The ProcedureFlow Blog

What is good customer service empathy?

There was a time when being friendly was almost enough to deliver acceptable customer service. Customers had fewer options and didn’t feel as empowered to leave a company because of an unsatisfactory experience. However, those simpler times also came with rotary telephones tethered to walls and no Internet. Things have changed.

Friendliness is important. But in customer service, empathy is crucial.

A call center agent demonstrates empathy by intentionally putting themselves in the customer’s shoes and appreciating what the customer feels. It’s the result of listening to them, understanding the impact the situation is having, and showing compassion for what they’re going through. The reason for their call is the most important thing in their life at that moment. An empathetic agent not only gets that, but they also prove it to the customer.

It’s tempting, but dangerous, to believe that a lack of complaints equals customer satisfaction. You’re familiar with “quiet quitting”? It’s not just for employment. According to an article by HuffPost , only 4% of unsatisfied customers will bother to complain about their experience. They’ll simply churn. However, even though they don’t tell you they were unsatisfied, they will tell their friends.

“Companies should not view absence of feedback as a sign of satisfaction. The true enemy is indifference.”

~Esteban Kolsky, founder, ThinkJar

What is an example of an empathy statement in customer service?

The thesaurus is wrong. Empathy and sympathy are not interchangeable. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone or their situation, sometimes with a sense of relief that you’re not in their shoes. Sympathy can create a wedge between people as one takes pity on the other’s plight. Empathy brings people closer as they share a sense of reality.

In therapy, a technique called parroting is highly effective in demonstrating empathy. Once the client explains a situation, the therapist paraphrases it back to them. This accomplishes two things. It demonstrates to the client that they’re being heard. And it allows them to correct any mistakes the therapist makes in their understanding of the situation, and for them to further clarify what they’ve said.

In a call center, repeating back what the caller has said lets them know that the agent is in the situation with them. Begin the sentence with, “If I understand correctly…”, and ask them to confirm. “Do I have that right?”

Thanks to software solutions like ProcedureFlow, customer service organizations can make it simple for agents to improve CSAT scores by implementing empathy statements into their visual call flows and scripting. No downtime, no hesitation, just better CX.

Being more effective leads to better job satisfaction for agents, too. With employee retention a constant challenge, nurturing empathy means everybody wins.

Related Resource: Empathy in Customer Service: What it Means and How to Implement It

How do you deliver empathy statements in customer service?

The most important factor in determining when to deliver empathy statements in customer service, is to listen to the customer for cues.

If they are irate, you can attempt to calm them down.

If they are confused, you can assure them that you will be with them all the way to sort out the issue.

If they feel abandoned, you can let them know that their problem is of the utmost importance to you.

Often, an empathy statement is delivered as a transition to a next step in extracting information or working toward a resolution.

“Thanks for being so patient today. Please give me your client number and ….”

Speaking one to one creates a bond between the agent and client. Use “I” instead of “we” statements. People want to feel that they’re dealing with another human being. The empathy statements in customer service must appear genuine. Delivered with real, human feelings. While a “I understand your concern,” may appear to be empathetic, this generic statement actually seems cold and detached compared to authentic expressions of empathy.

And advise agents to refrain from chiming in with their own, similar experience. Although they might intend to create a rapport, the customer might feel the agent doesn’t truly get it. It’s best to stick with language that shows an understanding of the client’s feelings and leave themselves out of it.

Top 7 empathy statements in customer service

Here are the top 7 empathy statements in customer service that demonstrate an understanding of the situation and genuine appreciation for what the client is experiencing.

“I’m sorry you are going through this.” Whatever it is, the customer wishes it wasn’t happening. This statement proves that the agent understands this and is on their side. It also includes the important words, I’m sorry.

“If I understand correctly …” This statement is part of the parroting technique mentioned earlier. Repeating the customers words back to them offers reassurance and validates their concerns

“Thank you for your patience.” Everyone’s time is valuable. Whether or not there have been repeat calls or the client has been on hold, acknowledge the use of  their time.

“You are right.” Three little words that act like a release valve in a hot situation. You are right that it’s supposed to work this way. You are right that this should have been resolved sooner. You are right that the wording wasn’t clear.

“Thank you for the honest feedback.” Expressing gratitude for feedback, positive or negative, recognizes that it’s not always easy to express oneself.

“I can definitely help with this.” Exuding confidence in the situation bolsters the customer’s faith that the agent will follow through until there’s a resolution.

“Is there anything else I can do for you today?” No matter the length of the call or its complications, this statement leaves the customer feeling like there’s nothing more important than making sure they’re completely satisfied.

Empathy statements in customer service are much more than mere words. They’re the gateway to developing and using genuine empathy to get inside a customer’s head and figure out what they need. A sense of empathy makes a person a good friend, a great partner, and a caring family member. And it’s clear that it’s just as important to develop empathy for effective customer service.

What skills are required in a call center?

There are five essential skills, along with several subskills, needed for a call or contact center employee to be successful. These five essential skills are:

Multi-tasking:  Agents must be able to do at least two things at once. This allows them to anticipate next steps while simultaneously actively listening to their customer’s concerns. See how ProcedureFlow frees agents to concentrate on the call, not the process. Book a demo today.

Communication: Agents need to be able to disseminate information clearly. They must know when to ask a question, what question to ask, and which information is necessary to share in order to pinpoint the issue. Agents must be like teachers in front of a class of students whom each has varying amounts of knowledge.

Agility: Agents must be able to pivot and handle unexpected situations with confidence. This pertains to customer calls as well as within the organization itself.

Empathy: Agents need to demonstrate empathy with the customer. This is a crucial soft skill required to foster a positive customer experience.

Problem-solving: Agents must be tenacious, resourceful, and patient to see the trickiest requests through to their resolutions.

Other required skills include time management, where working to satisfactorily solve a caller’s issue is up against metrics such as FCR (First Call Resolution) and AHT (Average Handling Time). They need some technical savviness. Agents must also exude patience and use EI (Emotional Intelligence) to neutralize potentially volatile situations when customers’ frustrations turn to anger.

What is call center agent recruitment?

Recruitment can take many forms, from handing out business cards at a networking event to placing an ad. However it’s done, the aim is to have someone ready the next time an agent resigns.

Why is call center recruitment important?

High employee turnover is a fact of life in call centers, with an average annual rate of 30 to 45 percent. Companies invest heavily in training only to have the employee move on, keeping the cycle in perpetual motion. Bringing a new hire to proficiency varies widely, anywhere from six weeks to seven months. Managers can expect to stay in a constant state of recruitment as gaps in staff lead to less satisfactory customer service which in turn can affect profits. The quicker the “hole” on the team is filled, the less time an incoming caller will wait on hold in a queue—no one’s favorite activity. ProcedureFlow reduces training time and makes your new hires experts faster. Book a demo today.

What are call center recruitment strategies?

Some recruiters find the tried-and-true posting of job ads online continues to work well for them. Others prefer to post it internally and count on their network to root out potential candidates.

Whichever way you conduct the search, you need a plan if you’re going to find and retain the best possible agents.

List of call center recruitment strategies

Social media is proving effective for call center recruitment. While LinkedIn is a perfect spot to place a job posting, its search function also makes simple the work of finding qualified people already working in the field to reach out to. When you want to choose from the best people, poaching isn’t just for eggs.

LinkedIn, Medium, Substack, and many other sites are hungry for articles on real life about a huge variety of topics from work-life balance to working remotely. Create awareness of your organization by contributing to them.

Use your company’s social media pages to show your work culture as a way of attracting potential applicants. Ask staff to share the posts and write testimonials about what it’s like at work. All these articles, testimonials, and pictures of staff events can live on the company website and get shared on socials.

Your organization’s website is a perfect place to post job opportunities. You might be surprised by how many people casually poke around online for career opportunities, just to see what else is out there. Especially when they’re not having a great day at work. Give them an option to consider.

Referrals from current staff have a lot of advantages. The employee is taking a risk by recommending someone. They’re not going to suggest a person who will reflect badly on them.

Job ad postings that get in front of job seekers are never out of style.

A career day or job fair is potentially effective if you’re hiring multiple employees. Invite a few short-listed contenders for a tour of the call center, and a chance to discuss the work environment and expectations in more detail. If you’re hiring a herd of employees, attending a job fair as an exhibitor, or holding one of your own, it can be an efficient way to meet and screen many applicants at once.

How do you retain employees in a call center?

Start with the right people. Sometimes the pressure to fill a position quickly leads to a bad hire. Finding the right person for the initial hire saves money and time. Working in a call center isn’t for everyone. Find those who will thrive in the environment and you’re likelier to retain them.

Praise in public, criticize in private. Spreading positivity on your team is good for everyone’s morale, including those who overhear the compliment. Corrections are better handled behind a closed door. Contrary to the 1980s movie, Glengarry Glen Ross, screaming “ALWAYS BE CLOSING” at staff doesn’t improve productivity. Be honest, but also kind.

Train them well. Give them the best shot at mastering tasks and feeling job satisfaction. Scenario-based learning via a software tool like ProcedureFlow, a cloud-based knowledge management solution, provides agents with a single source of truth for their procedural knowledge. ProcedureFlow helps agents accelerate time to proficiency from day one, with visual step-by-step procedures that help eliminate the need to memorize hundreds of process flows. Book a demo today.

