Hi,

I think shared knowledge is very beneficial so I would like to ask - What do you do to keep employees motivated and ensure agents provide the best level of service?

Hi @Lettitiaf! My question for you is,

What are your go to tips in handling angry customers? And how do you make sure that's effectively passed on to agents?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Hello,

I’d like to know how do you and your agents go about prioritizing the tickets that are coming in from multiple channels? 

This is great. How do you see AI changing the game for support agents? both good and bad?

@Crocus_Benford, we keep our employees motivated by providing them with regular feedback on their performance and that of the entire company on the service they deliver. Where we find we do not perform to our optimal we provide guidelines and tips to our agents to ensure they know how to deal with certain matters and always understand what is expected of them.

@aarvav.akash: What are your go to tips in handling angry customers? And how do you make sure that's effectively passed on to agents?

Effective listening and giving them time to rage without interrupting. When a person is angry they will not absorb or listen to any information but once they have had time to “vent” and calm down they will be more likely to listen to you and understand the situation, or the solution you provide them with. Our supervisors are always within hearing distance from the agents and will assist with tips and solutions while the agent is busy with the customer. This way the agent learns how to deal with angry customers in an effective and customer centric way.

@Ishan: I’d like to know how do you and your agents go about prioritizing the tickets that are coming in from multiple channels? 

Our tickets are sorted according to date in a ascending order to ensure that we attend to the oldest tickets first. Agents will, throughout the day, change the sorting to look at tickets with a customer response to ensure that we get back to them first. We have also, view our tickets in “card view” to ensure we see most of the information required and attend to our high priority tickets before we move on to the lower priorities. In our inbound contact centre, the agents will be assigned to look at different channels, e.g. 2 or more agents will attend to WhatsApp chats only, others will look at emails and some will attend to calls only. Once the agents have worked through their channel, they will start to assist the other agents on their platforms.

@SnigdhaVittaldev: This is great. How do you see AI changing the game for support agents? both good and bad?

The good will be that the frequently asked questions will be addressed by the bots and the agents can focus on the matters requiring investigation saving them and the customer time in resolving the matter sooner than later.

The bad will be that AI cannot replace a human being and some customers prefer speaking to an agent, especially when they are very upset and angry so this may lead to agents only dealing with angry customers in the end which can be demoralising. 

Hi @Lettitiaf - welcome to the Freshworks Community and so glad to have you with us!  My question for you is, what are some of the additional features that you would like to see to help resolve challenges?

@alyssia.correa: Hi @Lettitiaf - welcome to the Freshworks Community and so glad to have you with us!  My question for you is, what are some of the additional features that you would like to see to help resolve challenges?

One feature that I have submitted is to be able to change from one communication channel to another, on the tickets, without having to create a new ticket for it. We don’t want all our agents to be able to respond to our social media channel tickets, where it is visible to all who follow us or the customer who contacted us. We normally respond once off on the social media channel and once we have received the customer’s contact details we want to move to their preferred communication channel, like email. This option is currently not available and we have to create a brand new ticket and merge it with the original ticket.

@Lettitiaf - Thank you for the feedback! That’s a really good suggestion and we’ll pass the feedback on!

@Lettitiaf The way automation is trending, do you think chatbots can replace the human quotient of interactions between support & customers? I personally like a “human” touch to my query’s response. TIA for your time.

@karthikananth: The way automation is trending, do you think chatbots can replace the human quotient of interactions between support & customers? I personally like a “human” touch to my query’s response. TIA for your time.

No, chatbots will never be able to replace the human quotient. Human interaction will always be required at some stage of the interaction between you and your customer. Chatbots can only assist in alleviating some pressure from the support agents in assisting with basic questions and answers.

@Lettitiaf Thanks for your response. One more question. We keep talking abour the current trend - how support agents are transcending from ticket-based interactions to more conversational chatter with end-customers. While we know the benefits, how is the experience for the agent? Is it more challenging for them? Is the pressure from load-aspect higher?

Hey @Lettitiaf, welcome to the Freshworks Community and I’m super excited to have you with us!
My question for you is about Self-service: What are the challenges faced in creating and maintaining a self service portal. 
 

