There is a lot of talk about the customer experience and how important it is for companies to deliver an experience, not just service. We still hear the question being asked about the difference between the two and how it impacts training. Let’s take a deeper look at what the difference between Service and Experience is, why it matters, and how you can prepare you agents to deliver BOTH!
Sometimes we’ll hear customer service and customer experience used interchangeably, which is probably what leads to some confusion. An easy analogy to explain the difference is to think of a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece of the puzzle represents the many ways that a customer may interact with your company. One piece might represent live-chat, another might represent a bricks-and-mortar store, another may be a technical conversation with an agent, and another may be a social media campaign. Each piece of the puzzle may include a customer service component, but only when the whole puzzle is put together does it represent the customer experience. Every piece is important and interconnected, and if a piece goes missing, then the whole is compromised.
Once a clear understanding between service and experience is established it’s easier to develop a training strategy that empowers agents to deliver both. An experience can’t be delivered until the organization has established a clear mission of what it hopes and expects a customer experience to be. Creating a customer experience that keeps customers returning to a brand or product requires inward focus and constant connection with customers to gauge how they feel about their experience.
When the overarching goals of the experience are set out, it is easier to tailor training for agents and employees on how they are integral in providing the type of service that feeds into the overall experience. You might be scratching your head and thinking that if agents are doing a good job of delivering customer service, then aren’t the customers receiving a good experience? If only it were this easy! In today’s hyper-competitive environment where organizations are often vying for the same customer and are only marginally different from their competition, only those organizations that map out clear strategies for delivering a net positive customer experience, are the ones that will outlast the competition. A sobering statistic laid out in a report by Bain & Company is that 80% of companies believe they are delivering a positive customer experience, while only 8% of customers feel this way. Although this report is a few years old, it serves as an important reminder as to the importance of gathering direct feedback from customers so they can tell you how you’re really doing. Knowledge is power and when you learn from your customers you can better train your employees.
Let’s focus on four ways you can enhance training to ensure exceptional customer service that supports exceptional experiences.
- Empowerment—This is more than a feel-good buzzword. There are lots of data showing that when employees are empowered to help customers in a personalized manner, it’s a win-win. Empowerment goes beyond motivational posters on the wall. For employees to truly be empowered to service the customer, they need protocols, boundaries, feedback and encouragement. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to empowerment, each organization will have its own tolerance and expectations, but there is ample evidence showing that when employees are empowered to do right by the customer and are accountable for their actions, then better customer service and experiences are delivered.
- Personalize the Care—Customers are losing patience for scripted service. When agents can connect on a more personal level with customers, they are more likely to get to the root of the issue and look for ways to quickly and adequately address the problem or concern. In a 2013 survey conducted by inContact, they found that users value personalized service more than brand loyalty.
- Wow ‘Em—Customers remember “WOW”, not “Meh”. This doesn’t mean that every agent needs to provide customers a dog-and-pony show after each interaction, but training and empowering (there’s that word again) agents to deliver a “wow” factor, when appropriate, goes a long ways toward customer retention.
- Fix it the First Time—First Call Resolution (FCR) rates are becoming more important for creating positive customer experiences. When a customer can receive an answer or get assistance in one phone or live-chat conversation, they are more likely to be satisfied. Of course, there are instances where addressing a customer’s problem requires more than one contact, and if this is the case, then communication is key.
Going back to our puzzle analogy, if your organization wants to deliver exceptional customer experiences, it will see that each piece is an important part of the whole. A puzzle isn’t complete until all the pieces are fit together. The same goes for delivering great customer experiences. Customer experiences don’t just happen, they are created. Developing an overall strategy for the experience and then delivering with great service makes for a finished puzzle.