Wow Customers by Going Above and Beyond

By Sean Hawkins

Going beyond what is required is one of the greater acts of service that one can give. It's great when you provide amazing service, but when that level of service surpasses what is required, not only do you show customers that you value them, your commitment to service becomes legendary. Many companies speak of the importance of customer service, yet it is not always evident. Even worse, built in metrics and SLA's may prevent it from occurring with regularity.

Exceeding expectations and going beyond the basic requirements, speaks to a higher level of service. It implies that the basics are done consistently well. Additionally, suggests good being good enough is not good enough. Service that goes beyond acceptable suggests authenticity. You can't fake a high level of service. Many are proving that on a daily basis, when what they say, fail to align with their the things they are doing. 

One of the failures many organizations make is to pattern their service after other brands. Sadly, those of us in positions of influence are guilty of suggesting this practice. It's easy to do it like others until you actually have to do it. However, what those organizations have in common, and what CAN be replicated is going further than is required.

How can you encourage your team to go above and beyond what is expected, and provide a level of service that reaches WOW?

On the spot recognition: When someone does something exceptional, or out of the norm, highlight that in real time. As part of your live monitoring, encourage supervisors to look for those WOW moments and congratulate the efforts made by team members.


Include 'Above and Beyond' in your QA scorecard: As part of the QA process, define

what an "above and beyond" moment looks like, and reward additional points to the agent. Obviously, you'd want to ensure it is in alignment with the overall objective of your QA program.


Make it a part of the culture: Much can be said on how to adopt a the culture in the workplace. In my experience, the best way to change the culture is two-fold. First, leadership must practice the behaviors they expect. Leaders are the example that everyone will follow. By going the extra mile for their teams, engaging in authentic ways, and being inclusive, the tone is set at the top.


Secondly, hire for the culture you desire. As part of your hiring process, be certain your focus includes protecting your culture. My primary decision in extending an offer to someone is based on how they fit with the team. This is not to suggest that everyone should be the same. On the contrary, diversity is important. Diversity that improves and enhances culture and morale is even better. 




I have over 15 years of progressive call center leadership and experience in the public, private and government sectors.

I have led or consulted contact centers of various sizes across numerous industries. Additionally, I’ve implemented new technology and products, while maintaining award-winning contact centers.

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter.

#CustServ #QOTD

"Follow the Leader", Featuring Jessica Voss

What are the benefit of moving your contact center to the cloud?

For those of you who are still standing still on the ground and contemplating moving your contact center to the cloud, allow me to float you some ideas to get you moving toward the cloud. 



First, the security of the cloud is much better than that of the traditional, premise-based solutions.

Second, a cloud solution can provide a more agile, robust platform. Cloud solutions help you keep up with the speed of innovation, and provide better integrations, quicker upgrades, and a way to easily turn features on and off. Keeping up with the right technology, that can move these rapid changes, is a must.

Lastly, the financial reasons to move to the cloud are astronomical. You may not realize the true ROI/TCO of deploying a cloud solution until you look at the hard AND soft dollar costs associated with them. Things break, and new technology is churning quickly. You may deploy something on-premise now, but it could be outdated within the next 1-2 years. Keep that in mind!

Jessica Voss has over 17 years in telecom and contact center sales, servicing both enterprise and mid-market companies around the world. She is one of the leading experts at helping companies find the right solutions for their contact center.

Follow the Leader: LinkedIn | Twitter

#CustServ #QOTD

How Consumers Are Changing the Face of Customer Service (Infographic)

From: www.providesupport.com

#CustServ #QOTD

Maximize Every Communication: Anticipate and Inform

By Sheree D. Kenner

One of the things that an overburdened helpdesk can do, is to make every interaction count. If you have fifty tickets in your queue, are answering seventy-five calls a day, and need to meet SLA’s, then the last thing you need is to send replies to your customer that generate more inquiries.

Here is an exchange, for example, that will cause more work:

Customer: “My keyboard died and I need a new one.”

Agent: “You can find a new one on the web.”

Customer: “Where?”

Agent: “Amazon.”

Customer: “What kind?’

Agent: “Depends on your preference.”

Not only is this frustrating, but it’s completely inefficient, ineffective, and results in a poor customer experience. Instead, agents should anticipate their customer’s needs, use follow-up questions, and/or add provide additional details.

A more appropriate response would be:

Customer: “My keyboard died and I need a new one.”

Agent: “I’m sorry to hear that. The following models (link to options and pricing) are available for purchase within our environment. Please select one and we’ll order a replacement for you which will arrive within two business days. If you need assistance with the installation, please indicate that in your reply and we’ll schedule a desktop visit. If you plan to install the keyboard yourself, recycle or dispose of per company policy.”

As you see, this interaction communicates anticipates future needs, is very informative, and helps avoid unnecessary follow-up. This results in a happy customer!

Additionally, if this is a common request, I suggest creating a quick response template that contains this information, so that all responses are consistent and this information won’t need retyping each time a request is made. Quick response templates also educate other team members who may not be aware of existing policies or procedures.

I am an experienced senior leader with a proven record of coordinating business technology support, designing and executing standards and procedures, coordinating large-scale projects, and delivering process enhancements. I specialize in ITSM, ITIL, Knowledge Management, and building best in class practices for IT organizations. 

Connect with me on LinkedIn