  Have your agents’ backs. Their job isn’t easy. They’re on the front lines where any kinks in the chain are felt. Seek their input on ideas for improvements and efficiencies. If you’re able to offer incentives and bonuses, great. Raise their pay? Even better. Providing mental health support for those days when it’s a non-stop grind and customers have been rude to them might be the best of all. But even just letting staff know they’re valued goes a long way toward creating happy employees. And happy employees tend to want to stay.

There’s no question that call center recruitment is a challenge. But with some planning and strategies in place, plus scenario-based learning with the likes of ProcedureFlow at the ready, you’ll have a better chance of keeping new hires longer on the call center floor.

What are customer service skills?

Customer service skills are soft (empathy) and hard (software knowledge). They’re applied to new and existing front-facing customers in retail settings, on the phone, via written technology (FAQs, Chatbots). Their importance extends beyond customers, to others within the company. A customer-centric approach applied within the workplace helps to forge solid relationships with colleagues, too.

Because every client is different, customer service reps need a wide range of skills upon which to draw. One caller might test their patience by insisting on sharing inconsequential details while another is so quiet that details must be pulled out of them like a CSI investigator. Part of what puts the “skills” in customer service, is knowing when to act, react, ask questions, or wrap things up. The onus is always on the company’s representative for a successful interaction.

Excellent customer service is:

Fast. Callers don’t sit on hold and visitors aren’t left to stand around unacknowledged.

Personalized. Agents take care to individualize communication where possible.

Knowledgeable. Staff has immediate access to the organization’s knowledge bank.

Proactive. The course of the interaction relies on the rep knowing where to go next.

Why are customer service skills important?

The idiom “don’t paint everyone with the same brush” gets ignored entirely when it comes to customer service skills.

Every time an agent picks up a call, a server takes an order, or a retail employee helps someone, they are the brand of the company they’re working for—to that customer. Everything they say or do reflects upon the organization. That single brush gets stroked right across the board. It’s a delicate reality that we all face in a world where image and reputation are everything.

Companies rely on coaching to instill customer service skills and make them part of the onboarding process. But not all coaching programs are created equal. So-called soft skills aren’t one-and-done – they need refinement and practice. With the help of software tools, like ProcedureFlow , real-time coaching for customer service can cut down on training time and bring new hires to proficiency faster.

ProcedureFlow helps make it easier for your customer service professionals to simply follow the process flow to assist customers and provides them with the necessary information. So, your team can spend less time trying to figure out process info and more time focusing on fulfilling customer needs and honing soft skills.

8 essential customer service skills with examples

Serving the customer well requires mastery of each of the following skills:

Communication: Communication is the most important skill in customer service. If you can’t explain yourself well or aren’t able to understand the (sometimes fractured) explanations provided by customers, the other skills won’t matter much. Clear communication is an essential skill for anyone in any line of work. Say what you mean with as few cliches, acronyms, and trade-specific terms, as necessary. This also goes for interactions with colleagues and anyone else encountered while on the job.

Active Listening: An effective way to determine whether you’re using the active listening technique is to ask yourself whether you have a response ready to fire off as soon as the other person stops talking. If so, that’s the furthest away one can get from active listening. When an agent is genuinely using active listening, their response reflects what the customer has said to demonstrate that the other person has been fully heard. That can only happen after truly listening to everything they have to say before responding.

Patience: Slow talkers. Angry customers. Poor explainers. They all test our patience. It’s a principle of excellent customer service to remain calm and patient, even when frustration threatens to creep in. Regardless of their demeanour or attitude-- with some exceptions of course-- the customer needs to leave the exchange feeling respected and that their issue has been resolved.

Positivity: Maintaining a cheerful outlook is another soft skill that will help you reach a successful resolution with your customer. Even negative news can be delivered with a positive angle. Instead of, “we won’t have those widgets for another month”—which sounds negative—try, “those widgets will be back in stock in a few weeks, and I’ll be happy to call you once they’re in.” The positive spin delivers the same information with a helpful, optimistic tone.

Time Management: Call centers and most other types of companies deal in volume. While one customer’s issue is being handled, another is trying to get through. It’s a delicate balance between devoting the proper attention to each concern while maintaining an awareness of the passage of time. Pre- and post-call duties, note-taking, and other ancillary tasks must be juggled as well. This is an important skill to master.

Empathy: Developing and demonstrating empathy is of utmost importance to excellent customer service. With empathy, the agent puts themselves in the customer’s position and can fully understand why the issue or problem is important. Empathy propels the agent toward a resolution. Showing empathy is the opposite of gaslighting, where someone is made to feel that their concern doesn’t exist or isn’t significant.

Agility: The ability to pivot or change directions when the situation calls for it might mean you’ll follow your customer’s lead down whatever winding path they take you. Or it could mean that you’ll take the lead when it’s warranted and take them to a conclusion they can’t see yet. Either way, it requires staying light on your feet, metaphorically. Agility also applies to your technology. Can employees swivel quickly within the scope of your Knowledge Management  system? (Tip: With the help of ProcedureFlow’s software solution, they can!)

Problem solving: It’s imperative to uncover the “why” of a customer’s issue and to tenaciously stick with it until it’s resolved. Knowing the right questions to ask and which information to offer will lead to a successful outcome. Problem-solving incorporates all of the other customer service skills into one proficient package.

Customer service skills aren’t sidelined, wish-list attributes for those in your organization. They’re crucial. And they ought to be developed and used by everyone on the team to have the best opportunity to keep your current customers happy and attract new ones.

To find out how ProcedureFlow can help your employees reach proficiency faster, book a demo today

Why is call scripting important?

Call scripting is a vital part of optimum call center performance.

Everyone has their own ideas of what’s appropriate in an inbound or outbound calling situation. Instead of relying on their individual judgment, especially in the middle of a call when there’s no time to stop and ponder the situation, scripting helps keep agents on the company’s track of brand messaging and values.

When it’s created with the help of the organization’s leadership and staff superstars, call scripting boosts B players to A level in the moment. It helps ensure that a caller – your customer – receives the same high-level service regardless of the agent they reach. It helps concentrate the agent’s focus on the customer’s needs.

What are the benefits of call scripting?

Call scripting helps to ensure that your organization’s best practices are being utilized. It creates consistency across the floor and removes potentially grating or unprofessional language from the company lexicon. The scripting focuses on politeness, problem-solving, and creating an atmosphere in which the caller is assured that their needs can and will be met. This leads directly to an improved CSAT score.

Some industries are heavily regulated. Agents find it easier to maintain compliance when clearly worded messaging is put in front of them.

Call center script best practices and examples

Each of us has had an experience with poorly executed scripting. The only thing more excruciating than being on the receiving end of a badly delivered script is being the poor soul who’s stuck using a clunky, old-school collection of sentences they must attempt to perform.

The best call scripting is written in conversational language. It has been put to the test before going live, to bring any grammar issues and awkward wording out in the open where they can be fixed before it’s inflicted on a customer. Scripting is arranged in a logical order, with sections that serve as prompts for the direction the agent needs to go, based on the caller’s responses.

Excellent call scripting:

is clear and concise;

covers all possible bases including de-escalating potential objections and validating customer concerns;

provides thorough information without bogging down in minutiae;

is flexible and allows for redirection of the conversation; and

is adaptable and always evolving.

Call scripting provides templates for dialogue from the moment a caller is engaged until the call is disconnected. Here is an example of a scripted greeting:

Hello, and thanks for calling ABC. My name is Kevin. I'd like to let you know that this call may be recorded for quality and training purposes. How may I help you?

The greeting should avoid phrases such as “good morning” and “good afternoon” if callers are likely to connect from different time zones.

And here is an example of a closing script:

Is there anything else I can help you with? Thank you again for calling ABC. We’re happy to assist you anytime. Have a great day!

Pitfalls to avoid include words that convey negativity and uncertainty. Instead of a problem, it’s a challenge. Rather than, I’ll see what I can do, it’s I will take care of that for you.

Not all parts of every script are meant to be read verbatim. Sometimes, they can serve as a guide to take the agent where they need to go to resolve the call. Familiarity with the script is key for optimal agent performance. And a comprehensive script is vital.

What is call center scripting software?

A script is commonly thought of as a document, but traditional documents are problematic in a call center. They’re difficult to share and to keep current.

Because it’s based in the cloud, ProcedureFlow’s knowledge management solution is accessible to everyone anytime. It’s also agile. A suggestion for an update can be made, approved, and implemented within minutes—with no printing or scanning required. It’s all done within the program and ready to use as soon as it’s green-lit.

ProcedureFlow’s cloud-based knowledge management software displays call scripting within easy-to-follow color-coded flow charts. The flows not only guide the agent in terms of what to say, but also what to do. From the first hello to the final thank you, agents simply follow the flow to help manage each call with confidence.

Bonus? ProcedureFlow can also help make onboarding easier. New hires are able to reach proficiency faster because they will need less training time than with other training methods. Because ProcedureFlow lives in the cloud, trainees can run scenarios with the most up-to-date information that’s simultaneously being used live on the call center floor. There’s no need to employ one form of technology for training and another one on the job. ProcedureFlow handles it all as your organization’s single source of truth for their procedural knowledge.

To find out how ProcedureFlow can help your employees reach proficiency faster, book a demo today

 What is customer service coaching?

Coaching is different from training, although they’re obviously related. All new hires go through a training period that has a definite start and end date. Training typically puts several people with one or two trainers. Coaching is one-on-one and continuous.

