[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/07\/14\/what-makes-quality-customer-service\/#Article","articleBody":"It\u2019s a given that service agents are a critical element of customer satisfaction. Speaking with an agent who is cheerful and helpful has a massive impact on brand perception \u2013 and on whether one is likely to buy more products and services.\nOn the flip side, we\u2019ve all dealt with service agents who sound like they would rather be anywhere else on earth than speaking to customers. And yet, so little actual attention is paid to whether the individual service agent is happy \u2014 and the role that plays in providing quality customer service.\n \nCustomer service: The X factor in business resilience\n   What's the key to business resilience? Find out why customer service is so critical to building a business that can adapt to change and weather any storm.  \nWhat makes quality customer service? As customers, we want service that\u2019s fast, friendly, and reliable. We want our question answered fast or problem fixed quickly. But that can\u2019t happen unless the customer service agent has the right tools and is happy in their job.\nIt\u2019s an issue that extends well beyond the outcome of an individual service call. For one thing, the work of a service agent is stressful by nature. Even before the pandemic, which vastly increased the pressure on call center employees, customer service organizations grappled constantly with a number of issues related to the difficulty of the job:\nPrevalence of burnout. One report estimates that 74% of contact center agents are at risk of burnout, with 30% facing a severe burnout risk.\nHigh attrition rates. According to ContactBabel, which analyzes trends in the call center industry, in the U.S. the mean turnover rate in Q4 of 2020 was 30%. If that sounds high, it was actually lower than the prior year numbers.\nCost of replacing staff who depart. Although it\u2019s difficult to pin down the exact cost of replacing call center staff, QATC, which tracks call center trends, estimates that it can cost upwards of $10k to recruit and hire a new service agent.\nIn short, there are very real and significant business risks associated with unhappy, highly stressed service agents. The question is, what can be done to mitigate these risks and improve customer service quality?\nQuality customer service & agent retention\nOne issue that ContactBabel highlights is the sheer drudgery of the job \u2013 in fact, the repetitive nature of the job is one of the top reasons cited for service agents leaving their job.\nWhether it\u2019s endlessly searching knowledge bases or \u00a0dealing repeatedly with the same sets of, it\u2019s not surprising that service agents become frustrated. And when you combine high stress with the monotony, you end up with a less-than-optimal scenario for retaining high-performing workers who provide quality customer service.  If the challenge of retaining top-notch customer service agents can appear daunting, the good news is that creative approaches to improving the role \u2013 often based on intelligent technologies \u2013 are showing real promise.\nTo make the greatest impact, these solutions will need to help address the three key factors called out by ContactBabel as having the greatest positive impact on service agent satisfaction:\nImproved knowledge management\nUnified omni-channel agent desktop\nEmpowerment, i.e., the ability to make decisions that help customers\n \nPowers activate! The making of a customer service superhero\n   What makes a customer service superhero? Help your customer service agents activate these superpowers and see customer satisfaction soar.  \nSmart tech improves agent life, boosts customer satisfaction\nAs it turns out, solutions based on intelligent technologies can make a distinct difference in terms of reducing the number of repetitive tasks that agents are obliged to perform, giving them can time to spend on more meaningful interactions with customers.\nOne company that utilized this approach with great success is DuluxGroup, a brand well known in Australia and New Zealand for trusted products such as garage door openers.\nWhat DuluxGroup put in place was a service ticket automation process \u2014 essentially, an AI-driven approach to tasks such as issue classification that would otherwise be accomplished manually be customer service agents.\nThis not only made life easier for the agents, it helped solve customer issues more quickly. Consequently, customer satisfaction soared.\n \nThe 10 brands with the best customer service aren\u2019t who you\u2019d expect\n   Brands hoping to provide the best customer service for their industry need to answer two key questions about their audience before creating a strategy.  \nHappy service agents = customer loyalty\nAnother company that has made the customer-agent interaction a distinct focus is renewable energy supplier Mercury.\nWhat\u2019s distinct about Mercury is that, whereas most energy companies are heavily geared toward obtaining new customers, their strategy is to build long-term relationships with customers based on outstanding, quality customer service. By encouraging agents to focus on building relationships \u2013 versus, for example, expediting calls as quickly as possible \u2013 Mercury was able to reduce staff turnover while getting \u201chighly satisfied\u201d marks from 64% of their customers.\nThese are great examples of companies that are producing quality customer service by focusing on keeping service agents happier in the job. As more companies begin to recognize the crucial role that agents play in the overall success of their business, the number of such examples will surely grow.\nAs goes customer service, so goes your business. Deliver the best. Start HERE.","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/07\/14\/what-makes-quality-customer-service\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/07\/14\/what-makes-quality-customer-service\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Skype_photo-150x150.jpeg"},"name":"Kirsi Tarvainen","sameAs":["https:\/\/fi.linkedin.com\/in\/kirsitarvainen\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/kirsitarvainen"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/kirsi-tarvainen\/"},"dateModified":"2021-10-08T23:30:58+00:00","datePublished":"2021-07-14T05:15:04+00:00","description":"Quality customer service starts with happy agents. The right tools help agents increase customer satisfaction & drive customer loyalty.","headline":"What makes quality customer service? Happy service agents","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/07\/14\/what-makes-quality-customer-service\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Customer-satisfaction_1200x375-1200x630.jpg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/07\/14\/what-makes-quality-customer-service\/","name":"What makes quality customer service? Happy service agents","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/07\/14\/what-makes-quality-customer-service\/#Article"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2021","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"07","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/07\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"14","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/07\/\/14\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"What makes quality customer service? Happy service agents","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/07\/14\/what-makes-quality-customer-service\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]