The Customer Service Survey
VocaLabs' weblog providing news and commentary on the challenges of providing good customer service.
People Helping People
Monday - September 26, 2005 01:46 PM in
Most companies understand that if they want to keep their most talented employees, they need to offer more than a paycheck and benefits. They also need to offer challenging, rewarding work, and a chance to feel appreciated for a job well done. This is so important that good employees may be willing to take a voluntary pay cut for the chance to take on a new professional challenge.
Call center agents are, in a very real sense, the face of the company in many cases. They are sometimes the only actual company employee a customer may ever come into contact with. As such, they are critical to building the reputation of the company.
Call center agents are, in a very real sense, the face of the company in many cases. They are sometimes the only actual company employee a customer may ever come into contact with. As such, they are critical to building the reputation of the company.
So why is it that call center jobs are (in many cases) some of the most mind-numbing jobs around, with astonishing levels of employee turnover?
It isn't inherent to the task. Customer service is mostly about helping people, and most people enjoy helping others. The number of people who freely give up their spare time for volunteer activities proves that helping people can be its own reward.
Part of the answer lies in the nature of the people being served. Most customers are reasonable and gracious, but the occasional caller with a chip on his shoulder can ruin a lot of good will. And if callers expect bad service, or are already frustrated by the time they reach an agent, that only makes the problem worse.
But as much or more of the problem can be traced back to the way the job of a customer service representative is structured. It is hard enough to be cheerful for an entire shift, but the relentless pace of a modern call center means that there are few chances to pause, recharge, or unwind. And even though agents may be instructed to give good service, they're generally evaluated more on the number of calls per hour they handle. Most of the time, calls are routine and don't provide the agent any sort of mental challenge.
Is there a better way to run a call center?
I don't have any answers, though sending as many routine inquiries to a self-service system is a good start (our research has shown that customers usually prefer self-service for routine calls--if the automated system is easy enough to use), leaving agents to handle fewer but more challenging (in the good sense) calls.
Providing a less relentless working environment would help, too, but the endless drive for efficiency in modern corporations means that this is unlikely. I've seen some creative solutions, though, such as using remote agents who can work short shifts from the comfort of their homes.
But given how important customer service is, and how big a problem agent turnover is, can we afford to not be thinking about this question?
Posted by Peter Leppik
It isn't inherent to the task. Customer service is mostly about helping people, and most people enjoy helping others. The number of people who freely give up their spare time for volunteer activities proves that helping people can be its own reward.
Part of the answer lies in the nature of the people being served. Most customers are reasonable and gracious, but the occasional caller with a chip on his shoulder can ruin a lot of good will. And if callers expect bad service, or are already frustrated by the time they reach an agent, that only makes the problem worse.
But as much or more of the problem can be traced back to the way the job of a customer service representative is structured. It is hard enough to be cheerful for an entire shift, but the relentless pace of a modern call center means that there are few chances to pause, recharge, or unwind. And even though agents may be instructed to give good service, they're generally evaluated more on the number of calls per hour they handle. Most of the time, calls are routine and don't provide the agent any sort of mental challenge.
Is there a better way to run a call center?
I don't have any answers, though sending as many routine inquiries to a self-service system is a good start (our research has shown that customers usually prefer self-service for routine calls--if the automated system is easy enough to use), leaving agents to handle fewer but more challenging (in the good sense) calls.
Providing a less relentless working environment would help, too, but the endless drive for efficiency in modern corporations means that this is unlikely. I've seen some creative solutions, though, such as using remote agents who can work short shifts from the comfort of their homes.
But given how important customer service is, and how big a problem agent turnover is, can we afford to not be thinking about this question?
Posted by Peter Leppik
Posted at 01:46 PM by | | | |