by Margaret-Anne Heyland
Have you ever found yourself grappling with a problem within your company’s customer experience, but felt clueless about where to start unraveling it? The solution might be closer than you think – in fact, it could be right within your contact call center.
With over 20 years of experience of building and optimizing customer experiences, I can confidently say that your call center is a gold mine of invaluable insights. It serves as a direct line to understanding what your customers are experiencing and how they perceive your company. Spending just a few hours engaging with your Contact Service Representatives can save you weeks of research and provide a wealth of knowledge about your customer experience.
So, what exactly can you learn from delving into your call center?
Firstly, you’ll gain insights into the efficiency of your customer service operations, particularly in terms of first-call resolution and empowerment. Are your customers able to get their issues resolved on the first call, or do they find themselves calling multiple times for resolution? The training and consistency of your representatives are crucial here – inconsistency in policies, procedures, and information delivery can undermine even the friendliest customer service interaction.
Moreover, empowering your representatives to make decisions – such as waiving fees or comping services – can significantly improve the customer experience. Removing bureaucratic hurdles and enabling frontline staff to address issues swiftly can turn a potentially negative experience into a positive one for your customers.
Beyond frontline interactions, examining the processes and technology supporting your representatives is vital. Are your company’s processes streamlined, or are there inefficiencies hindering the customer experience? Often, what appears seamless to customers may be riddled with challenges from an employee’s perspective. Identifying these pain points is essential for driving meaningful process and technological improvements.
Additionally, your call center provides invaluable insights into your customers themselves. By understanding why customers are reaching out, identifying trends, and pinpointing areas of friction in digital channels, you can uncover opportunities for self-service and better meet customer needs. Understanding customer expectations and anticipating future needs can guide strategic decision-making and ensure your organization remains competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape.
These examples merely scratch the surface of the wealth of information waiting to be uncovered in your call center. By prioritizing engagement with your call center representatives, integrating them into cross-functional teams, and actively listening to their insights, you can unlock a treasure trove of insights that will drive tangible improvements in your customer experience.
Your call center isn’t just a support function – it’s a strategic asset that holds the key to unlocking exceptional customer experiences. Set aside time to connect with your call center team and embark on a journey toward transforming your customer experience from good to outstanding.
Do you want to unlock your call center’s potential but don’t know where to start? Or, do you need help implementing changes to bring your experience to the next level? The evolv team stands ready to help.
Margaret-Anne is a Delivery Manager at evolv Consulting and has over 3 decades in the Financial Services Industry. As a passionate CX Leader, she spent 20 + years at USAA and helped evolve and build award-winning experiences for Investments, Retirement and Financial Health. In previous roles she was the CX Officer at American National Bank of TX and Head of Participant Experience at MassMutual. Her passion is understanding the needs and expectations of customers and looking for opportunities to improve their experiences by incorporating technology, data, empathy and understanding emotion at every customer touchpoint.