Customer service coaching is typically led by a QA analyst, a CX manager, or the customer service supervisor. In addition to honing skills, coaching helps to maintain the agent’s attention on—and execution of—best practices when dealing with customers. Like a football player watching a video of a game to figure out how they gave up the ball, customer service coaching isn’t only about the moment of surrender. It considers all the steps that lead to it—where the play went right or wrong—and builds on the parts that went right.

Coaching used to involve leaning over the shoulder of a call center agent or meeting them in a physical location. Remote work has all but rendered the in-person coach extinct.

Why is customer service coaching important?

Every customer interaction offers the opportunity to be a bit of a superhero in that person’s day. When we solve a problem and scratch an item off the customer’s To-Do list, we’re Wonder Woman or Superman for a moment. Truth, justice, and eliminating the need to call back!

The importance and cost-savings of keeping customers happy are well known. Improved First Call Resolution (FCR) leads to an improved Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score which results in higher customer retention. But what about turning customers into brand fans? Priceless! A client who has brand loyalty is your company’s best supporter. Customer service superstars create brand advocates by treating them with consistent excellence. Coaching for customer service helps bring agents to the peak of their performance level—and helps keep them there.

What are the benefits of coaching for customer service?

Customer service is that special something that sets high-performing organizations apart from the rest of the pack. It’s a competitive advantage that everyone wants, but not all attain.

We can’t overstate the value of customer retention. Happy customers speak well of their experience and others pay attention.

There are internal benefits to coaching that also affect budgets and team morale. According to Indeed.com, happier employees who feel they’re making a difference are more likely to remain loyal to the company. Coaching can slow employee turnover. Team members gain improved skills, which gives them confidence. A culture where everyone is striving for excellence creates a sense of team spirit.

What is real-time coaching and how does it work?

If an NFL coach could be on the field while a big play is underway, directing the quarterback away from where he’s certain to get sacked – that’s real-time coaching. Real-time customer service coaching is similar; however, a helmet is optional.

In real-time coaching, the coach “sits in” on a live call and offers guidance to the agent. Using ProcedureFlow as a coaching and training tool, helps make the practice even easier. With the help of this software tool, agents simply follow the flow and are guided through the processes. ProcedureFlow provides a single source of truth that all agents and coaches can access at any time, whether they’re under the same roof or working remotely.    

The top 8 tips on coaching for customer service

Set an agenda: Some employees experience a full-body shiver at the thought of a one-on-one with anyone, let alone someone who’s going to discuss their job performance. Make the intention of coaching crystal clear. The goal is to improve customer relations across the entire team. It’s not personal, and no one’s being singled out or needs to feel threatened. Keep it focused on the topics.

Create a schedule: Regular coaching sessions are key, whether they’re done weekly, annually, or somewhere in between. A predictable routine can alleviate stress and help solidify expectations.

Make it a two-way street: Ask the employee to come with their own questions or concerns about customer service. Create a judgment- and defensiveness-free zone where all issues can be addressed. It isn’t about finding fault; it’s about discovering ways forward that improve the customer experience.

Explain “why.”: Because I Said So School of Management closed during the Mad Men era. Engaged employees feel they’re part of a team that’s doing things for the good of the company which is, in turn, good for everyone. Share the bigger picture with them.

Base feedback on evidence, not opinion: A great coach prepares with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), company goals, and other concrete data to measure against performance. We’re all familiar with the incoming call preamble: “Calls may be recorded for training purposes.” Use them! Real-life examples, such as those provided by using a software tool like ProcedureFlow, simplify and shorten coaching and training.

Micro-coach: Seize moments between meetings where a little coaching could help a team member. Why make a note for the future when a brief aside resets the course immediately? This requires a high level of awareness and a gentle but firm touch when it comes to dispensing tips.

Set clear next steps: Leave no guesswork about expectations and offer them in short-term windows that are easy to manage. Look at comparing days before weeks, weeks before months, and months before years. Track incremental improvements much like the adage, “Watch the costs and the profits will take care of themselves.”

Make it fun: Work is important, no question. And profits and losses are serious business. But frankly, you’re not doing pediatric brain surgery. So why not have a little fun while you’re working on bettering yourselves? An incentive program tied to performance doesn’t have to cost big bucks. It can range from small monetary bonuses to recognition to a fun freebie. Plus, a little healthy competition never hurts.

Everyone needs a little guidance and a course correction from time to time—and customer service coaching is the key. Coaching for customer service helps your team reach and maintain maximum performance that directly impacts CX. And that’s what being in business is all about.

To find out how ProcedureFlow can help your employees reach proficiency faster, book a demo today.

What is a probing question?

Whether it’s Oprah, Howard Stern, or Anderson Cooper, the most effective interviewers use probing questions. The best practice for extracting information is to ask plenty of questions that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. Most probing questions require a fuller answer. However, yes/no questions can also probe when they’re used strategically.

A probing question requests more details or further clarification. It requires asking the person to expand on their original statement and go deeper into the heart of a matter. The aim is to gather enough data to inform the best way forward to fix the problem accurately and quickly.

Asking these questions also prevents bias from sneaking in and leading to making assumptions before gathering all the data.

However, these inquiries must be posed thoughtfully, or they can do more damage than good to customer relations. For example, asking why is not recommended unless it’s used to clarify. Asking why can imply blame, as if the caller is responsible for the problem. They’re not the expert, so they’ve called one. Agents must make an effort to avoid putting callers on the defensive. Doing so will inevitably create friction.

Why are probing questions important in customer service?

Probing questions keep the conversation going and shift the focus from problem to solution.  Excellent customer service demands that the onus for solving a challenge must transfer to the contact center agent. This way, the customer feels the relief of handing the burden over.

Empathy in customer service plays a significant role in creating that sense of support. So does patience, allowing the customer to explain the situation and pinpointing what’s needed to resolve it. However, probing questions help to lead the conversation toward the information that agents need to reach that resolution.

Having one source of truth that’s immediately accessible to agents instills confidence. ProcedureFlow, a cloud-based Knowledge Management solution, can make it easier for your customer service professionals to simply follow the process flow to assist customers. So, your team can spend less time trying to figure out process info and more time focusing on fulfilling customer needs.

Four types of probing questions in customer service

Probing questions in customer service fall into four broad categories.

Leading questions: These are designed to take the conversation to a predetermined place. For example, when trying to upsell or cross-sell products and services: What product/service/features are most important to you?

Confirming questions: In some cases, this is as simple as repeating the customer’s information back to them and asking whether you understood them correctly. This helps make the customer feel valued and heard.

Exploratory/Open questions: These questions encourage the caller to expand on their original explanation. When did (problem) begin? Can you tell me more about it?

Funnel questions: This category of probing questions is meant to move the conversation from general information (the top of the funnel) to specifics (the bottom of the funnel) so you can hone in on the issue.

Funnel questions

Let’s dive a little deeper into Funnel Questions.

As you can see, the funnel effect begins with Exploratory/Open Questions. To answer, the caller must give details in a free-form way. These questions cannot be answered with a simple yes or a no. They’re used to gather initial details.

In the center are Probing Questions. Use these when answers to Exploratory Questions aren’t drilling down to the core of the issue.

At the bottom of the funnel are Closed Questions. This is where a range of choices is offered, and the caller must choose one. Example: “I have three spots open for a technician visit on that date. Which one would you like?”

This funnel is an excellent outline for extracting information that leads to a successful outcome. But, as the great rock band 38 Special once sang, “Hold on Loosely.” It’s not carved in granite. There will be times when sprinkling in a variety of types of queries is proper before the bottom of the funnel is reached and a resolution is achieved.

When should you ask a probing question?

Whenever you need more detailed information.

Probing questions should be introduced when:

The customer isn’t explaining the issue fully and you need specifics.

You want to get to—and past—the customer’s emotions. For example, to figure out the impact on the customer. And to focus a clearly frustrated customer on the fact that you will solve their problem once you understand it.

You want to build rapport.

Deciding how and when to use probing questions is a skill that contact center agents can develop. With the help of ProcedureFlow, employees are able to access the right information, at the right time, and in any location. This means customer needs are put first and addressed in the most professional and cost-effective manner possible.

The top 12 probing questions in customer service

Variations on the following list of questions may apply, depending on the product or service offered.

What was your main reason for calling us today? (Particularly helpful if the caller has a list of complaints or demands.)

Could you give me an example?

How long has this been an issue?

When did you first notice the problem?

Has this happened before?

What have you already done to try to solve the issue?

What effect has this had on you?

Can we circle back to …? (If the customer skips an important detail that needs revisiting.)

Can you provide a bit more detail on that?

When you say … what do you mean?

What is your ideal outcome from calling today?

Is there anything else I can help you with today?

For quicker resolution of customer service issues, make probing questions part of your agents’ toolkit. To find out how ProcedureFlow can help your employees reach proficiency faster, book a demo today.

What is a Subject Matter Expert?

A Subject Matter Expert definition is the same for any discipline in any industry. An SME is a person who has vast knowledge of a particular topic. 

Many of your employees and managers know a little about a lot of things. Top performers tend to have one area in which they excel. That makes them an SME. You can also outsource an SME, as the photographic company above is now painfully aware.

An SME is the person to consult for a deeper dive into a single subject. The SME knows more than most people about the matter, and they make it their mission to stay up to date on the latest developments. Their insight is organic. It is something they enjoy or are drawn to out of genuine interest. They might have earned an advanced degree or special certification related to the topic and/or acquired years of experience with it. 

Who are considered Subject Matter Experts in a contact center?

