Customer Service & Sales Training Tips for Call Centres | Stuart Harris

Five Tips for Improving Your Customer Experience

Stuart — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:28:34 +0000

In the 2011 Convergys UK Customer Scorecard Research, 61% of consumers said that the customer experience has not improved over the past year, and another 14% said that it has actually gotten worse.

Here are some of the topline stats from the Survey and a few things to consider.

1. Pay attention to what your customers are telling you
75% of customers say that in the past year the quality of customer service provided by companies has stayed the same or got worse. There is a clear disconnect here as 50% of employees at the contact centre think service has improved.
Many organisations dig their head in the sands when they receive and then ignore negative feedback, some think the problem is a one off, and unlikely to happen again – the good ones, capture all negative feedback and decide on a strategy on how to deal with that issue should it happen again and then communicate this decision to their frontline staff
(A comedian being heckled thinks, “how will I deal with that next time?” Why can’t businesses simply have a similar policy?)

2. Be proactive versus reactive.
Don’t wait til your customer threatens to leave you, before you have to dig into your Retention Strategy, keep them happy and updated throughout their Customer Journey – how many times have you threatened to go elsewhere because you’ve seen better deals even with your existing phone, bank or utilities supplier before someone drops their price or replace old for new?
In a Convergys survey 100% of customers said it is appropriate for a company they do business with to proactively contact them.
Keep your customers updated, engaged and informed – if you do that from the cradle, you hopefully won’t have to do it at the grave.

3. Listen to your Customers
66% of customers are taking the initiative to contact a company after a bad experience, effectively seeking a resolution before they decide whether or not to take their business elsewhere. They are taking the time to reach out to you, and they expect and warrant responses in return. People often want to stay where they are, it’s too much hassle to shop around to source a new supplier online or on foot, also there is a risk to them of venturing into the great unknown with a new supplier.
The days of your parent’s brand loyalty have gone (my parents used the same bank, utilities company and holiday company(*) all of their lives.
(* this was just for the big holidays. Scout camp or a caravan in Glen Trool was usually enough for my brother and me (apart from the midgies))
Price is King nowadays, not necessarily Value for Money – Brand DIS-loyalty is now the order of the day. Who now shops around for a new phone every year or so, jumps onto one of the ever growing Price Comparison Sites (why do you think they’re growing) or chop and change your Broadband Supplier when you get a rotten signal?
Customer Satisfaction is no longer enough, would you settle for being ‘just satisfied’ in any other area of your life – Customer Loyalty and Engagement is now the new black… and guess what, it’s not just here for a couple of seasons, it’s here for good
What strategies do you have in place to keep your customers engaged and loyal? If none, you better get some soon.

4. Listen to your customers via all of your contact channels.
Over half of customers surveyed, reported their bad experiences last year, and although the majority (71%) are contacting live agents on the phone or in person, 23% are using email and text messaging. Customers using online feedback forms also expect a response as much as those who call, and they are just as likely to defect if they don’t get a response or resolution to their issues. 20% of the customers who reported their bad experiences said they did not receive a response from the company, which ultimately led to over 50% of them deciding to take their business elsewhere.
This survey did not even take into consideration Social Media forums such as Twitter and Facebook
The top businesses I do work for have specially trained teams not just to deal with incoming Complaint calls, letters and emails but also have teams monitoring and responding to critical Social Media messages.
Just check out this clip of how one dissatisfied customer made his feelings known on how he was so badly treated by an airline http://www.youtube.com/watch?=5YGc4zOqozo (at the time of writing this over 11 million people had viewed this video clip)
Moaning is no longer just word of mouth or telling your pals down the pub about the bad service you received – people now have a global voice (are you listening to it?)

5. Aggressively promote the fact that you want feedback.
You want to know when you get it wrong. Therefore, make it easy for customers to contact you and provide them with immediate access to empowered and empathetic agents. 41% of customers who did not bother to report their bad experiences (a third defected without saying a word) said they did not bother because there was no convenient way to report it to the offending company.
Make it wasy for your angry customers to get to you, not just “hit 9 on your phone if you’re thinking about leaving” on your IVR also empower your staff to actually do something to keep them (including apologising and taking responsibility (don’t get me started on that one, will save that Blog for another day)
Too many times, when I’ve visited call centres, have I overheard agents barking at customers “have you actually read the small print?” or “don’t blame me, I’m just doing my job” or “there’s nothing I can do about it” or worse still “look, you’re the fifth person to complain today about this, don’t think your so special” (honest) – I once asked a Team Leader “can you hear that?”, to which he replied “yes …” I thought fantastic, at least he’s recognising bad behaviours, before I had time to think “I wonder what he’ll do about it” he continued “yes … bloody customers, they just won’t listen”. I suggested to the Ops Manger to sack the agent and take the Team Leader out the back and shoot him.

