Canadian Marketing Blog

Marketers, have you appreciated contact centre employees today?

Customer Service Week is a nationally recognized event in the United States that runs the first week of October every year. Many Canadian companies have adopted this event within their own corporate culture as a means to formally recognize how critical a customer contact centre is within an organization. The ICSA-Toronto Chapter sent out a newsletter to various companies providing tips on how to celebrate this event. The Toronto Chapter went as far as to hold a Staff Appreciation night so that companies could recognize their staff in a more formal setting. This alone shows how serious some companies are about recognizing and celebrating the importance of contact centres and the people within them.

How is the contact centre relevant to the marketing world? Marketers have long sought the services of the call centre to boost their sales via direct marketing initiatives, lead generation or cold calling. Not only can representatives assist customers with questions about a piece they have just received in the mail but can also provide callers with a needs analysis to ensure they are purchasing the product that best suits their needs, making a customer feel at ease with a potential purchase decision.

Marketers have come to realize that the contact centre is also a retention tool to keep the customers they have, as well as an additional revenue source, especially if more than one product is offered within an existing portfolio. By supporting the contact centre in terms of motivation, incentives, and thorough product training, it ensures the team is well-equipped to deal with any type of situation a caller may present. Marketers know that when customers are satisfied, it opens and paves the way to introduce other sales opportunities.

How can marketers support their contact centre teams not only during Customer Service Week but throughout the year?

• appreciate the amount of knowledge the contact centre is expected to retain
• pass along praise when you hear it from a customer
• be there to provide explanation if needed on product details
• provide incentives or treats to thank the team for well-launched campaigns and strong sales results

Keeping the contact centre engaged and well-informed of all marketing initiatives simply makes good business sense.

By Patricia Palumbo, Director, Customer Service, Manulife Financial-Affinity Markets and a member of CMA’s Contact Centre Council

On this topic I was facinated by something shared by the President of ING during his key note address to CMA's DM Conference earlier this month. He reported that monthly (or maybe it was even weekly?!) his senior managment team spends a 1/2 an hour in the call centre, in order to better understand what the front line concerns of their customers. In fact he also reported that he himself had spent two (or maybe even three!?) full days sitting in the call centre.

I loved to see the reaction of the people in the audience: the "huh, cool idea" head nods...

Nice post Patricia. I am interested though that you feel it necessary to convince marketers of the relevance of the contact centre to the marketing world. I would hope that to any marketer worth his or her salt, this would be painfully clear. Isn't it marketing 101 that call centres and their agents are a marketing channel, whether inbound or out?

Great article..! I would add that "engagement" of Contact Centres should also be getting senior mgmt of Contact Centres involved with Marketing senior mgmt during the early thought process dialogues of new products/services. The longer the run way for Contact Centres, the more heightened the customer experience delivered.

Patricia,

You hit the nail on the head with this one. I think we can take this one a bit farther, by ensuring someone from the contact centre is at the "table" when Maketing plans are being developed that way we will be truly integrated.

David

A very worthwhile reminder Patricia! All too often the call center is the forgotten stepchild, and yet much like Cinderella, are left to do alot of the clean up in order to make the customer experience truly shine! Marketing and the call center should be more aligned than they typically are in most organizations. Just a fundamental tip that likely resonates with most.

Top companies are hiring a huge number of employees in next quarter. It seems a positive trend will start again. I
Thanks again!
Alex