Encourage your customer support reps to be more creative

Faith Ocampo Published on December 13, 2016

female call center agent holding glowing light bulb

Working as a customer support rep may seem like an unglamorous way to make a living. This job is often dismissed, though wrongly so, as dull and repetitive.

Worse, even call center managers make the mistake of looking at customer service jobs this way. Thus, encouraging creativity among frontline agents is often at the bottom of their priority list. In most cases, they may even curb creativity by imposing strict call handling procedures, preventing agents from customizing interactions as they see fit.
This management approach can be detrimental for your organization. It impedes critical thinking and hence blocks business growth.

In contrast, a recent study showed that employees’ creativity (or what the researchers called “service creativity”) enhances customers’ perception of brands.
To verify this, the researchers gathered data from 3,550 customers and 380 hairstylists across 118 hair salons in Taiwan. As they observed interactions in the salons, they found that customers positively rated stylists who recommended new, tailored haircuts to them.

brilliant call center agent This proves that creative employees can enhance customer interactions in unique ways, and it’s true not only for the service sector. Companies in other industriesโ€”be it retail, travel, healthcare, and othersโ€”can use this insight to improve their customer support delivery. Here are the four things only creative brand representatives can do.

1. Delight customers in unusual ways.

excited man making phone call

Ecommerce company Zappos is widely recognized as a customer experience leader. Its CEO Tony Hsieh describes his firm as “a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes.”

Zappos fosters an organizational culture that empowers employees. They implement few, if any, call handling rules. This lets agents decide on how best to please customers, even if they must go to great lengths to do so. For example, they can stay on the phone for hours, send greeting cards to clients, and even replace defective items for free.

Building a work environment that allows agents to make independent decisions can do wonders for your brand. This way, agents can freely use their own judgment and execute original ideas to make your clients happy. In the long run, this lets you establish meaningful relationships.

 

2. Solve problems in more efficient ways.

thinking customer service representative biting pen

If you’ve ever dealt with a stubborn issue you can’t seem to eliminate, you may be lacking a sense of inventiveness. Critical and creative thinking can help you find unconventional solutions to difficult problems.

In fact, there’s a process called creative problem solving. It’s an umbrella term for several approaches that can be used to form fresh ideas. By applying these methods, you can generate more effective and smarter solutions to organizational issues. This lets you improve your customer support and other processes.

 

3. Build a unique business strategy.

business team meeting planning around post it notes

Today’s marketplace is teeming with numerous brands, products, and services competing over people’s approval. To stand out, you should fuel your employees’ ability to innovate.

An organizational culture that promotes creativity can trigger business growth and help you establish a unique selling point. This is especially crucial for customer service firms, as they directly communicate with a brand’s clientele. If you can come up with an original support strategy, you can enrich the customer experience in ways never seen before.

 

4. Increase employee engagement.

happy coworkers laughing in office pantry

Creative thinking is a collaborative process. The best ideas emerge when employees huddle together to brainstorm, criticize suggestions, and work on a problem as a team.

Increasing workplace interaction fortifies employees’ bonds with one another and boosts engagement. For contact centers, this can help lower attrition and turnovers.

 

Faith is a digital media enthusiast aiming to become an active part of the tech world by sharing her insights. She likes to blog about everything digimarketing, technology, and social media.
Join us on facebook
Open Access BPO 11 hours ago
Open Access BPO has officially launched OACIS, its very own coaching tool designed to introduce new paths to employee improvement. With how comprehensive the tool is, expectations are high for how transformative it can be.

Learn more about OACIS here: https://buff.ly/3YYqi9h

----------
We're committed to continuous improvement, striving to deliver exceptional service to our partners and their customers.

Learn more about how we can help your business thrive, please reach out to our team: OpenAccessBPO.com

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#EmployeeManagement #SkillsTraining
#EmployeeExperience #TalentDevelopment
Open Access BPO 7 days ago
The holiday season is a double-edged sword for businesses. On one hand, itโ€™s a golden opportunity to boost sales. On the other, itโ€™s a daunting challenge to maintain exceptional #CustomerService amid the surge in inquiries and heightened expectations.

But fear not, brands, big or small! We know how to elevate your customer service game this holiday season: https://buff.ly/3OreCax

----------
You don't have to face the holiday rush alone.
Partner with a trusted #CustomerSupport call center that's powered the success of industry giants: https://buff.ly/40NMcP9

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerSupport #CX #CSat
#CustomerSatisfaction #CustomerExperience
Open Access BPO 7 days ago
๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ผ is one of today's leading #BPO destinations, contributing to the #๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ' distinction as a premier player in the global #outsourcing scene. The city's economic strength proves its capacity to host rich #offshoring investments.

Its provincial rates, coupled with a population of highly skilled professionals make #Davao an ideal budget-friendly option for English language #BackOffice solutions.

Fuel your ๐›๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ก with ๐œ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ-๐ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐›๐š๐œ๐ค ๐จ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ delivered from ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ž๐ง ๐€๐œ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐Ž ๐ƒ๐š๐ฏ๐š๐จ: https://buff.ly/3AMLpDq

----------
๐„๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐Ž๐ฉ๐ž๐ง ๐€๐œ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐๐Ž
โ€ข Our Solutions: https://buff.ly/3YMscKj
โ€ข Our Other Locations: https://buff.ly/4evCh41

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
Open Access BPO 7 days ago
๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด $๐Ÿฐ๐Ÿด ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ.
And this loss is expected to grow annually unless online retailers make a significant move to strengthen their #DataSecurity strategies.

๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜?

๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ณ๐˜†๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€:
https://buff.ly/4hOEN8y

---------
For secure #outsourcing services trusted by global brands, elevate your business.
Contact us today: https://buff.ly/4fKNQpa

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#InformationSecurity #InfoSec
#InternationalFraudAwarenessWeek
#FraudDetection #FraudAwarenessWeek
Open Access BPO 9 days ago
๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐—น๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€. ๐—ช๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ!

While internal security measures are crucial, there's strength in numbers.
Luckily, you don't have to face them alone.

#CallCenter outsourcing can be your secret weapon in the fight against these criminals.

Here's how #CallCenter outsourcing can be your reinforcement against these criminals: https://buff.ly/3Z0GZCa

----------
Partner with an #outsourcing partner that keeps #InfoSec a top priority alongside great #CustomerExperience: https://buff.ly/3YYV970

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#InformationSecurity #InfoSec
#InternationalFraudAwarenessWeek
#FraudDetection #FraudAwarenessWeek
Open Access BPO 10 days ago
It's crucial to meet your customers' expectations, but sometimes unforeseen circumstances can get in the way.

Here's a quick guide on how to handle those challenging moments and come out stronger with our #CustomerSupport strategy: https://buff.ly/3O7gYLa

----------
Let's turn mishaps into opportunities: https://buff.ly/3O26Bsc

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerExperience #CX #CSat