Telephone training

Your customers will stay loyal if they hear the right things

It’s what your agents say that makes customers feel valued.  Our expert, Tony Dain, of Future Vision Training, has this advice

CUSTOMER expectations continue rise as their tolerance for poor service diminishes.  With far more choice, very few companies can stand out from the crowd on their products alone.  It is the quality and efficiency of service that now makes the difference.
A strong brand image and reputation increase customer loyalty and it is in your call centre where these can be enhanced – or, in some instances, damaged.
Your agents define the thoughts and feelings customer have about the company they are doing business with, and whether they are satisfied and loyal or whether they are dissatisfied and looking for an opportunity to leave.


If you are spending lots of time ‘selling’ to your staff the benefits of good service, perhaps you should look at the type of people you are recruiting

What do your customers think about the service and the experience they get from your call centre?  You’ll know that this is, at a bare minimum, what they expect:

• An efficient and accessible service
• To speak to someone who can solve their enquiry or problem
• To be treated as an individual
• To be valued and treated with respect

Customers will leave if they:

• Find it difficult to speak with someone who can actually assist them with their enquiry or problem
• Feel that their enquiry, problem or complaint has not been satisfactorily resolved
• Feel they are being processed, i.e., scripts, impersonal service, just another call, rushed, hassled and not listened too
• Are treated with contempt, not trusted, lied to, patronised, criticised and stonewalled
• Are not provided with confidence, trust and reassurance that they have made the right decision

It is the quality and efficiency of service that now makes the difference

What is the single most effective way to ensure that they continue to use your products and services and become loyal supporters of your brand?  It’s simply this: by taking the time to actually listen to them and truly understand their needs and wants.   Then it is essential that we communicate with them clearly and effectively, creating a relationship that is based on trust and respect and clearly demonstrates that they are a valuable asset to our business.  They are not doing us a favour, they are providing us with an opportunity.
Consider these two essential factors:

1 The mindset/attitude of your agents
This, I believe, is the most important factor.  If you can recruit and train those people who possess a genuine desire to help and serve customers and actually enjoy it then you are more than half way there.
If you are spending lots of time “selling” to your staff the benefits of good service, perhaps you should look at the type of people you are recruiting into possibly the most important positions in your company.  It leads me to think that, in some ways, the way customer service staff are treated suggests that little real value is placed on their work and, more importantly, how they manage the customer experience.
It is clear that engaged, confident and happy staff will also go that extra mile, take ownership and responsibility for the customer’s enquiry or problem and make sure they do what they say they will do; delivering on their promise.
Can we really ask agents to value their customers if we do not value them?   There is a simple adage that says if we treat our staff well and value them, then its much more likely they will act in a similar way with their customers.

2 Their ability to communicate and conduct effective customer conversations
There must be a structure, and this should include:

• Greeting and positive first impression
• Positive acknowledgements and bridging
• Using and exchanging names
• Signposting
• Questioning and listening
• Recapping, summarising and closing with a positive last impression

...listen to customers and truly understand their needs and wants

You can develop and integrate this structure into your own brand style and it will radically improve the way your staff communicate, and build relationships with your customers.

Be aware that language used has an impact – both positive and negative – on the moods and emotions of customers (we use less than one per cent of the vocabulary available to us).  Consider:

• Aggressive vs. co-operative words
• Influential language, eliminating words that detract from your message, using language that positively resonates with the customer
• Words to consider, to use and to avoid
• Irritators and impatient reactors
• Language modifiers and intensifiers
• Attaching positive emotion to language
• Persuasive words and dialogue
• Words with impact
• Language patterns

Focus your customer service training on improving the quality of conversations and you will increase the confidence, trust and reassurance your customers have when communicating with your company.  You can reduce some of the most dangerous and corrosive behaviours – including defensiveness, criticism, stonewalling and contempt -- that can damage customer communications, and show them how much you value them.
Don’t underestimate the importance of effective customer dialogue.   Effective customer communication makes a big difference to how your customers think and feel about the company you represent and, ultimately, their loyalty.
Improving your customer experience is the single most effective way to increase your customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty, which after all must be what we are all aiming for.
If you are not convinced, one final thought: there is overwhelming evidence that providing good customer service is considerably cheaper than delivering poor service.
Can you afford not to?

Profile

Tony Dain is the co-founder and a director of Future Vision Training.  His career has been spent in sales and customer service and he has more than 15 years of experience in consumer and B2B markets.  Mr Dain has delivered projects for Capital One Bank, Barbican, Cable & Wireless, Experian, Financial Times, Lloyds TSB, Surrey Police and Premier Farnell.  He has worked with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to develop the National Call Handling Standards for Customer Satisfaction.

Contact: tony@futurevisiontraining.co.uk