If you provide a fantastic service to your customers, what are you doing to ensure Customer Loyalty and Engagement and if you are a Loyal and Engaged Customer, what are your suppliers doing so well to keep you so?

A Dozen Telephone Tips When Calling Prospective Customers for the First Time

Stuart — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:01:53 +0000

1. Years ago, when I worked at Coca Cola, I received fantastic advice from my boss – “Always state your I.P.A. at the start of every Sales Pitch, Call or Presentation.

I – Introduction - what’s your name and who do you work for or represent
P – Purpose – why you are calling. Include a ‘Hook’ – more on this later
A – Agenda – give an overview of what is going to take place during the presentation/call. This is also known as Framing – again, more on this later

2. Always give your first and second name when you call, at least until the customer gets to know you better and great rapport as been established.

3. Never ask “is now a good time to talk?” – This gives the customer the perfect excuse to hang up before they’ve even heard the reason why you are calling. If they sound rushed, give the reason for the call and an indication of how long the call will last.

Only one of my clients asks that question, this is because they call existing customers who spend a lot with them on other products and they do not want to risk this strong existing relationship over a badly planned call.

4. If they state that “now, isn’t a good time”, demonstrate some empathy and say that you understand and ask when would be a better time to call back – before they answer, ask an ‘alternative closed’ if they would like to call back later today or is there a good time tomorrow.

Whichever answer they give you, try and get a specific time – so that when you do call back you can start the conversation by saying to them ”you asked me to call back now, the reason for my call is …”

5. Provide a Hook – This gives the customer a reason for why you are calling (e.g. “I’m calling about a special promotion on our Double Flange Conflomogrator”, “I’m calling today to ask you a few questions about …” or “I’m calling today, because we have been introduced our Anit-Clickwise Sprick Sprockets to a number of business similar to yours which has helped them reduce their …/ increase their …/ doubled their …”

6. Framing the call – this sets things in context – it provides the Big Picture, an Overview of what is coming up over the next XXX minutes. It gives the customer an outline of why they should give you time.

Framing should be full of ‘Advantage’ statements of how your product can help organisations such as theirs. These are not Feature or Benefit Statements (more on Features, Advantages and Benefits on a future post)

7. Use the customer’s name early in the call and listen out for how they wish to be addressed

If they say – “it’s Mr McGlumpher” – guess what? They want to be addressed formally as Mr McGlumpher
If they say – “it’s Shuggie” – say something straight away like “Hi Shuggie, the reason for my call today is …” (this allows them to hear your voice saying their name, this is much better than hearing it later in the call – when they may have forgotten how they addressed themselves)
If they say “it’s Shuggie McGlumpher”, ask “is it ok if I call you Shuggie?” – in this case it is unlikely that they will say no but are pleased that you had the decency and respect to ask permission

8. Using a customers name throughout a call is a huge rapport builder, but don’t overuse it – I’ve heard someone saying the customers name seventeen times on a 20 minute call before – it sounded bad enough to me and it wasn’t even my name.

I’d always suggest use it at least 3 times on a call (at the beginning, at the end and conversationally during the call) - This obviously will vary depending on the length of a call

9. To add energy to your voice, especially at the start of a call, I would always recommend that you should stand up and move around a bit, gesticulate and “think on your feet”. Good posture will definitely allow you to come across more enthusiastically and interested in what the customer is saying

I can walk into a call centre and often identify who are the poor, ok and great sales people just by their body language on a call

10. You may have heard the expression “smile while you dial”, I do believe in that to a certain extent – but please, please, please make it genuine.

I’ve been in Contact Centres where they have placed small mirrors on the monitor of the agent’s computer. How well do you think that went down with the agents? How soon do you think the smile turned into a sneer? How soon do you think it was before the agents were checking out spots, bits between their teeth and to see if their manager was anywhere close behind them?
I was in one centre and thought I was getting watched by the CCT cameras – I soon realised that it wasn’t the cameras that were watching me but loads of computer monitors following my every move.

