The modern contact center is not just about answering phones but about responding to customer queries whether they be through a chatbot, tweet or any other social channel. The modern customer wants you to be wherever they are in the digital and non-digital world.  They want speedy service and they expect you to know who they are.  In other words, they want a personalized consistent experience across all channels.

The old way of thinking will no longer serve us in the present complex environment, we must disrupt.  You must shift and reorganize to meet the changing customer needs so that you stay relevant.

Being able to meet these challenges and the desire to be part of something great is what sets a high-performing team from the rest.  Would you consider your organization to rank amongst the top 10% in the world?  If you can confidently say yes and you have the data to prove it, then congratulations!  For the rest, here are 7 habits that could help you on that journey to the top.

1. Develop a vision for service across the organization
   • You must develop a compelling vision and mission of what intentional customer service means to your organization so that people feel like they are part of something special. This includes having a senior level champion that drives this long-term initiative.  It also means sharing goals and metrics across the teams demonstrating how everyone’s contribution is critical to its success.  It also means setting the network and structure of how this new mode of operation is going to look like. Some organizations have a great vision, but they fail in execution as is evident in the way they run things.  It is always easier to stay with tried and true methods, even if they are archaic and slow.
   • Every team in your organization must understand that everyone is in the customer service business. It must be a unified effort.  There can be no silos. Everyone must have skin in the game. It is not just about putting out products or services that they may like without due regard for what the end user might think.  It is easy to take shortcuts when your scorecard is rewarding you for how many products you put out instead of for how happy the end-user is.
   • Your organization must focus on a next generation customer experience.  You must make sure that you have a holistic 360 view of your customer with data and insights from all x-functional groups.
   • Develop strong scorecards that clearly define your key objectives that will get you the desired results in terms of customer experience.

2. Hire people with the right competencies for the job
   • You need to hire people that are passionate about serving customers and love what they do, as attitude cannot be trained.  They must be natural and themselves when put in situations with your customers. Use recruiting software if necessary but at the end, it is about the face to face interview that will make all the difference.
   • People that are up to meeting the challenge and are a right fit for your organization’s goals will become great contributors towards your success.

3. Be creative in your training
   • Training should not be a one size fits all.  It should be customized to the different learning styles.  The easiest is to throw all new hires in a room and then have a facilitator lead the class through presentations and computer work.  The harder part is to determine how to optimize each learner’s capabilities based on their learning style.  Some learn the standard facilitator led way, others learn through gaming, others learn by doing.  You need to be able to personalize this experience for each learner so that they are then successful upon graduation.
   • Have regular monthly training on soft skills. Hard skills as required.  Service must be ingrained in people’s minds and soft skills refreshers are especially important to keep the skills alive.
   • Effective training should clearly address situations that employee will face, give them the tools, and then teach them how to respond to it.
   • Invest in monthly training for your management team so that they ae able to keep the skills alive.  A great agent does not make a good manager unless you equip her with the tools for the new role. For example, is your Team Leader trained to deal with conflicts within a team?  A Team Leader needs to be able to address the issue so that the right behaviors are recognized, and constructive feedback is given.

4. Support your valued assets
   • Set clear expectations so that your employees know exactly what success and a high-performance culture means.  This should be reinforced and supported by the entire organization
   • Have regular feedback sessions to make sure that they are on the right path.  Remember that employees perform to the extent of effective coaching and support they receive. The annual performance review should never be a surprise.  If it is, then we have been doing a bad job at providing regular feedback.  It is time to look for a new Team Leader.
   • Keep team sizes to a manageable level so that team members can all be supported.  I would say no more than 12 per Team Leader.  This could be less based on role of course.
   • Make sure that they are fully aware and understand their objectives, goals, and what success looks like.  This will support a positive team dynamic if everyone is chasing a common goal.  Your Team Leader’s goal will be to help them in this journey so that they are always feeling energized.
   • The organization must allow creativity and empower the team to do the right thing for their customers.  After all, it is the frontlines that are dealing with customers daily.  If, for example, too many credits start to be a problem, then you need to see if it is a frontline training issue or is it a product or service problem.  The easy solution is to just cap the credits they could give instead of taking the time to understand the underlying issues.
   • Create a family environment so that team members help and support each other and work collaboratively. It is also important to provide a positive work environment with the right facilities and tools in place that will be conducive to supporting your service strategy.

5. Know your customer
   • This means having a holistic view of your customers.  Tie all your systems together in a strong CRM platform that will get you a single view of your customer. Customers should get a consistent level of service no matter what department they reach.  Remember, every interaction with your organization is a moment a truth that will make or break the relationship.
   • You have so much customer data at your disposal.  Then make use of it to personalize the customer experience with your organization.  Treat them as individuals and not like a number.  The worst experience is when the customer purchases your product, then suddenly, the salesperson’s demeanor changes before you even walk out the door.  Not a good feeling for a long-term relationship.

6. Embrace technology
   • First you must develop a strategy that supports your service goals and that allows for scalability.  Then you must identify and address concerns regarding AI and IoT so that your employees are on board.  Only then can you launch your automation strategy that will realize a maximum ROI.
   • Artificial intelligence is here to stay.  Embrace it.  Make use of this technology to assess customer’s emotion  and other behavioral signals based on word choices or tone  of voice, then route it to a specialist that excels in such situation while the AI platform also recommends scripting for such an interaction.  Make use of AI and predictive intelligence to provide superior service.
   • The Internet of Things (IoT) connected products will provide additional real-time information so you could proactively address issues for customers before the issue gets out of hand.  Again, it will be a matter of how your organization sets itself up for handling this additional data and channel.
   • Use AI and IoT connected products to provide proactive and personalized service that will differentiate your organization from the competition.  Do it right, and you will see your profits soar.  Is it easy? No.  It takes work and getting teams out of their comfort zones.  Your customers are counting on it.

7. Celebrate results regularly
   • Make sure that every team is fully aware of the goals and objectives so that milestones could be celebrated.
   • Have a strong system to reward and recognize so that team members willingly deliver the best possible work to the organization and customers.
   • Find creative ways to recognize good customer centric behaviors.
   • Have fun!

Imagine for a moment a team that loves what they do, have peer-to-peer accountability, are experts in their respective roles, are proactive and self-motivated.  They produce outstanding results that are aligned with your organization’s goals.  They genuinely care about the customer and will do everything in their power to ensure that each moment of truth is optimized.  It is no longer about the individual but the collective goal of doing right for the customer efficiently while protecting your bottom line.  This is the journey that you are on to achieve so that it separates your organization from the rest.

It has been proven that a high-performance team will deliver better results, work more efficiently, have higher productivity, result in lower employee turnover, and ultimately produce raving fans for your organization. So embark on the journey, it won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.