We all know someone who has reserved a corner of their brain for all the stats and the smallest details about the history of their favorite team. They are a Subject Matter Expert. Unfortunately, unless they are a sports commentator, their expertise is only useful for trivia contests.

In a contact center, SMEs are the go-to experts in a highly specific area. Their knowledge might be narrow, but it is deep. 

For example, Joshua knows your processes inside and out. Team members always take their process questions to him. Rubina’s knowledge of the complex phone system is as precise as if she designed it herself. Word gets around that Rubina has the answers on that topic. 

Ask your employees who they go to with questions and on what topic. Some people have a natural aptitude that can be used to benefit everyone else. You must get to know your team on a deeper level to discover the SMEs you already have. 

What does a Subject Matter Expert do in a contact center?

An SME in a contact center becomes a de-facto (or actual) Assistant Manager whose knowledge supports training and knowledge transfer. They can add their expertise to develop the center’s onboarding program, improve and streamline workflows, contribute to the organization’s collective knowledge, and ultimately lead to increased efficiency. 

One of the biggest challenges a call center faces is extracting and transferring the knowledge of an SME to a platform that everyone can find when they need it. Even if everyone needs it at the same time. This is where physical and even online sources of knowledge reveal their limitations. 

ProcedureFlow, a cloud software solution, takes the information from the brains of your best people and brings it into a centralized, highly consumable format to be accessed by your entire team. Knowledge is currency, so you should spend it on everyone, including new hires. Fresh recruits become experts even faster when the expertise of SMEs is utilized via ProcedureFlow. The cloud-based solution can reduce training time by up to  75%  and shorten the road from rookie to proficiency by half. 

What is the most important role of Subject Matter Experts

The most valuable thing your SMEs can do is either help streamline workflows, assist with training, or both. 

SMEs are a valuable resource you can tap when organizing information and mapping processes. Getting the information right for your customer the first time is vital to your organization’s success. A deeper understanding of your customers’ key issues and coming to a quick resolution will undoubtedly drive up your First Call Resolution (FCR) rate.

When it comes to training, SMEs have a wide breadth of experience to draw from. They’ve faced all the problems and complications the trainee is likely to encounter and can share best practices. When your SME’s knowledge is paired with ProcedureFlow, you’ll give your team a fast track to expertise and your company will have a competitive edge. 

The benefits of Contact Center SMEs

Discovering an SME on your staff is a bit like getting a gift-with-purchase. In addition to performing their regular duties, the SME offers the bonus of being an in-house resource that has a wealth of knowledge.

Ideally, every call center agent should be an expert, or on their way there. This goal is achievable, at least approachable, when the expertise of your SMEs is shared with everyone on the team.

SMEs also prove their importance by handling and advising on escalated calls that deal with their subject area. They can be utilized as advisor and mentors, especially when onboarding new hires.

So, what’s in it for them? Why should an SME want to contribute to the team? To gain recognition--something that’s sorely lacking in many workplaces. And, to stand out as potential candidates to become team leads and managers.

How best to share the knowledge of your SMEs with the rest of the team

SMEs are made, not born. Their natural tendencies can be nurtured and developed. Focus on cultivating SMEs in areas in which you would like your organization to be stronger. One of the biggest challenges faced by organizations is not that of identifying SMEs. It is capturing the SME’s wisdom and sharing it with the rest of the team. 

The solution is simple. Pair your company’s SMEs with SMEs at ProcedureFlow. They are experts on the subject of gathering your processes into an easy-to-use, intuitive, cloud-based software that all team members can access simultaneously. Results experienced by companies like yours, speak for themselves.

To find out how ProcedureFlow can help your employees reach proficiency faster, book a demo today.

What is First Call Resolution (FCR)?

First Call Resolution (FCR) is the rate at which your agents can resolve a customer’s inquiry or problem during the first, and therefore only call.  

There isn’t one widely accepted method for tracking FCR.  

Calculation One: # of calls resolved on first attempt/# of calls received. 

Calculation Two: # of calls resolved on first attempt/# of first calls received.

Both calculations will result in useful data, but the second one is the most meaningful. It’s comparing apples to apples, instead of apples to bananas. You can break it down further by determining the reasons or issues involved in the first calls that did or did not get resolved. 

Some contact centers rely on their agents to keep track of their first calls plus the results to determine FCR from that data. This can be as simple as asking at the call’s end, “Did I resolve your issue today?” Others use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, however, that approach has its flaws. A customer might make a first call from their cell and call again later from a work phone or another number. 

Another means of assessing FCR is using a post-call survey that asks the customer to confirm whether they will need to call again. 

Whatever way you choose to track it, a general industry benchmark for FCR is 70–75%.  

Why is First Call Resolution important?

FCR is widely viewed as the most important Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for a contact center to track. This is arguable; however, it does have a direct impact on Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), your reputation, and your bottom line.

Surveys show that 20% of previously loyal customers will leave a brand after a single negative experience. That number jumps to 86% in reaction to two bad experiences. What constitutes a bad experience? Having to call back to deal with an issue or get the answer to a question that they believe should have been resolved in the first call. According to contact center advisors, many customers place a high value on FCR.

Using ProcedureFlow is one way to lead to an improved FCR. The platform provides an easy-to-access, deep knowledge base, hosted in the cloud and instantly available to agents.

ProcedureFlow makes it easier for your customer service professionals to simply follow the process flow to assist customers and provides them with the info they need. So, your team can spend less time trying to figure out process info and more time focusing on fulfilling customer needs.

For instance, Medavie Blue Cross experienced a 6% higher FCR rate after switching to ProcedureFlow, and escalations from the contact center to Tier 2 support were reduced by 40%.

Benefits of Improved First Call Resolution

Your customers are comfortable handling their own life challenges. They’re booking complex trips via apps, creating home-delivered meal menus online, and decorating their houses by visualizing potential purchases with their smartphones— all without contacting another human being. Attention spans are shorter than ever, and expectations are higher than ever. You can win their hearts and minds—or more specifically, their business and dollars—by turning what’s perceived as a chore (the call) into another checkmark of completion on their to-do list. 

Here are just a few benefits of improving FCR:

Slowing customer churn: Satisfied customers stay with you. As all business leaders are painfully aware, customer acquisition is expensive. Customer retention is priceless.

Sales opportunities: A customer who already likes you is more likely to make another purchase from you or your partners. They’re a much better bet for future sales than starting cold.

Improved employee satisfaction: A satisfied employee, one who feels they’re making a difference, is less likely to leave. Employee turnover also costs the company a lot of money.

First Call Resolution Best Practices

Remove barriers between your agents and vital information. To complete the call the first time, call center agents need the proper tools. If they’re spending time searching through a patchwork of information, the waiting customer is growing frustrated by the delay. Give agents a single source of truth that they can find in an instant with ProcedureFlow.

Improve agent training. ProcedureFlow makes agents experts faster. Scenario-based learning with ProcedureFlow develops muscle memory when it comes to handling real calls. There’s nothing more effective.

Include the team. Empower your team to share ideas. Welcome their input. After all, they’re on the front lines, experiencing any roadblocks to achieving a better FCR rate. Allow them to contribute to dismantling those roadblocks.

Track it. You’ll need a baseline from which to show progress. Using one of the methods mentioned above, determine your current FCR and set a goal for where you’d like it to be.

Tips for Improving First Call Resolution

Achieving an improved FCR starts from the ground up with questions to ask of your organization.

Do we have barriers that prevent our agents from accessing crucial information quickly? Is any of our information siloed?

Have we designed our processes to require minimal effort from customers? Have we shifted the burden off them and onto ourselves? Do we make customers feel valued and welcome?

Are the right staff members in place? Are they maintaining positivity and resilience with our customers? Do they know how to find what they need? Are we training them properly and refreshing their training from time to time? Do they feel confident that they can do the job, and if not, have we listened to their reasons why and considered implementing their suggestions?

Do we have deep insight into what our customers want? Are we evaluating our processes on a regular basis to keep pace with changing customer needs?

Would anyone like to bring donuts to share for Donut Fridays? Just an idea we’re throwing out there.

Conclusion

Your organization’s FCR rate is a crucial KPI. ProcedureFlow is a game-changer when it comes to increasing this metric. Talk to an expert to find out how this cloud-based knowledge management software can improve First Call Resolution rates for call centers like yours.

To find out how ProcedureFlow can help your employees reach proficiency faster, book a demo today.

Empathy and compassion are often mistaken for each other. They’re related but not the same. 

Empathy is felt on the inside. It’s feeling another person’s feelings. An ability to put yourself in their situation, perhaps from having previously been there yourself. 

Compassion is action on the outside. It’s giving money to a homeless person without having a personal connection to homelessness. It arises from a desire to help a person in obvious need.

There is a type of empathy that has compassion folded into it. Read on for more.

Why is it important to have empathy in business?

Empathy might not be the first soft skill you think of when it comes to success in business, but it does bring benefits inside and outside the organization. With empathy, you put yourself in your customer’s (or employee’s) place and consider what that would feel like. It will help you understand what it will take to deal with their issue or concern to their satisfaction.

Empathy is important in any workplace, but especially in a call center where every second spent with a customer is crucial. Empathizing with a customer’s predicament puts you on a fast track to solving their problem. 

Psychologists have broken empathy down into three distinct types: Cognitive, Emotional, and Compassionate. 

Cognitive empathy is understanding how another person feels and how they might think. It occurs on an intellectual level.

Emotional empathy goes beyond identifying another person’s emotions to feeling them too. 

