The Vital Link Between Employee Satisfaction and Customer Service Excellence
Last year, the Wharton School of Business professor Peter Cappelli published a book titled ‘Our Least Important Asset.’ Cappelli argued that even though we endlessly hear CEOs say that ‘our team is our most valuable asset,’ their actions don’t reflect what they say. People often appear to be the least important asset.
His book details one decision after another where finance and accounting concerns overrule decisions that would improve the experience of a company for the people who work hard for it. An example is keeping wages as low as possible rather than paying market rates and rewarding people who go beyond what is expected.
Cappelli summarizes much of what is wrong in modern corporate culture. We know that employees should be engaged and should feel fired up about going to work in the morning. However, the real decisions that most managers can make are based on the budget the finance team allocates them.
But, there is one industry where many of these expectations can be reversed. Companies that deliver a customer service process to other companies. DATAMARK has many different lines of service, but customer service is a very important one that we have excelled in for over three decades.
Balancing Employee Satisfaction with Customer Service Imperatives
Why is the approach to employee engagement so different in companies that deliver customer service?
We work with our clients to ensure that their customers are satisfied with the service they receive. Our clients trust us to deliver a great service on a day-to-day basis. But, they also expect that we will alert them to changes in customer behavior or expectations. We are like an extra pair of eyes and ears. Alerting our client to subtle changes in how their customers interact with that brand.
This is a very responsible position. When a customer calls our client, and we answer the call, email, or text, our team member creates an impression of the brand. We are the shop window for the brand. Our client relies on us to present their brand in a helpful, competent, and authoritative way. All the while embodying knowledge and helpfulness, when it comes to assisting customers.
Elevating Customer Experience Through Employee Excellence
One of the most important ways we can improve the performance of our team members is to ensure they are fully engaged. We need to confirm that they feel supported, well-trained, and prepared for the customers they will meet and that we are investing in their future with training or guidance. When our team members feel positive and engaged, they perform better, which is great for our clients.
Imagine if our team really wasn’t bothered about their tasks. They arrive in the office and just watch the clock. Simply waiting for their shift’s to end, with customer calls feeling like an interruption. They are just punching in and then counting the minutes.
How would customers feel if they talked to an agent with this attitude?
Bottom Line?
Peter Cappelli argued that most CEOs talk a lot about employee engagement but rarely deliver. This is because they are not really focused on the quality of their individual team members.
His argument breaks down in our customer service environment because if we ignored the needs of the team, then these frontline agents would do their best to ignore the customers – or deliver a very poor and unsatisfactory level of service.
Our people really are the key to our growth and success. We offer a teamwork-focused culture with a wide array of career paths and a focus on building long-term relationships – just the same way we treat our clients. This is a part of our corporate DNA and can clearly be heard when you listen to what some of our team has to say about their roles and responsibilities.
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