The New Tendency → Improve Agent Experience

Agent experience is directly proportional to the quality of customer experience delivered. Happier agents tend to be more engaged, informed, and empowered. They collaborate better internally, understand customers needs as if they were theirs, and offer a whole better customer experience. 

Agents are happier when they believe and share their company´s mission, when they feel valued, when they are given a voice to freely express their difficulties, frictions and thoughts, when they are given career opportunities, and when then have a manageable workload. 

Today, the new “want it now” customer culture dictates customer service. Customers have adapted to digital first experiences using chatbots, helpdesk articles and other online self service tools to resolve basic concerns. However, when it comes to more complex issues, customers have started to demand higher expectations from customer service representatives. They call out for a more proactive support, personalized communication, and effortless experiences on any of the channels of contact they decide to use, weather it´s chat, email, or phone. 

For this reason, agent experience has become a very noteworthy topic for all companies to consider, in order for them to stand out. Here are some ways to improve AX → 

Create a Supportive Work Enviorment

Help agents feel heard, valued, and secure. Companies should ask there agents about customer needs, problems, and the assistance they need (training / guides / supervision) to deal with difficult customers. Ask them what processes, tools, tasks, etc. did they find hard to manage or understand during the interaction with the customer, and help them endure this friction.

Elevate Employee Experience

Manage your agents from anywhere in the world with ease, incorporate a remote customer support software that allows them to collaborate across teams seamlessly. 

Create a Robust Knowledge Base

Provide agents a trustworthy way to quickly find solutions to customer needs and problems. 

Monitor Agent Experience Metrics 

Measure agent effort and collect internal feedback that can guide you to where the areas for improvement are (processes, tools, training). 

Empower Agents with the Correct Software

Have a WFM tool that can help streamline workflows and automate tasks, for example ticket routing, in order for each ticket to be assigned to the right agents or departments, and allow your agents to have access to the call history of each customer to understand the reason why they are calling, that way they don’t have to repeat themselves over and over again, each time they call. 

Remember happy agents translate to happy customers. Start prioritizing agent experience if you want to guarantee an exceptional customer experience. Help your agents feel like they´re part of a company that values them and acknowledges their efforts. The more engaged your employees are, the longer they will tend to stay, and help you improve the overall operational excellence.