The customer journey and the team that supports it often serve as the face or voice of a company. It is where customers interact directly with a brand. Depending on the outcomes sought, its channels can vary from AI chatbots to live 24/7 phone support. In all cases, however, customer experience representatives are attempting to fulfill another person’s need for some form of support, which is a responsibility that should be treated with compassion instead of carelessness.
The stakes can vary within this domain. On one hand, a project manager at a software company could be reaching out to another software company looking for an update on a minor bug fix, and on the other, a person is calling their bank in the middle of the night because their wallet was stolen and they are seeing hundreds of dollars in charges show up on their account. Both scenarios require empathy. The person calling their bank is obvious, but maybe the project manager is receiving pressure from their side because the bug limits their ability to get ROI from the tool, and they are at a standstill until it gets resolved. The difference between a representative who takes the time to connect and demonstrate understanding for their clients and those who treat these interactions like emotionless transactions is massive.
The benefits of empathy in customer experience are seemingly clear but require discipline and guidance from within. Just as the difference between compassionate and transactional representatives is blatant, a company that establishes a strong culture that advocates for the mental well-being of its workforce and one that does not is evident. Creating an environment that provides solid and supportive benefits leads to more loyalty and motivation, which can ultimately influence work ethic. Pairing this with training that directly explores the importance of active listening skills, cultural nuances, and responding with genuine empathy can help bolster the performance of any team.
Servicing Solutions was built on compassion and empathy. Internally, we collaborate across departments on a daily basis – all projects are viewed as a team effort, and we are always working together to understand the challenges we encounter from each other’s perspective. As a trusted staff augmentation partner, we train our representatives to listen and ask questions. We look at our partnerships as opportunities to not only represent ourselves, but also the partners we are supporting, and we aim to do it the right way.
We approach our partnerships the same way we coach our team to approach their interactions – listening and asking questions. Each chance we have to speak with someone, we hope to take full advantage of the information we can glean and use to help you. We feel that working with our partners is impossible if we do not understand what they are trying to accomplish and why. Our duty is to provide you with our trusted resources to represent your brand, which means collaboration and understanding are paramount in ensuring a successful execution.
Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes when you are trying to help them is important. In customer experience, what one may see as a trivial issue could be a major problem for the person on the other end of the request. In some cases, a person experiencing stress and not being heard by the representative helping them can become irritable or hostile in response, which ultimately makes the situation more difficult for the representative. Sometimes, taking a moment to listen to someone can be enough to help them feel better about what they are experiencing, and while it is a learned skill, it does not require much effort.
Unfortunately, this is not a flawless system. The reality is that everyone is human, and humans sometimes have bad days. As it turns out, customer experience is a dedicated platform for human interactions. Ignoring the importance of fostering strong connections through empathy and compassion can be more impactful than expected, so we strive to lead by example at Servicing Solutions.
We are hiring! Check out our Careers Page if you want to join our team of humans.