In these trying times, it’s not surprising that many customer service teams are feeling overwhelmed. The COVID-19 outbreak forced many organisations to go from business as usual to working from home almost overnight, and many companies are still reeling from the effects of this. Quick action has been required for organisations adapting to the “new normal” as they continue to serve customers, and this has meant that many companies are still playing catch-up.
Thankfully, SaaS solutions make it far easier to switch to remote working than you may think. Through this pandemic, cloud technology is enabling customer service teams to do their jobs from afar in a climate where the message to work from home has been clear, do not come into work unless you absolutely, unavoidably, have to. For instance, during the period of April 9th – 20th, the ONS saw that 45% of employed adults in the UK said they had worked from home and this continues to be true.
So what is the most straightforward way of switching from an on-premises contact centre to a team of remote customer service agents who can do their job — and do it well?
Evaluate whether your technology offers your business long-term flexibility
In order to fully future-proof contact centres, brands need to choose a customer service software solution that allows for fully unifying channels, workflows, and processes. The right technology will allow for this consolidation, making your set-up far more nimble, especially when it comes to working remotely. Plus, by migrating your infrastructure to the cloud, IT teams and organisations as a whole gain more flexibility and the means to integrate with other systems. This makes unifying data, optimising processes and offering an agile experience much more achievable.
Additionally, unlike on-premises solutions, cloud-based customer service solutions don’t require any hardware or ongoing maintenance and can be adjusted in real-time without any code injection or assistance from IT. This makes you much more flexible, and if you’re worried about the switch disrupting your customer experience, the ability to keep existing email addresses and phone numbers, through number porting, removes this potential hiccup. Cloud-based solutions enable agents to deliver unified cross-channel customer service regardless of where in the world they’re located, or what in the world is going on, so long as they have an internet connection.
Take a proactive approach with your customer service
These are confusing times for businesses, but customers are also feeling unsettled. Be sure to communicate how you’re managing changes internally and – this is key – be transparent about what your customers may experience as a result. This helps you to better manage their expectations, which will alleviate some of the pressure your customer service department will undoubtedly be feeling.
Make your customers feel recognised, understood and valued
You’ll want to make sure that every customer is met with an agent who knows who they are and what their history with your business is. Failing to show this level of personalisation will only serve to intensify their concerns, signalling that their inquiry is not being taken seriously.
In a remote set-up, it’s not as easy as placing the customer on hold and popping over to a colleague to ask to be filled in on a particular situation. This is why it’s crucial that your customer service software can easily track customer interactions across different communication channels. Whether a customer has called, emailed, messaged, or used a carrier pigeon (okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration), agents should be able to see the latest interactions along with any relevant customer data that can help provide more context, such as order number or delivery status. In this way, they can provide personalised and superior service.
Empower your agents to go above and beyond
The most important thing to remember when running your contact centre remotely is agents need to be able to act independently to speed up resolutions for valued customers. Having to constantly coordinate with co-workers or managers will only keep customers waiting longer.
It’s always been important to respond to your customers with empathy, but, given the current situation, this has become vital. Chances are, if your customers are still working from home, a call centre agent might be the only person outside of members of their family who they speak to in a day. In this case, giving a few extra minutes of attention to someone can ensure a truly impactful experience. Encouraging your agents to open up a little more than usual – after all, they’re also navigating new waters – can remind the customer that there’s someone just like them on the other end of the line. After all, we’re all in this together.
The future is flexible: Prepare for fluctuating demand
Online grocery orders and meal-kit subscriptions are already seeing a significant increase along with healthcare and wellness-related purchases. Many of these businesses have already experienced the effect of COVID-19 with website crashes and long checkout queues. Unsurprisingly, travel websites and traditional retailers will be among those hardest hit.
This will also have a knock-on effect on your customer service. Increased demand likely means an increase in inquiries from (anxious) customers, so make sure your platform — and remote team — can cope with this fluctuating workload. Having an omni-channel solution is key to managing this. Instead of having to continuously switch between channels, agents can make informed decisions and prioritise the most important inquiries as they come in, regardless of where they come from.
Being able to scale your customer service to adapt to a new demand will help you retain more customers and keep your business running during these stressful and unpredictable times. Who knows how long it will take for the dust to settle — or indeed if it ever will. Some experts are predicting that COVID-19 will make telecommuting the new normal for months and years to come.
But maybe that doesn’t have to be a bad thing… After all, remote workers have been found to be more productive, motivated and satisfied than their in-house counterparts — something all organisations could benefit from.
Guest Blog by Mads Fosselius, Founder and CEO, Dixa
Dixa is a global customer service tech company on a mission to create friendships between brands and their customers, break down technology silos and eliminate bad customer service. Our software unifies customer engagement across email, chat, messaging and phone in one platform for a better customer and agent experience.
