Jun19

The Importance of Customer Satisfaction

Your customers’ satisfaction should be top priority for everyone within your company. A strong customer service team can lead to happy, satisfied customers. Jeremiah Cerny and Mike Lowe, Team Leads at Incept, share some insights on why your customers’ satisfaction should always be top-of-mind for all employees.

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What are you doing daily to ensure your customers are satisfied?

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Becky Weiand Author: Becky Weiand View Comments | Tags: , ,
 

Jun13

Are You Having Conversations With Your Customers?

Having actual conversations with your customers goes beyond just sounding like an over-exuberant game show host or monotonous, robotic voice on the telephone with them. People want to know and feel like you are identifying with them.

If you are someone who is in the contact center industry and works on the phones as a customer service representative, then you know that it really is all about what you say and how you say it. For newer folks in the wide world of customer service, though, it can take time and practice to improve on being able to have effective conversations with your customers that straddle the line of a happy professional and personal medium.

Do I Have An Actual Conversation With Them, Though?

You bet you do.

It really isn’t hard to follow verification processes, certain aspects of the script you are required to say, and still be able to have a dash of personality that ultimately keeps donors in your corner. That is what we really want to do for every customer.

You want them on YOUR side, and that begins right at the start of your call. You want them to literally feel that you are listening to their problems or requests. You want them to feel that you are a respectable and intelligent individual. You want them to understand that you are going to be the one that solves their problem.

Here is a checklist of things that you can do to make sure you are having real conversations with your customers:

You Are Having Conversations With Your Customers If You Can Say “Yes” To…

  • Do you listen to their problem or what they have to say before trying to suggest something?
  • Do you sound like a real, live person and not a zombified telemarketer?
  • Are you able to use personal experiences in your phone calls to relate with them?
  • Do you practice active listening skills by analyzing what they haven’t said or asked for yet?
  • Are you able to connect with them on a personal level?
  • Are you able to clearly understand the root problem of why your customer is calling?

If I could put how to have a customer conversation that has high impact on customer satisfaction in the fewest words, I think I’d describe it as follows: being able to put a personal touch on a professional circumstance.

What are some other ways you know you are having actual conversations with your customers?

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Brian Dodson Author: Brian Dodson View Comments | Tags: , , ,
 

Jun10

The Benefits of a Department Knowledge Dump

When I was first approached about doing a complete knowledge dump for my department, it was a pretty daunting task. Although I handle all of these tasks day in and day out, it is overwhelming when I sit down and think about laying them all out completely. Part of me wondered what the use was when I already had the working knowledge of how the department ran and how each part affected the others. However, as soon as I began to write I realized the potential for performing such an act.

The basis of a knowledge dump is to take all of the information you have in your mind that motivates the work you do every day and put it down on paper. From start to finish, beginning to end, you are tasked with the goal of outlining everything you do, why you do it, how you do it, etc. After completing the knowledge dump for the Recruiting Team, there were several benefits that became apparent when performing this type of process:

  1. Creating documentation. One of the issues many companies run into is losing information when an integral employee leaves the company. When we continually operate using knowledge that is only within our minds, we lose the ability to continue on in the same manner once that person is no longer employed. If you are currently operating without proper documentation, you run the risk of losing all of those standards and guidelines that have become the workings of your department. By performing a knowledge dump, you now have a document that outlines all aspects of the work that needs completed whether the team changes or not.
  2. Creating a process than can be repeated. Similar to the need for documentation, the need to create a repeatable process is necessary not only to ensure consistency but also to solidify the process employees should be following. Without a process to follow, how will you ensure that the correct actions are taken each and every time a situation arises?
  3. Creating a valuable training tool. Once your knowledge dump is completed, you have essentially created a document that showcases exactly what is expected of an employee and what needs to be completed in order to ensure success. By using this document as a training tool, you can provide trainees with a concise view of their role, how to carry out their tasks, why things work the way they do, where standards come from, etc. This tool can greatly decrease training time while increasing efficiency and clarity. 
  4. Highlighting successes and opportunities. In day-to-day business it is easy to get caught up in using outdated, inefficient processes because they are comfortable and we are busy! Performing a knowledge dump gives a person the opportunity to outline all aspects of the position, department, and more while highlighting areas and opportunities for improvement. Perhaps, until now, you didn’t realize that a slight tweak could make a significant difference in the required hours of work. Maybe looking at the process laid out makes it easier to see where inefficiencies lie or where operations are outdated. Whatever the case may be, use this activity as a way to identify areas where improvements can be made and successes can be celebrated! You never know what you will find when you examine what you spend your time doing!

