Speed Of Answer + Empathy Are What Contact Center Callers Crave
David Filwood
CEO | TeleSoft Systems | People & Process Improvement For Contact Centers
According to advertising trade publication AdWeek – Contact Center call volumes & wait times have more than doubled since the beginning of the Covid19 pandemic two years ago.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) company Freshworks recently released their analysis of 107 million Contact Center Customer Service & Support interactions (from nearly 4,500 different businesses – across 15 industry sectors) in order to figure out what callers valued the most.
Speed of Answer was found to be the #1 factor that improved Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores – increased revenue & boosted customer loyalty.
Companies were 14% less successful with their UpSell / CrossSell / CancelSave / Customer WinBack programs – and less likely to receive positive CSAT scores – if their callers were first subjected to long hold times.
The 2nd Most Important Factor That Improved CSAT Scores & Boosted UpSell / CrossSell / CancelSave / Customer WinBack Programs – Was Whether The Caller Felt They Had An Empathetic Human Connection With The Customer Service Representative (CSR)
Callers want to speak with CSRs who recognize the emotions they are feeling – who genuinely listen to & understand them – and sincerely try to resolve their problem / issue.
86% of customers reported that having this kind of positive emotional connection with the CSR they spoke to would make them likely to do business with the company again.
Empathy & Rapport Are The Building Blocks Of Trust
Empathy in the Contact Center is when CSRs are ‘in sync’ with the customer – able to sense / understand / respond to a caller’s thoughts / feelings / experiences during the service encounter.
CSRs need to display genuine Empathy in order to create Rapport & Trust with callers.
Empathy / Rapport / Trust are essential for effectively handling complaints – avoiding or diffusing conflict – reducing churn / retaining customers – developing customer solutions – and winning new business.
CSRs with an affinity for the give & take of sharing emotional information forge deeper & more meaningful caller connections – allowing customers to feel happy / cared for / valued.
When CSRs share Empathy during a call they are recognizing the emotions the customer feels – are effective in the give & take of emotional information – deal with difficult issues more straightforwardly – listen well & welcome sharing information more fully – foster more open communication – stay receptive to bad news as well as good – yet stay calm and in control of themselves – remaining resilient to the frustration / anger that often comes their way.
This creates Rapport – which leads to Trust.
Empathy / Rapport / Trust Improves Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) & Improves UpSell / CrossSell / CancelSave / Customer WinBack Program Results
Telephone based customer service delivered with high levels of Empathy / Rapport / Trust generates real & measurable positive impacts on CSAT – and it’s this emotional satisfaction that is especially important for increasing customer loyalty & increasing the lifetime value of the average customer.
Importantly – when customers feel that the CSR they dealt with on the phone displayed Empathy – they were much more likely to respond with ‘forgiveness’ to that CSR’s proposed recovery from a dissatisfying brand experience involving a company failure – reducing customer defections & churn.
CSRs who deliver Empathy / Rapport / Trust correlate with more effective UpSell / CrossSell / CancelSave / Customer WinBack programs.
A Recent Duke University Study Of Consumers – Ranking Their Satisfaction With CSRs – Found That They Rated Their Like / Dislike Of A Call Center Experience 81% On The Basis Of How The CSR Made Them Feel (in terms of developing Empathy / Rapport / Trust) – And Only 19% On The Basis Of The Actual Information The CSR Shared
Great companies earn customer trust & loyalty during ‘Moments of Truth’ – interactions like a lost credit card / canceled flight / incorrect bill / damaged piece of clothing / software problem etc – when customers invest a high amount of emotional energy into the outcome.
Even if a customer’s concerns can’t be entirely resolved – a CSR displaying genuine Empathy can soothe frustrations – and result in a customer willing to return to buy again.
Women Typically Display More Empathy
In general – females tend to be better at delivering Empathy than males – which helps to explain why Call Center customer service is powered by women. Roughly 80% of CSRs are female.
The limbic system is composed of structures in the brain that deal with emotions – and research has demonstrated that females typically have larger & deeper limbic systems than males – allowing them to be more in touch with their own feelings – have a greater capacity for understanding others’ thoughts & feelings – and better able to express them – which promotes bonding with others.
Other studies suggest that women usually possess higher levels of Empathy as a result of socialization – and our society's expectations that encourage girls to be more emotional & talkative – and so their verbal skills are emphasized by teachers & parents.
Being more emotional & talkative also leads to higher levels of Empathy.
Empathy Can’t Be Quickly Or Cost Effectively Taught For Hourly Wage Contact Center Jobs
Female or male – your level of Empathy is firm – but not rigid.
Our ability to identify & manage our own and others’ emotions is fairly stable – influenced by our early childhood experiences & genetics.
That doesn’t mean we can’t change – but realistically – long term improvements in Empathy require a great deal of time / dedication / training.
