Visit Freshworks.com Visit Freshworks

Coffee Chat on June 15 at 11:00 AM EST: Using customer service for growth

Coffee Chat on June 15 at 11:00 AM EST: Using customer service for growth
Show first post

89 replies

Jeannie_Walters
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Our first question for the day:

Q1: How can growing businesses with lean teams foster an alignment between Sales and customer support?  

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1 and use the Quote option 

A1 - more thoughts! 

The best organizations create a cycle of feedback internally and externally. That product team and sales team constantly at odds need productive and empowering ways to communicate to one another about what’s realistic and what’s not. It’s also important to consider how to weave in the customer feedback beyond just the sales team or tech support. What are we hearing from customers, and what can we all do about it? Getting your sales leaders on board with seeing themselves as customer experience leaders will help empower your organization to make the right promises to your customers.

Our first question for the day:

Q1: How can growing businesses with lean teams foster an alignment between Sales and customer support?  

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1 and use the Quote option 

 

A1. There’s nothing wrong with a casual conversation. It’s wonderful to invite Sales leaders and teams to participate in the Contact Center for a day. Listen to calls, talk to Customer Support team members.

 

Sales needs to understand what the customer experience is and how to set expectations.

 

According to Forrester Research, 77% of executive buyers claim salespeople don’t understand their issues and where they can help, and 78% claim salespeople do not have relevant examples or case studies to share with them. If sales teams don’t truly understand their customer’s experience, how can they help their customers?

It’s important to understand each team’s goals and how they’re all connected in the customer’s journey.

100%

Would you have any suggestions on how companies can facilitate the conversation between sales leaders and customer service?

To align sales and customer service (or any function) it’s great to get the conversation going about two things:
1. A Customer Experience Mission Statement - who are we and how can we show up for our customers in consistent ways no matter what?
2. The holistic customer journey - this is why journey mapping as a tool for conversation often leads to better overall CX results. The map isn’t the best part of the experience - it’s the process of mapping. (I like to say it’s a verb, not a noun.) 

We have free resources and blogs if you’d like to check them out: www.yearofcx.com 

Gilbert
Rank
Userlevel 1

A1.  Effective inter- communication , sharing of information/customer feedback 

Our first question for the day:

Q1: How can growing businesses with lean teams foster an alignment between Sales and customer support?  

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1 and use the Quote option 

 

akshara.sruthi
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Our first question for the day:

Q1: How can growing businesses with lean teams foster an alignment between Sales and customer support?  

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1 and use the Quote option 

A1 - more thoughts! 

The best organizations create a cycle of feedback internally and externally. That product team and sales team constantly at odds need productive and empowering ways to communicate to one another about what’s realistic and what’s not. It’s also important to consider how to weave in the customer feedback beyond just the sales team or tech support. What are we hearing from customers, and what can we all do about it? Getting your sales leaders on board with seeing themselves as customer experience leaders will help empower your organization to make the right promises to your customers.

Communication and closing the feedback loop between teams is crucial.

Jeannie_Walters
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Our first question for the day:

Q1: How can growing businesses with lean teams foster an alignment between Sales and customer support?  

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1 and use the Quote option 

 

A1. There’s nothing wrong with a casual conversation. It’s wonderful to invite Sales leaders and teams to participate in the Contact Center for a day. Listen to calls, talk to Customer Support team members.

 

Sales needs to understand what the customer experience is and how to set expectations.

 

According to Forrester Research, 77% of executive buyers claim salespeople don’t understand their issues and where they can help, and 78% claim salespeople do not have relevant examples or case studies to share with them. If sales teams don’t truly understand their customer’s experience, how can they help their customers?

It’s important to understand each team’s goals and how they’re all connected in the customer’s journey.

Those are some truly staggering numbers! Fascinating to think how many salespeople have no idea about some of the issues customers face. This clearly reflects in setting expectations during the buying process. 

Right!? It’s very telling about how siloed most organizations really are. 

akshara.sruthi
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

A1.  Effective inter- communication , sharing of information/customer feedback 

Our first question for the day:

Q1: How can growing businesses with lean teams foster an alignment between Sales and customer support?  

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1 and use the Quote option 

 

Spot on! 

manns
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

Tagging our usual coffee chat mates here, @foxcubmama, @mrsamydavies @rashmi.nag @Isaac Thomas @WHeine @jwicker @keefe.andrews @Josh.Slocum, @manns, @finn, @Alice, @JulieR , @Bex , @zachary.king and @gfecteau  

 

Would love to hear from you lot!

