Little Things Make a Big Difference: Elevating the Customer Experience without Breaking the Bank

Last week we facilitated a conference workshop with the above title at Call Center Week in Las Vegas. During this interactive session lead by Alex Aversano, Manager of Enterprise and Channel Sales, Cicero, Inc., there were two general themes from the participants that emerged:

1. Reciprocity: People want to be treated as they would want people to treat them.
2. Trust: It is vital to build trust between a caller and a Customer Service Representative (CSR)

Participants also shared the following insights:

• Hire only people that want/can work in the CSR role – better screening “look for people that have customer assistance in their ‘DNA’”, tell them the truth about the environment when they interview.
• Create consistent/common environment – have regular meetings (between peers/peers and peers/managers), create a culture with use of common nomenclature and processes, provide examples by leadership.
  One attendee shared an example that her company had a set of Seven Service Standards that the representatives had to memorize and use including: Everyone is a guest (internal = in hotel, external = anywhere else), 10/5 rule - within 10 feet acknowledge the person, within five feet address the person and offer assistance. Take Ownership; if you ask someone if they need help, it is your responsibility to make certain the Guest is helped “you touch it you own it”.
• Provide the representatives with what they need/want – regular training, access to information, provide “job coaches”; try to teach “empathy.”

At the end of the discussion, Alex proposed the following Top 10 Little Things that Can Make a Big Difference in Call Centers:

1. Walk the floor
2. Be the customer
3. Focus on behaviors
4. Engage the caller
5. Listen to your representatives
6. Listen to your customers
7. Streamline process execution
8. Accelerate access to information
9. Take ownership, build trust
10. The customer defines success (creating a relationship) LTV = Long Term Value

We appreciate everyone that attended and shared their thoughts and experiences. It was a great session and we look forward to seeing you at another event.