Workforce Management Featured Article
Listen, Learn, and Help - The Keys to Success
I recently emailed someone at an organization that had made a significant oversight and kindly told them about the situation. When I read the return message I was really disappointed.
Rather than apologizing for their oversight and letting me know they would take steps to address my concerns, the organization’s leader told me she was new at her job and that (1) she was not familiar with the process related to my situation until too late in the game, (2) the process would not address many of my concerns anyway, and (3) she would look into changing the process after I was no longer affiliated with the organization.
That was a bummer. And in my next email, I let her know that I was not so much interested in the past or process, but instead wanted to focus on how we might move forward now in a more positive way. I even offered a few suggestions on how we might do that.
Again, the response was less than inspiring. But she did throw me a bone on one thing, promising to take care of it first thing the following week. I let her know I appreciated her busy schedule and her situation, and I thanked her.
Well, guess what? On the following week, that thing did not happen.
I mention all this not to vent. (Well, maybe a little.) Rather, this story is about the importance of anticipating needs, caring and addressing complaints in a timely manner, listening, and valuing people over procedures.
Whatever type of organization you are – whether a government entity, a business, or a service desk, doing these things is key to building relationships and business, caring about people, and just celebrating life.
Service desks should also be sure to provide their agents and managers with the tools they need to do these things. For example, they should set schedules and KPIs so agents have the time and boundaries (within reasonable limits) to listen to and address caller concerns. They should leverage recording and analysis tools to review those conversations so they can fix flawed processes and anticipate customers’ future needs. And they should present agents with the customer data they have so these workers can better engage with callers and give them what they want and need.
Edited by Maurice Nagle