CUSTOMER SERVICE WEEK
BY MARK PEREIRA
ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE STOCK
THE EXTRA MILE HAS RULES
HOW TO BEST SET THEM UP AND FOLLOW THEM.
This year ' s Customer Service Week theme is " The Extra Mile." It ' s an admirable cause, and something every agent and contact center leader should want for their team.
But have we really considered what going the extra mile means in practice?
• Sometimes it looks like an agent staying on the line for 15 minutes while a caller digs up their child ' s Social Security number for authentication.
But the extra mile can also look like an agent relaxing company protocol to help a caller, skipping an authentication step, or waiving a costly same-day shipping fee.
Some of that may sound harmless. But some of it can quietly backfire on your business.
That ' s the problem with celebrating " the extra mile " without defining it. When agents are expected to go above and beyond without a clear sense of what ' s okay and what isn ' t, friction follows.
• Agents holding the line for 15 minutes stack up calls behind them, and callers waiting get frustrated and take it out on the next agent who picks up.
• In the worst cases, loose protocols open the door to bad actors: identity thieves probing for a way in, or phishing attempts disguised as a routine request.
• Sometimes it ' s calling three different transportation providers to help a member get a ride to tomorrow ' s doctor ' s appointment.
Both feel like these are the right things to do.
12 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE
• Callers start expecting fees to be waived every time.
... HAVE WE REALLY CONSIDERED WHAT GOING THE EXTRA MILE MEANS IN PRACTICE?