As the first person customers often speak to, frontline staff in contact centers engage with customers in every kind of mood – happy, frustrated or even just plain angry.
As such, they can often get the brunt of customer backlash when their customer experience (CX) doesn’t live up to what they expected. In most cases, the agent at the other end, is unlikely to have had any involvement in what caused the customer’s dissatisfaction.
This means that management in many contact centers may worry that feedback from Voice of the Customer (VoC) platforms could have a negative impact on the morale of their frontline agents. They fear that poor feedback may cause employees to become disengaged, or to feel that their performance is being unfairly scrutinized.
But the reality is that VoC feedback should be seen as an employee’s ally! Implementing a comprehensive VoC platform can give frontline employees an additional opportunity to have their voices heard as well.
Positive feedback as a source of motivation
Through structuring your survey questions correctly, you can differentiate feedback about a customer’s engagement with your frontline agents, from their feedback about your products and services or even processes and brand perception. This allows the feedback to be attributed accurately between the customer’s reaction to the quality of service provided by the agent versus the company’s products, services or procedures.
Generally, the vast majority of customer feedback regarding interactions with frontline workers comes back overwhelmingly positive, and this boosts employee confidence and engagement. After all, everyone loves hearing that they are doing a great job and that their work is appreciated, especially by those external to the organization. And research by Salesforce highlights that 89% of consumers are more likely to make a repeat purchase after a positive customer service experience. So why would you hide this powerful source of motivation?
Negative feedback promotes real change
The remaining small percentage of negative feedback typically contains valuable insights and pointers that can help these frontline agents and their managers to identify opportunities for improved employee performance and CX.
Whilst in some cases this feedback can initially be confronting, through giving employees a chance to add further understanding and context, this issue can usually be resolved. Cyara’s CentraCX was designed to provide an opportunity for your employees to enter into more meaningful discussions with their managers on specific customer feedback. This gives agents an opportunity to voice their opinion about the interaction or situation in question – and to know that it is being heard.
Feedback amplifies the employee voice on the wider business
Customer feedback is often referred to as the ‘ultimate source of truth’ in organizations. And it’s commonly seen as the true predictor of the success or failure of your products or services in the marketplace.
It may also be the catalyst that enables your employees to express their real grievances and concerns – which they may not have otherwise been comfortable to voice. After all, customers and agents are often dissatisfied about the same things, such as product issues, inefficient processes and website glitches.
CentraCX enables your frontline teams to leverage customer feedback and expose the issues underlying it. It also means that your agents can get the support that they need to do their job more productively and that managers can more effectively provide coaching and mentoring for any problems that come to light.
Enabling your agents to express themselves and offer insights and perspectives regarding customer feedback associated with their interactions fosters trust, accountability, and a genuine sense of ownership. This empowerment not only enhances individual agent performance but also increases the overall quality of customer service. It’s a win-win for your employees, your customers and ultimately for your brand reputation.
