![\"Support](\"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/custsupport.jpg\")
\nWhen the Enterprise Research Centre surveyed 1,000 companies across the UK in 2020, the results were enlightening and somewhat heartening. While many firms saw their turnover fall by 42% and employment levels drop by 30%, others managed to grow despite COVID-19. Surprisingly a fifth (21%) of respondents saw positive impacts of the pandemic with 17% citing the \u2018greater embrace of digital technology has significantly changed their business model\u2019.\u00a0 Meanwhile, organisational priorities have changed with \u2018new processes\u2019 (72%) and \u2018digital technologies\u2019 (65%) topping the list followed closely by \u2018entering new markets\u2019 and introducing \u2018new products and services\u2019 for 55% and 53% of companies respectively.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in a recent study of UK organisations, McKinsey talks about the importance of \u2018agile resilience\u2019. Taking lessons from COVID-19, these resilient organisations share 5 common characteristics including \u2018developing a culture that empowers people\u2019 and \u2018provides people with technology they need.<\/p>\n
So, what steps can all organisations take to succeed in the New or Next Normal?\u00a0 What can contact centres do to capitalise on massive shifts in consumer beliefs and behaviours? How do technologies such as the cloud, long considered an emerging part of the modern customer service experience, become increasingly vital for \u2018agile resilience\u2019? These are fundamental questions that we set out to explore in our latest Recovery Accelerator Kit EBook<\/a>, outlining a set of modern tools and templates for winning\u00a0customer loyalty and growing market share\u00a0post-COVID.<\/p>\n Turn Contact Centre Representatives Into Brand Ambassadors<\/strong><\/p>\n A successful path to recovery starts from within. Follow this three-point plan to prepare frontline agents and other customer-facing staff:<\/p>\n 1. Make your brand story part of the thought process – <\/strong>by helping agents to internalise your organisation\u2019s brand story so it becomes second-nature when interacting with customers, whatever the channel. Start with good training for new recruits as well as experienced members of the team. Make the brand story an intrinsic part of the New Joiner process then reinforce the message by weaving it into regular group communications and virtual team-meets.\u00a0 Applying a strong brand story in conversations, at every opportunity, will deepen staff and customer engagement. It encourages agents to share best-practice learning while demonstrating to customers that your organisation cares and delivers true value.<\/p>\n 2. Articulate the perfect brand story \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>as a team, discuss, discover and then articulate what your brand story really means. Working with those on the frontline, managers can quickly formulate a brand story that agents can be proud of while providing a unique competitive differentiator that makes your organisation stand out from the crowd. Ask yourself: \u201cWhat drives us?\u201d, \u201cHow do we make the world better?\u201d, \u201cHow do we improve our customers\u2019 lives?\u201d, \u201cWhat is our vision for the future?\u201d and \u201cWhat are our core values?\u201d When answering these questions, always consider the customer\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n 3. Gamification \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>there are many ways to turn agents into brand ambassadors using your very own brand story. One of the most engaging and effective methods is gamification and this works well when agents are spread across multiple locations or increasingly, working from home. Like anything, there are right ways and wrong ways to implement and maintain a successful gamification strategy. The best gamification initiatives connect to corporate goals and are both competitive and collaborative. Make prizes meaningful \u2013 there is little use handing out gift cards for restaurants agents are unable to visit so why not consider a membership for Amazon Prime or a subscription to Netflix? Finally, gamification must be motivational, offering badges for the winners to share their brand story successes \u2013 and learning – with others while boosting morale.<\/p>\n With the Government\u2019s plans for easing the lockdown on the horizon, what better time to plan your own pandemic escape route? From re-understanding your best customers, to creating consistent multi-channel experiences and mastering the art of the Cloud, Calabrio\u2019s latest eBook offers a variety of tools and techniques to prepare for the critical post-COVID phase.<\/p>\n For more information and insights, download Calabrio\u2019s\u00a0Recovery Accelerator Kit EBook.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n Ross Daniels is Chief Marketing Officer at Calabrio<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Ross Daniels at Calabrio believes now is the time for organisations to plan their pandemic escape route. Here, he kickstarts the road to recovery with three tips on how to turn your agents into brand ambassadors..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":541,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[165],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25635"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25635"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25647,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25635\/revisions\/25647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Ross](\"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Ross-Daniels.jpg\")
Calabrio is the customer experience intelligence company that empowers organisations to enrich human interactions. The scalability of our cloud platform allows for quick deployment of remote work models\u2014and it gives our customers precise control over both operating costs and customer satisfaction levels. Our AI-driven analytics tools make it easy for contact centres to uncover customer sentiment and share compelling insights with other parts of the organisation. Customers choose Calabrio because we understand their needs and provide a best-in-class experience, from implementation to ongoing support. Find more at\u00a0calabrio.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow\u00a0@Calabrio<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"