You know the phrase “Happy Wife, Happy Life”? Well, here at Kustomer our motto is “Happy Customers, Happy Life”. It may not have the same catchy ring to it, but any CX professional can attest to its truth. Creating happy customers resonates far outside of a customer service organisation — customers can act as unpaid marketers, they can give insight into product development and campaign plans, they will undoubtedly drive more revenue and positively impact your bottom line.
But what often gets overlooked, is the direct correlation between agent happiness and customer happiness. It’s immensely clear to anyone who has ever called a cable company or visited the DMV, that when agents are forced to jump through hoops, use outdated systems, and deal with a bombardment of unhappy consumers all day long, they likely won’t be providing the best service. But when agents feel empowered, feel their jobs are valued, and — most importantly — have the right tools and technology in place to do their jobs well, they are able to be efficient and effective in a fast-paced and rapidly changing environment.
Ultimately, agent happiness directly translates to customer happiness. The more information that agents have at their fingertips, and the more they are able to focus on quality instead of quantity, the happier they will be, and the happier they will make your customer base. Andrew Rickards, Director of Customer Experience at Ritual, has experienced this first hand.
Legacy CRMs were built to manage cases, not customers, and siloed third-party data means an abundance of wasted time. Agents have to look in a multitude of different systems, on different platforms, just to service a single customer inquiry. A true customer service CRM should connect seamlessly with your other data sources and business intelligence tools, while taking the place of your support platform, contact centre routing software, and process management solution. With all information centralised, agents don’t have to waste time searching for the information they need to service an already frustrated customer.
Amy Coleman, Director of CX at Lulus.com, agrees that switching to a true customer service CRM, from an old-school ticketing system, is a game changer for both agent happiness and development. When agents are stuck in the minutia of complicated workflows and a never-ending sea of tickets, they are unable to focus on what’s most important, and find value in their work.
Agents have a difficult role. They are the voice of your brand in every customer interaction, yet when they start that interaction they often barely have enough information to authenticate the customer, much less provide differentiated service to every customer.
To personalise a customer’s experience, you have to know the customer—and that requires data. A platform that brings all the data about a customer into one place helps customer service agents understand the context of a customer’s conversations and helps them deliver more efficient, proactive and relevant service. There’s no need to waste the customer’s or agent’s time by asking for repeat information. Instead, that information is available at the click of a button, allowing the agent to personalise the customer’s experience by giving fine-tuned advice, addressing problems proactively, and suggesting other products or services the customer might enjoy. The result? An efficient but personal interaction that builds a lifelong customer relationship.
Want to learn more about how switching to Kustomer can create happy customers and happy agents? Explore how we stack up to Zendesk here.
