From Vision to Values: How Leadership Shapes a Customer-First Call Center
Customer-centric call centers encourage their agents to “put the customer first” in all that they do. These teams are trained to deliver warm and friendly service and to be active listeners who show respect and empathy. Customers appreciate agents who are responsive, find solutions in a timely manner, and are transparent with pricing and services.?
This is especially true in the trades. The CSR (customer service representative) is typically the first point of contact for the customer and should be prepared to meet the customer's desires and demands. A CSR who excels at having positive interactions with each customer will be on the path to creating a memorable customer experience.?
When customers feel seen and understood with this type of customer-focused service, they are more likely to schedule the call, leave a positive review, and refer the company to their friends, family and neighbors.
If you’ve ever called a contractor to help you with a home project such as maintenance or repairs, you’ve probably had a variety of customer experiences. Some companies are responsive, grateful, and kind, while others are brash, slow to respond or not responsive at all. When it comes to customer service, not all companies are the same.?
So how do home service call centers stand out and find success in delivering this special, customer-first experience?
It begins with leadership.
The leadership team is responsible for creating the vision and developing the culture of the business. To have continual success, their vision should align with the outcome of a positive customer experience.?
However, achieving a customer-centric culture is not always as easy as it sounds. CEOs have a lot of responsibilities, and their main responsibility is the bottom line. With a huge focus on marketing, sales, margins and profits, the focus on culture can easily be put on the back burner.
And that is a big mistake.?
The most successful companies understand that culture is everything. They put a great deal of focus on creating and developing a great culture that goes beyond ping-pong tables, Friday afternoon parties, and snacks in the breakroom. A company’s culture is cultivated by a combination of the company’s core values, and the behaviors that are accepted as a result of those core values.?
Typically the CEO sets the values, and the leadership and management team follow along and build the culture upon those foundational values. Core values should be carefully defined, as they shape how the company does business. Values assist leadership in creating policies and processes and serve as a guide for employees in their interactions with each other and their customers. This applies to CSRs and dispatchers in the call center, as well as technicians, installers, and the sales team in the field.?
For the culture to stick, all leaders should be in complete alignment on what the desired culture looks like. Leaders can help employees feel more connected to the culture as these values are reinforced and recognized.?
The biggest misconception around culture is that once the values are set, the culture is also set. Companies will get the culture that they design, or the culture that they allow. A company’s culture is actually the worst behavior that they will allow.?
These types of experiences will result in a range of emotions and outcomes including a lack of agent confidence as well as a lack of caring and respect, which is sure to ripple into customer interactions.?
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However, if leadership can define the culture, set it, model it, and reinforce it, they will get the culture that they design. This is not a one-and-done activity. It’s an ongoing process that must be revisited and worked on, every day.?
Leaders must be aligned and the CEO has to get commitment from all leaders across the board. When a leader does not commit to the vision, or is not in alignment with the culture, there will always be cracks and friction in the organization.?
With the culture in place and alignment from leadership, core values should also serve as a guide to help companies construct their vision and mission statement.?
One example of a customer-centric company is Lee’s Air Conditioning out of Fresno, California. CEO, Kathryn Howard, shares that her core values of serving others helped them to create a mission statement, and it’s made all the difference. It reads:
“Serve people: our customers, our co-workers, our community; and have fun doing it.”
Kathryn has worked very hard to build a leadership team that is completely committed to, and aligned with the mission and vision of being focused on serving others. This focus has helped her to identify additional leadership opportunities for her team members and unlock hidden talent on her team.?
As the new CEO, Kathryn spent many hours in her call center, understanding the needs of her customers and of the agents. She took time to listen, discover opportunities, and find solutions. It helped her discover their needs, as well as the hidden talents of her team members.?
One example is Sonny, a dispatcher, who could see opportunities to be more efficient in dispatching but lacked the authorization from leadership to make the most of these opportunities. She trusted Kathryn enough to share what she had discovered, and Kathryn gave her the trust and permission she needed to make those decisions. Sonny’s leadership led to better opportunities for her technicians, overall higher average tickets for the technicians, and delivered a phenomenal customer experience.?
With this trust in place, and seeing Sonny’s potential, Kathryn quickly promoted Sonny to leadership and allowed her to shine and excel in a whole new area, where she’s still leading today.
Since Kathryn’s leadership in late 2023, her team has grown from producing $30M in revenue in 2023, to tracking $100M in revenue for 2024. She attributes the success of her team to the culture they’ve created and the focus on serving others. She has proved that when you focus on your team, your values, and your culture, that growth and happy customers are sure to follow.?
But what if the CEO is the problem?
In some cases, middle leadership (or the call center manager) is actually the catalyst in wanting such changes for the team and culture, yet the top level of leadership does not get it, or does not see the need to make such changes. In such cases, it could be helpful to bring in a consultant or third party to help the organization by conducting team interviews to gain a greater understanding of the employees and their needs. The findings from these interviews can help paint a better picture of the situation for the top level of the organization.?
Another solution could be inviting the leadership team to a customer journey mapping experience where the team creates a visual representation of the overall customer journey with touch points and messaging. Include each stage of the journey from prospect to acquisition, all the way through to the relationship after the transaction.?
The goal of a journey mapping activity is to see the first hand experience of the customer. This activity could really open leadership’s eyes to what the entire customer experience looks like, identifying gaps, pain points, and opportunities, especially in the call center. Be sure to include specific scripts, follow-up tactics, and customer messaging via all channels of communication.?
With leadership aligned on the vision and committed to success, the company is ready to focus on the next steps to a customer-centric culture, which includes improving the employee experience, and utilizing technology to enhance the customer experience. We will explore these avenues in future newsletters.
Ultimately, when it comes to truly delivering an exceptional customer experience, Simon Sinek said it best, “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.”?