11. Once you have set the scene, start asking some cracking Open Questions – establish what questions open the customer up, and make sure you know why you are asking questions – I’ve heard hundreds of sales people asking great questions and then do nothing with the answer – so, what are you asking, why are you asking it and what are you going to do with the answer?

12. Open Questions should be there to try and identify what they currently do, what do they currently use to let them achieve that and what do they like about their current supplier?

This often surprises potential customers, because competitors to their existing suppliers such as yours often try to get the potential customer to speak badly of their current provider.
Which even if they have issues with them, they don’t want to tell you.
Asking what they like about them will help you establish their buying criteria and what is important to them (Price? Quality? Service? Simplicity? etc)
This should help you to identify which Feature of your product could be important to the customer or help you anticipate potential Objections to your product

LinkedIn Profile Tips

Stuart — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:30:33 +0000

For the last few years I have been developing my LinkedIn profile. I have picked up tips along the way of course and have recieved fantastic advice from Will Kintish (http://www.kintish.co.uk/)

I wanted to share some of the key essentials to improving your profile on LinkedIn

Hope you get what you’re hoping for

Stuart’s LinkedIn Quick Tips

Understanding Sales and Customer Service Team Development in Call Centres

Stuart — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:27:10 +0000

To help us better understand how conflict arises within the team, we need to look at how teams are formed and the stages they go through in moving from a group of individuals to a cohesive team. It is generally recognised that teams go through 4 or 5 stages in their formation and that some of these stages inevitably include varying elements of conflict:-

John Tuckman developed a model that illustrates the stages if team development:

Forming –

This is the first stage of a team’s development when members are concerned with finding out about the task & it’s objectives/where they fit in – not wishing to be too radical etc, exploring other members’ attitudes and abilities, assessing and relying on the leader for direction, vision, guidance, clarifying rules and establishing group culture

Storming –

The second stage during which; conflict can develop over the task/the task is resisted at an emotional level/degrees of depression might set in/the group may drift without a clear sense of purpose and there is the possibility of some power struggles occurring

Norming –

The third stage in which conflict is resolved/cooperation begins, views are exchanged, new standards or norms are developed, trust develops, people speak and listen to one another.

Performing –

This stage can only be arrived at after the first 3 stages have been worked through. At this stage people belong, teamwork is achieved, roles are flexible, solutions are found and ideas implemented, with team members working towards a common goal.

Mourning –

This final stage occurs when a team disbands, for example on completion of a project, or when a team member leaves. The team can experience a sense of loss and in the case of project teams disbanding and members returning to their normal duties, some may feel disorientated and removed from their normal work team. For permanent teams that lose a team member, in addition to the sense of loss, productivity may drop while the remaining team members adjust and are temporarily distracted by considering the implications of the changes.

NB: The team can go backwards as well as forward. For example, when a new person joins the team or an existing member leaves, the group will go back to the forming stage. This is often referred to as the ‘group dynamics changing’.

Occasionally, a team can skip a stage, for example going straight from forming to norming. This will depend on the interests of the individuals and their backgrounds.

We can see from team formation model that conflict is most likely to occur in the team’s forming & storming stages. However, this is not an absolute. Conflict can occur at any point when differences arise and may actually occur when the team has achieved the performing stage some time ago.

Understanding what stage the team is at in its development is useful in helping to determine when intervention is appropriate and when it may be less appropriate. For instance, to totally deny a team the opportunity to exchange differing views and opinions on issues by intervening when it is not necessary to do so, could hinder or slow down the team’s natural progression towards the norming and performing stages.

It’s important therefore to recognise that not all conflict is negative and to be avoided. The exchange of ideas and differing opinions is not only okay, but desirable if the team is to mature and accept each member’s role and contribution within the team.

However, conflict that deteriorates to include personal insult, intolerance or bullying is clearly not acceptable and requires the quick intervention of the Team Leader/Manager. Similarly, in the event of the team becoming completely gridlocked on a particular issue, intervention may be necessary.

The skill lies therefore in monitoring the team’s development and performance and recognising the early signals of the type of conflict that needs to be resolved with the involvement of the Team Leader/Manager.

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