5 Qualities to Look for in a Customer Service Agent

A customer service agent can be one of the best assets you can acquire for your company.

Although good agents are great, we also need to have great strategies in order for us to deliver an excellent customer experience.

With that in mind, the omnichannel strategy is becoming by far the preferred strategy for companies, especially in post-pandemic times.

Being able to offer customers a consecutive experience in which they can choose their preferred means of communication is facilitating interactions and improving the experiences that customers can have with brands.

Unlike multichannel where different channels work autonomously, omnichannel merges the sales experience.

All interaction with the customer is an opportunity to meet their requirements and support company promotions. This is how many companies have found a very smart way to survive the pandemic and also drive sustained growth.

It is also very important to point out that multichannel strategies alone are not enough to support the sustainability and growth of companies.

In any case, what does constitute a perfect complement to this strategy is qualified and suitable personnel to represent the company through the omnichannel.

Demand Saturation

Every time a customer seeks to contact a brand through service channels, it’s because they need help. And in the midst of the pandemic, we saw how customer service channels were saturated with requests.

We had never seen such a demand on companies. This demand was so high that many companies were unable to deliver what their customers were asking for. This is why customers of many companies started to look for solutions from competitors over and over again.

Fortunately, 2020, which generated so much uncertainty, is over. And though the future of companies is not very certain, we were able to learn the necessary lessons to know how to better serve our customers.

What is the Customer Looking for?

A customer needs, first of all, to trust the companies from which they buy products or services. So, how can a company build trust? By responding with confidence, consistency, and showing the customer they really care about them and their worries.

Customers need to know that they are understood and taken care of in a personalized way.

That’s why having teams that truly reflect a company’s values can make the difference between customers abandoning companies’ products/services or customers having an incredible experience with the brand.

Let’s review the best qualities to look for in an agent:

A Customer Service Agent Must be Friendly

There is no quality experience if a customer service representative is a bitter, dry person who shows little engagement with the customer. It is simply impossible for a customer to enjoy an experience if they feel like they are annoying with their requirements or questions.

A customer service agent must be a person who knows how to show a friendly and positive tone and who invites the customer to feel at home.

The customer should feel welcome, like a friend who is coming to a safe place where they can be accompanied and have their business taken care of.

Patient

Customer service is a challenging area at moments; calm, polite, and courteous customers aren’t always the norm.

That is why customer service representatives must be patient people, who know that the customer is having an inconvenience and that their annoyance is not directed at them, that what is frustrating the customer is nothing personal against the representative.

If a customer service representative is clear on this point, they already have a lot going for them. Some customer service agents tend to quit because they can feel frustrated by a couple of difficult interactions with customers.

That’s why a good customer service agent must be patient and understanding.

A Customer Service Agent should be a Good Listener

Perhaps in life, we can err on the side of not being good listeners, but a customer service agent does not have that luxury; in fact, it is one of the most important qualities a good customer service representative must have because it is from active listening that a better customer experience can be developed.

When a person contacts a company and the representative makes them repeat themselves, a process of dissatisfaction begins that is very difficult to undo.

It is essential that in those minutes when a customer is explaining the reason for their contact, an agent not only listens but also uses the right tone of voice and language, and responds according to the customer’s needs.

This moment is crucial to build rapport with the customer and make their experience personalized and as simple as possible.

Excellent communicators

It is equally important to be able to efficiently communicate to clients the options that are available and how they will proceed.

Agents must explain what they are doing; they need to set the right expectations so the customer knows how much time the process is going to take.

The clients must feel accompanied and taken into account in the whole process. The agent must know how to take into account the client’s main concerns; it is important to reassure them that they are in the right hands.

A Customer Service Agent should be Ingenious

It is very important that the agent understands the client’s needs; an agent should know how to use all the information and tools to deliver the customer the experience that keeps them happy.

The ideal agent must know how the company works and leave the “fake it till you make it” motto aside. This also requires companies to take the process of training their reps very seriously.

Get the best of both worlds

At There is Talent, we are pleased to have a team of experienced customer service agents.

So whether it’s inbound or outbound calls, chats or emails, our top agents are an excellent choice for business owners in the US.

Little by little Latin America has grown in the BPO sector; thus, bilingual talent has multiplied, and they not only know American culture but also work in similar time zones.

This, among other aspects, has made There is Talent the best option for outsourcing customer care services.

Want to know more about it? Book a call with our amazing director Claudia. She will help you with all the details so your customer service can upgrade its level as soon as possible!