@akshara.sruthi I did post earlier but it went for moderation?

Ouch. Let me check on this, Stephan! 

It maybe seemed like a spam post due to its brevity?

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
Jeannie_Walters
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

A1.  Effective inter- communication , sharing of information/customer feedback 

Our first question for the day:

Q1: How can growing businesses with lean teams foster an alignment between Sales and customer support?  

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1 and use the Quote option 

 

Communication is so important. I worked with an organization that shared a “customer says what?” newsletter each week. They collected the funny conversations, big complaints, and other things that stood out to the customer service group that week, then shared it with several different departments, including product and sales. By keeping it light-hearted, they built relationships.

akshara.sruthi
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Our next question for the day,

Q2: What are the essential customer service skills that agents should possess in order to drive business growth?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question, start your answer with A2 and use the Quote option 

 

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

A1.  Effective inter- communication , sharing of information/customer feedback 

Our first question for the day:

Q1: How can growing businesses with lean teams foster an alignment between Sales and customer support?  

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1 and use the Quote option 

 

Couldn’t agree more. These may seem basic but just doing this consistently goes a long way!

manns
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

Our first question for the day:

Q1: How can growing businesses with lean teams foster an alignment between Sales and customer support?  

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1 and use the Quote option 

 

A1. There’s nothing wrong with a casual conversation. It’s wonderful to invite Sales leaders and teams to participate in the Contact Center for a day. Listen to calls, talk to Customer Support team members.

 

Sales needs to understand what the customer experience is and how to set expectations.

 

According to Forrester Research, 77% of executive buyers claim salespeople don’t understand their issues and where they can help, and 78% claim salespeople do not have relevant examples or case studies to share with them. If sales teams don’t truly understand their customer’s experience, how can they help their customers?

It’s important to understand each team’s goals and how they’re all connected in the customer’s journey.

Those are some truly staggering numbers! Fascinating to think how many salespeople have no idea about some of the issues customers face. This clearly reflects in setting expectations during the buying process. 

A1. response … you’d expect more salespeople to be using solution selling techniques that empathize with customer pain points.

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
Jeannie_Walters
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

A1: For me it starts with everyone understanding the corporate “reason for being” and what the entire customer lifecycle entails. Common goals help too. As does the appreciation of the value chain(s) and the roles different teams and people play in it. I could keep going but will finish this post on appreciating the many hindrances that colleagues face, especially those that are avoidable by your actions.

I completely agree! That’s why we recommend to start with an organizational CX mission statement. That’s what keeps the reason or WHY front and center.

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

A1: For me it starts with everyone understanding the corporate “reason for being” and what the entire customer lifecycle entails. Common goals help too. As does the appreciation of the value chain(s) and the roles different teams and people play in it. I could keep going but will finish this post on appreciating the many hindrances that colleagues face, especially those that are avoidable by your actions.

Really comes down to that empathy you’re referring to, at the end of the day :)

Jeannie_Walters
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Our next question for the day,

Q2: What are the essential customer service skills that agents should possess in order to drive business growth?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question, start your answer with A2 and use the Quote option 

 

A2. It’s easy to say “empathy” as a critical skill. But we must remember that empathy is not an unlimited resource. This is why it’s SO important to respect customer service agents and their self-care. 
 

I like to train agents as ambassadors - that’s what they really are. Leveraging the mission and values of the organization is important when hiring and training. Empathy should be shown and not just expected.

A study by Google in 2017 showed the company’s most important new ideas came from teams created of employees exhibiting a wide range of skills including: curiosity toward others’ ideas, empathy and emotional intelligence…In the simplest terms, empathy is defined as the ability to share feelings of another. Empathy is most effective when it’s sincere, authentic and compassionate. Empathy is not: Problem-solving, Sympathy, Misery comparison, Waiting to speak. When we talk about building a ‘culture of empathy,’ we mean one focused on understanding the experience of others.

akshara.sruthi
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Our next question for the day,

Q2: What are the essential customer service skills that agents should possess in order to drive business growth?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question, start your answer with A2 and use the Quote option 

 

A2: The most important and biggest skill would be to bounce back after a setback. 

What do you do after a difficult and draining experience with a customer? Can you take a deep breath, consciously decide not to take the attack personally, and carry on with the next customer who has no clue about your previous interactions but anxiously awaits your assistance?

