Top 6 ways Customer Support Department generating Voice of the Customer

 

1. By Escalating Complaints about the Product: Escalating complaints to the Product team allows them to identify the root cause of issues and follow the Problem Management process to fix them permanently, thereby reducing their impact.

Example: The Technical Support Team at a software company noticed that 20% of their support cases were related to a recurring bug in their latest release. They escalated these cases to the Product Team, who identified a coding error as the root cause. After fixing the bug and releasing a patch, the number of related support cases dropped significantly, improving overall customer satisfaction.

2. By Escalating Feedback & Change Requests: When product feedback or change requests are escalated, the Management Team can evaluate and review them. Based on priority, they can decide whether to add these requests to the Product Roadmap to better meet customer needs.

Example: A high-value client of an e-commerce platform suggested a feature to simplify bulk order processing. The Support Team escalated this feedback, and after evaluation, the Management Team prioritized this request. The feature was implemented in the next update, leading to increased client satisfaction and retention.

3. By Following the Incident Management Process: Documenting each interaction accurately in the Incident Management tracker allows the Support Center and Leadership Team to generate trending reports. These reports help identify common reasons for customer contact, enabling the creation of Knowledge Base Articles for top issues and reports on UX issues, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing contact center costs.

Example: A telecommunications company’s support center documented frequent complaints about increased calls in a specific region. Using incident management data, they identified a network infrastructure issue. The company upgraded the infrastructure, resulting in a 50% reduction in support calls from that region

4. Support Interaction Survey: Many Support Centers send a "Support Interaction Survey" for each customer interaction. This helps measure several attributes, such as customer satisfaction with the agent and the product. Customers can share complaints or appreciation comments related to the product and support agent.

Example: After every support call, a financial services company sends a survey asking customers to rate their satisfaction with the agent and the service. Analysis of survey results revealed that customers were unhappy with long wait times. The company hired more support staff, reducing wait times and increasing customer satisfaction scores.

Action Plan:

- If the customer is unhappy with the agent, the Support Center can focus on improving agent skills, such as product knowledge or communication skills.

- If the customer is unhappy with the product, Support Leadership can develop improvement reports and forward them to the Management Team for further business decisions.

5. Quality Monitoring Team: Every Support Center has an Interaction Quality Team responsible for evaluating agent interactions based on three attributes:

a) Customer Critical Accuracy: Measures whether the Customer Support Agent has the appropriate skill set to drive customer satisfaction. If not, the Quality Team identifies the missing skills and provides training to the agent.

Example: A tech company’s Quality Monitoring Team discovered through evaluations that several agents lacked knowledge about a new product feature. They organized training sessions to bridge this knowledge gap, resulting in more effective customer support.

b) Business & Process Critical Accuracy: Measures whether the Customer Support Agent follows internal support processes effectively, such as documenting case workflows and following the Escalation Management process. If processes increase effort for agents or customers, the Quality Team shares this information with the process owner for streamlining, thereby increasing efficiency.

Example: During a quality audit, a retail company found that their support process for returns was overly complicated, leading to customer frustration. The Quality Team recommended simplifying the process, which was then implemented, reducing customer complaints about returns.

c) Compliance Critical Accuracy: Measures whether the Customer Support Agent follows critical compliance procedures properly, such as not disconnecting chats/calls prematurely or not sharing sensitive information like credit card numbers. The Quality Team audits these procedures regularly.

Example: A healthcare provider’s support team was found to be accidentally sharing sensitive patient information. The Quality Monitoring Team identified this compliance issue and provided additional training to ensure adherence to privacy regulations, preventing future breaches.

Action Plan:

- Send information to the Customer Support Manager about agents lacking in product knowledge and communication skills for arranging training and coaching sessions.

- Send data related to critical product and process issues to Support Leadership for further analysis and detailed reporting to the Management Team.

6. Periodic Survey: This one-time survey is sent after every product release by the Marketing Team to measure customer perception towards a product. The Customer Support Department is asked to brainstorm questions for the survey, as they have a better understanding of product usage.

Example: After releasing a major update to their mobile app, a social media company sent out a survey to users. The Customer Support Team contributed questions about usability and new features. Feedback indicated users found a new feature confusing, leading to a redesign that improved user experience.

- Action Plan: Based on the feedback, Management can decide on any necessary changes to the existing product.

By implementing these methods, the Customer Support Department ensures that the Voice of the Customer is heard and acted upon, leading to continuous improvement and enhanced customer satisfaction.