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11 Ways Cxceed WILL Help Improve Your Business

11 Ways Cxceed WILL Help Improve Your Business!

11 Ways Cxceed WILL Help Improve Your Business!

When we developed the early versions of Cxceed, it was to solve the customer service problems we had within our other businesses. We don't have those problems anymore.

When I look back at all the businesses I've been involved, all the problems I faced and the arguments I've had with staff members over the standard of customer care they delivered.

I'm certain my management life would have been a lot easier. I would have produced better results if I had had Cxceed to help.

I could have had many more hours of sleep, and I'm sure I would have fewer grey hairs! Hopefully, I can now keep what youth remains...

Anyway, as I was saying...

If there's one thing I've learned in my business life, it's that if you have a problem, someone else has it too.

When striving for high customer service levels, complaints can make you feel like your is a sinking boat. There are lots of little holes in the boat, some you can see, and others that you can't. Buckets at the ready you're running around trying to remove the water (complaints from poor customer experiences). You know that poor processes and sub-par staff responses are the holes causing the water to flow in but you can't identify where the holes are. You can use Cxceed to find and then fix the source of those poor customer experiences and make life a hell of a lot easier.

How?

Here are 11 ways that Cxceed will help improve your customer service to make your business better.

Understand What Your Customers Think About You

To improve, you need to know the level you're currently at.

Responses to the benchmark surveys give a numeric score, telling you what customers actually think of your service. If you don't have a benchmark to compare yourself with, you'll never know if you're improving or not.

The benchmark score can be used as a company-wide target. Check it again in three months, if the score is higher then good job, cheer your team on and keep going! If it's lower, you need to find out why and try a new approach.

Get Priceless Feedback

If your customers aren't happy, then your business won't do well. You need to know if John, Jayne, James... has answered each call, email, webchat.... to the satisfaction of each customer.

How do you do this?

Well, you could take a long, complex route, or you could just ask them!

Cxceed sends out feedback requests to customers after your staff communicate with them, to find out how satisfied they are with that individual interaction.

These feedback forms can be fully customized and tailored to target any specific areas surrounding the communications - it's totally up to you!

Identify The Communications That Need Evaluating

Of course, customers don't always respond to our feedback requests. They only tend to respond to a conversation that they are either really happy with or really annoyed about. Yes, they tell you about the interactions that you need to know about!

Don't have time to listen to calls?

I don't blame you, I've been there done that! Listening to calls and trying to find the ones that are sub-par or awesome can feel like your looking for a needle in a haystack. Cxceed uses the feedback score obtained by customers and other criteria to identify conversations for evaluation.

Don't have time to listen to calls that your customers have either complained or complimented you about?

You better hope your competitors don't start using Cxceed!

Improve Employee Skills

When it comes to customer service, employee communications can enhance or destroy your relationship with customers. As we all know, it only takes one misplaced word to send the customer into the embracing arms of your competitors. 

Cxceed's Call Center Quality Assurance system identifies what each employee needs to improve and encourages employees to learn from each other to help produce better results.

Increase Your CSAT Scores

Ah, the elusive CSAT score. We always want it to be higher, but we never seem to be able to achieve it.

Well, by being able to identify areas for improvement and give more effective training, you can!

Better trained employees can deliver better customer service; there's no denying that.

Better customer service equals high levels of customer satisfaction. It's all linked together!

Increase The Effectiveness Of Your Training

Cxceed allows you to easily mark a selection of the best and worst interactions your staff have with customers.

Not only can everyone learn from their own mistakes, but they can also learn from other peoples.

What can you do with these? Well, I found they're very useful when used for training both new and existing employees.

For example, initial training programs can involve having new starters to analyze and evaluate a variety of calls, emails, and live chat communications you've previously had. Not only will this help you understand their ability levels, but it's also an excellent training opportunity to prepare them for what to expect when on the 'front line.'

Sure, you could make up scenarios, but that's like buying a fake football shirt from a market on holiday. It's okay from a distance, but it's just not the same. Why turn your employees into the equivalent of Crustiano Renaldo, when they could be Cristiano Ronaldo?

