Improvements to Make, Questions to Ask During Customer Service Week

We are in the heart of Customer Service Week, and while this is indeed a time to recognize the value customer service professionals play in the success of their organizations, it is also a time to question what additional value needs to be uncovered.

What challenges in customer management still linger? Which "trends" and "best practices" are for real, and which will be forgotten by next year’s Customer Service Week?

Let’s take a look at some questions that are top-of-mind for professionals celebrating Customer Service Week. Call Center IQ readers and members, feel free to comment with your own priorities and key questions!

What is the Purpose of Customer Service?

Organizations vastly differ over the relevant definition of customer service and the role staff should play within that function. Some see it specifically as a response tool—as a way to address issues, complaints and suggestions from customers. Others see it more of an outreach tool—putting a "human" face behind a brand to develop lasting relationships with customers. Still, others believe it has to live and die by its impact on the bottom line, and they want to see a clear (and successful) sales and CRM effort from "customer support" agents.

How is customer service positioned within your organization?

Which Metrics Matter? Which Metrics are Obsolete?

Good, old metrics. Customer management professionals know of their limitations in providing a full window into the success or failure of a customer service operation, but they also know that their C-suite largely speaks in dollars-and-cents. Metrics, therefore, will remain unavoidable.

But that does not mean the measures and KPIs of choice are not evolving. In conjunction with the rise of self-service, social media and automated channels for handling minor customer inquiries, we’ve seen many organizations abandon or tweak their reliance on Average Handle Time. Efficiency on the phone still matters, but insofar as live agents will spend a greater amount of time on complex issues (or calls with the vast potential for relationship-building), AHT assessment will no longer be as one-dimensional as "either your AHT is too high or too low."

Widely-criticized for its limitations, Net Promoter Score, meanwhile, is getting a second life due to the rise of social media. Word-of-mouth is no longer a concept hidden in fairytales, it is now an actionable customer asset that can be instantly shared with hundreds of friends, thousands of acquaintances and millions of strangers. Measures that track the likelihood of that word-of-mouth being distributed, and favorably, can prove very relevant.

Which Channels are you Embracing?

Significant customer management hype hinges on the rise of social and mobile media, but the lack of definitive, widespread evidence of positive ROI has some dragging their feet. How are you approaching these "hot" channels? Are you ready to monetize them (and does that even matter)?

How about live chat? Internet-connected customers seem to demand this sort of interactivity, but many organizations have reservations about whether their agents (and technology) will yield a truly-favorable customer experience in the channel.

And what about some older channels? Customer management professionals are known for their opposition to email support, but do your customers still view that channel as necessary? How has the use of outbound SMS messaging impacted the success of outbound dialers?

Can You Stop the "Agent Crunch?"

We hear non-stop discussion about the incompatibility of the current generation of workers with the expectations and culture of the call center profession. We hear that training is weak, that onboarding is non-existent and that turnover is nothing if not staggering.

What are you doing about it? So many customer management leaders throw out terms like "agent engagement," but is there any substance to the terminology? Is the staff crunch simply due to poor engagement strategies?

If so, customer management leaders need to show how they are going to notably improve engagement and how they are going to tie those engagement strategies to improved productivity and lower attrition. And, if not, these leaders have to reveal how they can overcome the inherent incompatibilities between potential agents and the call center environment.

What are you thinking about this Customer Service Week? And note that those looking to benchmark and share call center and customer service strategies with the biggest, most successful organizations in the world can get the desired insight at the International Contact Center Summit. Registration is about to close—get the details now!