<p>Working in a contact center can be challenging as it requires round-the-clock attention. The primary objective of a contact center is to provide excellent customer service to everyone who gets in touch with it. To make informed decisions, it is crucial to have access to relevant data. Your office collects data every day, and you need to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that are essential for your business. This article will focus on ten such KPIs and metrics that can help improve customer service in your contact center.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What are Call Center KPIs?</h2>



<p>KPIs, short for Key Performance Indicators, is a tool that helps measure your business&#8217;s performance. It is a measurable value that showcases how effectively a business, company, team, department, or individual can reach its professional goals or objectives. It all depends on what you want to monitor and your industry.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Call center KPIs give you the ability to see your data and trends that fit your industry so you can take action to enhance your numbers and tackle those trends to promote your brand.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How to Set the Right Call Center KPIs</h2>



<p>All customer service representatives receive daily data coming into the company from all platforms. KPI metrics provide an easy way to oversee all the data coming into your business from those outlets so you can set them accordingly.&nbsp;</p>



<p>A way to set the right call center KPIs is to see where your company needs improvement, analyze it, and monitor it using metrics. There are various ways to use contact center metrics, but first, do your research by viewing the 15 options in this article and then decide what needs measuring depending on your business. For example, team members might need fewer KPIs initially, but team leaders might need one.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">10 Most Important KPIs in a Call Center</h2>



<p>As mentioned above, the importance of aligning your customer representatives with your KPIs; many different metrics can be efficiently helpful to a call center. Here are 15 of the most critical KPIs in a call center you can choose from for personal or private use.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">1. Average Time to Accept A Call</h3>



<p>The average time to answer is a metric explained in seconds. This method is used to determine the average amount of time from when a customer service agent receives a call until it is answered. An IVR system navigates your call queue for customers to spend time waiting to be answered. If your agent takes too long to answer clients&#8217; calls, that client will likely hang up. This metric measures a client&#8217;s time frame waiting to be answered.&nbsp;</p>



<p>A great way to measure the average time to accept a call is to assess your team&#8217;s efficiency and accessibility toward your customers and set specific objectives for each customer service agent. It will be helpful to set goals for each of them, try challenging them by setting clear goals, who can answer the most calls per day, and see the percentage. Using this metric will help your industry&#8217;s average time-to-answer percentage increase because this method will notify you frequently.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">2. Average Abandonment Rate (ATA)</h3>



<p>The average abandonment rate measures the number of clients who disconnect the call or get disconnected before they reach a customer agent. Abandonment rate is a tool that showcases the call center’s overall performance, customer satisfaction, and successful KPIs. ATA provides essential feedback from your customers, whether good or bad; your company will use the outcome to see where they need to improve.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">3. Longest Call Being On-Hold&nbsp;</h3>



<p>The average time a call is placed on-hold measures the precise time a customer is on-hold when they call your company’s call center. When a customer is kept waiting on hold while a customer representative looks for answers to the caller’s issue. A call center’s job is to make sure that the time your customer is kept waiting is a reasonable range so the agent doesn’t receive negative feedback. This metric is calculated by the cumulative time callers wait on hold divided by the total number of calls answered by representatives. The average time a caller is placed on-hold is a vital indicator of how your customer agents perform and provide callers with their expertise in a timely manner.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">4. First Call Resolution (FCR)</h3>



<p>FCR, short for First Call Resolution, is about offering the best customer care and support from the beginning of the call until the end. FCR measures how many customer inquiries are answered during the call. Many proven stats have confirmed that the higher the FCR rates, the better customer satisfaction.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">5. Percentage of Blocked Calls</h3>



<p>The percentage of blocked calls when callers contact your company’s call center, could negatively affect your business. This metric is designed to calculate the number of incoming calls that get rerouted to a busy tone. Several reasons a caller gets blocked; lack of available representatives and no call queues generated, or the call center’s software is not configured to handle the call volumes it’s receiving.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">6. Net Promoter Score (NPS)</h3>



