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Your customer service team is struggling. Can creative problem solving help them succeed?

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Customer service is a demanding and challenging job that requires a lot of skills, patience, and empathy. But sometimes, even the most experienced and dedicated customer service representatives can face problems that seem impossible to solve. Whether it's dealing with angry customers, resolving complex issues, or adapting to changing policies and procedures, customer service teams need to be able to think creatively and find effective solutions.

Creative problem solving is a skill that can help customer service teams overcome obstacles, improve customer satisfaction, and enhance their performance. Creative problem solving is not just about coming up with random ideas, but following a systematic process that involves identifying the problem, generating alternatives, evaluating options, and implementing the best solution. In this article, we will explore how customer service teams can use creative problem solving to succeed in their role and deliver value to their customers and organization.

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1 What is creative problem solving?

Creative problem solving is a method of approaching problems that combines the ability to generate many different ideas, perspectives, and possibilities (divergent thinking) with the ability to narrow down and select the most suitable and feasible option (convergent thinking). This method can be applied to any type of problem, from simple to complex, from technical to interpersonal, from individual to team-based. For example, customer service teams can use creative problem solving to address issues such as handling difficult or dissatisfied customers, improving customer loyalty and retention, reducing errors and complaints, increasing productivity and efficiency, coping with stress and burnout, collaborating and communicating with other departments, and learning new skills and technologies.

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Kara Yap

Passionate about helping people and cultivating an experience that communicates the value of a brand.
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Creative problem solving is leveraging the strengths of your team, recognizing the opportunities and allowing their voices to be impactful. Feeling like your contributions matter go a long way for team morale and productivity. Don't be afraid to take risks.

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Rahul Jain

Founder @ GR Finvisors | Certified Retirement Goal Planner | Financial Planner | Consultant | Ex-Banker | MBA, NMIMS
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Encourage your team to think out of the box and come up with individual solutions. Then sit together as a team and brainstorm on each of those ideas ?? This would foster a creative thinking process, helping improve efficiency in the team for problems solving.

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Besnik Sulmataj

Leading Electrification Excellence
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Creative problem solving is an approach that encourages thinking beyond traditional frameworks. It involves looking at problems from new angles and applying unconventional strategies to derive solutions, which can be particularly effective in navigating the complexities of customer service.

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2 How to use creative problem solving in customer service

Creative problem solving can be employed by customer service teams to address various issues. A general framework for this process includes defining the problem, generating ideas, evaluating ideas, and implementing the solution. When defining the problem, it is important to ask questions such as what it is, who is affected by it, why it needs to be solved, and what the goals and criteria for a successful solution are. For generating ideas, techniques such as Mind Mapping, Brainwriting, SCAMPER, and Six Thinking Hats can be used. When evaluating ideas, Pros and Cons analysis, SWOT analysis, Feasibility test, Ranking, and Voting can be employed. Finally, when implementing the solution an action plan with timeline, resources, roles and responsibilities should be created. The outcome should satisfy both the customer and the organization.

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Dillpreit K.

Sustainability Certified Practitioner | Research & Program Management | Author of Co-Prosperity Series ??
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The process mentioned is great, however it may not practical for customer service staff, especially if they are working remotely or in person customer facing roles. The real time stressors may be overwhelming. Providing tech support in terms of a transcript-cum-analytics software/device would be helpful. This will help gather the inputs required in the first place that often causes undue stress or help staff identify where boundaries could be better managed. Like most organisations, not all problems may be easily addressed. Letting staff know they are supported in finding solutions is reassuring and can help them cope with their daily interactions and morale. Teams can then discuss report findings to build their respective CPS strategies.

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3 Benefits of creative problem solving for customer service teams

Using creative problem solving can bring numerous advantages to customer service teams, such as increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, improved team performance and morale, enhanced team collaboration and communication, and reduced stress and burnout. Through creative problem solving, customer service teams can provide solutions that meet or exceed the customer's expectations, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and referrals. It can also improve the team's productivity, efficiency, and quality of work, resulting in lower costs and fewer errors. Additionally, it can foster a culture of innovation, diversity, and inclusion, resulting in more trust and respect among team members. Finally, it can help team members cope with stress and burnout better, resulting in more resilience and satisfaction with their work.

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Besnik Sulmataj

Leading Electrification Excellence
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Teams that engage in creative problem solving often experience increased engagement as they feel more empowered to tackle challenges. This can lead to more effective and efficient service, and a culture that celebrates innovative ideas and solutions.

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4 Tips for developing creative problem solving skills

Developing creative problem solving skills for customer service teams can be achieved through practice and feedback. Seeking inspiration from various sources, such as books, podcasts, blogs, webinars, etc. can help expand their knowledge and perspective. Challenging assumptions and beliefs that limit the problem solving process can help question the status quo and discover new opportunities. Additionally, experimentation and learning from failures and successes can help refine ideas and solutions, as well as learn from their mistakes and feedback. Techniques such as prototyping, piloting, A/B testing are helpful in this process.

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5 Examples of creative problem solving in customer service

Illustrating how creative problem solving can be used in customer service, here are some examples of real-life scenarios and solutions. For instance, a customer service representative receives a call from a customer who wants to cancel their subscription to a service they have been using for a year. The customer is dissatisfied with the service and feels it is not worth the price. The representative uses creative problem solving to retain the customer and increase satisfaction by empathizing with them, asking about their needs, expectations, and goals, and then offering a customized package including a discount, free trial of a new feature, and consultation with an expert. The customer agrees to give the service another chance. Additionally, a customer service team leader notices that the team's performance and morale are declining due to high volume and complexity of issues they have to deal with. Creative problem solving is used to enhance performance and morale by organizing a workshop with the team to identify and prioritize main problems, brainstorming possible solutions, implementing the best solutions like creating a knowledge base or automating repetitive tasks, providing training and coaching, recognizing and rewarding achievements, monitoring results and collecting feedback from the team and customers. This leads to significant improvement in performance and morale.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Your customer service team is struggling. Can creative problem solving help them succeed?

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5

6

1 What is creative problem solving?

2 How to use creative problem solving in customer service

3 Benefits of creative problem solving for customer service teams

4 Tips for developing creative problem solving skills

5 Examples of creative problem solving in customer service

6 Here’s what else to consider

Creative Problem Solving

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Your customer service team is struggling. Can creative problem solving help them succeed?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 What is creative problem solving?

2 How to use creative problem solving in customer service

3 Benefits of creative problem solving for customer service teams

4 Tips for developing creative problem solving skills

5 Examples of creative problem solving in customer service

6 Here’s what else to consider

Creative Problem Solving

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