The "We got your back" concept for Customer Services

We all know that Customer Services is a very important, if not the most important, touch point to maintain a great customer relation and influence the customer experience overall. If it is through call centers or through the growing social media channels, the same rules apply and we see the same impact on the overall experience.

With all the different ways that customers can reach us today, and the large customer service teams, are we strangling our own capabilities to influence the customer experience? This question led me to think about, what I call, the "we got your back" concept. This is based on what the organization philosophy is with regards to the freedom that a customer service representative/agent has to influence and manage the overall customer experience.



There are two extremes of the organization message to agents.

The "You are free to help the customer in, but within certain limits." message:

Where it is understandable from an organizational perspective, you want to save yourself from losses and thus apply certain rules/limits for what the agents can say or give to the customers, that is not how the customers see it. Lets look at a hypothetical example of a customer service call:

Agent: Hello, this is John. Thanks for calling ABC Cellular. How can I help you today?
Customer: My bill has a charge that I am not sure of. Can you please clarify it?
(.... The customary customer authentication information dialogue ensues....)
Agent: This charge is the regular activation fees since you started a new contract with us.
Customer: Why should I need to pay an additional fees to remain with you for another 2 years?
Agent: This is the process. It is as per the contract rules.
Customer: I just don't understand it. I am a customer since the last 10 years. I don't agree with this additional charge, I want you to roll this back.
Agent: I cannot do that. You will have to talk to someone in the billing department for that.
Customer: What the @#$%#? So you are ready to loose a 10 year old customer because of $30?
Agent: I did not say that. I said that I cannot make any reversal. You will have to talk to the billing department for this.
Customer: $(*%)#&@&$($. Give it to your manager. I want to talk to your manager.

Cutting it short, a lot of times, you will be surprised how much freedom a true manager has in such simple cases. The unfortunate thing though is that sometimes the agents have KPIs which are governed by number of escalations, so they pass the call onto another agent saying that they are the manager. And well the customer keeps hitting his head on a wall and never gets anywhere. Sound familiar?

Lets look at this example. Some facts:
1. Time on the call: usually more than 30minutes (if not into the hours, depending on the patience of the customer)
2. Resolution: maybe eventually, after the customer is dead tired, he may give up or if he finally reaches a manager, he may get what he wants.
3. Customer Experience: No comment!! There are very little other worse experiences than this.

The "Go help the customer, we have your back" approach:

Now, if you empower your agents to help the customer. Keeping in mind that they are at the end of the day your employees and their livelihood (read income) is dependent on the success of the organization (at least until they are your employees), what you are telling them is, "we trust you". "Trust"... now that is a big thing. It is a two way street as we all know it, but someone has to go from one end to the other first. I always believe the first step should be taken by the organization, as it is in their interest to ensure the best customer experience. It is this very customer experience that will help business growth.

So what happens it you look out for someone... well, naturally, they look out for you when they can. You give trust, you get trust... you give respect, you get respect.

Lets look at the same conversation, but with an agent who knows that the company has his back:
Agent: Hi, this is Jim. Thanks for calling XYZ Cellular. How can I help you today?
Customer: My bill has a charge that I am not sure of. Can you please clarify it?
(.... The customary customer authentication information dialogue ensues....)
Agent: This charge is the regular activation fees since you started a new contract with us.
Customer: Why should I need to pay an additional fees to remain with you for another 2 years?
Agent: Well, you know, this is part of the contract. Do you have a concern with the $30?
Customer: You bet I do! I have been a customer with you for 10 years and I don't expect to be paying you a fees to stay with you for another 2 years.
Agent: I think you are right. Thanks for being our customer for such a long time. What do you think about our phone service? Have you tried the new apps that we offer to our customers?
Customer: Well, I have not. But I am really thinking if I should be your customer for long after looking at these fees.
Agent: Don't worry about them. I will take care of them for you. You will get a credit on your next bill. Let me tell you about this exiting app we have just come out with, where you can track your minutes from your phone. You have a great smartphone, so this will really work for you.
Customer: Thanks. Tell me more about this app. How can I get it?

Now, don't you wish your agents would do this?

Lets analyse this a bit, some facts:
1. Time on call: a few minutes really to resolve the specific question. It may take longer to talk to the customer about the new products though.
2. Resolution: A sure shot YES.
3. Customer Experience: No doubt about it, this is what your customers want to hear. The agent got the issue resolved quickly... and from the organization's perspective, also did some cross-selling. I would say overall, the customer would give him a great rating based on this experience. He will easily forget the fact that the company charged him $30 extra.

As you would have seen, it is clear that if you send the correct message to your agents, you can trust them to have your back, just like you have theirs.

I can hear the comments coming in, this is too idealistic, it is a utopian approach. I ask you, is it? How many of you as customers would like to spend 1.5 hrs to resolve an issue of $30? If you expect the second approach from your service provider, why shouldn't you as an organization provide the same to your own customers?

This is not idealistic, it is just the age old Golden Rule.

Think about it. Tell me what you think. You are free to disagree with me. I would love to hear your thoughts though.