Up Where Expectations Soar: Customer Care in the Age of Entitlement

Admit it, you love it when you’re handed that Starbucks beverage with your name spelled neatly and correctly on the side. Maybe that’s where it all started: that innocent coffee cup with the green mermaid staring back at you. The trend of personalized customer experience has since transformed almost every industry as we know it. From the retail experience to social media connections to issue resolution via the contact center, customers want their individual needs known and reflected in the interactions, services, and products they pay for.

The upside to this personalized, high-touch service is the humanness of it all. When we stop seeing fellow human beings as mere transactions, surely that’s a good thing. The dark side is that for many customers, the expectation of personalization can be a direct path to a sense of entitlement. And a customer who feels they are owed the right to “special treatment” can quickly become an unhappy customer. Cue the angry phone calls and spiteful social posts.

It’s your contact center agents who are left to make things right and, hopefully, earn the customer’s continued loyalty – and they have to be well supported to do it effectively. So, what is the best way to support customers with extremely high service expectations? How do we deliver amazing customer experiences despite increasingly challenging stressors?

The Tools to Tackle Customer Entitlement

First and foremost, there needs to be a very tight relationship between the contact center team and the company leadership team. Everyone, from top to bottom, needs to have an equal commitment to providing an optimal customer experience, and there must be regular communication to determine what that looks like.

In our world, this takes the shape of a unified and documented blueprint of the customer journey, as well as the appropriate tools and systems to support that journey and equip agents to deliver the optimal experience. Omnichannel support, where all contact channels seamlessly integrate in real-time and the customer can transition without having to repeat themselves, is the best foundation to engage customers for the entire lifecycle. But we want to call out the impact of social media in the hands of customers whose expectations haven’t been met. We’ve all seen Twitter explosions over poor customer service (sorry, Comcast). So, for brands that seem to attract more than their fair share of snarky customers, proactive social media support teams are essential, as is a seamless transition from social media to other channels. Again, a smooth digital transition from social to an empowered agent is key.

A strategic Tier 2 support team may also be necessary. Often, with intensely disgruntled customers who feel they deserved better service, the situation often stands the best chance of recovery when your Tier 1 agent escalates the call to someone who is perceived as having greater authority. An efficient escalation process and a well-trained Tier 2 team who are expert communicators can make the difference between a lost customer and a loyal customer.

In some cases, the regular array of tools and resources aren’t enough, and more strategic solutions are required to satisfy frustrated customers. For example, a client of ours in the grocery sector recognized that simply providing a credit for missing or damaged items wasn’t enough for agents to be able to deliver an excellent experience. The stakes were too high for this standard solution to be completely effective. As it turns out, when it comes to food, people often react viscerally to a service mishap or product disappointment, and straightforward make-goods or discounts often don’t cut it. Our client realized they needed to achieve the near-impossible and provide ways for agents to truly win over customers who expected nothing less than perfect service. Part of their solution was a business partnership that allowed agents to facilitate the replacement and delivery of any missed or damaged items within mere hours.

Finally, in the rare case that we interact with a customer whose expectations go beyond the realm of possibility, we flag the contact for review with our client. This is where close collaboration is essential. We want our client engaged in deciding how to manage the customer relationship – we want to understand their decision-making process and use that intel when similar complex interactions arise in the future. It is the closed loop concept – feed the decisions back downstream to recruiting and training teams as well as agents and coach teams to get in front of the problem next time.

The Training to Prepare for Entitled Customers

What is the right hiring profile for a brand whose customers have sky high service expectations? The best agents in these scenarios are people who are highly self-aware and who do not feed off of negative energy – that’s a shortcut to losing customers left and right. We actively recruit for people who self-identify as able to create positive energy in others. We want solution-focused people who can empathize with every customer and can shake off the negativity that comes with handling a barrage of complaints. Even if it’s the fifteenth identical call of the day, a customer needs to believe their situation is unique, and that takes an agent with high emotional intelligence.

But being able to deliver amazing service to even the most entitled customer requires more than the right hiring profile. The training process has to start with imparting a comprehensive understanding of the brand an agent is serving. They need to understand the impact of the service or product they support on that customer’s life, time, family, or career. This foundational knowledge enables genuine interactions, in which angry customers come away with the belief that the agent understands their struggle and is as invested in figuring out a solution as the customer. Beyond comprehending the why and the how, your agents need to care. To paraphrase The Heath Brothers in their book, The Power of Moments, you don’t just need your agents to understand something, you need them to feel something. How outsourcers build that connection between agent/customer/client brand is the secret sauce – and if you are going to RFP for a new customer care provider, that’s where you should be probing for specific examples and process details.

