The Oxford dictionary defines customer as follows: “a person who buys goods or services from a shop or business”.
By that definition we all have been customers – a fact we often forget when we are on the other side of the “counter” and are looking for ways to attract more customers.
Let’s face it, you want to enhance customer experience because you want to attract and keep customers.
Delivering outstanding service is especially challenging in a call center environment.
It’s time to re-acquaint yourself with what it feels like not only be a customer but what it feels like to experience an extraordinary customer service experience.
Start off by walking a mile in their shoes.
Put yourself in the role of a customer.
And don’t think about your customers at this point, think about yourself.
Be selfish for one day.
To help you with that go out shopping for a day and take note of when you felt an outstanding customer experience and when you didn’t.
Pause to take note of what was good about the great experience.
Conversely, take note of the why’s of the negative experience.
Remember to track the quality and the service and how long you had to wait to receive the service.
Repeat this until you really start to see the difference between an extraordinary experience, a so-so experience and a negative experience.
The next step is to ask your leaders to do the same thing – to relate their stories about extraordinary service experience they had.
And finally, I strongly recommend you create some kind of fun contest for your call center agents and ask them to bring back their stories too.
In no time, you will find that your entire company will have a clear picture of what is an extraordinary experience and what it takes to deliver it.
Continue having people share their stories to keep the “buzz” alive.
Everyone has a clear mental picture that you can refer to in your mind when you think about excellence in customer service.
Employees follow leaders.
Leaders lead by example.
Employees are your customers too.
Guess what?
Make their experience extraordinary too.
Think of them as customers and see how you can change your methods of coaching to inspire them, to make them want to be better for themselves.
Let`s face it your agents are your front line, they are the ones delivering the service to your customers not you.
Everything you say or do can be held against you.
Remember if you want to attract more customers, you need to be extraordinary at attracting and keeping employees.
Happy and excited employees will deliver.