Posted on 30 Aug 21byClea Badion
Retaining your customer support team can be challenging, especially in the current employee-friendly job market. Customer service jobs are known for high turnover, and if you are consistently hiring new support staff to replace departing employees, it can be costly to your company.
How do you break the turnover cycle and improve customer support team retention? Here are some strategies to help:
Improve your hiring process
Retaining top employees starts with who you hire. Do a little research before you place a job listing to make sure you know what candidate qualities you’re seeking. Be candid about the job demands – maybe weekend shifts are a part of the position – and look for those who are a strong fit with your company culture.
Spending more time recruiting and hiring candidates who match the job requirements and fit the company environment leads to improved retention. New employees won’t be surprised by the job demands and are likely to excel within your company.
Provide ongoing training
Most companies train their new customer support pros to prepare them for the job, but don’t forget about your existing team members. Ongoing education boosts morale – most employees want to build skills to improve competency, which translates to better customer service.
Offering customer service professionals a clear path for career advancement can also improve retention. Most people want to advance their career, and by providing specific goals toward that next step you may improve the chances likely team members will stick around for a promotion or salary increase.
Invest in technology
Bad technology – old CRM software that constantly glitches, for example – makes customer support work harder than it needs to be. If possible, update your customer service systems [CB2] so your team can focus on more critical parts of their job, such as solving customer’s issues quickly.
Offer competitive salary and benefits
In a strong job market, customer service representatives have many options. Regularly benchmark your salary and benefits to ensure what you’re offering is on par with competitors. Otherwise, you’ll risk losing team members to higher-paying companies.
You also might decide to offer team members spot bonuses or extra time off for outstanding work.
Check-in regularly
Customer service can be a challenging job, especially after an angry customer interaction. Check-in with team members regularly to see how they’re coping after hard calls, or make sure you’re available if anyone needs to talk through or troubleshoot a difficult call.
Share positive feedback
Customer support professionals are constantly measured: How many support tickets did they clear today, and how quickly, for example? It’s also important to share positive customer feedback with your team regularly.
You might read comments of praise from customers during a team meeting, highlighting why the person was happy with the interaction. Or share the story of a dissatisfied customer who planned to take their business to another company and how a team member solved their issue and prevented them from leaving.
Success stories can remind your team why customer support is essential to the company’s business goals and how they’re an integral part of the bigger picture, increasing their job satisfaction.
Customer support teams play an important part in a firm’s success: Unhappy customers can translate to lost business. Hiring the right customer service employeesand then managing them with thought and care means not only reducing turnover but improving the company’s bottom line.
