Empathy… is this what trips the industry up?
Some policyholders have found out the hard way, that “We’re here for you” does not seem to carry through to the agents at the call centres, or the staff managing phone lines… is there a lack of empathy in our industry and do call centres give our industry a bad rap?
FAnews spoke to Magda Briers, Head of Claims at Bidvest Life and Tags Moodley, Chief Customer Experience Director at Old Mutual about the issues at hand.
Call centre reputations
“Call centres are there to assist customers and provide them with valuable information and assistance. It’s unfortunate that they have a bad reputation in many industries. In our industry, agents who handle claims often deal with sensitive matters which sometimes lead to unsatisfactory outcomes for clients when claims are not paid out. Unfortunately, the negative experiences will almost always overshadow the positive ones,” highlighted Briers.
Moodley said that call centre reputations across the industry vary. “What we do know, from experience, is that the most successful call centres are purpose led and that purpose is to deliver an amazing experience to customers. Call centre agents need to show up with a giving attitude but equally a well-considered enablement of the agent to deliver on the customer promise is vitally important. A best of breed versus a sub optimal call centre is predominantly a function of the broader ecosystem and how well those are stitched together to deliver a warm, efficient and insightful engagement,” he said.
“The major changes in the call centre industry are to build customer engagements that can break out and re-enter guided and automated journeys that can easily start via a Chabot, transition to a human and, ultimately, conclude on a mobile app to deliver frictionless experience. That is the horizon for organisations wanting to run world class call centres. The demand on the call centre agents is to know the products and process, and now, also the technologies that are intertwined with the customer choice,” he added.
Empathy and training issues
“It’s important for agents to be understanding and empathetic towards the customer. Training is always encouraged to ensure that call centre agents improve their skills and know how to connect and engage with customers and this can even include counselling skills which are often required to assist clients in their time of need,” says Briers.
Empathy, according to Moodley, is the best way for an organisation to demonstrate that they really care about their customers.
“It’s the ability to understand the customers’ needs and knowing that the essence of our existence culminates in that call centre engagement, and every call or email is the opportunity to prove or disprove that the organisation’s customer commitment matters. In a fast-paced call centre, in which call centre engagements are frequent, it is especially crucial to invest and reinforce empathy as the cornerstones of the interaction. When call centres can harness the power of connection the service experience takes a quantum leap forward from one which could feel insipidly transactional. The secret is to ensure your agents are unleashed to create magical moments as a matter of course and be heroic when it matters,” emphasised Moodley.
“Empathy without enablement is what trips the industry up. Ensure your agents are equipped to solve the problem,” he added.
Key to changing the perception
Briers said, “Changing the perception of clients so that they trust insurers to be there for them in a time of need requires call centre agents to make sure that they treat each customer in a unique manner – with empathy and respect.”
Moodley added that, “Customer obsession is the key and first step to changing this perception. The next step is to understand what the key moments of truth are for the customer and then, to follow through that obsession to the design of the end-to-end journey to relentlessly deliver the outcomes that matter – to the customer. The call centre must aim to deliver the experience in those moments, above all else.
“By being unequivocal about what those moments of truth are can sharpen the focus and also align the value chains to this end, without having to boil the proverbial ocean. By setting specific customer promises and goals and holding the full value chain accountable to the diligently tracked metrics and satisfaction scores is the only way to ensure an organisation is delivering when it matters (or not). Continuous and incremental refining then keeps pace with shifting expectations and needs,” he continued.
Many critical pillars
“Ensuring that call centre agents have the required skills to interact with clients with empathy doesn’t only ensure a good customer experience, but also equips the agent to feel competent and confident in their ability to make a difference in a client’s life and in their role as an ambassador for the company,” concluded Briers.
“Call centres, by design, must support the adviser or brokers propositions to their end customers. There are many critical pillars to this, but there are two fundamental priorities. The first is to guard and protect the brand of the financial adviser/broker. When a promise is made by the adviser or broker and it relies on a third party to deliver, it places them in a vulnerable position when, through no fault of theirs, this promise is not delivered. The call centre needs to understand and believe this to be sacred to what they do. The second is to ensure your agents have a deep routed understanding of the organisation’s products and services. Customers in today’s world already do so much research online that many of their questions are not without consideration. The call centre is there to assist the advisers and brokers to ensure they are able to respond efficiently and accurately. You can’t possibly do this without a real investment in training, skills and experience,” concluded Moodley.
Writer’s thoughts:
Call centres are there to assist customers and provide them with valuable information and assistance. Do you believe call centres give our industry a bad rap and that empathy without enablement is what trips the industry up? Please comment below, interact with us on Twitter at @fanews_online or email me your thoughts [email protected]
