Call Center Challenges
Customer Service Agent Challenges
Our Agents Sound Disconnected and Rarely Build Rapport with Clients
The Challenge
This is the most common Challenge we find in our work with service centers. Agents sound like they are merely going through the motions when they greet the client, making no effort to seem happy the client called or eager to help. Clients pick up on this immediately. Some clients even say, “How are you doing today?” Too many of these agents will only offer a weak “Fine,” or “Okay,” back to the client. I have actually heard some agents say “(sigh) Well, not so good”. You can bet clients are not very happy the routing system dropped them in this agent’s cube.
The Core Problem
The problem is two-fold. It always involves management because, ultimately, management has to own the responsibility for center performance (if you think your management problem is the more critical one – see our Call Center Floor Management workshop). From the agent’s perspective, the problem is that they do not realize they are causing many of their own difficult callers. Through an entire day, friendly, proactive agents always have many more easy going, patient customers. Disconnected agents will always have more problem callers.
Solution: The Superior Service Workshop Puts Life Back into Disconnected CSRs
One of the biggest winners from better servicing and more lively interpersonal skills is the CSR him/herself. Throughout the Superior Service workshop, we discuss how each individual skill will impact the client, the company and the CSR. By the time participants are done with this workshop, they have a new tool box of proactive skills. They can tell you how each skill will keep clients calm, patient and happy and how the CSR personally gains from using the skill. The most compelling argument is that, at 5:00pm, CSRs will not be burned out. Rather, they will have energy to burn and will go home in a great mood (not to mention what this does for Customer Sat scores).
Click Here to See an Overview of the Superior Service Workshop