In today’s technologically driven world, customer expectations are evolving and almost always at their peak. At VOIZ, we believe that all our service teams are endowed with knowledge-hungry and talented individuals looking not just to develop their personal growth but also to benefit the entire organization/s by keeping their clients happy and satisfied. Customer support agents are on the front lines interacting with customers which is by far the most important factor in delivering the kind of service that people will talk about or even tweet about.
Empowerment is defined as “the granting of power, right, responsibility or authority to perform various acts and/or duties.” Empowerment of a customer support agent directly translates into enabling every agent to make decisions using their trained intuition and their common sense, rather than having to depend on a supervisor’s opinion or a manager for approval. When it comes to creating memorable and exceptional customer support experiences, it is the agents’ direct personal engagement that creates the best kind of interactions. This is why when agents are focused or pressed to get the job done fast, they become less attuned to quality and recognize problems outside their periphery.
This is why we at VOIZ believe that every agent in a customer support team needs more than just a system to be successful and efficient. Here are a couple of ways we use to empower our agents at VOIZ to not only perform their best but also feel their best.
#1 We offer agents professional development
Various industries require agents to take ongoing professional development programmes or courses. We offer plenty of free courses which include certification and can help agents land roles in companies they have wished to.
#2 We give decision-making authority which fosters independence
The first step to empowering agents is to allow them to make their own decisions. With the right amount of training and information transfer, we allow our agents to know what is possible and what isn’t and encourage them to think and go above and beyond.
#3 We don’t micromanage
Customer support and telesales agents need to feel free to do their jobs in the most effective way possible. Micromanaging agents is a time-consuming process and does the opposite of empowering them in the long run. When agents are given the trusted authority to handle their customers in ways they see fit, agents are more likely to be confident about their performance as support agents and end up feeling good about their jobs as it results in them owning the process. This has been the case with our agents so far!
#4 We provide our agents with the right tools
Our easy to use interface helps agents navigate through jobs and other applications within the platform extremely quickly and easily. This boosts the confidence of various agents beyond any and all age and experience brackets. We also provide agents with formidable tools to make the most out of their support jobs. In addition to a robust knowledge base, we also have
- Predictive analytics helps agents in identifying the most effective way to communicate with customers by predicting customer behaviour and trends that can enhance the customer experience.
- Contact monitoring scorecards which can agents track their KPIs and self-evaluate their performance for continuous improvement.
- Performance analytics offers agents historical data as well as real-time data regarding their performance which will help them learn more about their handle time, inefficiencies, training opportunities etc.
#5 We don’t penalize mistakes
It’s completely normal to make mistakes. At VOIZ, we look at mistakes as a form of learning as they are just as essential to making all the right decisions. If agents are reprimanded for every err done, then they will grow averse to learning from their mistakes and eventually the job itself, which is why we make sure to praise achievements while also welcoming mistakes as part of the process of becoming a better agent.
#6 Provide the best kind of training and coaching
At VOIZ, we understand the changing needs and expectations of customers which is why provide agents with the power of knowledge to help them adapt by offering regular training according to their level of experience and other requirements.
#7 Our communication is transparent and open
At VOIZ, we have an open-door policy which means that our agents can reach out to us whenever they need us. What it also means is that VOIZ as an organization is interested in the opinions, feedback and anything else an agent has to say regardless of how beneficial or not that information is to the company. It is important for our agents to know that we have their back. In the support realm especially when the work happens remotely, agents sometimes get the impression that they are on their own on this but here, we have supervisors, managers and even an agent support team to help with anything an agent needs or requires.
While customers are at the heart of everything move we make and everything that we do at VOIZ, we know that happy and empowered agents are the secret to creating happy and empowered clients. We operate in a way that gives its agents all the training and support they need and by giving them the power to make decisions and solve problems. Join us on this journey to creating incredible customer support experiences by signing up with us now!