Compassionate Empathy is when you progress from feeling to acting. It’s doing something for the person for whom you feel empathy. For example, you might cook a meal for a friend recovering from an illness. However, you’re not likely to make dinner for a customer. Although, who wouldn’t love that?!

What is empathy in customer service?

Many of us think we know how we would react to a situation. But playing it out in our imagination is much different than experiencing it in real life. So, not only is it important to have empathy, but it’s also vital to listen carefully and respond empathetically to what’s being said. Assumptions are useful, but they’re not blueprints.

It’s also critical to notice what your customer is not saying. Information gaps offer opportunities to ask questions and make suggestions. The tone and intensity of the customer’s voice also indicate the level of anxiety or frustration they’re feeling.

Why is empathy important in customer service?

Showing empathy in customer service can create an emotional bond between the customer and the brand. It can diffuse anger and promote trust in the company. It also produces a sense of transference of the issue from the customer to the agent. This lessens the burden on the customer, which is one of the reasons they’re making the call.

How does empathy affect customer satisfaction?

The customer experience is everything.

Each call is an opportunity to establish goodwill and retain a customer’s business. They won’t tolerate feeling like they’re being viewed as only a number on a spreadsheet. When they have a concern, they want it taken seriously and resolved by someone who’s equally invested in finding the solution. Showing empathy can mean the difference between keeping their business and having them flee to another company they perceive as more understanding.

Having to speak to multiple representatives is a major source of customer dissatisfaction. How can there be empathy when the caller is being passed around like meatballs at a potluck? With ProcedureFlow, a cloud-based Knowledge Management solution, agents simply follow the flow through any type of call. As processes are instantly available to them, agents can spend less time seeking information and more time honing soft skills such as empathy. Plus, ensuring your team has the answers they need, helps boost agent autonomy and reduces escalations.

How do you show empathy in a call center?

Showing empathy starts with feeling it. It’s a bit like adding a new routine to a workout. At first, you’re checking to make sure everything’s in place: elbows straight, feet together, shoulders back. But after a while, you develop muscle memory and do it unconsciously.

To dig deep into the empathy well, an agent should ask themselves the following questions:

How would I feel if I were experiencing their issue?

What would I want to happen in this situation?

What would make me feel heard and valued? 

What would be my biggest worry if the issue weren’t dealt with?

How would I want the problem resolved?

What’s a reasonable length of time to expect a resolution?

What are some examples of empathy for a call center?

When a customer presents an issue, it’s not enough to understand them, the agent must also demonstrate that understanding. 

Respond with a comment such as: “I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this.” Repeat or mirror their issue back to them by saying something like: “If I’m understanding the problem correctly …” Instill confidence with a statement like: “We can fix this for you.” These empathetic responses make the customer feel heard and that the agent is on their side. 

Sometimes, customers can seem quite agitated. (The understatement of the year?!) It’s important to not take their comments personally. Maintaining a sense of composure and focusing on the core issue—the problem that needs solving—is critical to a positive experience for the customer. Remembering to show empathy can help with that. 

In a world that deals with hard numbers, a soft business skill like empathy might get overlooked. But it’s worth the time and attention it takes to ensure empathy in customer service is part of your agents’ best practices. It’s part of the human connection that proves to your customer that they’re important to you and that the relationship matters. 

To find out how ProcedureFlow can help your employees reach proficiency faster, book a demo today.

What is CSAT?

CSAT is a metric used to determine a call center’s customer satisfaction score. CX affects the CSAT, while the CSAT reveals the CX. An excellent CX is what keeps you in business. When the customer is happy, it trickles down like a chocolate fountain to affect every other layer of the operation.

How do you measure CSAT?

It’s as simple as asking your customers a variation of one question: Are you satisfied with the service you received? The answer is most often given as a ranking between 1–10, where seven and over are considered positive responses. If you’re not asking customers what it’s been like to deal with your organization, you’re missing opportunities to improve and retain them.

Some centers have scripted this question into the back end of the call, just before disconnecting. Others follow up with a separate call, text, or email. More detailed surveys can help pinpoint a trouble spot. For example, focusing on the agent’s ability to zero in on the issue, solve the issue, etc. Multiple choice questions can include the length of time spent waiting for an agent, time spent on hold, and other key metrics.

A comment box where customers can expand on their kudos or complaints is also appreciated by them and will give you more insight into their experience.

What is a good CSAT score?

In the call center industry, a good CSAT falls between 75–85%. Few centers achieve a higher ranking.

How to calculate CSAT score

In order to determine your CSAT score, divide the number of positive responses by the total number of responses and multiply the result by 100. You'll end up with the percentage of satisfied customers that you can either brag about or work to improve.

For example, if you received 34 positive responses out of 50 surveys: 


34/50 = .68 x 100 = 68% CSAT

That's a pretty good score. Two out of every three customers say they're satisfied. But there's also room for improvement.

Factors that affect your CSAT

The most important factor in customer satisfaction is Average Handling Time (AHT). That’s the length of time that passes between the agent’s greeting and when the call has ended. (Managers may also factor in post-call tasks such as note-taking, of which the customer is unaware.) 

If a customer perceives that their time is being wasted, their satisfaction diminishes the longer it continues. It’s essential that your AHT is as low as possible, as long as it coincides with a resolution to the reason for the call. AHT is the number one complaint affecting poor CX.

First Call Resolution (FCR) is another crucial metric that leads directly to dissatisfaction. It frustrates customers when they must call back repeatedly before their issues are resolved. A low FCR is a clear signal that there’s a problem. Figure out what types of calls are being resolved with a single touchpoint and which ones aren’t and you’ll be on your way to plugging this information leak. 

Reduce time on hold, call transfers, and anything else that eats up precious minutes or puts a burden on the caller. Offering to call the customer back once an agent is free is preferable for most people over having to hit redial a dozen times. 

How to improve your CSAT score

In the same way that eating a healthy diet is necessary to encourage flawless skin and lustrous hair, to improve CX from the outside, you must start with the inside. These methods for improving your CSAT score are simultaneous tips to improve CX. The two go together like PB & J. 

Optimize Knowledge Management. AHT, FCR, time on hold, transfers, and other important metrics all come back to the ease with which agents can access information or, conversely, the barriers that prevent them from doing so. Software tools like ProcedureFlow, a cloud-based knowledge management solution that provides agents with a single source of truth for their procedural knowledge, can help in this regard.

Invest in training. Improved training doesn’t have to come with a bigger price tag or lengthier training schedules. In fact, with ProcedureFlow, training time shrinks, and new agents onboard faster. Refreshers are simpler to implement, too. 

Scenario-based learning, such as that offered with ProcedureFlow, has become the go-to instruction method for new hires in call centers. Telling agents how to respond can’t equal the impact of having them experience it. The advantages are numerous, from better information retention to developing confidence. And there’s the empathy factor. Walk a mile in the customer’s shoes, or, in this case, spend some time in the black hole of being put on hold. 

Use CSAT and Act on It. It’s one thing to collect data. It’s another to make it useful. Customers don’t complain without cause. 

Once you have CX input, it’s just as important to make changes based on the results to address common complaints. That may mean setting aside biases about how well you perceive that the organization functions. 

Familiarize Yourself with the CX. Call your own call center as a customer, and then call others. 

Compare how you fare, whether the agents seem confident in providing answers, if you’re put on hold for a long time, and whether the call is personalized. You may come away with tips to improve your operation. You might also discover that your agents are doing a better job than those who work for competitors. 

What makes a good CX?

When it comes to pleasing customers, you’re starting with a deficit. Frankly, they’d rather not be saddled with whatever issue it is they need to be resolved. And they may have had a poor customer service experience in the past, either with your center or somewhere else. That experience makes them apprehensive. But instead of viewing it as a negative, it’s your opportunity to exceed their expectations.

What are CX best practices? They’re every detail mentioned above that can be summed up in one age-old sentence: treat customers the way you’d like to be treated. It’s old-school advice that hasn’t wavered since the days when the only phones in existence were tethered to walls. Respect the customer’s time, focus on their needs, and your CSAT score will rise. Book a demo today.

What is operational excellence?

Your organization reaches Operational Excellence when it’s functioning perfectly in all areas.

Agents are handling calls in a professional, timely way. They have immediate access to the information they need in order to expertly do their job. Their workflows make sense. The processes they follow are complete and have no unnecessary steps or gaps. Their input about the job, including suggestions for improvements, is sought-after and valued.

At Operational Excellence, customers are satisfied that their issue was managed without unwarranted delays and that they won’t need to call again about the same issue. Customer feedback is requested and highly regarded. As the customer’s needs evolve, the organization modifies its processes to meet or exceed those needs. After an interaction with the call center, the customer is assured that its top priority is providing consistently excellent service.

Management is constantly looking for ways to streamline operations that create optimal efficiency and cost savings, in a sustainable manner. Customer and employee feedback is analyzed and acted upon accordingly, in order to eliminate waste of time and money. Profits are up. Complaints are down. The organization is well-positioned to weather any challenges that may arise.

What is the difference between process excellence and operational excellence?

If you needed to create files for both terms, Operational Excellence would be the main folder, and Process Excellence would be one of its sub-folders.

Process Excellence is one of the areas that needs to be functioning perfectly for Operational Excellence to occur. You have process excellence when your processes are up-to-date and living in technology that’s fast, functional, and everyone knows how to use. Many contact centers make do with a patchwork of processes spread across several platforms. “Making do” is not “excellent.” Such centers are leaking time and money.

