What are you doing to Improve Customer Loyalty?

Maximize Revenue – Minimize Costs

What does "customer satisfaction" really mean to your business? - It means customer retention - building loyal customers who will buy from your company again and who will recommend you to others thereby maximizing your revenues and minimizing your costs.

The "Call is the Test" – “Provide Me a “Great Call Experience Every Time!”

Contact Center Leaders know that the "quality of the call experience" is critical to customer loyalty and retention. Study after study tells us that there is a direct link between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty and that there is a significant drop in customer loyalty when customers rate the quality of their "call experience" less than "great!" Yes-less than great! Not good! Great! There is a new "Customer Loyalty Standard" which demands that we provide a “Great Call Experience to every customer every time.

We Teach Customers What to Expect by the Standard of Service We Deliver. And So Do our Competitors!

We actually "teach" customers the level of service they should expect from us. Think about that. What wait time do you "expect" when you call "tech support?" What level of service do you "expect" from a deep discounter vs. a high end retailer? You have been taught to expect a certain level of service from that company.

Based upon the quality of the call experience in your call center, you have set your customer's expectations. I actually had a customer tell me that based upon the service they had come to expect of their cell service provider- they actually found it easier and quicker to "change to a new company" rather than to call to fix a problem with their bill. Customers do change their expectations, however, when you change the way you deliver service or when your competitors change the way they deliver service.

Your competitors are also setting customer expectations - either higher or lower than yours. If your competition is providing a different/better level of service, the bar is raised for what customers expect from you.... and you may not even know it. Ask yourself - what level of call quality is my competitor providing and remember it is better to lead by setting high customer expectations than to try to "keep up with" or trail your competition.

The implication of this constantly changing customer expectation is that we must constantly shift the call quality performance curve up.

The Customer Loyalty Standard- Shift the Performance Curve Up

The "organizational view of quality" must be that every customer deserves a great/good call experience. This is the Customer Loyalty Standard. Customer surveys are an important way to evaluate the quality of the call experience you provide and they are a significant and reliable source of customer satisfaction data.

However, not all centers "survey" their customers. In addition, a customer may give us a "good call rating" even though we provide mediocre service, because that is what we have taught them to expect. Sometimes just the "absence of a problem" on the call may be enough to have the customer give an okay rating.

So this tells us that we must use the customer survey data and at the same time establish call quality and call handling standards which ensure a great call experience for every customer - the Customer Loyalty Standard. This is how we shift the performance curve up and implement a Customer Loyalty Call Quality Standard.

Implementing the Customer Loyalty Standard - Expectation of How Customers are to be Treated

How do we formulate and implement the Customer Loyalty Standard? First we identify the "best of the best" calls for all call types where the Customer Loyalty Standard is met, along with the skills, behaviors, proficiency levels, process and procedures used and replicate these “best of the best” calls across the call center/enterprise.

Next we communicate, train and provide ongoing coaching and feedback to agents as we move them along a continuum towards providing the Call Quality Standard on every call.

The Quality Call – First Call Resolution: What Does the Customer Want? - What Did We Do for Them?

Again much research has been done to identify what customers want and what they expect of our company and our agents. The list has not changed much over time.

1. Easy to do business with, responsive, courteous, friendly and willing to help
2. Proactive, services and value tailored to them- ask them questions and educate them
3. Expertise, knowledge and the authority to resolve their concerns
4. Follow up and follow through

Companies that rate the very highest in customer satisfaction and loyalty receive the highest customer ratings in items 2 and 3 as these two items specifically relate directly to resolving the customers problem or call.

When you set your Customer Loyalty Standard and monitor and evaluate your calls, be sure to evaluate how each of these skills affected the overall outcome of the call. The areas related to resolving the customer problem - what did they want - what did they get? - should be weighted to reflect the importance that has in meeting the Customer Loyalty Standard. Also remember that inherent in resolving the customer call is the expectation that agents follow your company's established business standards, practices and procedures.

You expect agents to "do the complete job" of caring for the customer and the company to ensure your Customer Loyalty Strategy success.

CCLS offers Call Quality Evaluation Programs where we will monitor and evaluate your calls and provide you with an organizational view of the quality of the experience provided to your customers. Please contact Ellen Greene, President, Call Center Learning Solutions

Call Center Learning Solutions "Training the voice of your business" ©