Secrets To Contact Center Success

Paolo Fabrizio is a Digital Customer Service consultant.

He's been in the contact centre industry since the mid 90's, and as been focused on helping companies improve their digital channel customer service for the past 7 years.

Today, he shares what's stopping your agents from providing the best digital customer service.

Paolo's Top Tips When Adding Digital Channels:

1. Introduce one digital channel at a time, ensuring you have the staff with the necessary skills for each (32:15).

2. Once you get results with a new digital channel, market the results within your organisation, so you get buy-in from your colleagues (33:49).

You'll Learn:

• Why having the right company culture is far more important than the digital platforms you use (03:26).

• The common mistake Paolo sees organisations in their adoption of new digital platforms (04:52).

• Why good agents in your phone and email channels might not be the right people to provide digital customer service, and what to do about it (06:18).

• The 2 essential skill sets that agents need to be equipped with to master digital customer service (08:06).

• Why getting rid of scripts for agents will be crucial for you to separate your organisation from your competitors (12:15).

• The approach Paolo is seeing contact centres take to make the cultural changes necessary to meet customer expectations (14:05).

• 'The Blockbuster risk' which could make your organisation obsolete, and what to do about it (17:55).

• The new skillset Team Leaders need, if they're to effectively manage agents in digital channels (20:10).

• The framework Paolo uses when he assists clients to improve their digital customer service (26:19). Get his e-book which covers the framework at https://customerserviceculture.com/en/resources/#ebook

Full show notes: https://bravatrak.com/paolo-fabrizio-podcast

Connect with Paolo on LinkedIn.

Get your copy of Paolo's e-book, Digital Customer Service Personas: The skill-set model for Digital Customer Service Assistants

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Chris Clark is the National Partner Manager at Jabra in New Zealand.

Chris has been in the unified communications - or call centric - industry for 15 years. As a result, he's got great insight into best-practice when it comes to contact centre headsets.

Today, he shares why your agents' headsets may be hurting customer experience, and what to do about it.

You'll Learn:

• The 2 key elements of audio which determine customer satisfaction (06:00).

• Why your current headsets may allow hackers to listen in to customer conversations, and the technology you can use to prevent it (09:32).

• Why many headsets are inappropriate for use in contact centres (10:41).

• Why noise cancellation in headsets is terrible for contact centres, and a better approach (11:44).

• The headsets which are now working hand in hand with AI (14:35).

• Why it's critical to ensure your headsets are certified by the platforms you use (18:06).

• The 2 common mistakes Chris sees in headset selection for agents (21:03).

• Chris' biggest piece of advice for choosing headsets for your agents (26:18).

Full show notes: https://bravatrak.com/chris-clark-podcast

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn.

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Darren is the Co-Founder of Cloud Tech Gurus, and Rob Enslow is Senior Executive Partner.

Cloud Tech Gurus are technology matchmakers. They help call centres to more effectively and efficiently source and procure technology solutions. They invest 40+ hours to each client project, at no cost to you, as they are compensated by suppliers.

Today, they share the little-known next generation of contact centre technology solutions, which can make a big difference in your centre.

You'll Learn:

• The technology solutions which are in the highest demand right now (06:35).

• The solution which handles better, faster, and cheaper than a live agent. Often with a higher CX score (08:33).

• What RPA is, and how it can replace 2 to 6 of your people, for a fraction of the cost (09:27).

• The technology that can clone your subject matter experts and high performers, and cut training time for new hires in half. And return your investment in 90 days (11:30).

• How you can access a global workforce of contact centre agents on-demand, cutting your cost of talent acquision and staffing in half (13:24).

• How a conversational AI tool has generated $25 million in additional revenue for one organisation, in the past year (15:57).

• How an AI tool predicts and prevents escalation in customer care, and is creating savings of 30 - 60% of escalation costs (17:01).

• The technology solution which enables you to get rid of your PBX and has 100% guaranteed uptime, saving you tens of thousands of dollars (18:14).

Full show notes: https://bravatrak.com/cloud-tech-gurus-podcast

Connect with Darren and Rob on LinkedIn.

Check out the Cloud Tech Gurus website, and get updates on the latest technologies.

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Phil Skingsley is the MD at Sales Performance Improvement Strategies.

He was in the top 3% of salespeople for Xerox in the UK, transformed performance at American Express in New Zealand, and helped a major New Zealand bank achieve sales of between 200% and 300% of target.

