ICMI is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Advertisement

10 Tips for Building an Exceptional Customer Service Team

If you’re a contact center manager, your number one goal is to serve customers. In order to serve those customers effectively, you have to ensure that all the people, processes and technology are in place to get the job done well. In an industry where attrition is particularly high, building the right customer service team can be the biggest challenge of all.

Do you have plans to staff up this year? Perhaps goals to increase CSAT, improve agent retention, or boost morale? It all starts with your team.

If you’re looking for ways to attract, hire, retain, and develop an exceptional customer service team, we can help. ICMI asked ten of our Top 50 Thought Leaders to weigh in with their opinions. Based on their advice we’ve compiled ten tips for building an exceptional customer service team:

  1. Hire the right people.
  2. Define exceptional service.
  3. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes.
  4. Create a culture of servant leadership.
  5. Look for “SPARKLE”
  6. Encourage open dialogue and cohesion.
  7. Create trust.
  8. Don’t Neglect your agents.
  9. Make sure the agent selection process matches your desired service outcome.
  10. Tools and training are the linchpin.

You’re probably curious about what all these tips really mean. If so, take a look at the slideshow below to see what Shep Hyken, Jeff Toister, Blake Morgan, Al Hopper, Jenny Dempsey, Jeremy Watkin, Anna Sabryan, Jodi Beduer, Chip Bell, and Justin Robbins all had to say.

After reading their advice, leave a comment below to tell us which tip is your favorite, and what advice you’d add to the mix.

Looking for the chance to network with many of these thought leaders? Join us at Contact Center Expo and Conference in Long Beach, CA this May.  Register by March 18th to take advantage of $200 savings!