If you want service pros to deliver really great customer experiences, start by doing more of the things they want.
Good news: They aren’t asking for much.
Mostly, they want to be recognized and valued, a recent survey found.
“What agents say they want and need from their leader is the same as 25 years ago,” says Barbara Burke, a contact center trainer who regularly does “Voice of the Agent Engagement Surveys.”
Their wants and needs aren’t unrealistic. Not many are looking for huge bonuses or the CEO’s position. But contact center leaders who oversee the customer experience sometimes lose sight of the simple needs in the day-to-day business demands.
Here are the top 10 things customer service pros want from their bosses, according to Burke’s latest surveys — and ways you can deliver on them:
- Presence. They want a leader available when they need one. That means spending more time with them and less time on email, meetings and surfing the Internet. It’ll improve morale and performance.
- Fairness. Service pros need to see fair treatment across the board for employees and customers. Make sure policies, rewards and discipline are enforced equally.
- Availability. Leaders don’t have to keep their door open all the time, but they should be approachable at just about any time. More importantly, they want to take time to listen.
- Transparency. Employees need to know what’s expected of them and how well they’re meeting those expectations. Meet at least once a quarter to cover expectations and performance.
- Respect. Manners, civility and a cool head will always work best in a customer service environment. It sets the tone for how employees treat customers, too.
- Understanding. Employees will show customers more compassion when they’re treated with it. Help them work around and through personal and family issues.
- Challenges. Most employees want to do better than status quo. So they need opportunities to learn and grow throughout the year.
- Responsiveness. When something’s important to them, employees need it to be important to their bosses, too. They want prompt responses to their questions. If you can’t deliver that immediately, give them a time frame and show some concern for the issue.
- Communication. Employees will be best equipped to help customers if they know and understand what’s going on in their organization across departments and from the top down. Regularly seek information that affects them and their work, and communicate everything you can.
- Role model. Employees will naturally look up to a boss who’s positive and strives to do the right thing.
