Positive Customer Experiences Drive Loyalty

In the current marketplace, a customer not only expects to have their issue resolved by the Customer Service Representative they are interaction with, which often is interpreted as that customer being “satisfied” with the interaction with your business, there is now an additional expectation that the interaction to be pleasant and respectful, even if the customer isn’t acting in a pleasant or respectful manner. Yet when calls are “scored” for CSAT, many times the most important factor in determining a final score is if the customer is “satisfied” because the issue was resolved, which leaves much room for improvement in the survey process itself. 

I have been on phone calls many times with Customer Service professionals who have been polite, respectful, and done everything in their power to help resolve my issue, but for one reason or another, were unable to do so. Does that mean my experience with that CS Rep was a positive one or a negative one? In most cases, if I were to respond to a post-call survey using the pre-determined responses for my “satisfaction” I would likely rate that super helpful CS Rep very high on all accounts, but would still provide an overall score of “dis-satisfied” because my issue was not resolved, which reflects on that Rep’s overall CSAT score ratings.

So what can be done about scoring those interactions where the CS Rep did everything right and yet the customer is unsatisfied? Or what about those situations where the customer is “satisfied” because they were able to get their issue resolved, but the interaction was very negative or even downright nasty on the part of the CS Rep? What is the best way to capture the true spirit of the call and get an accurate CSAT score that not only represents how well the issue was resolved for the customer, but also whether or not the CS Rep was polite, pleasant, responsive, addressed my concerns, and ultimately represented your business, your brand, and themselves well during the interaction?

Using Voice Analytics to Conduct Surveys

One very effective way to address this issue is to employ Voice Analytics and allow a customer to leave a survey response that is completely open ended instead of being forced to answer pre-set questions based on a 1-5 scale that may or may not even address the real sentiment of that call. Using Voice Analytics and open-ended survey responses, you can accomplish so much more in regards to CSAT by using less of your customers’ time while better capturing the overall “satisfaction” of that customer. This can often be accomplished after the call by simply asking the customer: “Please provide any comments or feedback about your experience today.” Once the customer provides their input, which could be a few short words, or a lengthy discourse about how wonderful (or terrible) the CS Rep was or how thankful they were that the issue was resolved, but felt that the CS Rep was unsympathetic or hard to understand, you are able to collect MUCH more valuable data because the customer is not restricted to only providing input on the four areas the pre-determined survey questions were asking about.   

Our friends at Surgent Networks have been leading the technology push towards open-ended survey responses using Voice Analytics. They are revolutionizing the “Voice of the Customer” aspect of Customer Experience by literally allowing the customers to “Voice” their opinions regarding a specific interaction without the restrictions of a customer being required to respond to very specific questions in a traditional post-call survey. Customers can openly talk about what they appreciate about the brand, how their interaction made them feel special or really valued as a customer. A customer can share how they understand that the CS Rep was unable to get them the resolution they had hoped for, but they felt heard, were very grateful for the efforts of the CS Rep on their behalf, and, despite a ‘negative’ outcome of the call, leave very satisfied and likely to share their experience with others. 

Surgent Networks has written a fantastic overview of how to change your customer survey opportunities using Voice Analytics to find the real VOC and provide you insights into what your customers want to tell you vs. only collecting responses to what your survey offers the customer. To download and read the article, click here: Revolutionize the Customer Experience with Voice Analytics. 

#EXinCX   —   🙂 Employees = 🙂 Customers

In today’s ultra-competitive market, every company, every brand, must strive to have an emotional connection with their customers…especially in those instances where the customer has reached out to you specifically for help. In a nutshell, this is the essence of CX, or Customer Experience. And the only way to achieve this exceptional CX, is for your Employees to truly understand what is expected of them and then to deliver on those expectations consistently over time. This is why the focus of Snowfly in 2019 is all centered around the concept of #EXinCX – Employee Experience within Customer Experience.

Employees who are engaged and understand that their performance and behavior in their specific role with customers drives positive Customer Experiences are those employees whose value to the business is priceless and who are the ones who will drive your brand forward. So don’t rely on specific and generic questions after the call to determine if your customers are “satisfied” with you, instead, give them the chance to tell you how they REALLY feel, to tell you about anything and everything they want to say regarding your company and your brand. You will be pleasantly surprised at what your customers will tell you when given the chance to do so.

 

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