Inspiring Customer Experience Stories – Part 3 – Service Above and Beyond

A brand’s reputation for customer service can make or break customers’ decisions to give them business. Customer experience (CX) has become a buzzword for brands across sectors, and providing a high-quality CX is imperative in today’s fast-moving, low-loyalty, consumer-driven climate. Companies must differentiate themselves with a CX that makes interactions simple and seamless for the customer. Gone are the days when customers were willing, albeit begrudgingly, to repeat their account information and their issue to several agents through multiple transfers. Consumer brand-loyalty is already low and a poor CX can sound the death knell for each bad experience.

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC) survey on brand loyalty, price and value are still king. Driving loyalty to specific retailers in 2017 are price and value with nine out of ten (92%) loyal customers ranking this the top reason, followed by product/quality (79%) and variety/selection (71%). Technology has enabled consumers to be better informed about pricing and availability. While companies can easily compete on price, quality and selection, customer service is that intangible that will push some to the top and others to the depths. In fact, as ICSC noted, 82 percent of consumers will buy elsewhere if they experience poor customer service or rude employees.

While shifting your focus to customer experience is crucial, and learning new ways to improve will set your company apart from the others, the heart and soul of the experience your customers have is the agents they interact with. They must be as competent as they are caring, and they must care. Being a customer service representative, or agent, is a demanding job that can often feel thankless. The agents often take on the brunt of customers’ frustrations, and if your CX is not where it should be, an already frustrated customer may be pushed to a breaking point and take out their frustrations on the agent they speak to. Despite these challenges, most agents still have a strong desire to help customers and care about resolving issues. Are you hiring people who care to be your agents – the representation of your brand? Or, are you just filling seats?

The following blog, Part Three in a series focused on the individuals behind the headset or desk, highlights an agent going above and beyond to service and surprise a new customer. This story was submitted to Talkdesk and included as part of our 11 Stories of Brilliant Customer Interactions to Inspire Your CX Team.