Category: Customer Experience

Often overlooked is how uncomfortable it is to sit on a fence.
Get in, or get out. Wasting time sitting on the fence wastes far more time and emotion than you’d expend committing to something.

Falsehoods, spin and legends can be tweaked and tested and changed to exactly match the dreams and desires of the people they’re aimed at.

This is why manipulative stories are so much stickier than what really happened.

What reality has in its favor is that it’s generally resilient. Gravity doesn’t care who believes in it. It’s still here.

The allure of video games is escapism, as well as having fun. However, there is a lot more to be gained from tackling virtual worlds be it in 2D, 3D, or VR (virtual reality). That is the skills you can learn, without even knowing it. Furthermore, these skills can translate to improve your CX skills…
The post Online gaming can help improve your CX skills appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.

When communicating in person, we use much more than just our words — body language, facial expressions, hand gestures, and of course, tone of voice. In fact, the majority of human communication is comprised of non-verbal engagement.
Even with phone communication, tone of voice is powerful and can influence a customer’s perception of your brand. Just think: you can tell if someone sounds bored, unenthusiastic, or even hostile from their tone of voice.
That’s why tone of voice is an important area of practice for call centers. Here we’ll run through how tone of voice affects customer interactions, best call center practices, the 7-38-55 rule, and everything else your call center management team needs to know on this subject.
Industry Report: State of the Contact Center 2022
Why Tone of Voice Matters in Customer Service
Customers are human beings and like everyone else, they have emotional awareness. This goes for phone communication as well as online communication through live chat or social media. But these interactions don’t get easier just because they can’t see you – in fact, it can be more challenging for agents to establish a positive interaction for this very reason.
UCLA professor and expert in psychology Albert Mehrabian discovered the key elements of communication through his 7-38-55 rule. He found that communication comprises three elements: words, tone of voice, and body language. Surprisingly, words make up only 7% of communication. Tone of voice makes up 38% of communication, and body language makes up 55%.
Now, we know that call center communication doesn’t include body language. But removing that substantial 55% of communication leaves us with an immense focus on tone of voice. That means that tone of voice can make or break a customer experience!
Expert voice coach Maria Pellicano found that 28% of call center agents’ tones of voice sound “strained and tired.” Of the call center agents that participated in the study, 38% admitted that speaking on the telephone was “tiring.”

FACT:
28% of call center agents’ tones of voice sound “strained and tired.”

Tone of voice plays an important role in customer experience and loyalty. So, all call center customer support strategies should include standards for tone of voice. Here are some specific reasons why:
Brand representation.
Call center agents are called “representatives” for a reason. Customer interactions with agents dictate a customer’s perception of your brand. Your call center’s tone of voice should reflect your brand values and be nuanced with individual customer profiles and the situation at hand.
Building trust.
A personable, friendly tone builds trust and improves your company’s relationship with your customers. Many customers communicate with call centers to settle inquiries with large, corporate brands. A human, friendly tone of voice helps customers feel at ease and trust that you want to genuinely help them.
With trust in place, your customers will be more open and honest about their challenges and have more patience as your agent searches for a solution. It can also help frustrated and angry customers feel calmer.
Improving customer satisfaction.
As mentioned above, a call center agent’s tone of voice can really impact a customer’s mood and perception of your brand. More positive customer interactions mean higher customer satisfaction, which leads to referrals and a higher net promoter score!
Best Practices for Tone of Voice
Let’s explore some best practices for tone of voice.
Contact Center Trends 2022
Match the customer’s tone.
An agent’s tone of voice should be polite and patient, no matter the situation. However, many agents rely on their professional “phone voice” that can feel out of place and make customers uneasy. For instance, if the customer is in a foul mood, responding in a high energy voice may come off as condescending.
Encourage agents to match the energy of the customer on the line and respond genuinely. If they adopt a more light-hearted, casual speaking voice, you can adjust your tone of voice slightly to make them more comfortable. Similarly, if a customer is a direct speaker and moves through the engagement swiftly, agents should take their lead and match their pace and tone to show you’re on the same wavelength.
Be empathetic.
COVID-19 sparked a new customer expectation around empathy, especially when dealing with contact centers. This isn’t just a soft skill you’re born with – it’s a skill that should be instilled in your team members through training and coaching.
For example, if a customer begins to vent, agents should allow them space to do so, then respond in a calm tone and validate their feelings before pursuing a solution. If a customer feels understood and heard, they’ll likely be more open to the solutions offered.

