You listen to your customers on social media. Do you listen to your customer service employees? We did…You’d be amazed at what we found, or will you?
No need to dig through thousands of threads across Quora, Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter to hear what your call center agents are REALLY saying about their jobs… We took care of that for you. So, put down that annual voice of the employee survey and get ready for unreal insights gleaned straight from the rants of real call center agents.
Nobody was listening when these call center agents were ranting about their everyday challenges. That’s quite unfortunate because your frontline staff have very important insights to share. So, we had to make their rants more entertaining. Well, at least, we tried. You’ll see what we mean when you check out the videos and comics in Call Center Life: 2021 Edition.
We’re often trained to tune out employee rants and to take caricatures with a grain of salt. Yet, beneath these videos and comics is a wellspring of actionable insights. If you choose to lean in and listen, you can make the world a better place, one customer interaction at a time.
Usually, getting folks to watch a video or comic about a dysfunctional workplace doesn’t take so much convincing. That said, here are five reasons why you should not ignore the rants of your customer service employees:
#1 You Can Boost Your NPS With Rockstar Employees
According to Forrester, your customers are 10 times more likely to recommend your brand after connecting with a knowledgeable employee.
If you’d like to develop a workforce of knowledgeable problem solvers, listen to your call center agents. Their rants shed light on how to train and onboard a hybrid workforce.
#2 It’s Hard to Develop Rockstar Employees Today
67% of customer interactions that are handled in the contact center represent complex requests which cannot be managed in self-service, according to a study led by Gartner.
53% of contact center leaders, despite having invested in knowledge management, workforce engagement management, and other usual suspects, find it harder to train and onboard agents effectively.
If you’re a contact center leader, you have our respect and empathy — you are stuck between a rock and a hard place, looking for a way out. By leaning in and listening to the gripes your employees face, you can glean actionable insights that can make all the difference.
#3 AI and Robotics Will Not Save Your CX
AI and automation are often prescribed as key ingredients in today’s recipe for digital transformation. Yet, NTT’s Global Customer Experience Benchmark reports that less than 6% of AI and robotics users score highly on the NPS scale.
If you’re a customer experience leader charged with testing the potential of innovative technologies, first listen to your front office staff. Their stories shed light on the kind of help they need to make every customer interaction a great interaction.
#4 Your Employees Can’t Take it Any More.
An EngHouse study reported that 91% of call center agents say they’re planning to quit in 2021. Another study led by Calabrio reported that 56% of agents are overwhelmed with addressing complex requests that come into the contact center. From complaints about urinary tract infections, to agents wanting to cry between phone calls, call center stress is at an all time high.
Empathy for your customers should begin with empathy for your customer service employees. So, don’t look away, listen to what your call center colleagues have to say.
#5 Your Customers Can See Through Your Glasshouse
It’s a fallacy to think that you can deliver a utopian customer experience while your customer service workforce struggles with a dystopian workplace experience.
Today, your customers see right through your glasshouse. So, why not call out the white elephant and get to work by first listening to these insightful rants from your frontline staff?
If you made it this far, thank you for caring! Now, go serve your employees to save your customers and grow your business.
Call Center Life: 2021 Edition
Call center agents are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They have made your call center a glass house on social media. Lean in and learn why we should listen to our customer service employees if we truly cared about customer experience.