The training doesn’t end in their first few days or weeks. A robust, ongoing coaching program is a necessity. You can’t expect someone to have the skills to handle challenging customers if they don’t know how well they’re doing or where they need improvement on regular interactions. Side-by-side coaching, opportunities for self-evaluation, and regular scorecards are all ways to help agents prepare for difficult interactions with entitled customers.

How to Support Your Toughest Customers

Maybe it’s generational or cultural – or simply a result of personable coffee mermaids; either way, today’s consumers believe they are entitled to and deserve “special” treatment. There is a whole host of studies and surveys out there trying to explain the topic of entitlement. Challenging customers are always going to show up, and your brand’s reputation depends upon how well you are able to serve them.

Source: https://blueocean.ca/customer-care-entitlement/

2023 Buyers Guide

Get Listed

Omnichannel

Page: 12

1.)

Premium Listing Call Center Studio Call Center Studio Call Center Studio is the world’s first call center built on Google and is one of the most secure and stable systems with some of the industry’s best reporting. It is one of the most full-featured enterprise grade systems (with the most calling features, one of the best call distribution, outbound dialing features and integrations—including IVR, AI Speech Recognition, blended inbound/outbound calling and includes Google’s new Dialogflow and Speech API. Call Center Studio is the absolute easiest to use (with a 10 minute setup), and is the price performance leader with lower equipment cost and less setup time.

2.)	3Fiftynine CardBoard This real-time walldisplay is able to show every form of contact in a clear wallboard, with the necessary KPI’s per channel; like phone, chat, etc.

3.)

Alvaria Noble Contact Center Truly unified omnichannel operations. Your customers have growing expectations about how and when they want to interact with you. The noble contact centre suite helps you seamlessly communicate with your customers, no matter which channel(s) they prefer. Noble helps you optimise agent activity and improve the efficiency of customer interactions with our unified omnichannel solutions. Seamlessly manage communications over a variety of voice and non-voice channels including voice, email, sms text, web chat and social media. Simultaneously manage inbound and outbound communications without having to log in and out of programs. And combine all channels on a single platform to improve contact centre efficiency and profitability.

4.)

Call Tracking Metrics Today’s customers aren’t always willing to pick up the phone to talk to a business, which is why an omnichannel communications strategy is essential. Because our software tracks chats, texts, and form submissions in addition to calls, we make it easy for you to interact with customers in their preferred method of communication. Take your strategy to the next level by utilizing our automated tools which can generate instant communications back to your customers as soon as they contact you.

5.)

CCT Solutions CCT ContactPro ContactPro empowers agents to efficiently serve customers in today's demanding world of Omni-Channel communication. The state-of-the-art technology solution helps contact centers to leverage their existing Avaya infrastructure while decreasing contact center costs and increasing customer satisfaction. With a strong focus on Omni-Channel functionality ContactPro defines a new method for integrated traditional voice contacts, emails, fax and documents with modern web and smartphone communication for any WebRTC, chat, assistant browsing and file sharing, online presence, SMS/IM (text) and social media activities. Additionally, the web supervisor functions provide simple reporting and full me... (read more)ContactPro empowers agents to efficiently serve customers in today's demanding world of Omni-Channel communication. The state-of-the-art technology solution helps contact centers to leverage their existing Avaya infrastructure while decreasing contact center costs and increasing customer satisfaction. With a strong focus on Omni-Channel functionality ContactPro defines a new method for integrated traditional voice contacts, emails, fax and documents with modern web and smartphone communication for any WebRTC, chat, assistant browsing and file sharing, online presence, SMS/IM (text) and social media activities. Additionally, the web supervisor functions provide simple reporting and full media control. ContactPro is a flexible, modular and customizable client-server solution for today's contact centers. The solution provides a unified interface for handling all inbound and outbound channels deployed by the contact center

6.)

Comm100 Network Corporation Comm100 The Comm100 omnichannel customer experience platform powers real-time interactions via web, mobile, and messaging. We make it easy for organizations to answer questions, solve problems, and keep customers happy. From front-line marketing and sales to ongoing service and support, Comm100 enables great digital experiences that drive revenue without increasing costs.

7.)

