At Centerfirst, we pride ourselves on providing a transparent view for our clients into their contact centers. On the topic of transparency, we would like to share a little behind the scenes view into some of the insights we provide to our clients. In this blog, Centerfirst Project Manager, Shannon Catron, shares some background on a client she currently works with, and a few recent insights she provided to them based on her team’s analysis of their contact center’s interactions. These insights are not only meant to provide an example of our work, but we believe these insights may be utilized by any contact center to provide the best interactions for their customers.
Program Background
This specific client came to Centerfirst looking for a comprehensive, transparent view into their contact center. They wanted to ensure their processes and performance were well within compliance, and their agents were performing above industry standard. This client also was looking at creating a best-in-class experience for their customers and were looking for guidance on how to achieve this in the shortest possible time frame.
We deployed our eQM process to support this client’s goals, utilizing our quality monitoring specialists to review our client’s calls and provide feedback on potential steps that could be taken to enhance the experience for both their agents and customers. Based on this client’s goals and our specialists’ analysis, Shannon provided the client 3 opportunities for enhancement that could serve to maximize the interactions with their customers. Specifically, Shannon reviewed the significance of closing calls with appreciation, the importance of offering assistance at the end of calls and demonstrating empathy.
Take a look below for more in-depth information about the specific guidance provided during this performance review.
- Call Closing: Is it enough to just wish your customer well at the end of the call? We believe that it is important to also let them know that they are appreciated. To enhance the patient’s experience, you need to make sure that they feel valued. When they leave a call not feeling valued, they may relate this to the contact center or company and think poorly of it. Making sure that every single contact feels significant is a great way to express gratitude, build positive brand awareness, and demonstrate that agent is pleased to provide support. Genuinely caring about your customer and their health can lead to an emotional connection being formed and a lasting impact on everyone involved.
- Offering Assistance: Another way you can end a call is by offering assistance, which continues to build positive customer relationships and can possibly turn your patients into loyal advocates of your company. At the end of a call, when you let someone know that you’ll continue to be there to help, there is a greater likelihood that they’ll feel comfortable calling back with more questions and concerns. This limits the potential for frustration and uncertainty when ending the call and makes sure that the customer doesn’t feel as though they’re a bother for calling in the first place.
- Demonstrating Empathy: Empathy is not an easy skill to learn, and to some it comes much more naturally than to others. However, this is an important skill to practice even if it isn’t your strong suit. Agents with the most empathy usually make sure that patients feel like the focus is on them, listening to and engaging with customers in conversation. You can practice being empathetic and kind to others by attempting to be more patient and less judgmental or critical. Make sure to slow down and think about empathy during your calls, but don’t force it or allow yourself to feel like a bad person if it doesn’t come easy for you.
With this client’s focus on performance improvement and customer service in mind, it makes sense that Shannon suggested focusing more on showing appreciation, empathy, and offering further assistance prior to closing the call. We hope that these suggested skills are informative to yourself or your team, and you can use the tips shared in this blog to better your own contact center’s performance.
If you’d like to learn more about how we can help your contact center uncover insights to achieve excellence, please contact us.