Month: March 2016

Ready Aim Fire or Ready Fire Aim

Ready Aim Fire or Ready Fire Aim

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When it comes to bringing a new process to market, people generally fall into one of two camps: meticulous planning, testing, re-planning, and re-testing; or getting it out there whether it’s ready or not. Knowing your strategy when it comes to implementing customer experience initiatives will help you overcome the drawbacks of the strategy to which you subscribe.

Ready. AIM. Fire. – If you fall into the ‘Ready, Aim, Fire’ category, it is likely that you carefully plan and consider all implications prior to implementation. You test the new process to death. You believe that there is worth in getting it exactly right, even to a painstaking level of detail. The drawback to this approach is that sometimes it can take longer than necessary to make a change. The benefit to this approach is that you are very careful about providing the best possible experience to your customers.

Suggestions for improvement: Decide what things you can live without, for now. You can refine the process once it is in place instead of delaying the launch. Consider the risk of NOT providing the solution to your customers sooner rather than later, and weigh that against the implications of it not being “perfect” (if there’s such a thing).

Ready. FIRE. Aim. – If you fall into the ‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ category, it is likely that you’re ready to start making things happen whether they are ready or not. You believe that you can get it right in the field and a less-than-perfect implementation is better than delaying the implementation for additional planning. The drawback to this approach is that your customers could be frustrated by a lack of planning and smooth functionality. The benefit is that you can begin getting feedback immediately and truly mold the process/product to the customers needs.

Suggestions for improvement: If you currently get a little trigger happy with new ideas, make sure you’re vetting them and spending your effort on those that resonate the most with your customers. A little extra planning might help you save time in the long run.

One method isn’t necessarily better than the other, but it may help in certain circumstances to test out the one you are not accustomed to using. You should do what your customers can tolerate. Can your customers tolerate the status quo while they wait what seems like forever for a solution? Or can your customers tolerate an imperfect solution while you work out the details after implementation?

In my experience, customers tend to tolerate imperfection when they can see that improvements are coming on a regular basis and an effort is being made to make it the best possible experience. If one method isn’t working, maybe you need to shake it up and get things out there in a new way. Make sure you have a solid feedback loop in place to listen to your customers and adapt to their response.

The Case for a Global Agent

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The term ‘global agent’ can be used to describe a customer service rep that can help with any type of inquiry. A global agent is versed in support, sales, billing, and so on. A customer service model that utilizes global agents can still support some groups that handle specialized problems, but for day-to-day service, one skill set can do it all. Below are some of the benefits to make the case for implementing a global agent model.

Shorter wait times. If something causes a spike in contacts in one particular area, you no longer have to worry about a massive increase in wait time for your customers in that one department. However, in order to ensure that the channel is not clogged and revenue generating calls can still flow in, your company will be forced to focus on reducing the unnecessary reasons for customer contacts. This is a good thing. You will be providing a better experience by addressing these needs.

Greater flexibility in staffing. With global agents, meeting the ebb and flow of staffing needs becomes much simpler. You can fill slow periods with outbound, revenue generating activities that can be performed by any agent. And you will be prepared for an increase in inbound volume should the need arise.

Easier transition from self-service channels. Contacts from your self-service channel can flow directly into one group rather than trying to play the guessing game of what area they need to go to. This makes the flow of self-service to agent much easier to manage.

Customers aren’t lost in transition. Companies that don’t have a strong process for issue tracking risk having customers lost in the hand-off from one department to the next. If you have agents with the basic skill set to tackle most issues, that risk becomes greatly reduced.

Reduces customer frustration with repeating information. No one is a fan of having to explain an issue to multiple people. You lose all confidence when you feel like information is not making its way from one person to the next, not to mention the time that is wasted. With global agents, customers can explain their problem, only once, to the person who is going to resolve it.

Agents see the big picture. The initial onboarding training takes longer, but the product of that training is a high-caliber, well-rounded employee. The global agents have the ability to see the big picture by handling all types of contacts. They learn the impact of the sales process on customer complaints later in the lifecycle and vice versa.

Visibility across multiple areas leads to process improvements. Things that used to be done by functional silos suddenly become visible by one group resulting in process improvements and elimination of redundant, unproductive actions.

Using the notion of a global agent has the potential to provide a better customer experience for certain organizations. If you struggle to provide consistent quality service, perhaps you should explore the idea and see if it’s a fit.