<p>Net Promoter Score resembles the Customer Satisfaction score, the only difference is that CSS only calculates a customer&#8217;s satisfaction, but the NPS measures how many customers are likely to recommend a product or service to others. If your NPS is high, your clients are pleased and satisfied with your product or service; encourage your clients during the phone call to promote to others with offers. If they recommend your company to others, they get special offers.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">7. Cost Per Click&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Every company has to pay a specific price per call. The call center software determines how much each call costs and the length of each call. When your call center receives a call (cost per click), it measures how many minutes a customer agent takes to work through the call and leave the customer satisfied before they hang up. Every minute or message that is made through your call center receives its pricing.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">8. Follow company’s rules</h3>



<p>&nbsp;Every business creates customized scripts for all customer service agents on their team. These scripts show how a conversation can go from an agent to a customer. When your company uses metrics, it can help measure how well agents follow company procedures when speaking to clients, a presentable way to greet customers, the best way to end a call, when is the appropriate time to transfer a call to a different department, how to deal with a difficult situation, and more. To acquire detailed information about your agents, you must monitor their procedure adherence to guarantee perfect results.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">9. Representative’s Turnover Rate&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Keeping track of your customer representatives is one of a manager&#8217;s most important job responsibilities. As a manager, you should track your agent&#8217;s turnover rate, positivity, productivity, and motivation skills. Using this metric of measuring how many agents get fired or leave their position should help you as a manager to improve your feedback, investigate why your turnover rate is low, and how to ensure that it will increase.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">10. Revenue per successful call</h3>



<p>In every business, managers must track the revenue of successful calls to measure the monetary value of each of those calls. This metric covers two key aspects of a call center representative’s efforts. The first one is to showcase how many products (on average) are successful; next, it shows if your agents are hitting their sales targets. Remember that when you find out which products generate the most revenue and support your agents to meet their targets, you, too, will become more knowledgeable about which products are the most popular.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Summary</h2>



<p>It’s crucial to create a basic overview of metrics to measure call center productivity, effectiveness, recognize how to best use training and technology to support customer representatives to succeed, and decrease agents&#8217; mistakes. That is why it is very important for a call center to keep track of all of its statistics and metrics, in order to enhance its productivity, revenue, and customer satisfaction.&nbsp;</p>


10 Call Center KPIs and Metrics for Better Customer Experience

<p>The lack of face-to-face communication in this pandemic is affecting a lot of businesses &#8211; especially insurance companies where onsite business meetings and client interactions are routine. This has led to a change in business model and many companies are focusing more on cold calling these days to continue getting qualified leads.</p>



<p>Cold calling plays an important role for every company to create awareness and sell their insurance policies, services, or goods to customers through telephone calls. Insurance agents do this to pitch their services and explain their policies.</p>



<p>To ensure that agents are able to provide value while making calls, we made a list of 10 tips on cold calling for insurance agents or independent salespeople. Following these tips will enhance your agents cold calling skills or improving their cold calling scripts for insurance to generate more results.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Following these tips will enhance your agents’ cold calling skills or improve their cold calling scripts for insurance to generate more results. In fact, some of the strategies below can also be used to <a href="https://blog.ultatel.com/customer-service-skills/">enhance your customer service</a> experience.&nbsp;</p>



<p>More importantly, these should help boost their confidence and motivation while doing such cold calls on a regular basis. Keep reading.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">10 Tips for Selling Insurance Over the Phone</h2>



<p>Insurance agents should follow the tips below that will enable them to improve their insurance cold calling skills. This way, they can effectively pitch their services to customers over the phone and convert them into potential leads and sales.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="830" height="530" src="https://blog.ultatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Cold-CAlling-inforgraphic.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-302" srcset="https://x5siwvse0svtj0yw5pfe.ultatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Cold-CAlling-inforgraphic.jpg 830w, https://x5siwvse0svtj0yw5pfe.ultatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Cold-CAlling-inforgraphic-600x383.jpg 600w, https://x5siwvse0svtj0yw5pfe.ultatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Cold-CAlling-inforgraphic-300x192.jpg 300w, https://x5siwvse0svtj0yw5pfe.ultatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Cold-CAlling-inforgraphic-768x490.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 830px) 100vw, 830px" /></figure></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">1. Research prospective customers ahead of time.</h3>