Operational Excellence is itself a process. Like all processes, it requires regular reviews in order to maintain it. Otherwise, it’s like losing 50 pounds and then eating only donuts. You still need salads in your diet if you’re going to keep wearing skinny jeans.

Why is operational excellence important?

It’s important if you place a high value on profitability, want to attract and retain talent, and promote agility in case of shifts in market trends. It’s also important if you want satisfied customers, prime efficiency, and to maintain a competitive edge as you seek to grow.

Show of hands? It’s unanimous. Everyone places significance on those attributes.

Organizations that strive for Operational Excellence adopt a “go big or go home” philosophy.

Some companies can rise to an acceptable level of success without devoting much effort toward achieving Operational Excellence. But they’re putting themselves at risk if something changes in the marketplace. By not constantly reviewing and improving all aspects of operations, they’re left vulnerable to the arrival of a new competitor, an adjustment to labor laws, a shift in the economy, a pandemic, or a number of other factors.

What are some of the key factors that make a contact center successful?

Your team working at optimal efficiency

A sole source of truth the team can access with minimal effort and delay

A consistently excellent customer experience

It’s true that lots of happy and loyal customers equal success. But you can’t make customers happy without a team that’s focused on the customer’s needs. And the team can’t focus on the customer’s needs unless they’re able to solve problems without delay via reliable technology.

Start with the internal team and the customers will follow. It goes beyond motivating agents with goals and competitive salaries. Although those are important, you must also provide agents with access to resources that support their efforts. Employee turnover is a fact in this industry, but greater work satisfaction slows that roll.

Give agents the confidence to perform well with a tool that onboards them faster and improves reaction time. Eliminate redundancies and coalesce critical data by making it accessible with the click of a mouse. ProcedureFlow  is a cloud-based knowledge management solution. The solution converts organizations’ processes and information into an accessible easy-to-use management tool to be used by employees. On average, clients have experienced an 11% reduction in operating costs and 75% shorter training times after partnering with ProcedureFlow.

How to achieve operational excellence

Here are three simple steps that any call center can follow to achieve Operational Excellence:

Provide Easy Access to Information: Every second counts on a call. It’s essential that agents have the right information available with one click. Audit the tools your agents are currently using to determine where access to information is siloed and strongly consider transitioning to a single platform in the cloud, such as ProcedureFlow.

Keep Processes Up-to-date: Scribbled updates on documents, a constant trickle of emails, or even worse, counting on someone’s memory to keep track of updates can’t match a thorough, formal review of all processes, and a commitment to regularly maintain them.

Seek Agent Feedback: No news from the call center floor isn’t necessarily good news. Agents don’t voluntarily come forward for a variety of reasons. Ask those on the front lines to identify gaps and make suggestions for improvements. With ProcedureFlow, managers can approve suggestions with one click and instantly give everyone the latest update. Consider a monthly reward for the agent with the best idea.

Achieving Operational Excellence might seem like a lofty goal, but it’s possible. It’s also preferable in this era of heavy competition for market share, to attract and keep good talent as a strategy to improve your organization’s agility and resilience. White chocolate needs cacao to truly fit the definition of chocolate. Buffalos don’t have wings. But Operational Excellence is definitely within reach. Book a demo today.

What is average handle time?

AHT determines how long it takes to deal with incoming calls, including all the work that’s related to them. 

It’s an average of the time between connecting to the call, disconnection, post-call activity, or wrap directly associated with the call. This includes talk time, and any time the caller spent on hold.

Why is average handle time important?

AHT is one of the most important measurements for a call center to track. So, it’s one of the industry’s most analyzed Key Performance Indicators  (KPIs), along with first call resolution rates and customer satisfaction scores. Results of calculating AHT reveal the state of a call center’s overall efficiency, each agent’s individual performance, and areas where improvements are needed. The conclusion can even help predict future staffing needs. 

According to HubSpot research, 33% of customers are most frustrated by having to wait on hold. A shorter AHT means more customers getting through quicker, with less time spent waiting in a queue. Customers truly hate to wait, so reaching an agent faster contributes to a better experience and a higher likelihood of retaining them.

On the receiving end, agents are more productive when they don’t have to spend as much time with each caller. Reducing wait times and skillfully managing calls is simply good for business, inside and out.

How is average handle time calculated?

The formula:

Total Talk Time + Time on Hold + Wrap Time              Total # of Calls Handled                  =  AHT Let’s look at contact center agent Mimran’s work last Friday. Mimran took 16 calls that day. He spent 46 minutes on talk time and put customers on hold for a total of two minutes. He spent six minutes on post-call wraps. 46 + 2 + 6 (54) 16        =  3.4 Mimran spent an average of 3.4 minutes on each call. Now, let’s check Hannah’s AHT. Hannah took 11 calls. Her talk time was 48 minutes and callers spent four minutes on hold. She spent eight minutes on call wraps. 48 + 4 + 8 (60)  11       = 5.4 Although Hannah’s AHT is significantly longer than Mimran’s, does that mean he’s doing a better job than she is? Let’s find out.

What is a good average handle time?

Your customers prefer to not have to call at all. But once they accept that it’s necessary, they’re hoping to spend as little time as possible with you. No offense.

Measured in minutes, a good AHT lasts about six. That will vary depending on the industry and the complexity of the calls. Telecommunications calls take a little longer, and financial services calls are a bit shorter. But on average, six minutes is a good, general benchmark according to Call Centre Helper.

So, Mimran and Hannah are both handling calls within the acceptable range. There are a host of reasons why your organization’s average handle time is longer. The good news is, that they’re all rectifiable.

If agents aren’t fully trained before they affix their headsets, they’ll take more time to find information. Confidence is key: in their training and their knowledge management system. Training doesn’t need to be lengthy to be effective. But it does need to be comprehensive. Since training and onboarding new hires is an ongoing process, any kink in the chain will add to AHT and expenses.

An outdated knowledge base such as information buried in unwieldy text documents, or several resources on different platforms, will contribute to a longer AHT. If access to answers is limited in any way, callers will have time to write their lyrics to your on-hold music while agents scramble behind the scenes.

There’s a legitimate concern that pressure to shorten AHTs could be counterproductive. If agents rush the call and don’t resolve the issue, the customer will need to call again. That serves no one. The goal should be to complete the call in an optimal period, not just get customers off the phone. Although the ability to offer concise information is an important attribute for an efficient agent to possess, some agents like to engage a caller in a little friendly banter. Rapport can go a long way toward customer satisfaction, even when it takes a little longer.

  How to reduce average handle time

Now, in an American Idol-style countdown, here are three simple tips to effectively lower AHT:

3.  Improve training. 

With ProcedureFlow, new hires are ready to go solo faster. ProcedureFlow is a cloud-based knowledge management solution that consolidates information into a single source of truth. Using scenario-based training, trainees practice with live calls so they only need to rely on muscle memory once they’re taking them for real. Training time shortens and results improve, simultaneously.

  2. Create more effective processes. 

Cumbersome text documents or a patchwork of systems is so last century. Gather all information into one easy-to-use platform that’s instantly accessible to everyone. Sound daunting? Experts at ProcedureFlow will help guide you through the creation of a single source of information that acts as a GPS or roadmap for your current systems.

  1. Remove barriers to finding information fast. 

Changes that impact your workforce can come in many forms. Some of the most common are organizational (altering the managerial structure), acquisitional (merging, purchasing another company, or being sold), and physical (moving to another building). Others, like new software or a shift in priorities, affect employees more directly, modifying how they perform their day-to-day tasks.

Change Management Planning addresses hindrances before they happen. It ensures a smoother flow as your company transforms from its current circumstance to its future, improved state of being.

We’ll break down the most effective approach to a major workplace transformation with a guide to change management, and seven helpful ways to engage employees.

What is change management?

Change Management is how organizations prepare, support, and help employees to perform and deliver expected results during times of change. Sometimes, making a change in an organization can seem like attempting a U-turn with a loaded tractor-trailer. But a sure path to jack-knifing is to unilaterally implement fundamental changes and merely hope they are accepted and catch on.

Let’s say you’ve decided to toss out the old workplace binder and join other organizations that have upgraded to the ease of using ProcedureFlow for managing their processes and procedures. ProcedureFlow is a cloud-based knowledge management solution. It allows agents to instantly access the right information as they navigate a wide variety of standard operating procedures. You have wisely decided it’s a valuable tool that will improve productivity and, the bottom line. 

Now you must decide the best way to inform your staff. Remembering the outcry when you replaced the break room coffee provider causes you to pause before acting. You don’t want to go through that near mutiny again. And this is change on a much bigger scale. (Although we mustn’t undervalue the importance of access to good coffee.)

Change Management is the strategy you should use to roll out the information about the upcoming improvement, manage it as it’s put into practice, and monitor its use and effectiveness. Change Management Planning is the antidote to “springing it” on your staff and expecting them to respond in a positive way. By actively managing the change and inviting consultation, you will virtually guarantee buy-in from the team. 

What is a change management plan?

A change management plan is a roadmap to guide your organization from concept through execution and gauge the results of your desired change. It begins with who’s responsible, sometimes called a sponsor of the change. And it carries through the steps for implementation followed by analyzing metrics that prove the positive outcome that prompted the desire for the change in the first place. 

What is needed in a change management plan?

Successful Change Management Planning is like the manual that came with your food processor. It identifies all the parts, explains how to use the machine, and includes troubleshooting in case of unforeseen issues.