Today, he shares how to increase sales through excellent customer service.

You'll Learn:

• The 2 key ways to ensure your sales consultants create good customer outcomes (03:31).

• The SPEND framework that Phil recommends consultants use to uncover customer needs (04:51).

• An example of how a high-performing sales consultant delivered outstanding customer care (06:09).

• The power of uncovering the impact problems are having on customers, and how it turned a small speaker manufacturer into a global powerhouse (09:47).

• How great selling is really just great customer service (13:09).

• How opportunities to lift sales and achieve good customer outcomes may be sitting right in front of you (15:56).

• What customers are really buying when they purchase from you. It's probably not what you think (18:11).

• An easy exercise you can do with your team, to lift their sales and belief in your products (19:15).

• How a major retail chain increased extended warranty sales by just over 20%, nationwide (22:07).

• The 2 magic words that need to be used in sales conversations (23:38).

• The most important step to lifting sales, which comes straight out of the playbook of the All Blacks, the best rugby team in the world (24:08).

Full show notes: https://bravatrak.com/phil-skingsley-podcast

Connect with Phil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-skingsley-9b1aaa22/

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Sarah Mannion is the Global Support Centre Manager at Fisher & Paykel Appliances.

Her earliest contact centre role was back in 2000. She has deep experience in the finance sector, and at the intersection of HR and operations.

Today, she shares how she was able to turn around the coaching in her centre, by significantly freeing up Team Leaders' time.

Sarah's Top 3 Tips (08:12)

1. Identify the role you expect of your Team Leaders, and ask yourself, if you were to start again, how would you structure your contact centre to make that a reality?

2. Make sure you have the right Team Leaders in your centre. It's vital to keep an eye out for new talent.

3. Connect your people to the voice of the customer, and to your organisation's values and purpose. That way, everyone is clear about how they fit in to where you're going.

You'll Learn:

• How Sarah has structured her centre, to allow Team Leaders to spend 90% of their time coaching (02:07).

• What change Sarah has made to enable much better career progression in her centre (06:28).

• The tool Sarah uses to do frequent pulse checks of employee engagement (09:19).

• How Sarah is ensuring Team Leaders do the coaching they need to, even if they have a natural tendency to avoid doing it (09:27).

• The 2 elements of how Sarah is maintaining a great company culture, even with everyone working-from-home (10:04).

As part of this transformation, Sarah would like to acknowledge Suhail Shaikh who joined Fisher & Paykel and saw the gaps in their structure and the impact this was having on their leaders. He worked alongside Workforce Planning Manager, Tarush Airi, to deliver the business case and embed the change to deliver what they have today.

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-mannion-87bb2213/

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Gerry Brown is The Customer Lifeguard, saving the world from bad customer service.

He has over 40 years' experience in the contact centre industry, and helps businesses save customers at risk and breathe life into their customer service operations and customer experience strategy.

Today, he shares the 4 key pillars of a successful customer experience strategy.

The 4 pillars which make world-leading companies great (04:51)

1. Culture

2. Communication

3. Commitment

4. Community

You'll Learn:

• The relationship between employee experience and customer experience (08:19).

• Solutions to the company culture challenges created by work-from-home, based on what Gerry is hearing from senior leaders (13:14).

• Why cross-functional collaboration is essential to your organisation's success, and the proven (yet simple) approach Gerry recommends clients use (18:38).

• The very first thing to do when it comes to improving employee experience and customer experience (26:37).

• Gerry's 3 tips when it comes to enhancing organisational engagement, in order to improve customer experience (29:54).

Full show notes: https://bravatrak.com/gerry-brown-podcast

Connect with Gerry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerryhbrown/

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Rachna Singh is a Managing Consultant at Madison Recruitment. She manages the team who recruits CSRs for Auckland contact centres.

Today, she shares what to look for when recruiting high potential CSRs, who have the talent to step up to a Team Leader role.

The 7 attributes Rachna looks for in high potential CSR candidates (02:21)

1. Willingness to learn.

2. Clear and effective communication.

3. Sees the bigger picture, of how their work relates to the vision and goals of the organisation.

4. The ability to positively influence others.

5. Firm and confident.

6. Open to feedback and new ideas.

You'll Learn:

• The vital characteristic which leaders need, but is often forgotten (03:25).

• The 3 attributes which are critical for Team Leaders (04:11).

• The 3 steps CSRs can take to step up to a Team Leader role (05:53).

