How To Empower A Customer Support Team In Today’s Times

How to empower a customer support team in today's times

‘Empowerment’ is a key and oft used term in today’s times. It stems from a modern perspective that allows one to make their own decisions, without taking anyone else’s permission. It’s liberating, encouraging and triggers many advantages. When a customer support team is empowered, it has been duly noted that productivity levels go up, teamwork improves, quality of work elevates and this in turn, results in happy customers for your business.

In fact, the benefits of empowering a customer support team are many. But if we are to cover the main ones in a few salient points, they would be:

Complete ownership to boost motivation among your team of agents
Freedom to act in the best possible manner and go that extra mile
Respect and trust from the management team to act at their own discretion creates a more conducive work environment
Better teamwork, support and joint solutions towards more successful results
Superior customer experience and positive customer feedback
Better brand credibility and perception among your target audiences

5 Ways To Empower Your Customer Support Team

1) Create simple yet powerful internal processes

Well defined internal processes and systems assist customer support agents to d o their jobs more efficiently and effectively. Apart from investing in agents, ensure you support them with updated information about their function, the right steps to escalate a problem, the perfect response time and how to achieve it, how to resolve a complaint and ways to improve on their weaknesses.

Simplification is the way to go when it comes to internal processes and procedures, without the traditional red-tape.

2) Foster employee engagement among agents

A positive work environment is mandatory for customer support agents or teams, in any sector. Plan frequent activities to make work fun, encourage talent and make agents feel comfortable and de-stress. Handling confused or angry customers is not an easy task. Only a happy agent can calm down an aggravated one.

Also, agents that work independently tend to display higher potential than ones who are controlled and micromanaged.

If your company has a separate customer support department, make your customer support team feel like an important and integral part of the business. This will boost their mood, loyalty to the company and productivity levels. In case you are a small or midsize set-up, you may consider outsourcing this function to an experienced customer support company that takes on the responsibility of empowering its agents.

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3) Train your customer support team on a regular basis

Training your agents in the latest customer support technology, tools and techniques is a definite way to empower them. It will help them to refine their skills and offer excellent services.

No customer support department can feel motivated or driven unless they are included in interactive and beneficial training programs.

Some of the skills relevant to customer support agents include:

Communication and soft skills
Time management
Product and process know-how
Teamwork and cooperation

Set goals for each employee and assist them to achieve their individual personal and professional milestones.

4) Introduce an Open-door Policy

First, ensure you have self -directing and independent customer support teams. Next, be available to listen to their apprehensions and problems. Take agent feedback seriously and offer support, especially to the new ones.

Conduct one on one review interviews that are casual but vital. Speak to each agent and ask questions about their job, the work environment, any challenges or issues. Let them know it’s okay to reach out to a manager when needed.

5) Make Empowerment a Company Policy

When you make something like empowerment a part of your policy document, it runs through every department. Even external audiences are made aware of it and this impacts your entire business in a positive way.

Everyone is more confident and takes pride in working for your company.

Hiring, training and maintaining a team of customer support agents can no longer be a neglected or half-hearted task. The growing importance of customer support has thrown light onto the fact that to offer a seamless and positive customer experience, it’s the humans behind this department or function that matter. When given the right and latest tools, technology and training, agents are able to excel and keep customers happy in the long run.

If you recognise the advantages of an empowered customer support team, but are not ready to invest in setting up your own, think about outsourcing to a full-fledged customer support company. Call us today!