How to Hire and Retain Customer Experience Champions

Delivering service above and beyond expectations requires continuous improvement on behalf of the customer. When employees are your biggest fans, it’s easier than you

think. The right improvements come naturally. In this guide, you’ll learn how to address the challenges of a disengaged workforce by baking a long-term, customer-centric

company culture into everything you do. From hiring and training to motivating your staff, discover industry-proven steps to build your customer service dream team.

Alex Hisaka is a Content Marketer at Desk.com Follow her on Twitter at @alexhisaka

Table of Contents:

1. Embrace Customer WOW

2. Fill Your Roster With Motivated Employees

3. They’ve Got the Will, Train the Skill

4. Do Your Team a Favor: Make Support Easy

5. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

After reading it, your business should:

• Develop, implement and commit to your core values.

• Understand the principles of strong customer support.

• Boost team efficiency with smart workflows.

• Create opportunities for advancement and appreciation.

To get the most from this guide, take notes. Think about how you can use the ideas, concepts and strategies inside to evolve your company culture and make your dream team a reality.

Embrace Customer WOW

And news of bad customer service reaches more than

twice as many ears as praise for good service. With

word of mouth spreading like wildfire over social, your

reputation is in customers’ hands.

So how do you ensure customers get the star

treatment when they contact support? Zappos CEO

Tony Hsieh was talking from experience when he said,

“If you get the culture right, other stuff like great

customer service or building a long-term brand will

happen on its own.” When Zappos shifted focus from

selling shoes to pleasing customers, employees

became more engaged and passionate, customers

were happier and sales went through the roof. Other

customer service powerhouses such as Amazon

(Zappos’ owner since 2009), Google and yes,

Desk.com have also found a winning formula in

making company culture and brand two sides of the

same coin.

Awesome

Company Culture

Company Brand

85%

of consumers have quit doing business with a company because of bad customer experience.

Customer WOW is the philosophy at the core of everything we’ve done since our early days as Assistly. Every

day, every employee works to be better than expected. We strive to “wow” our customers through amazing

service while perfecting the experiences they have with us. The basic principles below have contributed to

our success, guiding our teams to be the best at what they do.

“Customer service should be part of everybody’s job, from the c-suite to engineering, from marketing to finance.

There is no better way to orient your business for success than connecting to the customer more effectively.”

Desk.com Founder, Alex Bard

Embrace Customer WOW

Here at Desk.com, we’ve created a product and culture that’s focused on the customer. Our company follows the philosophy of Customer WOW, consistently being better than what you’re expected to be, is how we provide the best possible customer experience. Creating this experience is at the core of what we do and since our early day at Assistly we work every day to perfect the experience our customers have with us. We’ve found some basic principles that have contributed to our success and ways to empower our team to be the best at what they do.

We believe that it’s really important to come up with a set of core values that your business lives and breathes by. Ask yourself, “are you willing to live by your core values in both good times and bad?” If the answer is yes, then that’s the strongest start to building and maintaining a company culture that you and your employees actually want to work in. When you hire, train and motivate your employees based on your core values, everything will fall into place on its own.

Volunteering at a

local small business

Our company

values at the

SF office

TO WOW, you must:

Empower employees

Each of our team members is hired with the expectation of working in the best interest of our customers. Everyone is given the tools and authority to make decisions.

Create trust

There’s no finish line when it comes to building trust with employees, customers and partners. Honesty, transparency and accountability are the guideposts for every decision and action we take in delivering quality customer service.

What’s your WOW factor? What core values does your business live and breathe by? Are you willing to live them in good times and bad? If the answer is yes, you have a strong start to creating a company culture you and your employees want to work in.

Embrace Customer WOW

Dream big

Unbounded imagination, genuine passion and the right attitude will take us to the wonderful places we want to go. We aspire to make the impossible possible.

Hire Motivated Employees

When you hire, train and motivate employees based on core values, everything else falls into place. Finding competent people with the right skills isn’t enough. They need the right attitude, too. It’s essential and non-negotiable.

Attitude is the the foundation of good culture and outstanding customer service, the driving force behind:

Skills being equal, employees with the right attitude have an easier time fitting in, better job performance and they stick around longer. To identify strong candidates and weed out those looking to collect a paycheck, ask questions that align with your company’s core values.

What your employees say and how they say it.

The service goals your employees set for themselves.

How much your employees are willing to do for your customers.

Overall job satisfaction.

Why are you in customer service?

