In the nearshore contact center world, customer service reigns supreme. Management and stakeholders don’t stumble into successful customer service outsourcing partner relationships by accident. It comes from focusing on certain factors and initiatives that influence the overall quality of customer service demonstrated within the contact center.
While there are many influential components of Callzilla’s successful customer service outsourcing engagement strategy, we’re focusing on the following three key factors:
1) Letting Customer Service Outsourcing Agents Make the Call While Taking the Call
One factor determining A+ customer service at nearshore outsourcing centers is whether agents are given decision-making power and resources to solve customer issues on their own. No one calling into a contact center wants to be passed up the management hierarchy just to get their issue solved. Instead, agents should have the freedom to find solutions and solve problems on behalf of the customer during the first point of contact.
A great way of tracking this initiative is with First Contact Resolution Rate. This is a metric measuring the number of times an agent resolves a customer’s issue during the first call, meaning the customer does not have the need to continue to call, email or live-chat with representatives to resolve the issue.
Of course, some customer issues need to be passed on to a manager who has more authority and experience. Never the less, the great contact centers teach agents to think critically, solve problems and make customers happy on the first call or point of contact.
2) Testing Candidate Capability During the Hiring Process
Forming a strong team starts during the hiring process. A+ customer service outsourcing centers ensure the agents they hire truly have the skills and experience needed to do a great job. But how do you know you are hiring the best person for the job? It all boils down to testing potential candidates before offering them employment.
During the hiring process, contact center managers and human resources representatives should encourage candidates to verbalize their problem-solving processes and detail how they would handle hypothetical situations.
It’s also critical to test their communication skills, especially if they will be speaking and writing to customers in their second or third language. It’s not enough for a potential hire to have “proficient in English” on their resume. Testing their verbal and written language skills in a variety of different situations is the only way to determine if they will be able to appropriately and efficiently communicate to your customers within a contact center.
3) Measuring the Right Metrics
Certain contact center metrics can determine the quality of the customer service demonstrated at a contact center. Net Promoter Score®, or NPS® is a metric that paints a better picture of a contact center’s overall success. NPS® measures how likely a respondent is to recommend a brand to a friend or colleague on a scale of zero to 10. Zero to six signifies dissatisfied customers, seven or eight signifies customers are satisfied and the highly-desirable score of nine and 10 signifies loyal customers who will happily sing a company’s praises to others.
Measuring resolution percentages, retention rates and the time spent training and developing agents are other ways to help determine if a contact center is providing A+ customer service. Measuring metrics also serves as a way to identify key spots for improvement and growth. You must know where you and your team stand before you can push ahead.
As the contact center industry continues to change thanks to advancements in technology, one thing will always stay the same in the contact center industry: customer service must always be the top priority.
Callzilla’s provides customer service outsourcing while specializing in live chat, social monitoring, email support, phone services and more. The quality-first mentality delivers support that creates an improved customer service experience. Learn more about our approach and contact center solutions by contacting us today!
About the Author: Neal Topf