ComSys S.A. CFront for Digital Communication Channels CFront by Comsys is a state-of-the-art application that enriches contact centers with digital communication and collaboration capabilities. CFront is natively compatible with Aspect Unified IP and Cisco Unified Contact Center (UCCE/UCCX) platforms and connects them with all the major communication channels. Comsys is a provider of οmnichannel customer engagement solutions that assist companies around the world in delivering unique customer experiences. For the last 15 years, Comsys designs and implements complex projects for clients from the outsourcing, financial services, telecommunications, and retail sectors. Comsys enjoys strategic partnerships with technology vendors like Cisco®, Aspe... (read more)CFront by Comsys is a state-of-the-art application that enriches contact centers with digital communication and collaboration capabilities. CFront is natively compatible with Aspect Unified IP and Cisco Unified Contact Center (UCCE/UCCX) platforms and connects them with all the major communication channels. Comsys is a provider of οmnichannel customer engagement solutions that assist companies around the world in delivering unique customer experiences. For the last 15 years, Comsys designs and implements complex projects for clients from the outsourcing, financial services, telecommunications, and retail sectors. Comsys enjoys strategic partnerships with technology vendors like Cisco®, Aspect Software®, and Microsoft® for the delivery of innovative interaction management and contact center optimization solutions.

8.)

Consilium Software Consilium UniVCX™ You may have seen the meme going around that captures what tipped the balance towards digital. The questionnaire asks, “who is driving your digital transformation?” After “CEO” and “chief digital officer”, the third option is “Covid-19” highlighted with a red circle. The pandemic has been tragic in the toll it has taken on the lives and health of the global population, forcing billions to stay at home. Yet, it has also been a catalyst for change in a bigger way than any event since the last world war. Who would have thought that a bank would lend a new customer a million dollars or more based on a video inspection of the mortgaged property and without any physical paperwork or face-to-face K... (read more)You may have seen the meme going around that captures what tipped the balance towards digital. The questionnaire asks, “who is driving your digital transformation?” After “CEO” and “chief digital officer”, the third option is “Covid-19” highlighted with a red circle. The pandemic has been tragic in the toll it has taken on the lives and health of the global population, forcing billions to stay at home. Yet, it has also been a catalyst for change in a bigger way than any event since the last world war. Who would have thought that a bank would lend a new customer a million dollars or more based on a video inspection of the mortgaged property and without any physical paperwork or face-to-face KYC, or that a patient would be willing to pay almost $200 for a 4-minute video call with a specialist doctor? Customer mindsets have already adapted, but are enterprises ready to run the digital arms race? Despite all the challenges facing CEO and CTO’s today, now is the time to act. Federal governments around the world have passed legislation allowing BFSIs to use a video-based customer identification process, and central banks have followed, re-writing their KYC rules. Consilium UniVCX™ leverages the new frameworks, which apart from video-based identity verification, includes guidelines for the use of AI and machine learning in identification and verification. UniVCX™ 5.0 enables organizations to scale up their existing Cisco contact center (CCE and CCX) deployments to become ready with WebRTC-based secure video, co-browsing, and chat as new channels with integration to Cisco Finesse and Cisco Jabber as well as provides a migration path for existing Cisco Remote Expert Mobile (REM) customers. Consilium UniVCX™ can also be interfaced to Cisco CUCM-only environments, or delivered as a standalone solution to enhance customer experience (CX). In healthcare, UniVCX™ biometric authentication technology allows providers to onboard users safely and securely with ID documents and facial recognition checks to ensure that the identity is legitimate, and the correct person is physically present for the medical consultation. This eliminates travel, especially useful during quarantine time and lockdowns. So, how does UniVCX™ KYC work? A new customer is sent a web link to click to start the process. Starting with a live chat, either the customer or the agent can initiate a video call, and also exchange documents and images as files or directly using the desktop webcam or mobile phone camera. Co-browsing enables the agent to assist the less tech-savvy users to fill in online forms together while keeping personally-identifiable information (PII) masked, share any application, as well as perform highlighting through drawing and text annotations. UniVCX™ includes capabilities such as skill-based routing, video in the queue, video on hold, and integration with Cisco Finesse Desktop, Cisco Jabber, and CRMs.

9.)	CTCOMM Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Youtube

10.)	Eckoh Eckoh Experience Portal Cloud-based portal that delivers Eckoh's complete Secure Payment and Customer Engagement solutions. Simply take the solutions you need today and add additional ones as you need them. All from one supplier.