<p>Understanding the persona of potential customers through market research and social engineering is essential prior to cold calling. Insurance agents should do in-depth research to understand the problems that prospects are currently facing. Moreover, this allows them to analyze the exact requirements of their target customers.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">2. Write down a motivational and positive affirmation for yourself.</h3>



<p>Before you begin with cold calling, try to write down motivational affirmations that will help in creating a positive mindset and reminding yourself that you can nail your call. Moreover, these will keep you motivated that you will succeed with pitching effectively your insurance policies or services.&nbsp;</p>



<p>One example of a positive affirmation that you can use would be, “Today I will win because I have confidence in myself and enthusiasm.”</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">3. Make sure to have a mirror in front of you while doing cold calling.</h3>



<p>Practice having a mirror in front of you while doing cold calling. So while you’re on a call and you can see yourself, it will be easier for you to make sure that you are smiling. While the person on the other side of the phone can’t see you, smiling will help you sound much happier and you’ll be more pleasant to speak with.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Moreover, when you’ll be discussing your main pointers and objection handlers, you’ll be able to pitch more effectively to customers and keep their attention longer.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">4. Consider cold calling as a game to learn and experiment.</h3>



<p>You need to understand that doing cold calling is a numbers game from a basic standpoint. It is more of pushing yourself through that potential rejection until you succeed with finding the right potential customer or buyer who is ultimately willing to discuss and have a conversation regarding the insurance policies or services that you are offering, which will lead to the next step.&nbsp;</p>



<p>One of the reasons why most people hate making cold calls is that considering their low success rate, they’re probably going to have to make 99 calls and repeat the same insurance sales scripts all over again until they succeed.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Thus, it’s important to evaluate your performance every now and then and try to improvise your cold calling scripts for insurance with each call.&nbsp; Try to make it more of a game &#8211; have fun, be playful about it, learn, and experiment with various scripts. This makes the experience of actually going through those 99 calls easier.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Most of the time, these calls mostly go nowhere after endlessly repeating insurance cold calling scripts with customers, no matter how good you are at making cold calls.</p>



<p>Furthermore, whenever you start to see a call going just completely downhill, be willing to take a risk and try something totally new.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>If the customer on the call is rude or aggressive, be smart, and do not lose your calm and step up your game. Consider it more of a sport &#8211; not something that has any threat to your life or to your safety.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">5. Understanding the importance of cold calling scripts for insurance agents.</h3>



<p>You should understand the importance of cold calling scripts while pitching any insurance policies or services to consumers. Also, understand that being unprepared during the call is going to get you into a lot of trouble.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Without a proper plan and insurance cold call script, you’ll be jumping from one idea to another which doesn&#8217;t make any sense. This confuses your potential customers who’ll have a hard time figuring out what you’re trying to pitch them.&nbsp;</p>



<p>When insurance agents make calls that are not backed by an insurance cold call script for reference, they just go all over the place and the target prospect becomes completely uninterested and gets off the phone.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Every company should understand the role and importance of cold calling scripts for insurance agents for increasing the chances of getting successful leads.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">6. Time your calls properly.</h3>



<p>Various studies show that weekday afternoons are the best times for cold calling, specifically between 3 PM to 5PM. You need to understand that timing plays a major role in cold calling.&nbsp;</p>



<p>This means that you need to figure out the best time when your targeted customers will be receptive in accepting calls from unknown numbers or simply accept and start a conversation.</p>



<p>One simple thing you can do is research data and fill out fields such as time, date and day while doing cold calling. This data can help you gain useful insights and find the best time to connect with customers who are more receptive to calls. </p>



<p>Contacting prospects using <a href="https://www.ultatel.com/cloud-based-phone-system/" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.ultatel.com/cloud-based-phone-system/">cloud-based phones</a> will also help insurance agents gain insight into their strategy via advanced analytics. Was it effective enough? Or should they change their timing?</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">7. Prepare a script for free quotes.</h3>



<p>Preparing an insurance sales script with good and appropriate quotations can surely increase the chances of overall success of the call. Free quotations can help you bridge the gap between two different topics (services, policies etc.) or to introduce some great offers.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Also, you need to understand the context of the buyer’s persona. This will help you effectively include quotations within the script that is related to the services but most importantly the buyer’s persona as well.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">8. Have a strategy for introducing yourself on the cold call.</h3>



