The fear of abandoning that what once made you successful Its hurricane season for American business

Organizational Insanity Doing the same things over and over again every day, but expecting a different result

Bolstering your brand image Call agents build intimate one-on-one relationships with customers Delivering Happiness (Tony Hsieh), Our belief is that the telephone is one of the best branding devices out there. E-Harmony executives believe their agents must have empathy, heart and adaptability

Customers who connect with the Zappos call center give the company higher scores than those who shop online Zappos has the Net Promoter Scores to prove it American Express customers who learn about their card benefits and features from phone agents show an average increase of more than 10% in Recommend to a Friend scores.

When agents help customers feel more comfortable about a purchase decision, those customers are more likely to buy. Once theyve built rapport, agents can share information about coordinating products that customers are more likely to find interesting. Such benefits arent limited to companies that serve consumers.

Customers report lackluster interactions with call center agents-Consumers were asked about how satisfied they were with their interactions with brands across 13 different industries. For all 13, satisfaction rates for phone interactions with call center agents were lower than those for 2011, Reinvent Your Call Center Culture To Create Amazing Customer Experiences Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction

Younger consumers are the least enamored with phone interactions Across most industries, Seniors and Older Boomers had the highest satisfaction rates for phone conversations, while Gen X and Gen Y generally had the lowest. The difference of opinion between the older and younger consumers was striking in some industries.

Phone satisfaction rates have dropped for four years straight Consumer satisfaction with phone conversations has been tracked across multiple industries since 2007 and All but one industry saw their satisfaction rates sink during this time period.

Satisfaction rates for interactions with call center agents trail those for other channels Consumer satisfaction with phone conversations is low and getting worse by the year. So why havent firms been able to make improvements?

Research shows that companies ignore call center customer experience in favor of sexier channels Customer Experience Peer Research Panel Findings and objectives for % say that theyll focus on improving interactions with call center agents 76% of respondents who say that theyll be improving the online customer experience 46% say that theyll be focusing on mobile interactions and social computing

Invest millions in misguided technology improvements- Technology is an enabler, but you can provide a great customer experience without great technology. Treat call center employees like slave labor- Some large call centers hold agents accountable for strict metrics like time to answer, average call handle time, talk time, idling time, nonproduction time, and adherence to script –these practices are considered draconian and you see the impact in churn

Develop a Customer Centric Culture To Improve The Customer Experience For companies that have been ignoring their call center or find themselves mired in a factory mindset, a cultural shift will mean big changes. Leadership will need help developing new hiring and training practices and then revising internal incentives and metrics. Hire For Passion and Culture Seek out people who love working in customer service. Run candidates through a simulated call Invite candidates to sit in the call center

Train To Fine-Tune Conversation Skills - focus more of your training programs on tactics that help agents create a strong connection with customers over the course of a call. How to create an emotional connection.-70% of agent training time at American Express focuses on skills such as actively listening to what the caller is saying and helping customers understand the value of their relationship with the company. What to say and how to say it Zappos guides agents on what to say through one-on-one coaching sessions in which a supervisor and agent each take a call and then the two discuss what the agent did well and what could be improved next time around without relying on grading or scorecards.

Give agents titles and perks that make them feel important Provide recognition and bonuses for excellent service Create management and frontline career progression plans Develop programs that encourage agents to stick around

Ditch the one-size-fits-all mentality Throw out meaningless quality assurance checklists Relieve agents from average call handle-time targets