Resilience - an admirable quality that can significantly influence your approach to customer service. Being highly self-motivated and resilient despite the negativity you’re bound to face frequently while handling angry customers or frustrated users, equips you to build an outstanding career in customer support.

On average, it takes 40 long minutes for a customer support agent to rebound after a rough call, and customer service expert - Shep Hyken notes how the best agents are the ones who move on quickly.

@Jeannie_Walters also has an amazing podcast about CX , inclusivity, resilience and adaptability: https://womenincx.community/episodes/clare-muscutt-jeannie-walters-women-in-cx-podcast-resilience 

 

 

akshara.sruthi
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Up next, Q3: How can support conversations be used to deliver business outcomes? Can you give us examples?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the this start your answer with A3 and use the Quote option 

 

manns
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

Our next question for the day,

Q2: What are the essential customer service skills that agents should possess in order to drive business growth?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question, start your answer with A2 and use the Quote option 

 

A2. It’s a long list for me, but as per my previous post, there are some must haves such as understanding how the business ticks through to appreciating that it’s the customer not your boss who ultimately pays your salary :)

In between these are things like appreciating the importance of good customer service to customer retention (and new sales), empathizing with the customer not simply spouting scripts, and taking ownership of issues.

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
Jeannie_Walters
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

A2. Skills like time management and knowledge management are also important. Now there are such great tools for that (like Freshworks!) that employees can really use their time to practice empathy and active listening. Customers want to be recognized for who they are and where they are on their journey. The tools + great skills make that possible!

Jeannie_Walters
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Our next question for the day,

Q2: What are the essential customer service skills that agents should possess in order to drive business growth?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question, start your answer with A2 and use the Quote option 

 

A2: The most important and biggest skill would be to bounce back after a setback. 

What do you do after a difficult and draining experience with a customer? Can you take a deep breath, consciously decide not to take the attack personally, and carry on with the next customer who has no clue about your previous interactions but anxiously awaits your assistance?

Resilience - an admirable quality that can significantly influence your approach to customer service. Being highly self-motivated and resilient despite the negativity you’re bound to face frequently while handling angry customers or frustrated users, equips you to build an outstanding career in customer support.

On average, it takes 40 long minutes for a customer support agent to rebound after a rough call, and customer service expert - Shep Hyken notes how the best agents are the ones who move on quickly.

@Jeannie_Walters also has an amazing podcast about CX , inclusivity, resilience and adaptability: https://womenincx.community/episodes/clare-muscutt-jeannie-walters-women-in-cx-podcast-resilience 

 

 

Love the emphasis on bouncing back! I think we have neglected wellness in customer service roles. We need to really teach and respect those resilience skills.

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Our next question for the day,

Q2: What are the essential customer service skills that agents should possess in order to drive business growth?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question, start your answer with A2 and use the Quote option 

 

A2. It’s easy to say “empathy” as a critical skill. But we must remember that empathy is not an unlimited resource. This is why it’s SO important to respect customer service agents and their self-care. 
 

I like to train agents as ambassadors - that’s what they really are. Leveraging the mission and values of the organization is important when hiring and training. Empathy should be shown and not just expected.

A study by Google in 2017 showed the company’s most important new ideas came from teams created of employees exhibiting a wide range of skills including: curiosity toward others’ ideas, empathy and emotional intelligence…In the simplest terms, empathy is defined as the ability to share feelings of another. Empathy is most effective when it’s sincere, authentic and compassionate. Empathy is not: Problem-solving, Sympathy, Misery comparison, Waiting to speak. When we talk about building a ‘culture of empathy,’ we mean one focused on understanding the experience of others.

“Empathy should be shown and not just expected”

Absolutely- what better way to inspire the ambassadors of a brand(agents)  than by displaying the very qualities you expect from them. And this is a cultural, org wide requirement. This will certainly reflect in everything the Company does, and eventually, in the Customer’s experience too!

Jeannie_Walters
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Our next question for the day,

Q2: What are the essential customer service skills that agents should possess in order to drive business growth?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question, start your answer with A2 and use the Quote option 

 

A2. It’s a long list for me, but as per my previous post, there are some must haves such as understanding how the business ticks through to appreciating that it’s the customer not your boss who ultimately pays your salary :)

In between these are things like appreciating the importance of good customer service to customer retention (and new sales), empathizing with the customer not simply spouting scripts, and taking ownership of issues.