• The 2 top areas of development which most people need to excel as a Team Leader (08:54).

• The key actions people can take to progress towards their first leadership role (12:12).

Full show notes: https://bravatrak.com/rachna-singh-podcast

Connect with Rachna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachna-singh-a7b97a127/

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Julien Rio is the AVP of International Marketing at RingCentral, a leading provider of employee and customer communications systems.

Although Julien comes from a marketing background, his passion has always been around customer experience. He is a CCXP (Certified Customer Experience Professional), and co-host of the CX Therapy podcast.

Today, he shares the common problems he sees in omnichannel strategies, and how to solve them.

Julien's Top 2 Tips

1. Open one new channel at a time, by finding out which one customers use on daily basis, and then launching it with only a sample of customers. That way, you can expand it at the rate you're comfortable, or switch it off if it doesn't work (11:28).

2. If you're thinking of switching off a channel, make sure the data shows that it's time to transition away from it. Assumptions can often get in the way of making the right choice (13:12).

You'll Learn:

• The difference between omnichannel, multi-channel, and cross-channel, and why it's important to know (02:47).

• Why moving to an omnichannel approach is mission critical for your business, if customer experience is a priority (04:28).

• The 2 steps (which are often missed) that will help you deploy your omnichannel channel strategy successfully (05:46).

• The skills to bear in mind when recruiting agents to deliver an omnichannel experience (08:24).

• The danger of having phone teams also do email, which hurts customer experience (10:22).

• Why good customer experience is the shortest path to additional revenue (14:57).

• How your Customer Service Representatives can be the best possible sales people in your team (16:37).

Connect with Julien on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julienrio/

Tune in to Julien's podcast, 'CX Therapy' on YouTube, or follow it on Twitter or LinkedIn. Follow me on LinkedIn, or connect with me on Facebook.

Mark Kenning is the Head of Sales at Cigna Life Insurance.

He has 26 years experience in the contact centre industry, and has had various roles involved with sales throughout that period.

Today, he shares how to overcome the sales leadership challenges in financial services, triggered by the Royal Commission in Australia, and the FMA's review in New Zealand.

Mark's Top 3 Tips

1. The customer has to be at the top of the pyramid, not the drive for remuneration (16:55).

2. Do the basics well. It's easy to inadvertently drift away from doing them as you start doing new things in the business, and as new people come in (17:19).

3. Be ruthless with standards, but gracious with people. Treat your team with care and respect, at the same time as having high standards of the behaviour you expect of them (18:26).

You'll Learn:

• The process agents follow with customers which ensures they create good customer outcomes, that's often overlooked (06:53).

• The change which Mark is making, to empower staff but ensure compliance is being met (10:28).

• The 3 steps Mark is taking, to motivate agents to create good customer outcomes (14:47).

Show notes: https://bravatrak.com/mark-kenning-podcast

Connect with Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-kenning-4b551367/

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Geeta Sreeraman is the Head of Customer Centre at DBS Bank in Singapore.

She has 22 years' experience in banking across 3 countries, and 15 years' experience in the contact centre industry.

Today, she shares how she helped create world-class customer experience in the bank's contact centre, and how it's lead to:

• DBS becoming the World's Best Bank, 3 years in a row.

• An increase in complements from 300 to 10,000 a month.

• A consistent drop in customer contacts year-on-year, of between 8 and 10%.

• Consistent Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) ratings of around 4.6 out of 5.

• Consistent awarding of the Best Contact Centre of the Year by the Contact Centre Association of Singapore.

Geeta's Top 3 Tips

1. Given your agents are dealing with customers everyday, you have rich insights into what customers like and want. Find a way to capture the essence of that data, and see how you can use it to refine your customer journeys (17:02).

2. Ensure you have a very strong support system for your agents, which includes their training, how they're empowered, and the simplification of systems which they use (18:12).

3. Put customer experience at the centre of everything you do. All other metrics should play only a supporting role (18:55).

You'll Learn:

• The 3 parts of DBS's service which turned around customer experience (03:26).

• How the contact centre changed from meeting only the functional needs of customers, to also meeting their emotional needs (04:32).

• The radical change in agent empowerment that was made in the centre (07:15).

• The clever (and simple) piece of technology agents use to hone their skills (08:25).

• How agents working from home are supported, so they have just as much support as they'd have in the office (08:57).

• The 2 steps Geeta takes to continually reduce call volume (10:38).

Connect with Geeta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geeta-sreeraman-0575337/

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