The bottom line is that some people have personalities that just naturally display more Empathy / Emotional Intelligence / People Skills – and some are more 'coach able' than others.
Genuine Empathy Can’t Be Delivered By Scripted Phrase – Or Handed Out By Machine
Some Contact Centers script their caller interactions with fake / plastic ‘Empathy Phrases’ – that are supposed to make the customer feel like the CSR cares – when the CSR’s tone clearly beams out that they don’t.?
领英推荐
A new technology making its way into Contact Centers at the Enterprise level involves Artificial Intelligence (AI) Voice Analytics algorithms – that listen in on calls – in order to predict a customer's emotional state – by analyzing tone & voice patterns – then prompting CSRs in real time with a suggested ‘Empathy Phrase’ to use.
Authentic & genuine Empathy is by definition spontaneous and not scripted – and customers aren’t stupid.
They can easily tell the difference between empty scripted phrases and the emotional connection created by genuine Empathy & Rapport.
The whole concept of Empathy becomes insulting when a CSR delivers a scripted ‘Empathy Phrase’ telling the customer how sorry they are – when the customer can hear that the CSR really doesn’t give a damn – is just ‘Surface Acting’ – only “ticking the boxes” – and simply trying to get the caller off the line.
Hire Emotionally Intelligent CSRs To Begin With
Since Empathy can’t be taught quickly or cost effectively for Contact Center jobs – you need to hire frontline workers who are naturally caring & compassionate – and who already have an affinity to display Empathy to form emotional relationships with callers.
A business starts with an obvious advantage if it can hire people born or brought up with the right emotional instincts for a CSR job.
Training may prove valuable as a way for these ‘Good Fit’ people to polish their skills – but taking someone who's lacking in Empathy – and investing in ‘Soft Skills’ training for them – in an attempt to make them into a more empathetic CSR – is just investing dollars chasing dimes – and not a wise long term business or customer care strategy.
These Days – When Customers Reach Out To A Contact Center – Their Demand & Expectation For A Swift Connection To An Empathetic CSR Is Increasing – Not Decreasing
Delivering Empathy to customers allows your CSRs to be both professional & caring at the same time – and positively alters the caller’s perception of their experience.
Empathy is a ‘Soft Skill’ trait characteristic – which is hard to learn – and ripe for identifying in job applicants during the recruitment stage using psychometric pre hire assessments like the Service Personnel Assessment System (SPAS) Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software .
Empathy is important for CSRs to display in order to develop Rapport / Trust ?with callers – and is vital for Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) & brand loyalty – as well as for UpSell / CrossSell / CancelSave / Customer WinBack programs.
If you think that “Everyone Can Be Taught Empathy” – then you’ll be hiring people strictly on the basis of who interviews & speaks English reasonably well – and who has an acceptable level of Typing Speed & Accuracy while navigating their way around a computer.
If this is all you do to screen your candidates – then you’ll find that far too many of your new hires will turn out to be ‘Good People In The Wrong Job’ – unable (or unwilling) to invest the emotional labor to make callers feel that someone is genuinely listening to & understanding them – but rather viewing them as “just another caller” – or worse – as a nuisance.
Agree?
Worth a [Like]?/?[Comment] / [Share]?
Click the [Like] Button to add a “Thumbs Up” (or other emoji) if you found this article to be helpful.
Join in on the Discussion by adding your own [Comment]s & perspective.
Or [Share] with your network.
Not a subscriber? Press the [Subscribe] button.
Top Performing Contact Centers Drive Their Performance & Customer Satisfaction Through Superior Hiring Tactics
With a 90% Predictive Ability – you should consider using the legal / proven / cost effective Service Personnel Assessment System (SPAS) Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software Psychometric Pre Hire Personality / Job Fit / Soft Skills / Work Ethic / Business English Language Competency Assessments to quickly gain better insight & more accurate predictions as to which applicants from a pool of candidates would perform up to or beyond your established standards – for Bricks & Mortar / Work@Home / Hybrid positions.
We’ve been helping businesses around the world solve their Contact Center workforce challenges for 20+ years.
Message me if you would like a Demo/Trial.
Having reliable & highly predictive legally defensible results about a candidate’s job fit – as early as possible in the recruiting process – contributes significantly to maximizing the speed & efficiency of your Contact Center hiring – while boosting your company’s overall productivity & profitability.
Copyright ? 2022 TeleSoft Systems. All Rights Reserved.
You are free to copy / distribute / transmit this work under the following conditions:
Attribution
You must give credit to David Filwood & TeleSoft Systems with a URL link back to this web page.
No Derivative Works
You may not alter / transform / build upon this work.
CX Operations Leader | Sales Strategist | Data Junky | Culture & Customer Advocate
2 年A great read! Thank you David for sharing.