March 4, 2022
Customer Experience: Observations From The Field
A few topics have continued to come up in conversations, so I thought I would share them with you:
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), most commonly referred to as PCI, is a set of compliance requirements designed to ensure that all companies that process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. I continue to hear how some organizations are much laxer than others about PCI.
PCI compliance will continue to expand as an area of focus for Customer Experience (CX) operations regardless of agent location. Organizations that place the most emphasis on PCI compliance may require traditional in-house centers rather than “anywhere agents” to ensure more PCI oversight. Either way, we know PCI compliance will remain a hot topic for contact center operations.
Performance Improvement
Performance improvement has shifted from an agent focus to concentration on the customer, and we think that is precisely the right place to put your attention. Our experience and analysis show that companies should not focus on activity metrics, such as “one coaching per agent per week.” Instead, companies should be evaluating an agent’s performance from the customer’s perspective. What usually concerns the customer is issue resolution, or more simply, did the agent meet the customer’s needs or solve their problem.
More often than not, we find that an organization has systemic issues impacting the customer experience. And these issues are generally outside of the agent’s control. You can learn more about how to find performance issues affecting your customer experience on our website COPC INC.
Benchmarking
I recently presented at a symposium sponsored by the International Association of Reservation Executives (IARE). I discussed the COPC benchmark survey called “Execs in the Know, ” which showed how companies meet customer service expectations.
Looking at benchmark data can be tricky because you have to see it in the context of how your organization is performing now, regardless of what the benchmark data shows. At the same time, it is much more important to focus on improving your organizational performance concerning company goals and abilities. Benchmark data helps you compare your performance to other companies.
What’s interesting about our survey results is that they included perspectives from both the corporate and customer experience. What’s more, is that there was a significant difference in attitude. For example, nearly 80% of corporate executives think their customer service department is meeting the needs and expectations of their customers, while only 32.5% of consumers would agree.
We also found that while consumers are increasingly using multiple channels to connect with a company, they still prefer the traditional channels of voice, email, and in-person to resolve an issue. For more information, you can see my entire IARE presentation about benchmarking. You also can read the corporate summary of the CXMB survey.
To learn more about COPC Inc, visit us here