Training for social customer care agents and a thoughtful look at the common assumptions about agent attrition topped the list of most-read posts in December. Other topics of interest to our readers included a Q&A with the authors of a new guidebook on workforce optimization and customer engagement; a practical pointer for using daily rewards and micro-goals to reinforce the right behaviors from frontline staff; and advice on how to identify and define key customer experience touchpoints to measure.
Provide Social Customer Care Agents with Situation Guidelines
While a good social service training program provides agents with a basic understanding of how social media works and the differences for engagement among the various social networks, it’s also important to provide them with guidelines on how to handle the various types of situations they are likely to encounter.
Agent Attrition: Time for a Change
“Well, you know, it is a call center.” That phrase always seems to be uttered at some point when discussing turnover at a contact center. It suggests a certain resignation to a situation that is not only problematic on its own, but symptomatic of bigger issues in an organization. Ironically, the same people who often make this statement know full well that it is too important to ignore. In survey after survey, contact center leaders cite agent attrition as the most important issue facing them today.
OPTIMIZE: Workforce Optimization & Customer Engagement Best Practices
Pipeline contributor Dick Bucci, chief analyst at Pelorus Associates, and Patrick Botz, VP of Workforce Optimization at Voice Print International (VPI), have announced the release of their new book, OPTIMIZE: Workforce Optimization & Customer Engagement Best Practices. It’s a useful guidebook with hundreds of proven contact center optimization strategies, tips and tools.
Use Daily Rewards to Drive Desired Behavior
Incentives can be a valuable tool for reinforcing the right behaviors in your staff. The key to using incentives properly is to ensure continuous positive reinforcement and random intermittent reinforcement, says former Snowfly Representative and Advisor Robert Cowen.
Define the Moments of Truth That Impact Customer Satisfaction
Once you begin to form a more holistic view of the customer’s journey, you can define the interactions that truly impact the customer experience—which are the ones you want to measure. Cynthia Grimm, Chief Customer Experience Officer, CX Solutions (formerly TARP Worldwide), recommends focusing on the key drivers of overall satisfaction.