How can you implement a knowledge dump for your department?

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Allison Sage Author: Allison Sage View Comments
 

Jun07

Tips for Effective Job Ads

When posting for a position within your organization, there are a few key details that can make or break the success of your advertisement. By preparing yourself to address these issues prior to posting an ad, you can potentially net yourself a greater number of candidates while lessening the need to close applicants out and saving money by eliminating the need for repetitive advertisements.

Before you run your ad, take some time to consider the following things:

  1. Select the most appropriate advertising source.One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is placing an ad via a source that will not reach their intended audience. For instance, if you are seeking part-time or entry-level employees, advertising in sources that cater to salaried, management-level positions is not likely to meet your needs. Additionally, if you are seeking employees to work out of your Canton office, running an ad that caters to a city, town, or county that is more than a reasonable distance away will likely be a dead end. Again, if you are seeking part-time or entry-level employees, you are less likely to find applicants looking to travel for work. Take into consideration the position and type of employee you are seeking, and choose a source that aligns with those needs.
  2. Choose correct timing for ad placement. Whether you are posting your job online or in a print source, it is important to carefully consider the best time to place your ad. You want to ensure that your ad will run with enough time for applicants to apply and complete the interview process before your deadline. You will likely need at least one week to fill the position, so the ad should be run one or two weeks in advance. Also, keep in mind the best day for your ad to run. If you are considering a print source, check with their sales representatives to determine what the highest volume day is. If they sell or distribute the most papers on Sunday, then be sure that your ad will be visible that day. If you are considering an online source, check with their reps to determine if there is a particular time that they receive the most views. For instance, placing an ad online is most effective right after the source has conducted a job fair. The traffic to the site is much higher and, therefore, your ad gains visibility when published directly following a career fair. Keeping these timing tips in mind can make the world of difference.
  3. Choose appropriate content and ad length. The content and length of your ad will vary greatly depending on the position you are looking to fill. Applicants seeking a management position are likely more deeply rooted within a company and are looking for the full history of a company, including insight into their operations. Conversely, entry-level candidates are likely looking for the basic details of the position, like the pay rate, schedule, etc. By keeping your ad short and sweet, you provide the information they want to know without bombarding them with details they do not find necessary at the time.
  4. Proofread! One of the easiest mistakes to make are small spelling or punctuation errors that will result in an unprofessional-looking ad. Always check and recheck your ad to ensure that every aspect is correct and ready for publishing. Requesting a proof of the ad is always key; this allows you to see exactly what your ad will look like when processed.

By keeping these simple tips in mind, you can make incredible strides in your advertisement’s effectiveness. It is always a good idea to renew and refresh your content periodically to prevent it from becoming stale or irrelevant too.

What other tips do you have for creating effective job ads?

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Allison Sage Author: Allison Sage View Comments | Tags: , , ,
 

Jun04

Customer Engagement Starts With Employee Engagement

We all know the more engaged a customer is with your company the more satisfaction and loyalty they have with you. To ensure strong customer engagement, start with your employees. Since they are at the forefront of your company, their engagement is invaluable.

Like engaged customers, engaged employees are happy employees, and that can be carried through to your customers since you employees are the ones engaging with them. How can you engage your employees?  Here are some ways:

  • Talk with your employees. It sounds so simple, but it is so important. Your employees need to feel like they are being heard and also being informed. Have meetings with them, share updates around the company, and make sure to share success stories with them. It is also important to make sure your employees feel comfortable providing their feedback and opinions. If they don’t, they won’t share, and you could be missing valuable insights.
  • Promote from within. Looking to hire for a new position? Let your employees know, and encourage them to apply for the position. If your employees feel like they have a career at your company rather than just a job, they will be more likely to engage and move up! Sometimes your best employees come from within, as they already know the ins and outs of your company.
  • Engage with them. Does your CEO talk to your agents? Does your HR Manager stop in the rows to just say “Hi”? Executive level management engaging with your employees makes a BIG impact. It makes them feel noticed, appreciated, and excited to work for your company. Sometimes if someone from the executive level is coming to talk to me, I assume something must be wrong. Change that perception right away. When your CEO walks past an employee in the halls, have your CEO stop, greet the employee, and ask them how are they doing.

