Call Center Management Featured Article
Keep Customers with Sincerity and Empathy
Empathy is perhaps one of the most important virtues to possess in business. In the sales process, it can help sales professionals understand the customers’ needs and make an extra effort to craft a customized offer. In management, it can lead to understanding of workers’ need for recognition, fairness and work-life balance. In the contact center, it can help agents cope with angry or frustrated customers and diffuse the negative feelings to arrive at a satisfactory outcome. (Some studies have shown that disgruntled customers who have had their issues handled really well by a customer support department make for more loyal customers than those who have never had a problem with a company at all.)
Unfortunately, empathy is nearly impossible to fake, and it takes a special kind of person to be able to offer it repeatedly, day after day, particularly when that person didn’t cause the problem in the first place, according to a recent blog post by Monet Software (News - Alert) CEO Chuck Ciarlo.
“For most of us [empathy is] an easy emotion to conjure when we’ve actually done something we regret, or when a friend tells us about something that has gone wrong in their life,” wrote Ciarlo. “But since contact center agents were not directly responsible for the customer’s problem, an attempt to generate empathy from nothing may not be successful.”
It’s helpful, however, to coach contact center agents to use language that implies empathy, and to strike the right tone of voice. (“I’m very sorry you’re having a problem” doesn’t sound particularly sincere when it’s barked out in a clipped tone of voice.) Ciarlo recommends that companies examine their scripts to see if they can alter them to reflect more empathetic language.
“It’s never a bad idea to review the scripted statements used by your agents and look for ways that they might be improved,” wrote Ciarlo. “Also, in those situations where going off-script is necessary, agents must be constantly coached to use the right words to deal with volatile situations, and to communicate with customers in a way that expresses regret for their problem and encouragement that a solution is possible.”
There are language tricks that agent can use to convey empathy. These include sentences such as, “That must be very frustrating,” or “Let me see how I can help solve this problem for you.” It also helps to personalize the transaction, and call the customer by his or her title and last name. (“I will find a resolution for you, Mrs. Smith.”)
When it comes down to being genuine, however, some real feeling is required to convey sincerity. While companies should make every effort to hire people who genuinely like to help others, even the most caring agents will have bad days and “burnout” moments. Ciarlo recommends running through some exercises with agents to help them better empathize.
“One coaching method that has worked in the past is to ask agents about a time when they received poor service, or bought a product that didn’t work,” he wrote. “Encourage them to remember how that experience made them feel, then channel those feelings into their responses.”
Nobody likes being served by robotic, scripted, disembodied voices. Make every effort to build sincere empathy into the customer support process – even a little improvement will make a difference – and you’re likely to see customers give back in loyalty.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi