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Tag: Customer satisfaction

  • How to Increase Customer Satisfaction Through Agent Coaching

    How to Increase Customer Satisfaction Through Agent Coaching

    Good customer service is a cornerstone of successful businesses, so it makes sense that business leaders want their employees to deliver the best customer service possible. Many of the processes and tools supervisors use are outdated, which makes it difficult to scale customer service satisfaction beyond a fraction of interactions. Giving your employees the tools, resources, and inspiration to deliver exceptional service is a great strategy to keep your clients happy and loyal. In this article, we’ll explain how to increase customer satisfaction through CS (Customer Service) agent coaching.

    Customer service is one of the greatest factors in customer acquisition and retention. Great customer service makes businesses stand out among competitors and inspires word-of-mouth brand equity. Businesses use a variety of metrics to evaluate their customer service, and regular training teaches CS agents how to provide great service. But training, while critical, tends to be one-size-fits-all, and metrics such as average handle time (AHT) don’t always address pain points that lead to frustrated customers. This is where good CS agent coaching comes in.  

    Building Tools for Success

    In a world where personalization is expected, it’s not just customers who want personalized support. CS agents also need personalized feedback so they understand how to make customers happy. There are a few steps business leaders can take to make this happen.

    First is collecting and analyzing the right data. This is best done using a coaching and quality assurance software such as MaestroQA, which brings all aspects of coaching into one platform. Using a cohesive platform gives agents personalized tools for success by allowing them to track their own analytics. It also allows business leaders to focus on the right metrics. 

    With the MaestroQA platform, collecting and analyzing data impacting customer happiness is key. For example, while a high first contact resolution rate (FCR) is typically good news, it may not matter as much for a company where customers value relationship-building. If your product boasts individualized customer support, multiple contacts — or follow-up emails saying “Thank you” — may throw off the data. Instead, quality assurance (QA) scorecards should be central to operations, in addition to company-specific metrics. 

    Once you know you have the data you need, creating a customized data dashboard gets everyone on the same page. It allows agents to practice self-accountability and empowers them to understand their own analytics, leading to a culture of meaningful improvement.

    Additionally, automating repetitive aspects of QA scoring enables your team to score more interactions with more efficiency. This also increases the customer support team’s trust of QA data. More QA data points mean more insight on how to satisfy customers. 

    Ultimately, you want to find a QA program that aligns with your customer service philosophy and values.

    Providing Resources Via Coaching

    Next comes setting up 1:1 coaching sessions. These should be regularly scheduled to prevent agents from slipping through the cracks or feeling ambushed when things aren’t going well. Every agent needs to expect and receive coaching, however frequency of coaching depends on each agent. Early sessions should include a plan for how to process and implement coaching, taking into account each agents’ learning styles and strengths. Ongoing sessions should be tailored to both agent and customer needs.

    To prepare for coaching sessions, QA analysis is helpful. This is because it refers back to actual data from customers. Screen recording also provides valuable insight into what CS agents need. This can reveal simple steps to improve response time and solve customer issues quickly. For example, customers directly benefit from an agent being able to quickly locate relevant internal articles. Discovering gaps in preparation for coaching means you’ll know how to best update your knowledge-base tool or learning management software (LMS), too. 

    A few times coaching is especially beneficial: 

    1. When onboarding new employees

    Training is critical for employee success. However, early coaching can provide scenario-based opportunities for agents to apply training in real-time. Early interventions can prevent bad habits and enhance agent job satisfaction. Early personalized feedback means customers are more likely to get a seasoned agent, thus improving overall statistics.

    1. When customer satisfaction is trending downward

    Using a holistic analytics and coaching tool makes it easier to catch issues with customer satisfaction. The root cause of problems should guide coaching sessions and guide toward best practices. Resources can also be provided to individual agents to curb low CSAT scores.  

    1. When implementing new systems

    Providing coaching sessions when implementing new CS systems is crucial, especially as agent roles change to align with new digital solutions. Automation is the future, and agents need to understand how they fit into the customer experience. Customers may bring frustration if they’ve already interacted with a bot and received a bad answer. They may also bring more complex questions if the bot does its job of answering simple frontline questions. Coaching helps agents efficiently adjust to new technologies. 

    Inspiring CS Agent Success

    The well-known StrengthsFinder assessment is based on the formula Talent x Investment = Strength. Taking this formula and applying it to coaching develops agents’ strengths that may have less obvious CS applications, but help in the long run. Finding out what makes employees tick, and what reward systems motivate them, can also inspire excellence. 

    Tracking individuals’ progress over time is the final step in coaching. If your company already has a smooth annual review system, it may be easiest to borrow elements of that system. If not, start by creating a file for each agent with ongoing coaching session notes, goals, and wins.

    Allowing Coaching to Guide Culture

    Coaching provides room for honest feedback from agents as well as coaches. It shows agents that supervisors aren’t out of touch with daily realities. Agents should be encouraged to bring concerns about workload, morale, and pain points to coaching sessions. When coaching leads to positive change in both customer happiness and organizational function, it inspires greater buy-in.

    Coaching analytics, in turn, provide insight into low CSAT scores and help turn around uninspiring QA performance. Using coaching to improve customer experience leads to happier agents and, ultimately, customers. In the end, everyone wins. 

  • New Survey Ranks Most Cursed-At Businesses

    It’s nearly Christmas and retailers around the U.S. are undoubtedly suffering the verbal wrath of consumers who have put their holiday shopping off for too long. Retail, however, is not the only profession that has to deal with colorful language from customers.

    A new survey from market research firm Marchex has examined customer phone calls over the past two years, comparing 20 different industries that it classifies as being reliant on such phone calls. The firm found that satellite TV providers are the most cursed-at profession, with one in every 82 phone calls made to those companies eliciting curse words.

    Satellite TV companies were closely followed by housing contractors (one in every 90 calls had a curse) and their fellow unpopular cable TV providers (one in every 123 calls). Auto Repair and Tow Truck companies round out the survey’s top 5.

    Marchex’s findings, in general, show that professions dealing with customers’ homes or automobiles need to have solid temperaments to deal with cursing customers. The firm believes that long hold times and ridiculous pricing schemes put satellite and cable TV providers near the top of the list. The automotive-related businesses, however, may simply receive more cursing due customers who curse their situation and the expense of such services rather than at the businesses themselves.

    On the other end of the list, Veterinarians were the least cursed-at profession surveyed. Only one in every 2,634 veterinarian calls were found to contain curse words. Senior living centers (with one in every 1,742 calls) and Hotels (one in every 1,486 calls) were next on the list of least cursed-at businesses.

  • Sprint Tanks in New Consumer Satisfaction Survey

    With smartphone industry growth in North American now slowing, mobile providers in the U.S. are getting creative to scoop up the last few customers who have yet to sign up for mobile plans and to maintain their large subscriber bases. T-Mobile has been wildly successful at this in the past year, with its market share and subscriber base both growing substantially this summer on the back of its “uncarrier” initiatives such as “Jump!”

    As T-Mobile quickly rises from its position as the fourth largest mobile provider in the U.S., third place carrier Sprint is heading the opposite direction. The company saw a $1.6 billion loss during its second quarter this year while also losing 2.7 million subscribers.

    This new reality is reflected in a new Consumer Reports survey that shows Sprint is now the lowest-rated carrier out of the big four in the U.S. Though Sprint ranked second in the same survey one year ago, the company has now fallen hard, with consumer ratings of its value, voice network, and 4G service all falling.

    “Our latest cell service satisfaction survey revealed a somewhat precipitous decline by Sprint that shuffled the rankings of the major standard service providers,” said Glenn Derene, team leader for Electronics Content Development at Consumer Reports. “And smaller, no-frills, no-contract and prepaid service providers continue to do a better job of satisfying customers, and provide an increasingly viable alternative to some of the expensive, long-term contracts that many consumers find themselves locked into.”

    Verizon continued to top the customer satisfaction list for major U.S. carriers on the back of high consumer ratings for its data network and customer support. AT&T and T-Mobile came in second and third with average ratings for their services, though AT&T did get what Consumer Reports describes as a “top rating” for its 4G network.

  • Galaxy Owners Now More Satisfied Than iPhone Owners, Shows Survey

    Galaxy Owners Now More Satisfied Than iPhone Owners, Shows Survey

    For years, iPhone owners have been the most satisfied smartphone owners. Apple‘s “it just works” design philosophy and brilliant marketing consistently put the company at the top of satisfaction surveys. Now, however, it seems that Apple’s monopoly on smartphone satisfaction is cracking.

    The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) today released the results of a new study on smartphone satisfaction. The study ranks the top-selling smartphones of the past year using a proprietary scoring system for customer satisfaction. Apple does not top the list.

    Samsung‘s Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II smartphones have toppled the iPhone. Both received a ACSI score of 84. That’s two points higher than the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S, which got scores of 82. The iPhone 4 follows just behind with an 81. Samsung smartphone owners were not as satisfied with the Galaxy S II, which scored only a 78 to put it at 7th place in the list.

    “Not only does Samsung edge ahead of all iPhones, Apple customers themselves don’t see much difference between the iPhone 4, 4S or 5,” said David VanAmburg, director of ACSI. “The latest earnings report from Apple was better than expected, but the name of the game for Apple has always been innovation. Samsung, on the other hand, shows a strong upward ACSI trend from the Galaxy S II to the Galaxy S III. If the S4 performs as well—or even better—in the eyes of customers, Samsung could threaten Apple’s dominance in overall customer satisfaction.”

    Motorola’s Droid Razr Maxx HD took 6th place with a score of 80, and the company’s Droid Razr came in 8th with a 77. Rounding out the top ten is BlackBerry, with its Curve and Bold devices scoring a 67 and 64, respectively.

  • IPad Kills the Competition in Customer Satisfaction

    In a new survey, ChangeWave Research finds that iPad owners are twice as likely to be satisfied with their tablet purchase than those that bought a competing brand.

    The survey compares the New iPad, the iPad 2, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Amazon Kindle Fire, and a catch-all category for all other tablets on the market. The winner was clearly the New iPad, with its older counterpart in a close second.

    Customers think that Android has to correct many issues before it will be able to compete with Apple. The inability to use Android Apps on every Android tablet is a key reason Android users are not satisfied. Many Android tablet users can not access even the most widespread apps, like Hulu.

    Apps on Android and the Kindle Fire tend to come out much later than the iPad, leaving those that like to play social games behind the trend curve. And when the Apps finally do come to these devices, they do not always work as well as they do on the iPad.

    The Kindle Fire also suffers from the inability to access all of the apps on the Android Market, errr Google Play.

    Although the Samsung Galaxy Tab beats the Kindle Fire in the rating of “Very Satisfied”, those Kindle owners that did not select Very Satisfied often chose “Somewhat Satisfied” – more so than Galaxy owners. Nearly 4 times as many people chose “somewhat unsatisfied” for Galaxy than the Fire.

    The survey was comprised of 2,893 consumers in North America, and also took tally on current tablet demand trends in North America. They found that demand has leveled off to normal with 7% of people surveyed saying they planned on buying a tablet in the future. Of those, 73% said they wanted a iPad. Kindle Fire was a distance second at 8% – Demand for the product plummeted just a few months after its release in November of last year.

    Adding to the Kindle’s woes could be the release of an iPad-mini later this year. Three percent of respondents in the survey said they would be very likely to buy one. 14% said they would be “somewhat likely” to buy. These numbers already reflect a higher demand than the Kindle Fire.

    However, Amazon is rumored to also be coming out with a new color-e-ink reader this holiday season. This could be a huge step in swaying those that use their tablet primarily for reading over to Kindle’s side.

    It is going to have to be some powerful sway, however. Right now iPad is dominating the market almost to the point of total control.

  • Amazon Beats Netflix in Customer Satisfaction

    As retail giant Amazon further expands into the realm of streaming media and impending original content, a new ForeSee report on customer satisfaction shows that the company has exceeded Netflix.

    The report surveyed roughly 21,000 repsondents who patron the top 100 retail sites on the web, including merchants of apparel, books, music and video, computers and electronics, mass merchants, home improvement and more. The survey scores on a 100 point scale, and shows that Amazon comes in at #1, with a score of 89, the highest ever in the 7 years the survey has been conducted.

    Here are the results from web-only vendors:

    amazon report

    Netflix likewise did well with a score of 81, and that company has been doing well in turning things around as of late, posting a Q1 earnings report that exceeded analyst expectations. Amazon has also seen an improvement in its most recent assessment, with sales being up 34%.

    Below are the results for the broad sampling of stores:

    amazon

    Apple tied for 2nd with QVC with a score of 85, and Netflix achieved a score of 81, along with Victoria’s Secret, Swiss Colony, Kohl’s and HSN.

  • J.D. Power and Associates Awards iPhone

    J.D. Power and Associates Awards iPhone

    J. D. Power and Associated has given the coveted Highest customer satisfaction rating to Apple’s iPhone for the seventh consecutive time.

    Battery life tends to be the deciding factor in whether or not a customer is satisfied with their smartphone performance. It ranked highest in the reason people were satisfied with the top performing phones and the biggest reason why customers were unsatisfied with ones that performed poorly.

    Satisfaction levels with battery performance differed widely between owners of 3G and 4G smartphones. Among owners of 4G-enabled smartphones, battery performance ratings average 6.1 on a 10-point scale–considerably lower than satisfaction among owners of 3G smartphones (6.7). Part of this difference stems from the fact that new 4G smartphones use substantial battery life searching for next-generation network signals. In addition, owners of 4G-enabled smartphones use their device more extensively than customers with 3G smartphones or traditional handsets–which puts a significantly higher demand on the battery.

    “Both carriers and manufacturers recognize the fact that battery life needs to be improved,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and Associates. “However, the study uncovers the need for a greater sense of urgency–short battery life can result in perceived phone problems, higher rates of merchandise returns and customer defections.”

    When people find something that works for them, they stick with it. Approximately 25 percent of 4G-enabled smartphone owners are highly satisfied with their battery (ratings of 10 on a 10-point scale) and say they “definitely will” repurchase a device from the same manufacturer. In comparison, among owners who are less satisfied with their battery (ratings of 7-9 on a 10-point scale), only 13 percent say they will repurchase from the same manufacturer,

    Additional Findings:

    • The price of traditional headset cell phones declined an average of $66. 44% of customers got theirs for free.
    • 70% use social networking sites on their phone.
    • 21% experienced a software or device malfunction.

    The study compares the satisfaction of 7,080 smartphone owners and 8,335 traditional mobile phone owners between July and December 2011.

    Apple achieved a score of 839 on a 1,000-point scale and performed well in all factors, particularly in ease of operation and features. HTC (798) follows Apple in the smartphone rankings.

    LG and Sanyo rank highest in overall customer satisfaction with traditional handsets, in a tie (716 each). LG performs well in all four factors, while Sanyo performs particularly well in ease of operation. Sony Ericsson (712) and Samsung (703) follow in the traditional handset rankings.

  • Amazon, Apple Enjoy Some Pretty High Customer Loyalty

    People appear to be really happy with Apple’s iPad/iPhones/iEverythings while Amazon.com has kept customers plump with satisfaction with Kindle offerings (and the copious amounts of other Stuff you can buy from the site), according to the results of a new customer satisfaction survey. Satmetrix, a reputable customer loyalty fever-taker, released their 2012 Net Promoter Industry Benchmarks report today that assesses the quality of service provided by companies in a range of industries, ranging from hospitality to travel to financial services.

    The report is based on survey responses from consumers across the United States who rate their experience with the primary brands they use. Companies receive a Net Promoter Score, or NPS, based on customers’ likelihood to recommend the brand. The NPS is calculated as the percentage of customers who recommend the brand by rating the company 9 or 10 on a 0-to-10 point scale, minus the percentage who are detractors and give a rating of 6 or lower. Consumers also rate each brand on various aspects of customer experience, including product or service features, customer service, and overall value.

    Apple took the taco in the technology sector, scoring an NPS of 71% for its computer hardware sector while it also netted a score of 68% for its consumer software applications.

    Meanwhile, Amazon.com emerged as the leader in online services (and was the second-highest rated company of all brands included in the overall study) by scoring 76%. Google, a company that is synonymous with online search, scored an NPS of 56%. That Google would receive a low-ish rating and still emerge as the top online search site isn’t entirely surprising since, if comScore’s monthly rankings demonstrate anything, that isn’t merely a choice for how to search the internet but it is how you search the internet. What’s more incredible about barely one of every two Google users recommending the search company is that Google somehow still manages to dominate the market. It’s as if people simply don’t know that there are other options.

    Facebook, however, took a plunge with their NPS score of 31% as it lost 21 points compared to the company’s benchmark from last year. Such a dreary outlook from Facebook’s consumers must cast a pall on all that optimism leading into the social network becoming a publicly traded company later this spring. Maybe people really aren’t all that wild about being inundated with ads and insignificant updates about who-read-what-and-where.

  • Amazon Wins at Online Customer Service, Everyone Piles On Netflix

    Which company has the best online customer service? What about the worst? While the names will not surprise you, the level of satisfaction provided may very well.

    Findings from a recent study conducted by ForeSee, a “customer experience analytics firm,” aimed to measure which retailer offered the best and worst in regards to customer satisfaction during the 2011 holiday shopping season. Termed the “Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index,” the results within offer a clear picture about which company gets customer service right and which ones get it wrong.

    The data contained in the results is revealing in the sense of discovering which retailers take care of their customers and vice versa. ForeSee’s results show Amazon as the leader in customer satisfaction, and Overstock.com as the worst, which does not demonstrate a large amount of change from 2010’s results. Amazon was also the first place company in 2010, while Overstock.com ranked near the bottom.

    Nothing new here, so far; however, once you take a look at the way Netflix was singled out, it’s almost as if the desire to see Netflix fail exists in reporting of these results.

    First off, it should be noted that Netflix took the biggest hit in regards to customer satisfaction, dropping seven spots to the 19th ranked company — out of 40 retailers. That, apparently, was all that was needed to open the floodgates towards Netflix and let all the negativity out. Even ForeSee’s CEO jumped in on the fun:

    “Netflix totally misread its customer base and is paying the price, damaging its brand among both consumers and investors,” said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee. “Raising prices by 60% and splitting the baby into separate DVD and streaming services totally undermines Netflix’s cost and convenience advantages. Customer satisfaction is predictive, which means that Netflix’s financial woes may be just beginning.”

    That’s all fine and good. The problem lies in the fact the results were supposed to be dealing with holiday retail, not Netflix’s year in review. Now, Freed does make valid points about why satisfaction concerning Netflix dropped, but I doubt the results were based on a holiday retail interaction with Netflix.

    Instead, the points come across as simple backlash against Netflix’s business model alterations.

    Considering the study was supposed to be focusing on the just-passed holiday season, Netflix’s overall performance during their tumultuous 2011 should be immaterial to the results. Instead, it appears as if respondents took the opportunity to once again air their grievances with Netflix’s policy changes. It wasn’t just in ForeSee’s press release, either. Various publications took the opportunity to single the movie rental company out.

    Meanwhile, Blockbuster.com ranks far, far below Netflix, coming in just a few spots above Overstock.com, but yet, where are the articles blasting Blockbuster? Or OfficeMax.com and OfficeDepot.com? What about Sears.com and ToysRUs.com? All of these entities also rank below Netflix in terms of customer satisfaction, but yet, Netflix is being made out to be the worst offender. The largest decrease from last year to this? Yes, but the worst in regards to customer service?

    Not even close.

    The fact is, it appears as if Netflix is at least weathering the storm and the customer satisfaction rates are improving, at least according to a different survey. Considering the fact the holiday season satisfaction was being measured, does Netflix even fit in that category? How many of you gave the gift of Netflix this year?

    Let us know what you think.