Here's how you can guarantee exceptional service from your customer service team.

Active Listening: when you are Active listening, you will be able to address the customer's concerns the first time, which will reduce call backs and keeps AHT low.

From my experience, guaranteeing exceptional service starts with hiring people with the right attitude. Look for candidates with transferable skills like empathy, a positive attitude, and a solution-oriented mindset. During the hiring process, use assessments and scenario-based questions to gauge their problem-solving abilities and customer focus. By carefully selecting individuals who demonstrate these qualities, you build a team capable of consistently delivering outstanding customer service.

To ensure a great customer experience, having a quality program is essential. Though some might see it as intrusive, think of it as a way to strengthen your brand. Take Chick-fil-A for example. When a customer says "Thank you," employees respond with "My pleasure." This phrase may not be part of their everyday language, but it's a work requirement. Through detailed training, clearly define your company's personality traits. Make sure everyone understands, shares, and embodies these traits at work.

Training establishes uniformity in the way sales are conducted across the team. This consistency helps in building a strong brand image and ensures that customers receive a consistent experience regardless of which salesperson they interact with. It also ensures that sales team members are proficient in using sales tools, CRM systems, and other technologies that enhance productivity and efficiency in their roles. And overall feel confident and knowledgeable about the products they are trying to sell.

From having to train many colleagues over the years, and being trained in new roles myself, I’m always frustrated by the lack of really good training materials available for new employees. Especially when there is repetition of the same role being trained. It’s a lot more difficult to maintain a consistent training program if there is not adequate fleshed out information that follows a specific course of instruction. It’s something companies think is straightforward but really is so often jumbled and poorly structured.

From my experience, giving agents the flexibility and autonomy to use their own judgment fosters critical reasoning and situational analysis. This not only boosts customer satisfaction but also makes agents feel accountable and confident in their roles. By trusting agents to make decisions, you enable them to respond effectively and personally to each customer's needs, leading to more positive outcomes and a stronger, more capable team.

Empower your agents because this will motivate them and they will want to help and succeed in making their own independent decisions and trust management for better team help.

This is key and neglected too much in the insurance industry. I feel like I battle with terrible technology platforms that are not working with us at all. The inefficiency of the software I use every day is a major drain on the insurance industry and I know for me is a hindrance in job satisfaction.

For me, by tracking KPIs such as First Call Resolution and Average Speed of Answer, you can gauge real-time metrics and make informed decisions. Regular feedback and recognition play a significant role in motivating and engaging the team. Encouraging agents to go the extra mile and celebrating their successes fosters a culture of excellence, ultimately leading to improved customer satisfaction and service quality.

By monitoring performance metrics such as sales targets, conversion rates, and revenue generated, you can set realistic and achievable goals for your sales team. Clear goals motivate salespeople and provide a benchmark for evaluating performance.

Consistently monitor your team's performance using KPIs like response time, resolution time, and customer satisfaction scores. Provide regular feedback to identify areas for improvement and reinforce positive behaviors. Celebrate successes to motivate your team. This approach fosters a culture of excellence in delivering exceptional customer service.

Seeking and giving feedback fosters a culture of collaboration within the sales team. When salespeople are open to receiving feedback and helping each other improve, it promotes teamwork and collective success.

Finally, actively seek feedback from your customers. Use surveys, feedback forms, and direct communication to understand their experiences and expectations. This information is invaluable for making informed decisions about where to improve your service. Encourage your team to view feedback, both positive and negative, as opportunities to learn and grow in their roles.

Treating your team as equals, working with them to solve problems, and putting yourselves in each other's shoes is what creates a transparent, hardworking, successful, and well-rounded team. It is important to encourage others to use their skills in a variety of ways to not only build their personal skills but also to help the company. Working alongside team members or employees will help everyone understand each other's concerns, skills, and how to best solve something. This teamwork also creates a sense of trust, and understanding between coworkers and their work positions.

Use an Extrovert! Always use a person who shows love for the company and love for customers. There are only 20% extrovert people in any population thus finding an actual extrovert is difficult. Never hire an introvert for customer service.

For consistent exceptional service delivery, Customer satisfaction and experience is what attracts, keep and grow the business