CALL center and contact center employees have been heralded as customer experience superheroes. As the first point of contact, they delicately balance a set of skills to bring each contact to a successful close.
Empathy, or the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, has always been an essential skill. But experts identify the following skills just as crucial.
- Ability to Manage Stress – Irate, and sometimes unreasonable customers are one of the most stressful situations that call center employees face daily. Add to that, the kind of multi-tasking they have to do to hit time limits, targets, and quotas. People need to know how to compartmentalize these types of stressors. The best way is to emphasize that mistakes are ok. Training can only get you so far, but when push has come to shove, being compassionate towards themselves is key. Employees always want to do their best but running on high for long periods of time and with clients irate, burn out and high turnover won’t be too far-fetched.
- Ability to Listen Actively and Provide Feedback – While the knee-jerk reaction is to listen to respond, what we want to do more of is listen to understand. We want to make notes so the customer won’t need to repeat information. We also want to provide feedback when necessary (repeating the information) to establish trust and ensure that information gathered is correct.
- Ability to De-Escalate – The average call center agent receives at least 50 calls in a shift – 30% of those are from irate and distraught customers. The goal is to provide solutions to issues and queries, but very often workers are trained to “patronize” rather than de-escalate. A tone of voice that communicates genuine concern and interest in making their life easier is key. Actively listening by asking customers whether any action or solution would help is important. The key here is to make them feel that you are interested in making their life easier. It may not calm them right away, but it will make a difference once they begin to settle down.
- Ability to Go Beyond Empathy – Empathy is the secret sauce in any service-type of business. But it is ever so crucial in a situation where you deal with someone upset, vulnerable, and in need of help. This skill is best taught in a work culture where positivity and accountability are prioritized. Regularly checking in with employees to ensure that they feel supported is important. Gathering the feedback of those on the frontline with the customers goes a long way in making them feel that someone’s got their back.
- Maintaining a Customer-Centered Mindset – Great customer service begins with a customer-centered mindset. This entails keeping in mind that:
- A positive outcome IS possible;
- Both client and agent can reach the best possible outcome;
- Every situation can be viewed positively.
For instance, while waiting in line for milk tea, you start to get impatient as the queue is moving too slowly. Rather than thinking “what’s taking them so long?!”, think that they are following procedure to deal with so many customers…” It won’t change the problem, but it will do wonders for your reaction and patience.
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NEARSOL is a US-based BPO and service company that offers clients custom-design solutions. It began operations in 2006 and has since gained a strong presence in the Latin American regions, the Caribbean, and the Asia Pacific, winning many awards for quality and service along the way. Most recent of which is its Great Place to Work-Certified™ Recognition.
The Great Place to Work-Certified™ Recognition is a global accreditation that tells stakeholders what employees think of the company culture. In brief, it says a lot about the happiness and productivity index in NEARSOL. The certification process shows that employees are satisfied with the working environment and that they trust the leaders.
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