Customer “Kudos” increased by 220% while Escalations Decreased by 40%
Nautilus builds different types of home fitness machines. After much use, some of these machines will naturally have mechanical issues. The company established a repair center to help customers trouble shoot and repair their machines. Despite the fact that the center hired great staff to help customers, their overall call quality scores were too low. CCTS was asked to improve the overall quality of the IB calls from customers who needed repair help with their machines.
Unique Challenges
- Calls were often long, as troubleshooting some of the machines was extremely time-consuming. Customers would become frustrated. Repair agents would not always know how to keep the customer happy, sometimes after having spent 60 or 90 minutes with them on a single call.
- Troubleshooting sometimes requires going back to basics. The Repair tech needed to ask the customer basic questions (“Is the machine plugged in?”) but knew that the customer would likely snap back, “Of course. It is the first thing I checked. That’s not the problem.”
- Most reps did not come from a similar environment (there are few like this). They were not used to the challenge of sounding encouraging and keeping clients engaged while multiple troubleshooting attempts do not fix the problem.
Training Provided by Call Center Training Solutions
Training’s Big Idea: Sound welcoming, understanding and, above all, encouraging and positive, regardless of how long a call may take. Have the attitude, “We will figure this out together.” Also, verbally celebrate the completion of the repair. “Great work and patience by you,” is a great way to thank the customer for their part in the repair process.
- CCTS built a customized version of its Superior Service program, focused on repair.
- Each Repair tech participated in a 1.5-day course provided by CCTS instructors.
- The floor management team completed the Call Center Floor Management program.
- Rather than use a Power Hour (see Power Hour video), leaders agreed to listen to calls from their station and then call the rep over for coaching or walk out onto the floor and deliver a quick blast of coaching.
End Results
Most of the Repair reps embraced the training. They became much more proactive in trying to solve the customer’s issues. Customers responded extremely well to this new level of attention and care. The floor management team started coaching more proactively right away.
The training impacted three very important metrics. Calls escalating to management decreased by 40%. Customer “Kudos” (a customer calling out an employee for excellence) increased by 220%. Over the same period, reps who were designated as “Superstars” (employees calling out other employees for excellence) more than doubled, as well.