@karthikananth Thanks for your response. One more question. We keep talking abour the current trend - how support agents are transcending from ticket-based interactions to more conversational chatter with end-customers. While we know the benefits, how is the experience for the agent? Is it more challenging for them? Is the pressure from load-aspect higher?

The agents enjoy the more conversational chatter with the customer as it gives them better insight into the situation and enquiry, they also get a better understanding of the customer's expectations during the chatter. The challenge differ from case to case where some may be more challenging and others not at all challenging. When it comes to workload the chatter may take up a lot of time from the agents causing a backlog which they need to catch up on which in turn causes pressure.

@akshara.sruthi My question for you is about Self-service: What are the challenges faced in creating and maintaining a self service portal. 

Creating a self service portal may be a challenge if you don't know and understand your customer, or company processes to resolve queries. Creating these portals take time to build and you have to ensure that the customer journey through the process is user friendly. Companies tend to build self service portals from their point of view, but ideally it should be built from the customer point of view to ensure it is easy to use and understand.

Regular updates and changes within the company need to be built into these self service portals as and when it happens to ensure that it is always up to date and enquiries don't get lost in the system.

That’s an amazing point to keep in mind! The POV is very important. 

I’m also taking this opportunity to tag our usual CX experts who give us amazing insights during coffee chats! @foxcubmama, @manns, @zachary.king, @Jeannie_Walters, @Gilbert, @finn, @Lea France, @BrendaM, @Sean.Daly, @DaniCSI, @Alice, @n.winslow, @TheresaDorr        

This is your chance to engage with @Lettitiaf -  Head of Marketing, Communications and CX, City Property Administration. 

Here’s a note from her about City Property Adminstration: City Property is a visionary and people-focused property management company that leads urban transformation and renewal. We manage and create human ecosystems to have a positive impact on the lives of the people who use our spaces in the Johannesburg and Pretoria CBD's. 

P.S. She is a Freshworks customer who has solved their support challenges & discover unique use cases. 

Hello @Lettitiaf, Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise with the Refresh Community.

Now that you are using Freshdesk in many ways to enhance the experience of your agents and customers, how have you leveraged that experience to include enhancing the knowledge and expertise of your agents? We have been building a more robust Knowledge Base and I am curious if you have done the same and how you utilize the many features of Freshdesk (ex. AssistBot) in onboarding new agents and helping them get up to speed with your organization.

Thank you for your time, and best of luck in the future! Take care 

Hi @Lettitiaf hopefully I’m not too late. 

Is City Property Administration sharing best practices between internal and external service and support providers? For example, sharing CX wins when appropriate with IT support of HR enquiry teams. Thanks.

@zachary.king 

Hello @Lettitiaf, Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise with the Refresh Community.

Now that you are using Freshdesk in many ways to enhance the experience of your agents and customers, how have you leveraged that experience to include enhancing the knowledge and expertise of your agents? We have been building a more robust Knowledge Base and I am curious if you have done the same and how you utilize the many features of Freshdesk (ex. AssistBot) in onboarding new agents and helping them get up to speed with your organization.

Thank you for your time, and best of luck in the future! Take care 

We have just started to explore the Knowledge Base for the exact purpose of providing our agents a platform on which they will find information in helping them get up to speed with our organisation and processes used. We still have to look into AssistBot as an option.

@manns 

Hi @Lettitiaf hopefully I’m not too late. 

Is City Property Administration sharing best practices between internal and external service and support providers? For example, sharing CX wins when appropriate with IT support of HR enquiry teams. Thanks.

We are not yet sharing best practices with external service providers. We do share with internal and support providers.

Excited to host an AMA with Lettitia Findlay from City Property Management, diving into the world of real estate in Dubai. Join us as we explore the dynamic market, share insights, and discuss the joy of finding not just houses for sale in Dubai, but homes where memories are made.

Hi Lettitia! It's inspiring to see how Freshdesk has transformed your customer service at City Property Management. As a food blogger with a menu pricing site, I know how crucial quick responses are in the hospitality industry. Have you noticed an increase in customer satisfaction since streamlining your processes? Looking forward to your insights!