I know who I'd rather have on my team!

Calibration To Achieve Consistency

Everyone is unique and has different opinions on what's right and wrong. This can be an issue when employees are dealing with customers. One might think they're doing the right thing; others will disagree.

This can be an issue when employees are dealing with customers. One might think they're doing the right thing, but there's a much better way of doing it.

Cxceed helps make sure everyone is on the same page.

Cxceed is set up so when employees evaluate communications, their score is easily compared to how others evaluated the same interaction. Differences in scoring are easily highlighted and discussed in calibration sessions.

When doing so, managers can openly discuss with employees the standards and values that are expected and what the company is aiming to achieve. Just another way that Cxceed helps improve employee performance!

Decrease Defensiveness To Feedback

Nothing demotivates employees more than the dreaded "Let's discuss how you're doing" only to be hit with a thousand things which need improving.

I don't know about you, but when my managers used to tell me what I was doing wrong, I didn't take it well. Who are they to tell me that I'm $#!^, do they know how hard I work?

However, when you allow employees to identify their own mistakes through Cxceed's evaluations, you'll be surprised how much more accepting they are.

When I've heard our employee's using it, there was a lot of Ahh's, and "Damn, I didn't even realize I did that!".

I would much rather hear that than muffled responses as heads look at the floor.

Motivate Your Team

By getting the whole team involved in the evaluation process, Cxceed creates understanding through the self-assessment process.

If you're part of the process, you're more likely to understand and trust the results, making you more accepting of feedback.

Allowing staff to evaluate their own interactions shows that you trust their judgment, and knowing a manager trusts you is a big motivator for any employee.

Reduce Staff Turnover

Happy employees rarely leave. Why is this a benefit to you? Surely I don't need to tell you that!

In short, the longer an employee stays, the better return on investment (ROI) you get from their associated costs, as well as the on-the-job experience they gain.

It's always better to know you're investing in the long term, rather than knowing you're going to have to recruit and train again in a few months.

Spend time and money, improving your business, not rehiring, and training.

Solid Customer Relationships

Of course, the better the customer experience you provide, the more loyal your customers will be. Fantastic!

I've also noticed that customers love to speak to the same person, especially long term ones. If employees are always leaving, then they can't build-up these relationships with your customers.

Relationship building is essential; customer's who deal with the same staff feel safer doing business as they trust them to get the job done to a standard they expect.

It's easier to retain customers than have to continually get new ones. Cxceed makes it easy to do both!

But Don't Take My Word For It, Start Today!

I could preach to you for hours on the wonders of Cxceed, but time is money, and money makes the world go round. So, why don't you try Cxceed for yourself?

If you don't feel like splashing the cash right now, we have a FREE (yes, free!) version of the FULL software. It has ALL the features of a paid version, just without API integration.

What does the API's do?

It automates and makes your life much easier by:

  • Feedback requests automatically after each phone call
  • Feedback requests at the bottom of each email
  • Need to evaluate a call? Click on a link your phone rings, and you listen.
  • Email Surveys to thousands, in a couple of clicks.

Feel like treating yourself with API integration to make life even simpler? Get your money out! If you're not happy within the first 30 days, you can have every penny back!

There's no harm in trying something out, risk-free!

So, what are you waiting for? As they say, actions speak louder than words!

Why Are Call Agents Always Talking Loudly_

Why Do Call Agents Talk So Loudly On The Phone?

Why Are Call Agents Always Talking Loudly?

Call center agents seem to love talking loudly when on the phone. The call center noise is unbelievably loud sometimes. Like, REALLY loud, to the point where it's actually quite difficult to understand what they're saying. This background noise makes it so obvious it's a call agent when they phone you.

Call Centers are Noisy Places

Surely the microphone is next to their mouth, so why can't they talk at a reasonable volume allowing me to understand them? Instead, I feel like I'm fourteen again, and my Mum is telling me off for drinking straight out of the milk bottle. (We've all done that, right?)