<p>Most of the time, insurance agents or salespeople don&#8217;t often think about how to introduce themselves to prospects for the first time. It’s important to understand that the first seven seconds of your call is buying you the next 25 seconds of your prospect’s attention.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Make sure to use that first seven seconds to get the person off guard using pattern interrupts such as &#8221; you know,&#8221; &#8220;oh okay&#8221;, etc. In this manner, you’ll be getting more time to effectively pitch your product or service.&nbsp;</p>



<p>But you need to understand that none of those additional seconds can happen unless you deliver your strong first seven seconds effectively.</p>



<p>Also, try to include certain lines or sentences within your cold calling script that hook your prospect. One example can be, &#8220;Hey Chris, Richard Johnson calling. How have you been?&#8221;&nbsp;</p>



<p>This sentence does not focus on how the person is doing. It&#8217;s focusing on how they’ve been. Now what you&#8217;re doing is, you&#8217;re catching them off guard in a way where they’ll be wondering, &#8220;Uh, do I know this person? Maybe not?&#8221;&nbsp;</p>



<p>You&#8217;re using the script in a manner that’s six times more likely to get you that next 25 seconds compared to not using it at all.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">9. Talk more about the services and less about yourself.</h3>



<p>It is often said in the business world that the more you talk about yourself, the worse you perform. Insurance agents who are going on and on about their own company or about themselves are going to do significantly worse during the cold calling process. The more you talk about yourself or how great you or the company is, the more unengaged your prospect becomes.</p>



<p>Potential customers care less about you and more about themselves, solving their challenges, and accomplishing results. So, focus more on the problem statement or the pain points of the customer and how you can pitch the solutions or services for the same efficiently and to the point.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">10. Focus on engaging with prospects.</h3>



<p>The more the prospect or customer starts to talk in a meaningful way, the more likely they will stay on the phone and convert. Many insurance agents are focused on pitching whatever they are trying to sell and that they fail to really engage that prospect in a two-way dialogue. It becomes more of a one-way monologue or a presentation.</p>



<p>Get them to start talking because once they do, you’ve hooked them in. After talking about their challenges, try to wrap the paragraph up with something like, &#8220;Chris did any of these challenges ring true to you?&#8221; In this manner, you&#8217;re inviting them into the conversation.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Now let us assume that your prospect Chris says NO. Then you should be ready with a follow-up question like, &#8220;Okay, fair enough, sounds like this conversation doesn&#8217;t even make much sense. Before I hang up, could I ask you just one last question?&#8221;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Your follow-up question should be a more engaging one to identify the actual problem that your customer is facing.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



<p>These are the top tips on cold calling for insurance agents. These tips should motivate and help you effectively pitch your insurance sales script to convert your prospects into buyers or leads. By now, you understand that the first few seconds of every call can determine whether or not the prospect will be willing to stay on the call and discuss.</p>



<p>So, carefully plan how you will be introducing yourself, your organization, and conveying your services to reflect the pain point of your customers at the beginning of the call. Hence, these tips will surely help in improving your cold calling skills.</p>


10 Tips on Cold Calling for Insurance Agents

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What is Customer Service?</h2>



<p>Customer service is a resource that provides support to your company’s clients. They are professionals that you can hire internally or through a third party. Customer service agents answer customers’ questions through many outlets, phone, email, chat, and social media. These professionals assure you of numerous qualities like active listening, empathy, problem-solving, and communication. This service will ensure your customers the guide they need to navigate whenever they have a problem. The best thing about having a customer service option is that your company can customize it to its visions and values.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What are Customer Service Skills?</h2>



<p>Excellent customer service is the attribute and feature support a business and its employees provide to clients who use their service or buy their product. Every business needs to have the best customer service to be able to have excellent customer satisfaction. To offer the best customer service you must follow these four key aspects.&nbsp;</p>



<ol>
<li><strong>Personalized: </strong>To provide the best customer service, you must know your customer&#8217;s wants and needs. You can gather some information by asking questions, using social media, and providing your customers with seasonal surveys to collect all the necessary information.</li>



<li><strong>Proactive: </strong>Please don’t wait around for customers to reach out, take advantage of all your potential customers and give them a call. Mention everything you need; recommendations or assistance. This action creates customer loyalty.</li>



