Customer Service Coaching: A Beginner’s Guide to Data-Driven Improvement
Customer service has become a vital aspect of the customer journey. In today’s world, customers expect an increased level of support even after the point of purchase, making quality customer service an essential part of business success. When done well, customer service can lead to better retention rates, higher levels of loyalty, and superior word-of-mouth marketing.
However, achieving quality customer service is becoming more and more challenging. With rapidly evolving customer expectations and advancements in technology, companies must continually improve their customer service efforts to stay ahead of the competition. This is where customer service coaching can make a difference.
What is Customer Service Coaching?
Customer service coaching is a process of improving customer service through personalized, one-on-one training of support agents. It focuses on enhancing the technical and soft skills of customer service representatives and improving their overall ability to provide the best customer service possible.
Data has become an instrumental way to oversee and improve customer service. Analytics are applied using tools such as recordings, live chat, customer feedback, and surveys. However, the problem that many companies face is figuring out how to apply the cold, hard facts to the fluid activity of being a customer service rep.
Training can only get support agents so far. Once they are trained, companies must look to a deeper solution for continual customer service improvement: coaching. Coaching works one-on-one with agents in a constructive manner to improve their skills and knowledge, leading to superior customer service that is worth every penny of investment.
The Impact of Coaching
Live agents handle tougher tickets these days, while basic questions are answered by automated systems. That means, if a customer gets through to a human, they often have a detailed and personalized question in tow. To understand the impact of coaching, one needs to look no further than the numbers.
A study by Gartner states that self-service questions cost an average of $0.10 per contact. In contrast, live service solutions are a sizeable $8.01 per contact. In other words, companies pay an average of 80 times more per contact to have individuals talk to support team members. This makes having high-quality support agents a priority.
Coaching can help companies achieve superior customer service by providing support agents with the skills and confidence they need to handle complex customer issues creativity and with ease. This approach allows companies to build customer trust, foster brand loyalty, and create positive word-of-mouth that drives business growth.
How to Be a Data-Driven Coach
Here are some actionable steps that you can take to keep your customer support agent coaching current and data-driven.
Set Clear Expectations
Coaching never works if the coach is the only one with their head in the game. Clear expectations need to be set so that agents feel a sense of responsibility and ownership towards the coaching process.
By setting clear expectations, support agents can see the activity as an opportunity for professional development instead of criticism or punishment for past performance. This approach helps foster engagement and a positive attitude towards the coaching process.
Make Wise Use of Your Data
It’s challenging to make improvements without knowing what areas need to be improved. Data is a great way to identify areas that are struggling and need to be addressed.
Audit your customer service interactions through surveys, feedback, recordings, and any other tools you see fit. Make sure to be purposeful throughout the process. Ask meaningful questions and work towards specific objectives and key results (OKRs) that help you associate data with end goals.
Use Accountability
Accountability is a critical piece of sustainable improvement. By setting benchmarks and goals and then checking in on progress towards those objectives, you can re-evaluate unrealistic goals or realign agent efforts if they aren’t producing the desired results.
Accountability also provides the opportunity to celebrate when coaching efforts reach recognizable milestones, which can boost morale, maintain momentum, and keep agents engaged and motivated.
Cultivate Two-Way Feedback
As a final measure, don’t underestimate the value of two-way communication. Feedback from support agents is one of the most valuable pieces of data that a coach can receive.
By communicating openly and effectively, the coach can understand the specific needs and challenges that each support agent is dealing with. This approach can lead to tailored solutions that are customized to each support agent’s skillset and challenges, resulting in superior results.
Conclusion
Coaching your customer support agents is a constructive and positive way to maintain a customer service edge over your competitors. By providing your workforce with the tools, they need and inspiring them to do their jobs with excellence, you can create happier agents as well as satisfied and loyal clients.
Approaching customer service coaching as an investment rather than an expense can help create a sense of value and ownership, which can promote long-term success. This approach helps to proactively pour into your team, your future, and eventually your bottom line.
In conclusion, data-driven coaching is an excellent way to create a more personalized approach to customer service and improve customer satisfaction. By using data to identify areas that need improvement, setting clear expectations, keeping support agents accountable, fostering open communication, and cultivating two-way feedback, companies can improve customer service, drive business growth, and boost their bottom line.
