While brands have started competing on customer experience, it is becoming vital for them to ensure that CX remains top-notch. Customer experience leaders understand the challenges associated with recruitment and retention efforts. In order to deliver an exceptional customer experience, it is important to meet and exceed employee experiences. A few negative employee experiences can change the whole dynamic of a team or an entire organization.
Having a strong company culture is more important now than ever. The approach we take, while training, nurturing and assimilating team members, can highly influence the employee experience. As we enter into the year, working through the impact that COVID-19 has had on our businesses and organizations around the world, let’s explore three of the top reasons why employee experience resonates to customer experience and what steps we can take to boost both.
Employee satisfaction leads to high customer satisfaction
Undeniably, there is a direct link between employee experience and customer experience. When employees, are engaged and highly motivated, they build stronger customer relationships and deliver better customer experiences. To elevate employee performance, it is important to identify what matters the most and also what motivates employees.
Money or incentives are not only motivating factors when motivating employees. Employees are looking for appreciation, recognition and a leader who listens. When a leader listens to their employees, he not only understands their requirements but also their challenges. By finding solutions for those challenges, leaders can further ensure that their team delivers the best performances possible, regardless of the circumstances.
“To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace.”
-Doug Conant, former CEO of Campbell Soup
Furthermore, by resolving challenges, leaders can also win the trust of their employees. Having trust in the relationship, employees will open up more to their supervisors and supervisors can better ensure employees are satisfied. Pay attention to your team members’ needs and they will, in turn, be better equipped to take care of your customers’ needs.
Invest in your employees for consistent brand experience
Most customer-centric organizations strive to deliver a consistent brand experience to their customers. However, high turnover rates, for frontline employees, call center agents, make it very difficult for many organizations to deliver a ‘legendary customer experience’.
According to the 2016 U.S. Contact Center Decision-Makers’ Guide, the average term for a customer service representative is 3.3 years. Sixty percent of the turnover rate was from agents quitting. The mean annual agent attrition rate for 2017 was at 30% and for 2018 it was at 31%.
Higher agent attrition leads to inconsistent brand experiences, huge investments in onboarding and training, increased pressure on experienced agents and team leaders, etc. Lack of training and appreciation with increased stress are the main reasons for high agent turnover. This makes it all the more necessary for organizations to invest in the right kind of training and development of their employees.
An experienced employee is an asset that can train and guide new team members. Remember, your agents are the voice of your company and their experiences matter in the fundamental integrity and success of your call center.
Work-Life Balance through innovative Employee Engagement Programs
Being a call center agent can be a difficult situation sometimes. High call volumes, angry customers and a stressful work environment often discourage your employees. As a leader, it is important to take care of your team members to ensure they stay encouraged and motivated.
Talk to your team about setting realistic, healthy boundaries for themselves. Listen to what they’re going through and help them find solutions. Open communication with your team members can get you through any obstacle. A well-balanced agent is going to give you the best performance possible, day in and day out.
Recognize the efforts employees are putting in to do their job right by ensuring a healthy work environment while maintaining a good relationship with them. These examples are some keys to building a strong team that will help guarantee that your customers get the best experiences when dealing with your brand.
Having the skillset, training and tools to succeed have proven to be a winning combination for our team at Etech. In the last 20 years, Etech has grown from 400 to 3000 seats, including 8 dynamic call centers around the world. If you’re looking for a partner to help you achieve your business goals, contact Etech to get a customized plan for addressing your specific business needs.