From call monitoring and mystery shopping to customer surveys, focus groups and complaint solicitation — a portfolio of approaches is needed to provide comprehensive and balanced measures of service effectiveness. “How are we doing?” It’s a natural question for an individual or an organization. In some cases the answer is easy because the objective criteria for success are simple, obvious, easy to collect and easy to analyze. For example, a bricklayer is measured on the number of bricks laid in a day and the quality of the workmanship. Few organizations are simple, obvious, or easy to evaluate. This is especially so when the organization has multiple objectives — which may be in conflict.

Following recent YouGov research which revealed that one in five people have been so frustrated by a call centre experience, that they have later admitted shame with the way they have spoken to an agent, Ian Turner shares his thoughts… Excellence in customer service has been touted as the big differentiator in a struggling economy. Despite the phone remaining the dominant communication channel when contacting a call centre, many companies fail to grasp, or at least demonstrate an appreciation of the potential to improve the customer service experience through this medium.

Contact center agents are problem solvers. And solving problems all day is no easy gig. It can be hard to maintain a positive attitude; as a result, turnover is a major issue. But contact center directors can help to a great extent to keep up morale and improve retention in the process. Customer care expert Barbara Burke recently spoke with 1to1 Magazine about employee engagement in the contact center. Burke is author of The Napkin, the Melon, and the Monkey: How to Be Happy and Successful at Work by Simply Changing Your Mind, a fable about how a positive attitude can transform a call center agent from flop to star performer. She advocates storytelling as one way managers can help their agents learn new skills and improve their current performance.

Asking the right questions is key to getting the right answers. This week we look at effective questioning techniques… One of the most important factors to remember when questioning a customer is proper positioning, which will allow you to gain permission to ask almost anything. Framing the conversation by telling the customer what you are going to do for them is the perfect way to achieve this. Explain to the customer that you are going to ask them some questions, tell them why you are going to ask them and also let them know ‘what’s in it for them’ to answer the questions, thereby fully justifying all questions in advance!