3 Ways To Apply 'Agile' To Customer Relationships
The phrase "Agile" may refer to several things, including software development, support teams, and Project Management. As a result of the increased speed with which value can be delivered to clients, several sectors have adopted Agile methods of operation. Since the Agile methodology is beneficial for everyone, why apply it to the retail sector?
At first, glance, applying Agile concepts to the unknowns that arise while delivering customer service could appear difficult. More and more consumers are looking for individualized attention from businesses and swift resolution to their issues without being passed from department to department. As challenging as it may be to implement in reality, an agile customer service model may help businesses become more customer-focused and flexible.
Best 3 Ways To Apply 'Agile' To Customer Relationships
1. Define agility and Perform standups every day
Being agile may have a variety of meanings for various teams and organizations. With respect to providing customer service, agility often refers to having quick response times and ticket resolutions, staying on top of your customers' inquiries, increasing customer satisfaction (CSAT), and maintaining a larger percentage of existing customers. You ought to define what is most important to your team, and ensure that the team is frequently reminded of the final objective, to ensure that everyone is in sync with the dream you have for your organization.
You should include standups, which are brief team meetings that sum up what everyone is working on and any difficulties, into your daily routine so that you can discuss these topics without any hesitation. Accept nothing less than the entire team's engagement, insist on complete openness, and do all you can to minimize distractions. Daily standup meetings are particularly important for distributed teams since they increase visibility on everyone's work list and hold everyone accountable.
2. Build a strong remote culture
If you have a dispersed team, and it is crucial to provide your co-workers the advantage of not being distracted by a half-dozen meetings in a single day, then you should consider doing this. Establish ground rules for collaboration in providing remote customer assistance, and encourage everyone to communicate more than necessary.
It is essential to cultivate a positive ‘remote’ culture since you and the members of your dispersed team do not benefit from working in the same office. This means you cannot just go over to someone's workspace or have a conversation with them at the water cooler and socialise. Additionally, it provides insight into the burden that is being carried by everyone and rewards strong performance.
3. Confer authority to your team
Provide your customer service representatives the chance to take risks while maintaining positive relationships with their clients. Don't bog them down with pointless corporate policies if breaching those policies would gain you important, lifetime connections with your customers.
Why are agile approaches so helpful for customer service departments?
Teamwork is much more effective
Daily Scrums and Sprints provide a means to improve team cooperation without investing in pricey communication solutions. These short, intense sessions push you to think on your feet, express your thoughts clearly, and discuss team challenges honestly.
Excellent interaction with customers in any medium
Customer service isn't confined to answering calls or responding to emails that get lost in a sea of other messages. Angry consumers nowadays may fire off a series of tweets from their cell-phones to catch a company's attention in the public eye and speed up the refund process. In addition, a customer's decision to invest more time and money in your brand is typically solidified throughout a service engagement.
Improved responsibility and ownership
By incorporating agile practices into customer care, you can hold the support staff responsible for actual business outcomes, which is much needed. You give employees a stake in the outcome of customer happiness and revenue and assess their performance via a set of measures like ticket resolution time and first-call resolution rate.
By using agile practices, customers are empowered to shape their roles inside the company and are more likely to participate in revenue-generating initiatives like upselling, cross-selling, and retention.
Constant refinement
The field of customer service is dynamic, requiring constant adaptation to reflect changes in consumer tastes and habits. For example, consumers value human engagement with a business and self-service options like knowledge bases and chatbots. Consumers feel more empowered when they can find answers to their own questions.
Conclusion
To get started with the Agile approach, you must ensure that it is an integral component of your company plan rather than just a fleeting experiment. In most cases, training a team to be Agile and see results takes significant time. Instead of seeing it as a one-off task for the team now and then, think of adopting Agile practices as a shift in the company's ethos and an integral component of its customer service values.
Reference
- https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/agile-customer-service/
- https://www.pivotaltracker.com/blog/getting-started-with-agile-customer-collaboration-over-contract-negotiation