A change management plan also needs to identify the parts, all those who participate in and are affected by the change. It carries through the implementation, or operation of the change. And it identifies any potential snags that may arise, and how to manage them. This could include consequences for anyone who refuses to get on board.

Unlike the appliance guide, a change management plan should also answer the “why” aspect of the change that’s being made. Manufacturers assume you already know why you want the food processor.

“Why” questions to be ready for include but aren’t limited to, why are we going to this effort? Why is it necessary? And why do you believe it’s going to be worth it? Beginning with a solid foundation for embarking on this process will provide you with the answers to your “why” questions and ensure a quicker buy-in from staff.

What is the correct sequence of steps in the Change Management Process?

The Prosci Methodology developed by the change management firm, Prosci, is used widely around the world. Their scalable and adaptable tactic consists of three phases.

Phase One is to prepare the approach to the change. This includes developing a customized strategy for unfolding the desired change.

Phase Two is managing the change by creating and adapting plans to implement it and following through.

Phase Three is about sustaining outcomes by ensuring the change is being adopted and affirming a commitment to stay with it.

What are the essential elements of change management?

Centered on the philosophy that “individual success leads to organizational success,” Prosci’s ADKAR model of change management identifies five key elements.

Best practices for change management

Data shows that initiatives with excellent change management are six times more likely to meet their objectives. Effective Change Management Planning facilitates employee engagement and fosters a team approach to the challenge.

Granted, there will be a learning curve, but it will be easier to navigate when everyone’s prepared for it with proper Change Management Planning. 

Here are seven strategies for increasing employee engagement as you embark on this exciting endeavor.

Focus on the employee. The changes you’ve identified will benefit your customers and increase productivity which translates into cost savings. But none of that is possible without proper execution on the shop floor. Bring employees into the conversation early, so they’re part of the process and have a say in how it’s done

Don’t rush. There may be a desire to start with the new process/software/structure as soon as possible. But getting it right is preferable to hurrying into disaster.

Lead by example. If you’ve already familiarized yourself with what they’re expected to learn, it will instill confidence and command respect.

Communicate, communicate, communicate. Give regular updates, reassurance, and repetition of the purpose for the change.

Actively listen. There’s always a Debbie Downer in the crowd, but sometimes there’s a legitimate reason for worry. Offer a clear pathway for employees to share their concerns.

State clear expectations and, consequences. Staff wants to know their effort won’t be wasted if someone fails to follow through.

Share results. When proof of positive results is available, make it known. Not only will this justify the process, but it will also add to the determination to make the transition a success.

Conclusion

Change is essential for survival. An organization must remain agile so it can pivot, when necessary, to adjust to market conditions and industry trends. Whatever the change, there’s a greater opportunity to make it happen and make it stick, with solid Change Management Planning to guide you. ProcedureFlow is here to help make that change a success. Book a demo today.

With ProcedureFlow, agents can offer clients a better experience. First call resolution rates rise. Escalations decrease. Complex matters are navigated more easily. By any metrics, using ProcedureFlow for your insurance operations results in proven improvements on both ends of the call.

The current landscape within insurance operations

Traditional insurance sectors are expanding as the population ages. Meanwhile, innovations in technology and other emerging sectors are opening new potential revenue streams. Sharable workspaces, smart technology, climate change, increasing health and wellness products and services, all mean more opportunities and more pressure to compete.

Companies that are agile and prepared for resilience in the face of changes, will fare better. Insurance operations that are eking by with a dependence on old technology are facing a greater challenge. And they run the risk of getting left behind.

What is operational excellence in insurance?

Operational excellence is achieved when the organization is positioned to execute its strategies for growth and efficiency. This involves teamwork, a purposeful C-suite, and standardizing processes for optimal client experiences.

A 2022 survey by KPMG found 94% of insurance carriers said they were actively working on improving operational efficiency. However, 55% said they were behind on hitting their target. Obviously, the desire is there, but not the follow-through. 

The challenge of SOP complexity within insurance (both in terms of onboarding and in general)

Many factors can impede a company’s progress. Internal resistance, a perceived lack of time, and simply, not knowing where to start, are just a few of them.

Whether you refer to your team as Call Center Agents (CSAs) or Customer Service Representatives (CSRs), the people taking calls about insurance need to be quick on their feet—or on their chair castors.

The reasons for client calls to insurance operations vary widely and require an enormous range of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Property, vehicle, life, travel, health—how can you ensure that the information CSAs need is at their fingertips the moment they need it when the nature of the call isn’t revealed until after they say, “hello”?

You can’t, if you’re burdening them with cumbersome access to the Knowledge Management (KM) system or SOPs on paper. Agents must scramble for the answer and sometimes, without meaning to, give inaccurate information. And if the incoming question is one that’s rarely asked, the delays and frustration only increase for everyone involved.

Training, a major factor in the call center world, devours precious time for current and onboarding employees when knowledge transfer is fractured and disordered.

“Oftentimes in our contact center, we’d hear about how many systems we need to use and how challenging that can be. And having one tool to link all of these and simplify the job will help take off some stress for them so they can focus on the caller and give the best service possible.”                        ~ Rachel, Director, Medavie Blue Cross

ProcedureFlow has solved the fundamental problem of a multi-system knowledge base, with simplified but complete SOPs that are immediately accessible with the click of a mouse. ProcedureFlow is a cloud-based management solution. The solution converts organizations’ processes and information into an accessible easy-to-use management tool to be used by employees. It leverages the knowledge your organization already has into an intuitive, easily consumed set of simple shapes, graphics, and text. For your CSAs, it’s like going from cutting a tough steak with a butter knife to sliding that knife through Jell-O.

How can insurance operational efficiency be improved?

Many companies that have been working with several tools to manage their SOPs have found stress relief and savings in the easy transfer to ProcedureFlow. Global provider of risk management solutions, Assurant, sees many benefits from the simplicity and efficiency of ProcedureFlow as its single SOP delivery tool.

“ProcedureFlow is an integral part of our employee performance architecture to successfully transition employees from training to production, support employees through change, and evaluate process adherence. It’s also a medium to facilitate process improvement discussions to continuously improve employee behavior, customer experience, and adherence to legal, compliance, and regulatory requirements.”                ~ Amanda Menard, Director of Operations Administration, Assurant

ProcedureFlow helps CSAs complete the transaction at a single touchpoint. At Assurant, after ProcedureFlow, escalations to tier two decreased by 40%, and training time was shortened by two weeks.

The importance of ensuring a great member experience

Even after a patchwork of legacy systems is identified as problematic, transferring them to one cohesive tool can seem too daunting to take on. But there’s a much higher cost, to an organization’s reputation and in hard numbers, in maintaining an inefficient status quo. 

CSAs suffer crises of confidence when they’re unable to quickly access the information that a member is waiting, perhaps not-so-patiently, to receive. And frankly, people have choices. They can decide to leave a provider whose representative appears unprepared or uncertain. Confidence works both ways. Loyalty matters both ways, as well. Replacing employees is expensive. Replacing a lost client is incalculable.

A great member experience or a poor one, if repeated often enough, will affect profits. For example, after implementing ProcedureFlow, Assurant estimates it experienced 30% productivity savings.

How ProcedureFlow helps create operational excellence for insurance companies

Here are a few highlights of ProcedureFlow’s positive impact on insurance operations:

Improves functions quickly by creating processes 40% faster than traditional publishing tools.

Breaks down silos and improves speed, accuracy, and consistency for all employees, regardless of their location.

Increases customer satisfaction and reduces escalations by providing uniformity of information and increasing employee confidence.

Reduces training time, often by several weeks, by providing a single repository that guides new employees.

Allows CRAs to contribute to the creation and maintenance of all procedures and content. Team members propose changes that can be instantly approved by management, keeping a continuous flow of communication, expertise, and knowledge between the parties.

Conclusion

You wouldn’t expect a driver to win the Daytona 500 in a Yaris. Aiming to increase market share using a compilation of outdated legacy systems in your knowledge bank will leave you in the competition’s dust. Meeting members’ expectations is paramount in insurance operations. And that starts from the inside, with instant, seamless access to the information your teams need: ProcedureFlow.

Book a demo today.  

Why is it important to prioritize your training strategy? 

Unfortunately, contact centers are known for having an infamously high employee turnover rate. On average, contact centers see an employee turnover rate of approximately 30%-40%, when the national average is around 12%-15%.  

It’s difficult to keep corporate consistency with employees coming and going. Having a strong training strategy means that quality, customer satisfaction, and success won’t decrease when your workforce does. It also means those new hires are reaching proficiency faster, and remaining successful and confident after their training ends.  

 What to consider when thinking about optimizing your training program? 

Attrition: Employee churn is inevitable but being prepared to handle attrition is something your organization can control. When high performing agents leave, they take expert knowledge with them. New hires struggle to adapt to what feels like an overwhelming amount of knowledge and processes that they need to grasp. 


Scalable Growth: As an organization expands, maintaining processes and employee retention becomes increasingly important. Hiring new agents isn’t enough, if the processes they’re being trained with are out of date. 


Call diversity: There are so many variations of calls, with questions, comments, and concerns from customers. It seems unlikely for one single agent to become a master of all call types. 


Remote working environments: it’s the age of remote work, and working from home is still difficult to master. Without the convenience of having coworkers beside you and physical nesting periods, new (and tenured) employees often encounter new hurdles. Gone are the days of co-worker collaboration, as employees are working from their home offices. Taps on the shoulder to desk neighbours for questions about a call are now physically impossible. 