These are just a few simple steps that you can implement with your employees today to get them more engaged. The more engaged your employees are, the more engaged they are with your customers, and then the more engaged your customers are with your company.

What other tips do you have for increasing engagement?

Image credit: http://www.paradigmassociates.us/how/EmployeeEngagement.php

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Becky Weiand Author: Becky Weiand View Comments | Tags: , , , , , ,
 

Jun03

Conversational Marketing Tip: Grading in the Rows

With the end of the school year here, my thoughts turn to end-of-the-year grades. Since our job is a learning process daily, we have many ways to improve our numbers daily. There are three main measurements for which CMEs can be graded while working to achieve success on the phones.

  1. The first measurement is attitude. If your attitude is not excited to be here or super positive, then you are going to struggle all day on the phone. The important thing to remember on the phones is that the people you are talking to have not personally met you nor can they see you, so relax and smile. The customer can hear your smile through the phone. They feed off your responses, and it is crucial to share their positivity with the customer on the phone. It is what sets the tone of your call and your day. If you have a bad call, you have to shake it off and not let it affect the rest of your calls.
  2. The next measurement is knowledge. You have to have knowledge and understanding of the program about which you are calling. This is important because you don’t want to give incorrect information to the customer. The customer will become very frustrated on the call, or, if they have to call back in, the next person has to deal with the problems and try to smooth it over. Remember you are the expert that they are calling to assist them.
  3. The third measurement is company policy and goals. The reason this is so important is that it is how they are measured for their success. If the team doesn’t follow the policies in place it would total chaos in the rows. The rules and goals help them measure their own successes. It also gives them direction on how to handle the calls.

If you handle all three of these things, I would give you an “A”. What grade are you going to earn?

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Stephanie Smith Author: Stephanie Smith View Comments | Tags: , , ,
 

May31

Get Better at Getting Better

I recently spoke at a Marketing Retreat with professors from the University of Akron, and one question came in a variety of ways:

“What is the most important thing we should be doing to prepare our students for the future?”

My answer: “Help them get better at getting better.”

As Sir Ken Robinson so clearly pointed out in his world-famous TED talk, our educational systems functions much differently than our business systems. It is generally accepted that there is nothing worse than “being wrong” in school. Ironically, however, there may be nothing more important than iterative testing in business.

To create improvement, you have to be willing to test new ideas. To test effectively, you have to be willing to be wrong. Often. And without losing enthusiasm.

We have shifted our business to make this a core strength of how we operate – small, fast changes moving quickly towards measurable improvement. In the absence of such capabilities, we move on to the next idea. Can it become confusing sometimes? Yes. But overall, we are getting much better at getting much better.

As a young professional, how actively do you test new approaches, knowing you may be wrong? As a business, how do you make testing new ideas safe enough that young professionals feel comfortable taking chances?

What is your process for getting better?

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Author: Sam Falletta View Comments | Tags: , , , ,
 

May27

Why It Is Important To Continue To Foster Future Leadership

Future leaders aren’t born, they are developed.

In our latest vlog, we talk with Jennifer Brumbaugh. She is a Team Captain who has been with Incept many years and now helps run her team. She knows about the job at hand, as she was a Conversational Marketing™ Expert (CME) for years before becoming a Team Captain. We wanted to chat with her about what she takes away from her current role and the importance of actually getting real experience running a team.

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How important do you think it is for a small business to actively develop and look for future leadership talent?

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Brian Dodson Author: Brian Dodson View Comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
 

May27

The Killers of Good Time Management

Admittedly, time management is not my strong point. It’s not that I don’t know how to watch a clock, but usually I find myself getting caught up in the details of my work, especially when producing videos for our Facebook page.

How important is time management in the office place, especially a contact center? Very important. The more time spent off the phones for a contact center representative means less contacts and customers who have been talked to. Time is money – literally.

What about if you are part of the administrative staff? Bad time management can lead to missed deadlines, late emails, and overall can rip apart any sense of punctuality you have with your bosses and management-level peers.

