Cohesive customer service teams aren’t built overnight. Managers need to take the following steps to set them up.
Have the Right Collaboration Tools in Place
Efficient communication is essential for every customer service department. There are many great tools that customer service professionals can leverage to communicate with each and their customers in real-time. The problem in the past has been that this was done through inefficient communication channels like one to one emails with each customer. In fact, over 15% of an employees work week is taken up by email communications.
This lead to customer service reps being bombarded without an easy way to route emails to the right person based on customer issues or customer service rep work load. Now businesses have access to project management platforms that can use business rules and workflow automation to route the right task to the right employee automatically.
However, Blake Morgan, author of “More Is More: How The Best Companies Work Harder and Go Farther To Create Knock Your Socks Off Customer Experiences”, states that businesses aren’t taking advantage of them.
Break Down the Barriers Between Supervisors and Subordinates
Brown made a very good point in his earlier post. He stated that employees at all levels need to be involved in the customer service. Supervisors need to spend some time on the front lines engaging with customers and their subordinates. This will give them a better sense of the challenges they face every day, the best protocol for resolving issues and the resources their staff need.
Divide Professionals by Expertise
Customer service professionals tend to be more specialized these days. Brands need to identify their service professionals’ strengths and make sure that they are assigned to handle challenges they are best equipped for.
Collaboration is the Key to Exceptional Customer Service
Companies can no longer afford to take ad hoc, one man approaches to delivering customer service. Customer expectations are higher than ever, so businesses need a team of talented professionals to serve them. Fortunately, developing a great customer service team isn’t difficult with the right tools and process.
Source: CustomerThink
