Plain Talk About the State of Customer Service and Why the Voice of the Customer is Key

I read this interview on ContactCenterWorld.com with Sue Warner, Call Center Manager at Southampton Solent University. It is about the state of customer service in this day and age and who provides good and bad service in the different industry sectors. I liked it because here is one professional who expressess the state of the nation in a nicely succint fashion and touches on What Matters.


In your opinion, do you believe the customer service you get today from other companies is better or worse than it was say 5 years ago?
About the same and very variable. Some companies and organisations have realised the importance of Voice of The Customer and using customer focused measures such as First Time Resolution and SPOC, whilst others seem focused on cost savings and practices and applications which drive inflexibility and failure demand.

Do you believe there is a correlation between the service you receive as a consumer and your loyalty to the supplier?
Yes. Absolutely. If I feel that a business is focussed on my needs and is trying to improve I will stick with it, whereas those who pay lip service to customer focus and are driven purely by internal measures which compromise my experience will soon be ex-suppliers to me.

In your opinion, which industry sectors provide great service and which ones are poor?
Please do not name individual companies just sectors.I believe service is highly variable across most sectors and it is this variation which reflects most people's experiences.

Talking about bad experiences, where do companies go wrong with the service they provide?
There are too many reasons given to "justify" why call centre operatives can't deal with a particular query. Lack of interest in my needs is displayed in favour of internal "operational" considerations. Lack of customer focus. Inefficient transactions. Long transaction times, delays and inflexibility. In short, focussing on the WRONG things.

Have you noticed any differences in service from people from different cultures?
Indian call centre agents are extremely polite (sometimes phrases used are positively arcane). They do seem to want to do the right things even if this isnt always possible. Very deferential though.

If you had to give just 1 tip regarding the use of technology in relation to improving customer service, what would your tip be?
Build the technology around customer needs (current and anticipated) VOC comes BEFORE technological solutions. (Why should a customer care about technology unless it is delivering better service?)

If you had to give just 1 tip regarding staff in relation to improving customer service, what would your tip be?
People are generally more capable than managers give them credit for and enjoy being involved in solutions. Treat them as you would wish them to treat your customers and involve them in improvement. They usually know what needs fixing and just need the tools and methodologies to help them.

If you had to give just 1 tip regarding business processes in relation to improving customer service, what would your tip be?
People are only 4% of the solution. Before focusing on monitoring, training etc, do the real work of finding out "how the work works" Focus first on failure demand and the causes of it, then move on from there. Fixing highly inefficient service processes can be relatively simple and fun if approached in the right way.

In your opinion, how should contact centers measure the level of service they give?
Voice of the Customer is key. Identify those things which are CRITICAL TO QUALITY for your customers and build a "vital few" KPIs around those. Measures such as first time resolution and single point of contact may well be far more important than "Average Talk Time" etc. Align process performance to meet with key organisational goals and build rewards and recognition systems around these.

Call Center Customer Satisfation - Let the CSR be a Judge!

It is SQM's *) viewpoint that CSRs should be a judge of whether or not your call centers' people, processes and technology are working to provide high levels of First Call Resolution (FCR) and Customer Satisfaction (Csat).

SQM's employee FCR survey is substantially different from the typical organizational employee survey because it focuses on FCR and Csat from a CSR's point of view. One of the best places to start improving Employee Satisfaction (Esat) and Csat, or to ensure that Csat is taking place, is to actually use CSR feedback.

Top performing Esat and Csat call centers use employee feedback at all levels as one of their primary tools to ensure Csat is taking place and to make Esat and Csat improvements. CSRs are in an excellent position to judge whether the people, processes and technology are working properly to provide quality service.

As previously mentioned, it is SQM's viewpoint that customers should be the judge for determining their level of satisfaction with the way the call was handled and if their call was resolved. Therefore in order to make meaningful people, process and technology improvements and to make the call center experience better for the customers who call and for the CSRs who handle the calls you must also let your CSR be a judge!


*) Source: SQM Group, Call Center Quality Assurance Specialists

Call Center Customer Satisfation - Let the Customer be the Judge

Letting the customer be the judge is a best practice for a customer focused call center. However, this practice is seldom used in the call center industry.

Of the more than 400 North American call centers benchmarked in 2008 by call center quality assurance specialists SGM group, only 5% of those call centers are performing at the world class level (defined as 80% of their customers that called were very satisfied (top box response) with their experience). That means 95% of call centers do not provide world class Customer Satisfaction (Csat).

It is SQM's opinion that one of the main reasons that 95% of call centers do not provide world class Csat is because call center management is the primary judge of customer service versus the customer who called the call center.

Call center managers tend to use service level, AHT and call monitoring metrics as proxies for Csat. What is fundamentally wrong with this practice is that these internal metrics are being used to judge the customer's call center experience.

The real issue with the use of these internal metrics is that it is management's interpretation of customer satisfaction versus letting the customer be the judge of their own call center experience. Therefore in order for your call center to be a truly customer focused call center, you must let your customer be the judge!


Source: SQM Group, Call Center Quality Assurance Specialists