How to Enhance the Productivity of Your Customer Support Staff

Customer support agents in any organization are the most stressed out. They continuously have to deal with customer requests and maintain the same level of enthusiasm throughout the day, right from the first call when they come to office till the last one. This is because they are the face of any business and hence, they always have to be on their toes while attending calls or answering emails.

Something is not going right in your organization if your support staff is bombarded with calls and emails every day to the extent that it takes a toll on their productivity and health. If they have to navigate across folders and files to get information while collaborating with colleagues is becoming a task, get ready face the consequences – lower efficiency and lost business.

Here are some ways in which you can boost the productivity of your support staff so that they are able to serve their customers in a better way:

1. Immediate Access to Customer Details

Browsing through multiple folders to know details about customers – their name and contact details, recent queries, etc., is frustrating both for the agent and the customer. Having a full-fledged database in place that lists down every detail about clients can make this process simple and fuss-free. Further, every time customers call, they will not have to introduce themselves and mention their previous issue as agents will have their details right on their desktop. This will also help your customer reps give personalized and speedy responses, thus boosting their morale and giving them a sense of achievement.

2. Collective Knowledge of Different Teams

Customers tend to have queries related to diverse subjects and reaching out to a subject-matter expert every time is tedious. Providing agents with a single online knowledge base where different teams share knowledge can be extremely helpful. It eliminates the need to touchbase with various teams as the centralized customer support knowledge base equips agents with relevant information. They don’t have to go from pillar to post to find the right agent and get the right data, as everything is instantly available on their screens.

3. Omnichannel Solution

Switching various tabs and apps to resolve customer queries is time-consuming and hectic not just for agents but also for your customers. For happier and satisfied agents and clients, you need to have an omnichannel solution that is nothing but a combination of self-service knowledge base, live chat or call back. The best way to do this is by embedding an in-app help widget. This is an all-in-one solution both for your support teams and customers as well. Your support staff can suggest relevant articles in the help widget, chat with customers and attend to calls easily when queries don’t get resolved.

4. Skills-Based Call Routing

You’d agree that each of your agents are experts in different fields. When they get calls catering to multiple requirements, they might not be able to do justice to them, simply because it’s not their area of expertise. The best way to leverage their potential is through skills-based call routing. It helps you divert support requests to the agents who have the relevant skills. Directing support tickets to the most suitable agents streamlines the entire process and eliminates unnecessary to and fro. It enhances the productivity of agents and also reduces the time taken to resolve tickets, as each of your agents will be able to do justice to the query received by giving the best responses.

5. Support Metrics

You need to have an in-depth knowledge of various support metrics including ticket volume, frequent customer requests, the performance of agents among others. This will give you a clear picture of the entire customer support division and based on this data, you can allocate agents for a different set of customer queries. It will ensure that tickets are distributed equally across agents and are resolved in less time. Your support team’s workflow will improve and so will their performance.

Need for a Stress-Free Environment

The continuous flood of customer requests can make anyone go berserk, leading to high levels of stress and negatively impacting the work and health of employees. A survey conducted by Statista in 2014 highlights the loss of productivity due to high levels of stress among employees in North America.

A stress-free environment can happen only when you implement the right strategies and tactics that streamline your trouble ticket management system and lift the burden off the shoulders of customer support teams. Once a proper system is in place, your agents will be able to focus better on customer queries and do their best while resolving them, thus upping the satisfaction levels both for agents and customers.

Conclusion

The customer support division is the best representative of your firm, as they directly connect with your customers on a daily basis. Hope these tips would be instrumental in keeping your agents in fine fettle and boosting their productivity and efficiency, which will, in turn, lead to happier agents and satisfied customers.

Must Read: Delight Your Support Staff and Customers with an Online Help Center

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