11.)

eGain Corporation eGain eGain omnichannel customer engagement solutions power digital transformation for leading brands. Guided by AI, knowledge, and connected analytics, eGain’s customer engagement suite enables excellence in digital-first, omnichannel customer engagement across digital self-service, including virtual assistance, messaging, chat, social, and email, seamlessly integrated with voice. Based on a unified platform, the solution is trusted by blue-chip brands for customer engagement at scale that is effective, efficient, and consistent, while being compliant with best practices and industry regulations.

12.)	eGain Corporation eGain Solve Rated #1 by analysts and trusted by some of the biggest brands in the world, eGain Solve helps businesses design and deliver smart, connected customer journeys across social, mobile, web, and contact centers. You can sell smarter, serve better, and know more.

13.)

ethosIQ, LLC Customer Engagement Platform The Customer Engagment Platform (CEP) collects multichannel interaction and application data from all channels, across multiple systems, providing a single, complete data source for ethosAnalytics to access and display information in useful, usable ways. CEP provides companies with scalable and repeatable software for big data solutions.

14.)	Eudata Video Advisor Directly engage customers through an effortless Video chat via your web page or mobile APP with a secure platform. Escalate from an existing chat or create a brand new video conversation, use desktop sharing and co browsing, record and track every step of the customer journey

15.)

Fusion E-Solutions LLC omnichannel support service, BPO services We help businesses in their administrative and repetitive jobs as a be-fitting virtual assistant service provider. With an objective to reduce in-house burden, save time & money, and regain focus, we show flexibility in working 24/7 for clients with dynamic needs.

16.)

Hodusoft Pvt. Ltd. Omnichannel Contact Center Software "HoduCC" is a comprehensive and consolidated contact center software. It guarantees to provide the best call center software that suits best for all types of call centers. Being one of the top Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions providers across the globe, HoduSoft ensures that this contact center software offers intelligence, security, and advanced features. HoduCC has been designed in a way to make sure that user loyalty is built and the customers’ expectations are accomplished. Doesn’t matter what your business size is, HoduCC is most affordable Contact Center Software for small businesses as well. HoduCC allows customer support teams to provide personal, productive phone... (read more)"HoduCC" is a comprehensive and consolidated contact center software. It guarantees to provide the best call center software that suits best for all types of call centers. Being one of the top Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions providers across the globe, HoduSoft ensures that this contact center software offers intelligence, security, and advanced features. HoduCC has been designed in a way to make sure that user loyalty is built and the customers’ expectations are accomplished. Doesn’t matter what your business size is, HoduCC is most affordable Contact Center Software for small businesses as well. HoduCC allows customer support teams to provide personal, productive phone support within an omnichannel customer journey. Hodusoft helps to growing call center teams to resolve customer issue faster, measure and improve call support operations, and deliver excellent customer experience. With corporate-class call center software execution and consumer-like ease of use, HoduCC comfortably accommodates to the expanding needs of sales and support teams and their end-user, resulting in increased client satisfaction, productivity and cost-effective. HoduCC Inbound Center Software and Outbound Call Center Software increase team productivity.

17.)

ICR Evolution ICR Evolution We are omnichannel. We know that your clients want to be able to contact you through any channel, whether it is via telephone, social customer service (WhatsApp, Telegram, social networks), email, self-service, outbound or live chat. That is why we think about each improvement with the omnichannel experience as the main focus. ICR Evolution has been designed to exceed your customers' expectations, offer an excellent and consistent experience across all channels, increase productivity and retain talent in your company. We make it possible thanks to features such as Intelligent Contact Routing, Self-Service with Voice Recognition (IVR), Predictive Dialer, CTI, Scripting and Flow Design Tools, and Omnichannel Communications Management.

18.)	Ivonesia Solusi Data Sociomile Elevate your service quality and experience a seamless and more personalized customer care solution to get a happier customer journey that transforms into loyalty.

19.)

Lieber & Associates Omichannel Migration Consulting Services Lieber & Associates provides technology, management, and operations consulting services to transform departments into omnichannel contact centers. After assessing current operations, the firm delivers a roadmap for testing and implementing technology, metrics, training, and any staffing required to meet omnichannel goals. The firm also advises on programs to migrate customers to the new channels.

20.)	MightyCall A premier yet affordable VoIP phone system, working from home—or anywhere—has never been easier than with MightyCall, a no-hardware, no-nonsense solution for SMB.

 

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