7 Ways to Motivate Your Customer Service Team

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Do you want to motivate your customer service team but you don’t know how? Do you wonder why you have to motivate them? It’s dependent on your customer’s satisfaction. Don’t underestimate the power of your customer service team. They’re the backbone to your business’ success.

Some of the best companies know that customer service is a crucial component of their business plan. JetBlue often thanks each of their customers with little gestures on social media. Zappos responds to every email received while Adobe responds to customer service complaints before they even happen.

They work hard to deliver the best customer service possible. That’s what makes these companies so successful. Eighty-two percent of customers are likely to leave a company because of the service they received. There are several things you can do to better motivate your employees if they’re providing the customer service they should.

Boost Employee Morale

One of the most effective ways to motivate your customer service team is to increase employee morale. Praising your employees is an efficient way to do this. The great thing about praise is that it’s free and easy to do. Praise your employees’ involvement as well as their improvement. Showing your appreciation to others can help increase their motivation. Make sure to be objective when giving praise, especially if you praise an individual in front of his team members.

Find Out What Motivates Them

In order to successfully motivate your customer service team, it’s important to know what exactly motivates them. Not every individual is the same, and it’s up to you to know their personal motivational factors. You should ask them what motivates them, what would help their performance, and what incentives they would like to offer.

One of the best ways to do this is to conduct employee surveys or questionnaires. If this isn’t an option, consider holding a brainstorming session with your customer service team. This allows you to initiate a conversation in a casual environment with your employees. When engaging with your employees, make sure to ask them questions and to listen to their responses.

Organize Corporate Events & Team-Building Activities

Corporate events and team-building activities are important for boosting employee morale and motivation. It’s important to plan it in an area where people are away from the office and wearing casual clothes. Organize a field day, employee picnic, or go for drinks with your customer service team.

A corporate volunteer program is a smart investment to make. It helps your employees improve their collaboration skills and self-awareness. This can help your organization increase its return-on-investment (ROI). Volunteering opportunities not only make your employees feel good, but they feel more engaged with their daily work. This relaxing non-work environment can help break the ice and allow your employees to solve common problems.

Trader Joe’s is always helping those in need, especially during natural disasters. Coke has raised over $1 billion through its Coca-Cola Foundation. Millennials love doing business with companies with social values similar to theirs. Maybe that can be your company.

Use Sanctions & Threats

Be careful to use these opportunities wisely. This only works for people who show up to work with a negative attitude. Maybe you have a few employees on your customer service team who are downright rude and reckless but you don’t want to fire them just yet. While their behavior can affect your entire business, this method can help you determine what to do to improve your customer service.

Even employee absenteeism can affect your company. You are paying people who provide little to no value to your company. Employee absenteeism leads to increased administrative costs and money lost.

Sanctions and threats should be used under tight control. It’s important for you to emphasize on the importance of these threats to your poor-performing employees. This should motivate them to fulfill the typical requirements of their role.

Create an Employee Incentive Program

Instead of offering higher wages or promotions, start an employee incentive program. It works similar to an employee stock ownership program, in which shares are transferred to the employees and are held in a trust until the employee leaves or retires. This will benefit all of the employees within your organization. Since they want to reap the benefits, they’ll be more motivated to make it happen.

Listen to What Your Customer Service Team is Saying

This is one of the easiest ways to improve employee morale. Spend some time talking to each of your employees. This can give you insight into your business from the people who are serving your customers. This allows you to brainstorm ideas from your staff in a casual environment. This will make your employees happier because they’ll feel as if their voices are being heard.

Philip Piletic
Techloot
I have several years of experience in marketing and startups, and regularly contribute to a number of online platforms related to technology, marketing and small business. I closely follow how Big Data, Internet of Things, Cloud and other rising technologies grew to shape our everyday lives. Currently working as managing editor for a UK tech site.

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