Always ask this one first. Customer service is not just resolving one issue after another. It’s satisfying customers’ needs, putting smiles on their faces and inspiring them to do the same for others. Employees who excel have a natural desire to help and express genuine empathy. Bonus points for a sunny disposition and willingness to go the extra mile.

Are you familiar with what we do?

Ideal candidates walk into interviews with a basic understanding of your company. Have them list what they believe to be the value of your product or service. Fill in any blanks and discuss how you make a difference in customers’ personal or professional lives.

How would you handle ...?

Personality is part of the hiring game. To see if a candidate has what it takes, create a custome support scenario. Don’t be afraid to throw a few curveballs. Is he or she empathetic? Asking appropriate questions? Being proactive? Did you feel the issue was resolved? Provide feedback and give candidates the chance to talk about what they’d do differently.

Hire Motivated Employees

In the end, you’re looking for a good blend of operational and personal skills. Here’s a simple checklist to have on hand for interviews:

Able to escalate the issue with style and diplomacy. Collaborates with team members when challenges arise. Known issue: Can identify what’s wrong and fix it. Unknown issue: Has an inquisitive approach to researching unknown issues to resolution.

Picks up emotional distress signals. Puts him/herself in the customer’s shoes. Able to quantify the pain the customer feels. Always treats the customer with respect.

Empathy Functional Excellence The WOW Factor

Enthusiastic about a customer-facing role. Good team fit. Exhibits qualities that align with core values.

That extra something (what makes this candidate stand out in the crowd).

Hire hard workers with a positive attitude, passion for customer service and focus on supporting the customer. Then train new employees on how to live your core values. If your business can do that, you’re

likely to notice a quick return on human capital investment.

They’ve Got the Will, Train the Skill

At Desk.com, all employees—including managers and senior staff—go through a week-long boot camp learning how to use our product and practice Customer WOW. Everyone becomes part of the company culture right from the get-go, understanding what we do and how to commit to our core values. An essential lesson: Always deliver more than expected. This philosophy, inspired by Google Founder Larry Page, is the key to earning customer loyalty and referrals.

Consistently being better than expected is what breeds customer advocacy and brand evangelism. That’s why the Desk.com agents on the Customer WOW team (our support team) don’t stop at addressing questions and concerns. They proactively reaching out to customers, finding ways to help them be more successful. We know we’re doing the job right when customers say, “Wow, I didn’t expect that!”

Customer WOW Bootcamp

Training support agents

“Always deliver

more than expected.”Google Founder, Larry Page

They’ve Got the Will, Train the Skill

Be Empathetic

Put yourself in the customers’ shoes, especially in tough

situations. Your empathy will show and they’ll appreciate it.

Talk Among Yourselves

Accept that you’ll never have a perfect grasp of every issue

coming into the support center. Keep up with the big picture by maintaining open lines of

communication with your team.

Improve as You Go

Seeing the same issues time and again? Dig into what’s unclear and update your knowledge

base or FAQs. By clarifying your messaging, you can reduce contacts for many repetitive

issues. Be sure to track any drop in service load and share your results.

Listen to the Customer

There’s nothing like talking to a support agent who really listens

on all cylinders. Take time to understand issues and how they affect the customer’s business. When people know you value their needs, they’re more likely

to stay with your brand.Be Human

Robots are cool, but people would rarely choose to have a conversation with one. Show

the customers you aren’t a machine. At the end of the

day it’s how you make people feel that matters the most.

Be Honest

Nobody likes being lied to. A customer can’t expect anything more than the truth. When you maintain an open dialogue and keep your customer informed

at all times, you’ll earn their commitment to your company.

Your new and long-term agents can stand out by going the extra mile. Here are 10 ways:

Respond Quickly & Accurately

Customers gain confidence when you respond quickly and solve

their problems for good, and are more likely to have an ongoing

relationship with your brand.

Always Follow Up

Checking back in with customers isn’t just good manners. It

gives you another opportunity to build the relationship.

Relationships over revenue

Focus on the success of your customer. Understand pain

points and how you can alleviate them. When you make customer success your priority,

improving your product, company and bottom line follow.

Ask Questions

The more you know, the more likely you are to resolve an issue to the customer’s satisfaction. Don’t hesitate to ask more questions to get all the information you need

to recommend alternate solutions and advocate for the customer.

“The goal as a company is to have customer service that is

not just the best but legendary.”

Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart

Have a Solid Game Plan

61%

less likely to repurchase.

