As anyone who has ever worked in a customer contact center knows,

communication is both the primary purpose of any customer-facing

organization and also one of its greatest challenges. Effective

communications with customers don’t just “happen.” In order for a

customer communication to occur, a message must be conceived,

created, delivered and received. The most effective communications

consider the audience at each step of the process.

Know Your Audience

All customer contact center communication is a two-step process

involving two separate audiences: (Step 1) Information must be

adapted to the needs of the CSR, and (Step 2) the CSR must adapt

the information to the needs of the individual customer. The

information that originates outside of the contact center is sometimes

extremely technical and may involve complex or difficult issues. It

must be translated into a message that is appropriate for both

audiences.

Most CSRs evaluate information on three levels:

1. What it means to the company and to them as employees

2. How it affects their processes or what they need to do

3. What it means to customers, how customers will react when the information is delivered

or change occurs, and how they will respond to the customer reaction

Remember that CSRs are not simply delivering information in a closed system. In addition

to receiving immediate real-time feedback from customers of all types, they will personally

Email This Author

Comment On Article

About The Author

More Articles By This Author

Interested in this topic? Need more information? Energy Central has created a complete information service

focused only on

Customer Care & Business Operations. There is no better way to stay informed. Get more information

on Customer Care & Business Operations today!

Improving Your Contact Center Communications

1.31.08 Gini West, Consultant

Article Viewed 218 Times 0 Comments

Share on facebookShare on linkedinShare on twitterShare on emailShare on printMore Sharing Services

Published January 2008 in EnergyPulse online magazine http://www.energypulse.net/centers/article/article_display.cfm?a_id=1659

react to information they receive. Make sure that your communications address each of

these considerations.

Somewhat more simplistically, most customers hear and evaluate your message based on

how it will personally affect them. Since the customer is the ultimate target for your

communication, your message points should focus on what information is most important to

them: benefits, costs and availability. When you are providing a service, the customer

needs to know what, when and how the service can be transacted.

The following is an example of CSR Talking Points that were recently developed at one

major utility to help explain to customers the reason why that utility had recently filed for

an increase in electric delivery rates. CSRs were able to easily tell customers that:

Our rate increase request – if approved – would increase average residential customer bills by

about 8 percent. That means, if your monthly bill is about $75, you would pay $6 more per

month beginning next year.

We need to expand our system because people are using more electricity than ever with larger

homes, more central air conditioning, computers, large-screen TVs, video games, home

appliances and other things.

The new technologies and equipment that we are adding will help prevent power outages or

get the power back on faster when you do have a power outage.

Several of the fastest-growing U.S. counties are located in our state. We need to extend our

underground and overhead lines to hook up new subdivisions and bring new companies online.

We want to do all we can to prevent outages and keep your lights on.

Keep points concise and relevant. The “step-down” communication process involves

identifying why specific information would be important to individual customers who may

call, and what key points you expect your representatives to deliver and your customers to

remember. To minimize the filtering, focus on making these points as concise and relevant

as possible. When communicating to CSRs, include the focused, tactical instructions and

relationship-building skill reminders that will be needed to address emergent customer

concerns.

From the CSR point of view, the best communications provide information but also focus on

process and impact. For example, during weather events CSRs are given regular weather

updates, procedures and reminders for handling customer calls. We might send a

communication similar to the following:

What you need to know: A thunderstorm warning issued for the service territory

continues with southern part of SE region improving. Winds may gust to 50 mph with

frequent lightning. Scattered thunderstorm activity along the front will spread eastward this

evening.

What you need to do: Be aware that call center shifts may be held in order to provide

adequate call support during the storm.

For Electric Trouble calls:

Request and record details of the problem

Include the first and last name of the caller and the caller’s contact phone number (where they

can be reached) on the trouble ticket

Set customer expectations for completion/restoration: advise that the trouble report will be

sent to the field crews and a crew will respond as quickly as possible. Suggest that the

customer check for status by using the company’s automated voice message system.

Remember:

Do your best to acknowledge and be understanding of the customer’s situation.

Please thank customers for their patience during the restoration effort – particularly those

customers who live in remote areas or are affected by isolated trouble.

Let the customer know that we are sorry that the power is out.

Consider the following ideas for improved customer contact center communications:

Understand the importance of communicating effectively with your CSRs. Customer Service

Representatives are your first touch point when communicating with the external customer.

Format your content and delivery so that the message can be readily received by your CSRs

and passed effectively to the external customer.

Make you message relevant and concise. Identify key message points and keep these points

concise and relevant to avoid asking CSRs to do excessive filtering.

Speak to the information needed by both levels of your audience. In addition to the

information itself, CSRs may need to know why it is important and what you are expecting

from them as a result of the information. Be sure to tell them both what they need to do as

well as what they need to know.

Customer concerns should be the focal point of the message. In an information “push”

situation, customers who reach out to you will not respond to the messages your company

sends unless they perceive a direct benefit or impact to them. Be sure to make this impact

clear. In an information “pull” scenario, customers have a specific need that they expect you

to fill. In either case, the customer wants to know what you can do for them and when can

you do it. Focus on making sure that your CSRs have the right answers to these questions.

They will be happier, your customers will be happier and your customer satisfaction scores will

improve.