The connected consumer has changed the way businesses communicate, especially because of their high expectations. What are these expectations? Consumers need to hear from you when they want to and through their channel of choice. The implication of this heightened expectation is that you have to be accessible on all communication channels. Simply put, you need to have a multi-channel communication strategy.
Multi-channel communication goes beyond the traditional customer care hotline to include email, social media platforms, mobile, live chat, and self-service options. Does your contact center support your multi-channel communication strategy? If yes, how prepared are they to handle all customer demands and offer a seamless customer experience?
These are important questions which is why contact center management puts a lot of effort into people development through training the agents. The following is a detailed analysis of the effects of trained agents as part of your business.
Increased Staff Loyalty
Call centers employ a large number of agents and training them well takes huge amounts of resources. It is always a win-win situation when agents are loyal to the company. Training of agents in multi-channel communication helps them to find their work more interesting and diverse.
With multi-channel communication there is no monotony to say answering calls all day long, day in, day out. An agent can take a hypothetical break from the phone when responding to an email inquiry. They become rounded agents – thus can step in when the demand from one channel increases. This keeps them happy with their work environment and prevents them from looking for the proverbial greener pastures.
Enhanced Teamwork
Without proper teamwork, your agents will not be effective and efficient especially in the multi-channel environment that gives them access to several touch points. Agents that work for and through each other achieve tremendous results in a shorter time.
Teamwork begins at the individual level. If an agent feels good about his work environment and teammates, he does his best to make the environment even better. This training exposes them to numerous opportunities of learning, developing, and building a solid career in the call center. With the diverse knowledge gained, agents are able to switch roles easily.
Empowered Agents
An empowered agent is one who has the authority to make decisions on behalf of the company. For example, an agent that is allowed to provide customers refunds up to a certain level without consulting with the manager is empowered. This agent takes full responsibility seeing that customer concerns are resolved within the shortest time possible.
Training agents in the various ways they can offer the desired customer service instills in them trust in their capabilities of satisfying customers. They go the extra mile and are more devoted to their duties. This empowerment increases productivity, lowers operating costs, and helps them to embrace change easily.
To management, empowered agents are easier to lead which provides more time to be dedicated to the strategic advancement of the call center.
Increased Customer Satisfaction
The essence of a call center is offer customer service support and ensure the customer receives the best experience. Well-trained agents offer a superior customer experience and are well equipped to handle questions and issues of all types and resolve them quickly.
Have you ever talked to a customer care representative who was not helpful; especially in regards to the information you required, either due to the lack of right information or poor customer care? That experience leaves you dissatisfied with the company and more often than not, they lose you as a customer. However, when you are satisfied, you become their brand advocate.
In conclusion, training your agents in the multi-channel environment is beneficial to all stakeholders. The effects are increased staff loyalty, enhanced teamwork, and empowered agents which all lead to increased customer satisfaction.
As Aristotle, the ancient Greek scientist and philosopher said, “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation: we do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Therefore, continuous training of agents ensures excellent customer service is provided across the multi-channels.
This blog was first published on LinkedIN
