Retail Client Sees Agent Success Rates Boosted by 75% Thanks to New Way of Working
As one of the leading providers of business products and services in the USA, this retail company serves everything from large corporations to small businesses and residential customers. With a wide variety of consumer segments, the company found it challenging to meet customer expectations and observed a sudden decline in their Net Promoter Scores (NPS). After an in-depth analysis, itel developed a new way of working that provided agents and supervisors with a call framework, resulting in an overall NPS improvement of 6.25 points and a 75% improvement rate in agent-customer interactions.
Using the Six Sigma way of working, itel analyzed the pain points of each customer segment, along with the opportunities related to products, processes, and people, to identify any aspects affecting NPS performance. We then used these insights to develop a new model of training and coaching that supplied frontline agents with a step-by-step guide for taking calls, with a focus on listening and identifying customer needs first, before positioning solutions.
This allows agents to better identify sales opportunities, while providing a framework for Quality Assurance teams to coach agents towards improved performance.
“The new process is straightforward and allows me to better understand how we are scoring and coaching agents,” explains Melissa David, Operations Manager. “While our agents find it helpful because they know what the processes are and what is expected of them when handling each transaction.”
This new way of working had significant impact on the company’s NPS, with an overall improvement of 6.25 points; 35% of agents in the pilot program even achieved an astounding increase of 16 NPS points through the use of this new call framework.
The Goals:
- Improve the perception of poor customer service because of multiple factors impacting the customer journey
- Identify the common top drivers impacting NPS scores and relay the information to frontline support
- Create a standardize framework to ensure that all aspects of the calls are addressed
- Change the mindset of both support and frontline agents when it comes to communicating and resolving customer concerns
The Approach:
- Conduct a deep dive analysis to identify opportunities related to process, people, and product opportunities. This allows us to build a call framework backed up by data
- Develop a ‘monitoring sheet’ tailored to how our frontline support should communicate with customers
- Align the mindset of both support & frontline agents to ensure that they are focusing on “Understanding, Conceiving, Executing, and Reviewing” everything that has been completed with the customer
- Set weekly goals with team leaders to ensure adherence to the new approach
The Results:
- Achieved an overall NPS improvement of 6.25 points
- 75% success improvement rate recorded in our pilot agents
- 35% of our pilot team recorded a massive 16 NPS point improvement versus current stats
Now this leading retail company has a better way of identifying factors that impact key performance indicators. Insights are backed up by data, which makes it easier to develop solution models.
Agents also have a call framework that allows them to better identify customer needs and opportunities, while supervisors can use the same criteria to ensure that all aspects of the call have been sufficiently addressed. The result is a higher-quality customer experience that now meets and exceeds customer expectations.
Are you a retailer or eCommerce brand? Discover how itel can deliver seamless, omnichannel experiences along with the insights you need to wow your customers. Check out our Retail Industry & eCommerce page.
