time-tested tips: If your organization messed up, acknowledge it in a sincere way—and in plain language. (How often as a customer do you see or hear the scripted words, “We regret any inconvenience this may have caused”?) As writing …
GM, America’s largest automobile manufacturer, has more than 17 million social brand mentions and engages in more than 400,000 customer care conversations each year. GM set (and met) two aggressive goals to support their customer-centric vision. Goal 1: Deliver on today’s customer expectations. GM recognized that customers are increasingly turning to social channels for customer service, and established a response …
In a recent issue of The Edge of Service®, I relay my experience meeting actor and author Henry Winkler at a recent ICMI Conference. Winkler reminded me of advice that my mother used to give me, especially when facing awkward or difficult challenges—”just be yourself.” It was sound advice then, and it still is now. And I believe it’s good …
Our customer advocates trust us. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be advocates. They want that trust to continue and we need to do our part of this. Sadly, businesses lose advocates daily. Often, this stems more from neglect than from anything we do. The video below looks at five principles for maintaining trust and keeping the momentum going. This video …
Customer advocacy has the potential to strengthen your organization and transform customers into enthusiastic brand advocates. But you have to unleash it, whether you’re developing customer advocacy within a team, a department, or across the organization, you’ll need an ongoing approach to guide your efforts. In the following video from the LinkedIn Learning Course, Customer Advocacy, you can learn about …
Customer service matters. It matters to customers and more and more statistics are showing just how much. Below are a few statistics that may help you make the case to others. Fully engaged customers represent a 23% premium in terms of share of wallet, profitability, revenue, and relationship growth compared to the average customer. (Source: Gallup) 74% of customers use …
If you work in customer service, you will inevitably interact with angry customers. It comes with the territory. Their anger could be caused by a process or a product that’s gone awry. They may have already had a bad experience as they attempted to get resolution. Or maybe their anger is misplaced. For any number of reasons, the customer is …
