Workload is a much-discussed topic in organizations, often seen as a threat with little control. In this article, we break down the complexity into common challenges. After all, workload is rarely the result of just one cause, but rather a combination of several challenges. We dive deeper into the matter and bring you concrete solutions for dealing with it.
The reasons behind the workload and the solution
The high workload is not caused by one problem. There are a lot of problems behind it. We list the most common challenges for you and share directly how to solve them.
1. Customers expect more and more
Simply providing support via email and phone is no longer enough. Customers also expect you to be accessible via channels such as social media, Whatsapp and live chat. Customers also expect more than ever from customer service opening hours. Ideally, consumers want customer service to be available 24/7. Moreover, consumers not only want to be helped quickly and efficiently, but also personally. 68% of consumers expect personal attention at every contact moment. It takes a lot of time to meet all these expectations.
The solution
Your customers don't value everything equally. It pays to examine what makes the biggest impact for them. Both negatively and positively. That way, you'll know exactly how to use your scarce time most effectively. To do this, first start by collecting feedback on interactions with your service department. Then you can analyze the collected feedback. What factors negatively affect customer satisfaction? Which complaints come back the most? That's where your attention should be focused.
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2. You have too much low-value contact
Many service departments are constantly answering the same recurring questions. These are contact moments that really don't need to take place at all. If an answer is not unique to the customer's situation, it can be answered just fine in an FAQ, for example. This kind of “low-value contact” has a major impact on workload and leaves your service employees with less time for the tasks that really make an impact on the customer experience. It also makes the work for your employees a lot less interesting.
The solution
Often, frequently asked questions and simple problems can be solved just fine with an extensive FAQ section, interactive manuals or instructional videos on your website. To set those up properly, you first need insight into which questions your service department is answering over and over again unnecessarily. You also want to know how well customers currently feel helped by your self-service methods. Then you can make improvements. Creating a good feedback process is going to help you create this insight.
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3. You have a low First Contact Resolution
How often do you solve a problem the first time customers contact you, with no follow-up action required? We call this First Contact Resolution (FCR). Is your service department's FCR low? If so, it could just be a big contributor to your high workload. Figuring things out, connecting other colleagues, contacting the customer again ... it all costs valuable time.
The solution
Offer your employees everything they need to help the customer quickly.
Good customer service software is indispensable for this. Especially if you want to offer omnichannel support. Choose software that allows you to manage multiple channels and log every contact moment in a simple and clear manner. This way, your employees can easily continue conversations via any channel and always have important customer data quickly to hand. Easily searchable documentation also helps your employees answer questions faster.
Stay on top of things by continuously monitoring the FCR (First Contact Resolution) rate.
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4. Customer service agents are hard to find
The job market for qualified service employees is tight. Not only has it become more difficult to attract staff, retaining staff is also a challenge. This makes it difficult to maintain staffing levels in your service department. This increases the workload of existing employees.
The solution
Once you have attracted service employees, you also want to keep them for as long as possible. Therefore, always keep an eye on your employees. How do they feel? What do they need to do their jobs well? Make sure employees can do what they are good at and what makes them happy.
Resolving low-value contact is also going to help you retain staff longer. Continuously answering the same questions is not challenging and gets boring. If you answer simple questions through self-service methods, service staff can get involved with the more complex questions. That makes their work a lot more interesting.
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5. You're short on budget
The value of the service department is not yet adequately seen in many organizations. It is mainly looked at as a necessity and cost. This makes it difficult to release budget increases. Which in turn causes staff shortages or prevents processes from being addressed. But how do you go about demonstrating that value? That's tricky for many companies.
De oplossing
Investing in service does not cost money, it actually makes money in the end. You already know that, now management still does. Time to make the value of your service department visible.
So how do you accomplish that? By collecting feedback on interactions with your service department. This makes it possible to track your customers' sentiment over time. This allows you to see exactly what effect the investment in the service department has had. It gets even better if you can also link the data about the service experience directly to your sales figures. After all, good service ensures returning customers (ambassadors) and you prevent unnecessary churn. That is well worth the investment.
Share these insights with the relevant stakeholders within your organization by means of clear reports. This way you ensure more involvement and support.
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