In the journey to optimization and success, Heartland decided to develop a strategy surrounding three major pillars; people, process, and technology. 

PEOPLE 

Hiring the right people is a key part of the puzzle for the success of any organization. Heartland adopted Patrick Lencioni’s “hungry, humble, and smart” framework, and tailored their hiring interview questions to reflect it.  

When it comes to hiring for “hungry”, Borries says they look for “people that want to grow in the company and are excited about their work. They’re always looking for the next thing.”  

They also look for employees who drive results, but maintain a confident, humble approach. Finally, they emphasize the importance of emotional intelligence. Their team is full of smart individuals with empathy, who work well with others, and truly care about helping out their customers. 

Once onboarded, employees are kept in the loop by receiving periodic assessments throughout the nesting period. Not only does this technique help to ensure the training is properly tailored to the areas that need the most focus, but also serves as a personal check in for the agent. 

PROCESS 

What sets Heartland’s training program apart is the implementation of “single skills training strategy”. By training groups of new hires by specific skill, they were able to get agents on the phones faster. Confidence skyrockets when a newly onboarded agent feels like they are good at the calls they’re receiving, and results in higher first call resolutions and satisfied customers. After nesting, agents can be brought back for training on other skills as needed. 

Borries points out that they also make an effort to seek feedback on their processes, from those that actually use them. This ensures that their processes are evergreen, up-to-date, and relevant to the employees who rely on them. 

TECHNOLOGY 

Last, but certainly not least, is the technology your organization uses. Often times, managers make the mistake of investing in a tech stack they think agents will use, not one that the users themselves actually find helpful.  

Find out what agents actually need from their technology. Talk to your agents to find out what gaps they’re experiencing and invest in a solution that makes a difference. For example, often times access to information and finding the answers they need when they need them, is a huge issue for many agents; easily solved by investing in the proper knowledge management solution. 

A good investment is a tech solution that supports all aspects of your training program: your people, customers, and processes.   

Conclusion 

There’s a reason Heartland Dental went with ProcedureFlow for their solution. ProcedureFlow helped them develop a people, process, and technology focus that created an optimal contact center environment. Heartland was able to get their agents on the phones faster and see continued success post-training. 

What is procedural knowledge management?  

Every organization has process knowledge: it’s the brains of the company, and each of those processes has within them procedures that make them work. It could be a housed in collection of how-to manuals and binders, stored in the minds of your tenured employees, or living in a document management system. No matter the format, procedural knowledge gets shared up, down, and sideways in your organization. Knowledge Management (KM) is the practice of gathering, structuring, and sharing the company’s knowledge. Together, they form what is called procedural knowledge management.

Why should you consider a Procedural Knowledge Management system?

Properly managing procedural knowledge may not be the most exciting topic of conversation, but it is integral to achieving operational efficiency within an organization. Here are some of the challenges companies can experience when their procedural knowledge isn’t correctly managed and optimized.

Hard to find knowledge articles: “The process for this is over here, and the how-to for that is over there.” Sound familiar? Traditional knowledge bases usually result in a little bit of information scattered all over the place, often making it hard to efficiently follow a process to the end. 


Text-heavy knowledge articles that are difficult to navigate and consume: Trying to find information on the phone while handling a customer is hard enough, let alone trying to skim through large walls of text to find the specific step you need.  


Outdated and duplicated information in your knowledge base: Keeping procedures up to date is a full-time job. It’s a challenging task, and valuable user feedback from the employees themselves is often overlooked. This leads to old, inaccurate information being used by employees. In many cases it also means multiple versions of the same procedure, saved in different places, approved by different people. In other words: a case of version-it is. 


What makes ProcedureFlow the ideal procedural knowledge management software for your business?

ProcedureFlow makes managing your procedural knowledge easy and effective across your organization. The platform takes your complex processes and turns them into a set of simple, consumable actions that guide your employees.

By creating an easy-to-follow roadmap, ProcedureFlow eliminates process errors and helps boost employee confidence.

Here are some of the things that set ProcedureFlow apart:

Improve employee proficiency from day one.

In the contact center space, training and onboarding time is known for being a lengthy process.

On average, most employees take approximately 12 months to be fully ramped up, trained, and proficient on all aspects of their job. By using step-by-step visual guides with real-life scenarios, this training time can be reduced by as much as 70%.

Provide a positive employee experience.

Picture your newest hires working with the knowledge of your highest performers. ProcedureFlow’s digitization of your processes allows for empowerment of your entire workforce. It’s a guidebook that supports your employees every step of the way; from transitioning into the role, to the day-to-day tasks of a seasoned employee. Confidence on the floor is improved, as agents know they have the tools they need to be successful.

Create a culture of continuous improvement.

Upkeep is effortless and easy, as everyone can provide feedback with crowdsourcing. Managers are given a better understanding of how processes are being implemented and utilized. Updating processes are no longer a dreaded task, and continuous improvement becomes ingrained in company culture.

Conclusion

What is the difference between procedures and processes?

The process comes first. It’s a high-level view. The procedure is step-by-step instructions to execute the process. Another way to think of it is that a process is a thing you do, and the procedure is the way you do the thing you do.

I write articles for online forums. Article writing is the process, beginning with a blank document and ending with an article. The process requires inputs (from the keyboard) and an output (the finished document).

My procedure for writing an article: Receive topic from Editor. Research. Pour coffee. Scour the Internet for funny cat videos. Open a minimum of 20 browser tabs. More research. Write an article. Check email. Google dinner recipe ideas. Pour another coffee. Rewrite article. Run spell-and-grammar-checking app. Submit an article to Editor.

Another article writer would probably have different procedures for the same process. I would urge them to not skip the crucial cat-video step. It’s important to clear the mental palate.

You, as a business owner or manager, need everyone in your organization to follow the same procedures for each process to achieve and maintain consistently high-quality performance from your staff, for your customers. Because not following the procedures means someone might miss a crucial step that could have a negative impact on the outcome of the process.

What is the definition of a process?

The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) defines a process as a set of interrelated or interacting activities which transform inputs into outputs.  

A process is what you do.

What is the definition of a procedure?

Again, from the ISO: A procedure is a specified way to carry out an activity or a process.

A procedure is how you do what you do.

What is an example of a process?

Let’s zero in on an example of procedures vs. processes.

You’re planning to drive from Chicago to Seattle. Driving time is estimated at about 30 hours. Your input is beginning in Chicago and your output is enjoying a Grande Caffè Latte at the first Starbucks location at Pike Place Market. That’s the process.

The specifics of how you’ll execute the long drive is the procedure. You’ll probably start with a visit to a gas or charging station. You’ll need to break it up into manageable lengths of time spent behind the wheel, stop for food and breaks, find places to stay overnight, etc.  

For another example, let’s use a call center. An agent taking a call is the process. The input is the incoming call, and the output is the resolution to that call. But as we know, call centers and contact centers can receive hundreds and sometimes thousands of different types of calls. Each of those calls is a process. You would begin with process mapping and drill down to the steps required to complete those calls to your definition of satisfaction. Within those processes are specific, distinct procedures.

This is where ProcedureFlow makes a significant impact. ProcedureFlow is a cloud-based knowledge management solution. The solution converts organizations’ processes and information into an accessible easy-to-use management tool to be used by employees.

By turning each process into easily consumable action flows, ProcedureFlow standardizes best practices in procedures across your whole team. And by following the flows, employees ensure consistent delivery of service, every time. Essentially, this knowledge management solution will help optimize standard results, minimize errors, and increase staff productivity throughout your organization.

How to get everyone to follow the procedures …

Incentives are great. Everyone enjoys rewards. But on a fundamental level, convincing staff to follow your organization’s procedures can be as easy as one, two, three.

Explain the reasons for using them. When employees can see only the small-picture results of a big-picture plan, they might end up feeling burdened rather than supported. “We have to change the way we do everything. WHY?!” Answer the “why” before it’s even asked. Give lots of notice before implementing changes. Ensure they understand that following procedures is about more than just the company’s bottom line. (Although it’s certainly about that, too.) Highlight the benefits to them, from improving their workflows to making them more effective at serving customers. Most people want to be successful in their work.

Bring them into the fold. Employees tend to feel a sense of ownership when they’ve been asked to contribute their ideas and opinions to a project. Create a panel or panels of team members and ask them to invest their insight and experiences into the development of procedures and processes. With ProcedureFlow, they can suggest updates or changes to flows that you can instantly approve, further enhancing their engagement. This has a positive peer pressure element to it, as well. Once there’s a buy-in, those involved will police their colleagues for compliance.

Provide them with the best available tools. No more passing around The Binder, hurriedly scratching out reminders on scraps of paper or putting customers on hold to ask the supervisor a question they’ve been repeatedly asked already today. With ProcedureFlow, all team members have easy-to-follow guides for their processes at their fingertips. And they are available when an employee needs them—even if others are using them at the same time. Instant access means better efficiency which leads to improved job satisfaction and consistently excellent customer experiences.

ProcedureFlow also allows you to monitor team members’ usage, giving you an opportunity to coach those who are falling behind.

Conclusion

Understanding the distinctions of procedures vs. processes will help you to determine how to establish and organize your company’s workflows and best practices. The experienced management optimization experts at ProcedureFlow are ready to assist you with disseminating that information to your team in a simple and effective way. From removing ambiguity and thereby increasing employee confidence, to less training time for new hires, the benefits are numerable and verifiable.

Request a demo and see how you can get started with ProcedureFlow today.