DID YOU KNOW?
Long call queues are one of the biggest causes of customer frustration. Call-back technology eliminated the need for hold time, so your agents can start their interactions off on a positive note!

Stay calm and in control.
Customers might be emotional or even angry when they connect with a representative. Call center agents must remain calm and professional throughout all interactions. It’s not just about representing the brand – it’s about keeping control and not letting emotions drive the conversation.
It can be tough to maintain composure when dealing with an irate customer, but there are many techniques your agents can use to stay in control of the conversation. Pause a few seconds before replying to a customer, don’t interrupt, and be sure to validate their frustrations before providing a solution.
Don’t use cliches.
Customers see right through clichés and platitudes. If you use lines that sound impersonal or overly scripted, the customer might not feel like the interaction is personalized. Agents should avoid generic lines like “we’re committed to your satisfaction,” in response to a complaint.
Instead, agents should be genuine and communicative about how they plan to address that customer’s complaint. Ensure your reps are not overly reliant on scripts, and encourage them to practice more conversational approaches when providing support.The post Blog first appeared on Fonolo.

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Oh, did we just say that?

Every day is the same if you let it.

Of course, spiders, dogs and walruses prefer if the world doesn’t change. But humans are different. Change is fuel for growth and possibility.

It’s easy to lull ourselves into a media-fueled commercial stupor, digging an ever-deeper rut. Same job, same debt, same story, same drama, same …

But that’s a choice.

Tomorrow can be different in ways we’ve never even bothered to imagine.

[Simple hack: change things in your life to make things better for someone else. Generosity unlocks our passion.]

The last semesters of college I started working in a Contact Center for AT&T where I learned the basics of customer service. After finishing my degree (I’m a sound engineer) I started working in the advertising world making advertising videos and campaigns it was crazy to be an animator/director. This evolved until we started a marketing agency with my partners and started developing software. I felt stuck in my own company and wanted to look for new challenges, so I switched from marketing to technology and got a position as Product Manager in the customer support area at Rappi. THAT was the AHA! moment that changed my perception about how a Service can completely ruin a random person’s day, and how well they would remember and tell all their friends and family. This is how I started to approach the terms Customer Experience and Employee Experience. I think it has all been very organic and I am very excited to become a recognized Customer Experience pro soon. What was your journey?
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Successful organizations of just one or two freelancers have very high revenue per employee, effective labor utilization and few communications problems.

And significant organizations of a hundred or a thousand people also produce enormous amounts of revenue, profit and perhaps value.

In between, though, there’s a slog.

That’s because a successful tiny organization that adds people creates communication problems. Instead of each person knowing what to do, they need to meet about it. They also require people to support their people–HR, policies, etc.

The trough is characterized by nascent specialization, and if any specialist can’t deliver, the entire entity struggles, because there’s just one specialist for each category. Many mouths to feed, but fewer farmers per capita.

In that trough, many small businesses flounder.

They had the profit or the investment to grow, but they grew too much or didn’t grow enough. Either way, they’re caught in the trough.

The trick is to understand your industry well enough to know where the trough lies.

They will outlast you.

Why are some industries so irrational (when seen from the point of view of the customer)?

So many things about college, funerals, real estate, hotels, weddings and the contractor trade are frustrating and opaque to customers. It almost seems as though they’re organized with a long-term, industry-wide focus way from customer satisfaction.

No one chooses to regularly have a party as expensive, isolating or stressful as a wedding is. We don’t view the pricing or activities of a funeral as natural or affirming. If someone tried to build an institution like college today, there’s no way it would be structured the way it is now. If you think about the rituals of most of these industries, they don’t make sense.

That’s because customers come and customers go. Sometimes quite literally, but always.

As a result, the customer is often a first-timer, in need of indoctrination. And the customer has far less power, because they won’t be back again any time soon.

In some ways, the connecting power of the internet reinforces this imbalance, allowing industry forces to coordinate and coalesce. But in other ways, each of these industries is open to radical shift because customers can get smarter and coordinate on their part as well.

What is the impact of blockchain on CX? How can blockchains and CX work together to make a better experience for the customers? This article will explain what cryptocurrency, blockchains, NFTs are, and how they can impact the CX industry. So, take our digital hand as we walk through it together.   What is blockchain?…
The post What’s the real impact of blockchain on CX? appeared first on Customer Experience Magazine.