Seven Rules for the Customer Intimate Contact Center

Customer intimate contact centers engage customers, enabling companies to build strong relationships and loyalty. How do they do it?

1. Empowered and engaged employees. Agents are hired because of skills that foster customer intimacy, like analytical skills, problem resolution, and empathy. Supported by strong training and coaching, agents are empowered to resolve issues rather than hand off problems.

2. Personalized and customized self service. The customer intimate contact center engages customers through personalization at every touchpoint, realizing that service occurs anytime, anywhere. Instead of generic voice menus, flat websites or one way communication, they build a sense of shared goals, based on customer knowledge.

3. Comprehensive and shared knowledge of the customer. The customer intimate center uses data from cross channel customer experiences and other customer information to predict customer needs, providing an intimate experience that fosters loyalty.

4. Close communication and collaboration with other parts of the business. Building customer intimacy cuts across many departments, systems, media, and processes, and is often influenced by things outside of the contact center’s control. So how a delayed flight is handled in the contact center makes the difference between a satisfied or disgruntled customer.

5. Clear brand identity. Customer intimate centers focus on what’s achievable within their brand and deliver it well and consistently. They concentrate on the things they want customers to remember.

6. Maintain the customer’s perspective. What does it take to set up new electric service, to dispute a charge on a credit card, or purchase a product? Where are there memorable experiences and where are the roadblocks?

7. Balance measures of customer intimacy with operational metrics. The customer intimate center measures success in building customer relationships. So rather than obsess about average handle time, the focus is more on the quality of the contact. Instead of the number of web hits, the focus is on the level of visitor involvement with the site. IT

Elaine Cascio is a Vice President at Vanguard Communications Corporation, a consulting firm specializing in customer experience, contact center processes, operations and technology. Contact Elaine at [email protected] or visit www.vanguard.net.

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