Shore up your defenses by developing a plan to execute hassle-free, friction-free experiences. What causes friction? Here are eight factors known to drive customers to competitors:

1. Taking too much time to resolve an issue.

2. Broken promises (you’ve over-promised or under-delivered).

3. Treated rudely or with suspicion.

4. Transferred from agent to agent, having to repeat the issue each time.

5. Having to check several times to see if an issue is resolved.

6. Being left in “support purgatory,” not knowing what, if anything, has been done to resolve the issue.

7. Pushed to buy something, even before a support issue is been resolved.

8. Support Center information is unhelpful, incomplete or outdated.

47%

of consumers expect a response within 24 hours.

22% 19%

of consumers expect a response immediately.

of consumers expect a response within an hour.

The Importance of Customer Service

In a recent customer satisfaction survey, ClickFox reported that 47% of consumers expect a response within 24 hours, 22% of consumers expet a response immediately, and 19% of consumers expect a response within an hour. Keeping customers happy and resolving their problems are of vital importance; money talks, and customer dissatisfaction will eventually show up in the bottom line.

Forrester Research

Research shows customers who feel they work hard to resolve their own issues are

Have a Solid Game Plan

Stay on top of your support Empower your team for success by encouraging them to track cases religiously and treat each one as a priority. Assign every issue a status, level of urgency and owner.

Know who’s working on what

A shared dashboard encourages accountability and reduces ambiguity by creating an airtight system to track cases and keep customer conversations in context. At a glance, see which agent is assigned, which cases are still open or pending, and which have been resolved.

Today’s customers expects you to value them for more than their money. The easier you make issue resolution, the more loyal they’ll be to your business.

Easy collaboration with your team

If you don’t have the answer, quickly transfer the customer to someone who does. When you involve your entire team in customer support, you improve the speed and quality of responses.

Have a Solid Game Plan

Operate as a cohesive team

Your system should aim to assign cases based on priority, agent availability and expertise. A recent survey from American Express found that three in five Americans would try a new company to get a better service experience. To keep them with you, make sure the first person a customer talks to is the most qualified to address the issue at hand.

Know about your customers

Reduce support time by building a profile for each customer, including information about any prior interactions. Agents can use it as a cheat sheet if the customer reaches out, providing immediate attention to the issue, and addressing it in a more efficient and personal way.

Organize your customer conversations

How can you label a case that’s both urgent and from a VIP customer? Create work “queues” or folders to help you organize your cases into categories. Add notes for your team like “more info” or “call back”

Teamwork Makes the Dream WorkKeep your best talent by moving beyond basic checklists and scripts. Here’s how:

Create opportunities

Nobody wants to feel stuck in a dead-end job. Job progression keeps agents inspired and motivated, so provide plenty of opportunities for professional growth and promotion. If caseloads allow, consider loaning agents with the interest and aptitude to other departments. It helps keep them engaged while growing their skills and value to the company.

Take suggestions

It’s up to every employee, not a few people in management, to build and strengthen company culture. Ask for suggestions and keep your team involved in helping the business grow and thrive.

Provide positive feedback

Employ ees who receive frequent feed back from management feel they have more con trol over their work, which increases job sat is fac tion. Definitely one of the easiest and quickest ways to boost engagement and performance.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Embrace “Whole Company Support”

Stop thinking of customer support as a crew of responsive hole patchers who deal with problems as they arise. At Desk.com, everyone has an opportunity to fill a customer support role. It creates an incredible opportunity to get to know our customers on an intimate level, gaining insight into their needs and their relationship with the product.

Recognize individual talents

Give rewards tied to specific actions so employees know you sincerely appreciate their efforts. Encourage individuals to use their talents for team success.

Celebrate success

The level of service you give customers is fundamentally rooted in your staff. When employees are happy and care about doing their jobs, real WOW happens. There are dozens of ways — big and small — to celebrate personal and team achievements, from parties to thank-you gifts to hoopla in company-wide meetings. Do what feels sincere and right for your team.

Conclusion

So how can you take these tips outlined above and make them work for you? The evolution towards

becoming a customer-centric company is both complex and long. But your company should not be

discouraged. Small changes in policies and processes can help drive transformational change in both thinking

and behavior. All it takes is one step, one change, one right hire, one system, one policy at a time and a

complete focus on your customers and their satisfaction. An empowered customer support team, where

employees are armed with responsibility and feel that they are making a contribution to the company’s

success, soon translates into customer loyalty.

Desk.com has an unlimited amount of great resources ranging from more information about our product to thought leadership content. Here are some suggestions:

• TheDesk.comLibrary

• Desk.com’sBlog