CRM - December 2008 - (Page 39)

CUSTOMER-CENTRIC STAFF Customer Experience: A Global Endeavor The notion of customer centricity is hardly exclusive to the United States; many organizations today are handling touch points worldwide, and their employees have to adjust accordingly. Linda Shea, global managing director and senior vice president of customer strategies at Opinion Research Corp., a global marketresearch firm headquartered in Princeton, N.J., recently returned from a whirlwind international tour speaking with companies about integrated customer service strategies. The ideal, she says, brings together typically siloed areas of a business—including sales, marketing, and customer service. After conversations in such places as Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, Shea says her findings both surprised and pleased her. “We wanted to see people nodding heads in agreement and talking about it,” she recalls. “It was really wonderful to see everyone shaking their heads saying, ‘Yes, this is exactly what’s happening in our organization—we cannot come to the table with one perspective.’” Shea is hesitant to speculate as to whether the United States or the rest of the world is leading the charge. “I wouldn’t say that I think [international companies] seem to get it more than [American ones do],” she says. “In most instances, a lot of those markets look [to the U.S.] for trends. What was refreshing to me was that while things tend to lag in terms of adoption of some of these [customer-facing] practices around the globe, I didn’t get a sense there was that kind of lag in this kind of thought.” To Shea, the fact that employees in locations across the globe are starting to strive for a high-quality experience is the key. “It’s taking this worldwide perspective and actually boiling it down to an experience with a customer,” she says. “It doesn’t matter where that happens.” “centricity” solely revolves around ensuring high-quality scores. This can pose a problem for both current and prospective agents, Hildebrandt says. “It’s sometimes confusing to agents because many see customer centricity having nothing to do with sales—possibly even [running] counter to it,” he says. “Culturally, those reps joined because they like to answer phone calls and help with problems—not because they want to twist the call into a sales situation.” CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK Cloning may not be part of mainstream science just yet, but many experts suggest that when it comes to looking for new hires in customer-facing positions, it’s best to identify individuals with the same qualities as your top performers. “The way to get there in terms of hiring and developing customer-centric employees is to start by understanding the qualities that distinguish the very best that you have right now,” Sweeney says. “They then become your ideal profile, and your model. What is the special sauce that they have?” Besides observing what works and what doesn’t in your company’s customer-centric strategies, referrals from valued employees already at your organization can be a large step up, according to Kim Murphy, vice president of employee benefits for Akron, Ohio–based contact center solution provider InfoCision. “At www.destinationCRM.com the very best that you have right now.” least 55 [percent] to 60 percent of applicants are referrals from both existing and former employees, and even relatives,” she says.“It’s a really strong recruiting base for us, because you have a better idea of what the job entails hearing it from the horse’s mouth…as opposed to [from] human resource coordinators.” HotChalk’s Fields also says that referrals, while offering no explicit guarantee of a job offer, definitely make his organization’s ears perk up a bit during the typical eight-to-12-week hir“START BY ing process. “One of the criteria that can UNDERSTANDING THE make an impact—but not necessarily an accelerator—is a prospective employee QUALITIES THAT being referred in by one of our existing team members,” he explains. “That’s one DISTINGUISH of the things we look for: ‘Does somebody in the organization know this person, and can they vouch for him or her?’” PERSONALITY PLUS For applicants not referred by existing staffers, it’s important to examine the traits that make these people tick—especially the traits that can make an impact on an applicant’s ability to truly focus on the customer. “Lately, more companies have been going back to more traditional kinds of hiring methods and various types of testing to try and get underneath the personality of an individual,” Shea says. “You have to be rather careful there, but at the same time people are talking once again CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | DECEMBER 2008 39 http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - December 2008

CRM - December 2008 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point The Rave Is Over CRM on Twitter Financial Frenzy Will Customer Experience Survive in a ‘Soft’ Economy? Holiday Humbug Empowered Consumers Are Ready to Flip the Switch Required Reading Transparency Spiff Up Your Site! They Aim to Please Mixing In a Little Sugar Sweetens the Deal A Newsletter Employs New Tactics A Site Stops Feeling Overtaxed Make ’Em Laugh—Personally Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Scouting Report Pint of View

CRM - December 2008

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