Why 90% of companies fail at delivering consistent customer service

Script will never be the solution!

I recently had a really interesting chat with a former New-York customer service representative I met through Twitter. You can read the customer service and CSR stories she gathers at@RealCSRStories (I rarely tell people to follow someone but she really deserves some attention. So go ahead and click here to follow!).

I really like her vision of customer service and how she is trying hard to change it for better. The main idea that came out of our conversation was that too little attention is given to customer service representatives.

A lot of articles focus on how to make customers happy, but very few actually give the floor to customer service representatives. In fact most companies focus on customers and decide to ignore front line employees’ voice.

Why write about things companies don’t want to hear right?

Well that’s were I think many blog writers go wrong. There is nothing more engaging and powerful than a true story told by front line employees themselves.

So I decided to dedicate today’s article to a customer service representative’s story on how 90% of call centers fail at offering consistent customer service.

“How can you provide service consistency in an unstable call center environment?”

This question perfectly sums up the problem we discussed!

If you want consistent customer service, you first have to provide a stable work environment to your front line employees. This might sound obvious but most call centers still offer very unstable work conditions.

The issue of forever changing schedules

Constantly changing work hours are very common in call centers. This is a requirement of the industry, especially when service is delivered 24/7. Unfortunately, it makes it really hard for employees to have a long term vision for their job.

How can you plan a carreer when you don’t know what next week will look like?

Irregular work schedules can be handled well on the long term under the condition that employee still know what to expect. This means planning in advance to allow your employees to build a long-term vision.

You can for example plan regular shifts and have people working the night shift every 3 weeks. Their schedule will change but they will know what to expect. You also know that the holiday period is busier, so get organized in advanced!

Planning is the least you can do for employees if you want them to stay. Announcing a schedule 1 week in advance forces them to constantly live in the unknown. This causes causes a lot of stress for employees along with sleep issues. 80% of employees working irregular hours have trouble sleeping.

And what about planning your life outside of work?

Most of us have obligations planned a long time in advance. Divorced couples with shared custody for example can’t change their schedule last minute. Employees can’t have a regular group activity outside of work and many even struggle with having a fulfilling social life.

As John Zalusky, head of the office of wages and industrial relations at the AFL-CIO in Washington, points out that „After a while, your friends lose contact with you. There’s a higher incidence of divorces and juvenile delinquency”.

You are asking employees that have no consistency in their work or personal life to provide consistent service. It’s not only mission impossible, it’s a cruel thing to request from your employees.

You think there’s a lot more to tell about call centers lack of stability?

We do too! CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article on our blog