Call centers are usually loud places, with a lot of background noise: people talking, phones ringing, printers going, music playing, bosses shouting, kettles whistling - you get the idea. The noise soon builds up. In any situation, when you can't hear another person, you automatically assume that they also can't hear you. It's human nature to raise your voice when you can't hear someone.

Nightclub, and you can't hear your friend? You shout.

Building site, and you can't hear your boss? You shout.

Call center, and you can't hear the caller? You shout, but you don't need to.

Even though the call center has a lot of background noise and the agent can't hear the caller very well, the person on the other end often can her the agent perfectly. Yes, they have a headset with a noise-canceling microphone, but that doesn't stop the average call center agent shouting down the phone!

It's Human Nature

We are in a loud environment, so we speak louder than normal. It's something which we haven't evolved out of. It's not surprising that they can't hear the customer on the other end of the line very well with all the chaos going on around them. How can they even concentrate with all that noise going on?! One person talks loudly, so the person next to them feels the needs to raise their voice to be heard, and then the next, and the next. This results in the customer getting shouted at down the line, and a horrible overall customer experience. It's a bit like when you're speaking to someone in a foreign country. Because you can't understand the person very well, you start talking louder and slower, sometimes slipping into an awful accent to try and be understood. Just like in the call center, they don't mean to do it, it just happens.

How Do You Reduce Background Noise in an Office?

1. Get Everyone To Maintain Their Voice Levels

As obvious as it sounds, asking people not to shout is a simple method to reducing background noise. It is straightforward and it can be very effective. Sometimes people don't realize they are talking loudly, so making them aware of it can often result in them lowering their voice to a more suitable level for the office they are in. If one person isn't shouting, then the person next to them doesn't need to and so on.

2. No Chit-Chat Behind Someone's Desk

Another simple idea is asking agents not to talk to colleagues behind another agents desk when they are on a call. Going to a quiet corner where no-one is working, or moving to another room altogether will bring noise levels down and make it easier for agents to hear the caller.

3. Acoustic Foam

Sound masking! By installing acoustic foam around the office can help to dampen the noise without dampening the mood. It's relatively inexpensive to buy and install but will make a big difference by stopping echo and noise bouncing around the room. This is a common sound masking system that is very effective.

4. Use Chat Systems

The use of a chat system for agents can come in handy, so they don't have to shout across the room to one another; they can silently type it. It is a good idea to monitor, however, to make sure people aren't just gossiping all day instead of working. 

5. Partition Screens

Another way of sound masking is by installing partition screens can help to reduce noise. Not only that, but it also gives agents a little more privacy and even a place to pin things. It's three for the price of one - we are treating you today!

6. Noise-Canceling Headsets

Using equipment like headsets which have two headphone cups can allow agents to hear the caller much easier while blocking out background noise surrounding them. Most good call centers use headsets with noise-canceling microphones, so the caller shouldn't hear the commotion happening in the rest of the call center.

7. White Noise Machines

By installing white noise generators, you can create artificial levels of noise, which can help mask the jungle-like sounds of a call center. Staff will be able to understand customers much clearer not being distracted, helping to reduce mistakes. Of course, as mentioned there are other sound masking options, but this is one of the cheapest.

8. Don't Have Noisy Machines Next To Agents

Sure, we need printers and servers, but do they need to be next to the agents? No. Instead, have a separate room for these loud machines. Sure, you'll have to walk for an extra 10 seconds, but I'm sure not having a machine buzzing and beeping in an agents ear will be worth it.

Don't forget, there are actually regulations surrounding the noise levels your agents are surrounded by. Make sure you're complying with them!

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The Wrap-Up

So call agents often talk very loudly on a call, but it isn't always their own fault as background noise builds up or just human nature taking over. Reducing the noise in a call center will help the agent hear the call more clearly, and often they will not feel the need to shout to get their point across, creating a much more pleasant experience for everyone. If they're happier (and quieter!), they can provide customers with a better experience (and with Cxceed helping out, they'll be unstoppable!).Everyone's a winner!

We hope these tips help and if you have any more, or have used any of the ones discussed, leave us a comment telling us how you got on.

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