Here are three reasons why professionals claim they can’t manage their time:

Time After Time

  • Procrastination. Procrastinating can feel really good while you are in the midst of it. What doesn’t feel good is the stress attack you get when your deadline begins to loom and you realize that maybe your time should have been better spent.
  • How to avoid it: The easiest way to avoid procrastinating on a task in the office is to attack that task in smaller chunks if applicable. By trying to break down what it is you are working on, it will give your brain the feeling that you are making headway, and it is always easier to continue working once we make that first dent.
  • Failure to disregard distractions. I love small-talkin’ it up with everyone at the office as much as the next guy, but when does it become a problem? When does all the chit-chat at the vending machine break into your professional zen? Believe me, especially when it comes to Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks, we have all found ourselves in the weird part of YouTube.
  • How to avoid it: If you are someone who finds yourself distracted with waterhole talk, limit the amount of times you go to the vending machine per day. And remember, where there is an in to a conversation, there is always a graceful exit too. Sometimes, especially those in more administrative roles at a contact center with less limited access on the internet, all we need to do is close the browser. It’s like quitting smoking; it is hard, but you can do it.
  • Overextending yourself. This might be quite possibly one of the biggest issues that a professional faces when it comes to improve time management skills. Everything is always easier said than done. It always seems like a good idea trying to pile on the responsibilities, but in the end many can find themselves forgetting how much time is in the work day or simply what they are truly capable of handling in terms of workload. Did you promise to cover calls for your employees and now can’t find time between live coaching? Did you promise to cover the contact center floor for your boss’s lunch, but now other duties are pressing? Forgot to send that update email, and now your bosses are waiting for a response the next day? Yep. Been there. It is at that moment when you feel as if you have NO time for anything in the worst way.
  • How to avoid it: Avoiding overextending yourself professionally is as easy as being real about what you truly can handle as far as work goes. Don’t tarnish your credibility by taking gambles on whether or not you can get something done. One also shouldn’t look to be a people-pleaser with their superiors. Focus your energy on YOUR responsibilities. That is what gets talent noticed.

It should be noted that I type this blog post with myself and the mistakes I’ve made in the office world in mind as I try as diligently as ever to continue to forge a professional life path. In layman’s terms: I’ve made all these mistakes and more. Even at this point, as the night begins to expire around the offices of Incept, I find myself…well…still here.

What are your biggest killers of healthy time management skills?

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Brian Dodson Author: Brian Dodson View Comments | Tags: , , , , ,
 

May24

How Training Matters When It Comes To Conversational Quality

I remember the tender years of learning to ride a bicycle.

My dad had a real straightforward method of teaching me how to put the pedal to the metal on my huffy. With no training wheels and only armed with my purple-flamed helmet, I learned to ride a bicycle simply from my dad pushing me down the hill in our backyard. Sure, there were many crashes, but eventually when I just kept going and going and didn’t fall or stop, I knew I had gained a skill that would stick with me for years to come.

As cliché as the whole “it’s like learning to ride a bike” metaphor can be, when it comes to training in your contact center, the best and most impactful training will come from experience and not what you can teach your reps in the classroom.

In a recent survey compiled by learning solutions provider Skillsoft and also polling firm Opinion Matters found that most CEOs in this day and age feel that training is not only important to maintain but necessary to invest in – even with the sluggish economy. With the advent of mobile communications, interactions, and transactions rising feverishly, training has never been so important to contact centers.

Let’s throw out a few points on how a contact center can maximize its training efforts. Many of these points are based upon how Incept embraces the practice of continuously training.

Getting the Most Out of Training

  • Instill in your employees the notion that improvement never stops even after initial training does.
  • Role-playing is an effective way to practice routine call circumstances with your trainees without putting them into the line of fire with a real customer.
  • Foster your trainee’s strong traits while encouraging them to use those strengths to help other areas of their performance improve.
  • Isolate your trainees from your regular representatives during at least the first week of taking on real calls.
  • Have a trainer stand by and perform live monitoring sessions. The earlier you can coach on the right way to make a call, the faster that rep can incorporate proper call practices into their workflows.

Naturally, training continues to be an important practice in contact centers as traditional forms of communication keep changing. We have online chat services and live mobile chat services right along with your traditional telephone call. In the midst of it all, to survive, your company needs to exploit the experience gained by trainees early on in their lifespan to literally teach them ways to improve based upon real calls.

How does your company continuously improve through training?

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Brian Dodson Author: Brian Dodson View Comments