One of the most essential aspects of providing good customer service is taking ownership of support issues. However, it can also be something that your startup business might struggle to get into. Let’s explore how you can better encourage support agents to take ownership and be motivated in handling service requests.
The Importance Of Customer Service Ownership
We begin by looking into why ownership is vital in doing customer service. That should be something obvious. But service teams can sometimes overlook it in the rush to fulfill service requests.
Better Focus On The Issue At Hand
The foremost importance of taking ownership is that it helps the service team better focus on tasks. Since they deem themselves responsible for the specific customer problem, they put the effort to understand what that problem is. That results in more effective solutions to the matter.
A More Streamlined Customer Service Process
A common bottleneck during the customer service process is finding the right agent for a particular task. By instilling ownership to your team, members proactively take on service requests. That helps make these move faster in your queue.
Happier Customers
Customers don’t like waiting for a long time when making a support request. And they don’t like being passed around either. When your team members take ownership of a service request, customers know that they will be with them until the resolution of the issue. That satisfaction will encourage them to return more.
But Why Don’t Your Startup Business Employees Want To Take Ownership?
With all that, you might often wonder why your support team members are hesitant to get into it. There are several reasons for this. These can indicate a bigger issue that you need to resolve to encourage them.
Fears Of Being Reprimanded
One of the most common reasons employees do not want to take ownership is the fear of being reprimanded by management. It can go two ways. Either they fear being reprimanded for not handling it properly or causing the issue in the first place. That can hinder them from escalating a concern until too late.
Employee Thinks Of Customer Complaints As An Inconvenience
Customer service work is by no means easy. And agents can often feel more burdened with every new support request that comes in. Because of that annoyance, they will not want to get involved with more service issues.
Poor Treatment By Customers
The behavior of customers when engaging service agents can also deter ownership. Irate customers can sometimes go overboard and hurl inappropriate words. That can add undue pressure to an already taxing job. Because of that, the agent would often try to distance themselves from such customers.
Management Might Not Address The Complaint Properly
The agent might also care enough for the customer’s concerns. However, they are also acutely aware of the possibility that it can still be overlooked when escalated. Thus, they see ownership and seeing the resolution through to be a waste of effort.
How Your Startup Startup Business Can Encourage Ownership
The above concerns are not trivial matters. They often indicate a gap between your startup company management and the customer service team. Thus, the first step in encouraging ownership of customer service issues is mending that gap. Here, you need to understand your role in the whole matter better.
Get your management team to look back at their actions and see if they do the following.
- Expresses frustration when the customer service team brings up problems
- Fails to help the team better cope with the rigors of the work
- Avoids addressing team member mistakes
All of these shortcomings can stifle your service team members’ initiative to take ownership. You, the management, and the customer service team need to sit down and discuss the issues. Here, management can lay down their expectations for the team. They can also clarify some rules regarding the escalation of problems.
On the other hand, the service team should be free to talk about their apprehensions about bringing up customer issues. They should also provide insights and inputs on improving the service process. By doing this, your team becomes more empowered to do their work.
Building A Culture Of Service Ownership For Your Startup Business
But the work doesn’t end here. Even with this, you might still find your service team hesitant. For that, you need to build a culture of ownership they can adopt. To start, you should be ready to explain your customer service vision to everyone involved. Talk about the philosophy behind it and what it means for them.
The latter part is essential, as it encourages buy-in from the team. Go further and emphasize the things they can gain from taking ownership. You can explain how it can ease their work, as well as improve performance ratings.
Celebrating Failure And Courage
As you can tell from the above, one of the things that deter service agents from taking ownership is the fear of making mistakes. To help them change that mentality, you need to create the right environment.
In particular, assure them that making mistakes will not automatically cause them to lose jobs. Instead, this should be a learning experience for them. But you would also be firm that making excessive mistakes and not being responsible about it will not be tolerated.
For this, you need to provide constant constructive feedback. Take note of the customer issues they encounter and see how they handled the situation. You can then talk about how they can improve their techniques to handle these situations better.
Acknowledging Their Success
Customer service can sometimes be a thankless job. Not every customer would stay long enough to show their appreciation for the agent that helped them. So, make sure that you are there to acknowledge their success in resolving the customer issue.
Note that this doesn’t need to be some fancy award. Even a short talk and encouragement with your agents will show them that you care. That will boost their confidence, as they now know they are on the right track.
How We Can Help Your Startup Business Build Customer Service Ownership
When you sign up for Virtua Solutions’ customer support service, we don’t just provide additional agents. We can also help train your team to handle support requests better. That includes teaching them how to take ownership of these issues. Get in touch with us today and we will guide your startup business to more success.