Call Center Management Featured Article
Give Agents the Freedom to Please Customers
Every company likes to think it has customer service representatives who go above and beyond to please customers. Hiring people-friendly agents with empathy and patience is a great first step. Keeping those agents engaged is also important: even the most pleasant people will eventually burn out and become apathetic if they’re not treated properly by their employers. Too often, however, companies deploy eager and willing agents, only to put such restrictive rules in place that agents are virtually blocked from really helping customers.
Companies sabotage their own customer support in a number of ways. They may have overly restrictive scripts that don’t allow agents to vary the conversation. Perhaps they pay agents based on low average handle times of calls, which means that agents not only have no incentive to really help customers, they get financially penalized for it. Some companies don’t give agents any options for rewarding good customers, or retaining an annoyed one.
In a recent blog post, Monet Software (News - Alert) CEO Chuck Ciarlo recounts an anecdote from Capital One, which received a call to its contact center from a woman whose credit card was shut down due to “suspicious activity.” The hold was put on the account because someone was attempting to purchase furniture and have it shipped to a different address not associated with the card.
“Customers who get their cards shut down are usually in a shouting mood, but this woman had recently separated from her fiancé and was in the process of moving to a new place – hence the different address,” wrote Ciarlo. “She seemed more sad than angry, and when the agent found out what was happening in her life, she gave the woman 4,500 free airline miles to help her feel better. And that’s not all – the agent then sent flowers to the customer, with a note saying ‘Please know that you are in my thoughts and I hope these can brighten your day.’”
The agent’s efforts most certainly improved that customer’s loyalty to the company. But it did a lot more than that: the customer shared the story on Facebook (News - Alert) and it went viral, broadcasting Capital One’s actions far and wide to thousands of people. In one inexpensive move – $45 worth of air miles and a bouquet of flowers – Capital One (News - Alert) bought itself the goodwill of thousands of people. The only reason the company was able to do this was because it permitted the agent leeway to handle the situation according to her best judgment. Not all companies permit actions such as these.
“It raises the question of whether your agents believe they have the freedom to offer a similar gesture of kindness to one of your customers,” wrote Ciarlo. “Would they be appreciated or criticized for doing something that is not company policy? These stories make the news because they don’t happen every day, and they shouldn’t – but when the circumstances are right, encourage your agents to go above and beyond.”
Before you put overly restrictive rules in place regarding what agents may or may not do when it comes to pleasing or retaining customers, think about why you’re doing it. Are you trying to save money or ensure agents don’t make a wrong choice? While giving agents too much leeway can certainly lead to negative outcomes, it can and does lead to good word of mouth and customer loyalty for life.
Edited by Alicia Young