Encouraging A Creative Approach to Problem-Solving in the Call Centre
Jura Schoeder, EU CS Customer Loyalty Supervisor, EU CS Service Development , eBay International AG
Jura starts by giving us some key statistics on eBay....apparently you could have bought a town in Texas for over $4 million or if you're quick a women’s handbag...one sells every 3 seconds! (with Lady Thatcher for over $75k).
Unlike other companies eBay Customer Support typically has 2 customers...the buyer and the seller and either is trying to explain eBay's process to one or other or 'police' between the two...tricky.
So how do you 'close the loop' with these two customers and ensure them that contacting Customer Support is a good experience and not a negative one as results previously found.
Jura shared their approach from a recent pilot specifically aimed at improving the customer experience for customers at this touchpoint.
The Pilot had a number of key areas:
- agreed to call back time to discuss the customer query
- a call back 'tracking' sheet with pre-defined areas to populate and cover off during the call back
- time set aside for agents to review the query and be fully prepared for the call
- training and support on key messages around eBay policies so explanations are clear and more customer friendly
The results?
Well customers were surprised and delighted to get a call back at the scheduled time...further proof on the obvious notion of delivering on a promise!
By ensuring agents were well prepared in advance they were able to fully respond to the query and in nearly all cases actually resolve the query on the call, increasing 1st time resolution
As a result of the above NPS on this key touchpoint improved dramatically from a minus to a plus and the approach will now be rolled out further.
