Call Center Love needed – but don’t look for it where you don’t want to find it – Find it and give it to the agents

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.  We are all looking for love.  My thought for this month is, let’s look for love where we WANT to find it.  Call Center Agents need love too!  It seems the world is bent on finding love in all the wrong places, because they think that if they can only find the problem, they could fix it.  This is NOT TRUE.  You can always find challenges, but “Where is the love?”  Find THAT!

Call Centers have their problems, issues, and challenges.  But supervisors don’t need to find them.  They aren’t lost.  They are still there.  Issues constantly come up, and I always feel that the Agent is the one taking the heat!  They bear the brunt of every irritated customer, and are taught not to take it personally.  RIGHT?

Yesterday, I spoke to an Agent with my cable company; she was delightful!  She was helpful, quick, and she cared about what I wanted…my way.  The Agent thanked me for my complimentary attitude and said that, she sometimes gets frustrated because the hold times are so long, and when she can finally answer, the customer “yells at me.”  She corrected that to say “The customer gives the me a piece of his mind!  If you know what I mean.”  (This is in case she is heard on the recorded call.)

I told her that it’s not her fault. She is innocent, I tell you!  It is the speed at which the company sets up the router, or the fact that maybe there are not enough agents in the center ready to take the calls.  The issue really is; “Where is the Love for this Agent from the Company?”  The Agent comes to work on time, ready to do her job, with knowledge of the system, and the attitude of caring.  But the company seems to think that’s the end of it.  So, Agents get no love from the company; and certainly, none from the customers.

Okay! Let’s look for LOVE where it’s needed.  Let’s STOP finding the mistakes of the AGENT and instead, fix the technical part.  Let’s let the Agents know we appreciate them, and we appreciate the fact that they have taken the “hits” for so long, that we at corporate thought THIS IS THE WAY!  Well?

If the mission is to “give the Customer a wonderful experience,” START with the Contact Center.  This is the first time the customer gets to experience the company.  It’s the first opportunity to give the customer an experience that you care.  It’s pretty simple.  Put enough people in the seats in the call center to Answer the PHONES!

  • Look for LOVE by Giving it to your Agents for all they do
  • Look for LOVE by Answering the phone faster on behalf of the customer
  • Look for LOVE by hiring more Agents or manning the phones with a better system

Go ahead and get started.  Look for what works instead of what doesn’t work.  Look for where to GIVE love and give up worrying about the negatives.  Find the positives and reinforce them.  This will work!

  1. Agents want LOVE! If you GIVE IT TO THEM…they will produce better results.
  2. Look for Agents who are quick to find answers, quick to respond, and who are friendly to the customer. And then…WAIT FOR IT . . . give them a bonus, a raise, or a gift ticket to the movies.

(Do you realize it costs about an hour’s pay for one movie ticket? WHAAAAAT?)

Isn’t LOVE great?  Isn’t LOVE grand? Let’s show it to the AGENTS during “Love Your Customer Month.”  The Agent is your internal customer and deserves lots of LOVE.  They will share it on every call so your customer will feel loved.  Now isn’t that what you meant by saying you wanted the “Customer to Have a Better Experience?”  START today with Loving the Agents.

Now you are looking for LOVE in all the RIGHT places!

~Judy McKee