Taking ownership! That’s so important and some cultures don’t really support that idea. If the culture is built on fear/punishment, ownership is avoided. But if the culture and leaders supports learning from mistakes instead of punishing, ownership grows.

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Our next question for the day,

Q2: What are the essential customer service skills that agents should possess in order to drive business growth?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question, start your answer with A2 and use the Quote option 

 

A2: The most important and biggest skill would be to bounce back after a setback. 

What do you do after a difficult and draining experience with a customer? Can you take a deep breath, consciously decide not to take the attack personally, and carry on with the next customer who has no clue about your previous interactions but anxiously awaits your assistance?

Resilience - an admirable quality that can significantly influence your approach to customer service. Being highly self-motivated and resilient despite the negativity you’re bound to face frequently while handling angry customers or frustrated users, equips you to build an outstanding career in customer support.

On average, it takes 40 long minutes for a customer support agent to rebound after a rough call, and customer service expert - Shep Hyken notes how the best agents are the ones who move on quickly.

@Jeannie_Walters also has an amazing podcast about CX , inclusivity, resilience and adaptability: https://womenincx.community/episodes/clare-muscutt-jeannie-walters-women-in-cx-podcast-resilience 

 

 

Love this! 

Jeannie_Walters
Rank
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Our next question for the day,

Q2: What are the essential customer service skills that agents should possess in order to drive business growth?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question, start your answer with A2 and use the Quote option 

 

A2. It’s easy to say “empathy” as a critical skill. But we must remember that empathy is not an unlimited resource. This is why it’s SO important to respect customer service agents and their self-care. 
 

I like to train agents as ambassadors - that’s what they really are. Leveraging the mission and values of the organization is important when hiring and training. Empathy should be shown and not just expected.

A study by Google in 2017 showed the company’s most important new ideas came from teams created of employees exhibiting a wide range of skills including: curiosity toward others’ ideas, empathy and emotional intelligence…In the simplest terms, empathy is defined as the ability to share feelings of another. Empathy is most effective when it’s sincere, authentic and compassionate. Empathy is not: Problem-solving, Sympathy, Misery comparison, Waiting to speak. When we talk about building a ‘culture of empathy,’ we mean one focused on understanding the experience of others.

“Empathy should be shown and not just expected”

Absolutely- what better way to inspire the ambassadors of a brand(agents)  than by displaying the very qualities you expect from them. And this is a cultural, org wide requirement. This will certainly reflect in everything the Company does, and eventually, in the Customer’s experience too!

Absolutely!! Employees who are proud of where they work, feel well respected and cared for, and understand the WHY are going to deliver better customer experiences. (And make hiring/ employee retention a lot easier!)

akshara.sruthi
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Our next question for the day,

Q2: What are the essential customer service skills that agents should possess in order to drive business growth?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering this question, start your answer with A2 and use the Quote option 

 

A2. It’s easy to say “empathy” as a critical skill. But we must remember that empathy is not an unlimited resource. This is why it’s SO important to respect customer service agents and their self-care. 
 

I like to train agents as ambassadors - that’s what they really are. Leveraging the mission and values of the organization is important when hiring and training. Empathy should be shown and not just expected.

A study by Google in 2017 showed the company’s most important new ideas came from teams created of employees exhibiting a wide range of skills including: curiosity toward others’ ideas, empathy and emotional intelligence…In the simplest terms, empathy is defined as the ability to share feelings of another. Empathy is most effective when it’s sincere, authentic and compassionate. Empathy is not: Problem-solving, Sympathy, Misery comparison, Waiting to speak. When we talk about building a ‘culture of empathy,’ we mean one focused on understanding the experience of others.

That’s an amazing note about what Empathy is not about. 

A
Userlevel 5
Badge +6

Up next, Q3: How can support conversations be used to deliver business outcomes? Can you give us examples?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the this start your answer with A3 and use the Quote option 

 

The most direct impact would be customers recommending the product/ service to their network after consistently delightful experience with support teams! It’s literally a game changer :)  

manns
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +10

Up next, Q3: How can support conversations be used to deliver business outcomes? Can you give us examples?

To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the this start your answer with A3 and use the Quote option 

 

An easy one for me is collecting customer feedback for product management to either add new “features” or to fix issues in the product or service design rather than repeatedly via support. Everyone wins with the latter :)

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools

Reply


Terms of UseCookie settings