<li><strong>Opportune: </strong>There are many ways to communicate with your customers, like; phone calls, online chat, email, or in person. Study what your customers prefer in communication tools, so they can always return if needed.</li>



<li><strong>Professionalism:</strong> Being very knowledgeable about the company you own or work for is vital. To help your customers efficiently, you must know about all its products and services.</li>
</ol>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Why are Customer Service Skills Important?</h2>



<p>Businesses thrive because of their excellent reputation. If your clients frequently have bad experiences with you, they will not want to buy your product or use your service. Customer service skills are fundamental because they generate revenue; if your company provides excellent and consistent customer experience, your customer satisfaction rates will instantly increase.</p>



<p>According to many studies, U.S. companies lose more than $62 billion annually due to bad customer service, and seven out of ten consumers say they’ve invested more money to do business with a company that provides excellent customer service than one that doesn’t.</p>



<p>Companies must constantly provide support by keeping in touch through monthly newsletters and services, even when clients do not ask for it.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">17 Essential Customer Service Skills</h2>



<p>To become an experienced customer service agent, you will need a number of skills. In the following list you will find 17 essential customer service skills that will boost your customer service techniques.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">1. Active listening</h3>



<p>What is active listening? It is the ability to focus 100% by understanding the message and the information and concerns the customer gives and replies with all the information you’ve received during the conversation. It would be best if you made your customer feel heard.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example: </strong>When a patient calls a clinic to make an appointment, the customer service agent should listen and make the customer feel heard. An agent could ask “When would be the best time you would like your appointment? Is this an emergency?” Make them feel like you are concerned, this action will make them stay loyal.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">2. Adaptability</h3>



<p>What are adaptability skills? These skills mean that you can adapt to any situation. Being able to work under pressure or quickly respond to your customer inquiries even when it’s challenging conversation. A great way to become more adaptable is to work on your soft skills, communication skills, creative thinking, and problem-solving skills.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example: </strong>A customer contacts a dentist&#8217;s office and informs them they will run late. As a customer service agent, you must think on your toes and tell them next time that you will send them a message and an email to remind them of their appointment so that they will always be on time.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">3. Patience</h3>



<p>Becoming patient takes practice. Dealing with all kinds of customers, specifically if they are frustrated, rude, or hard to understand can get frustrating as an agent. As a professional agent you can not get into a heated argument with a customer, if you cannot control your frustration the reputation of the company can diminish. Practicing sympathy with your customers can help you present a positive attitude and will eventually calm them down and honor the fact that you were patient with them.</p>



<p><strong>For example: </strong>A customer leaves your hair salon, and it starts to rain outside; they return instead of turning them away. A great way to keep them loyal is by being patient with them and winning them over. “Let’s get that hair fixed right away.” This way, your customer will be satisfied, and you will have kept her loyal to your business.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">4. Technical Expert&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Every customer service professional must be knowledgeable about the company’s technical side. Agents should be up-to-date on all brand details, the purchasing process, product or service usage, and the company’s policies. Knowing all the company’s details can be a great tool to upsell a product or a service.</p>



<p><strong>For example: </strong>A car salesman helps a customer choose which car is the best choice for them specifically. This salesman knew everything about the vehicle, its capabilities, and various details because he was an expert car salesman. This builds clients’ trust, knowing that they are dealing with professionals.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">5. Problem-solving skills&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Having the skill to solve problems quickly is an essential customer service skill that every agent should have. Picture a customer contacting the business with a problem or a complaint; the only thought going through the customer’s mind is solving this problem as soon as possible. As a professional customer service agent, you are trained to experience hostel customer calls, so you must be patient and compliant and respectfully solve their problem any way you can.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example: </strong>A customer sends a message on the company’s chat and has difficulty logging into their account because they forgot their password. The agent then performs a manual password reset and walks the client through creating a new password so they can log into their account.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Being an expert really helps in problem solving scenarios.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">6. Conversational skills</h3>



<p>Conversations occur on a daily basis and in many different ways, through numerous platforms and channels. However, good communication skills should be clear and straight to the point. Language plays a huge part in communication; when speaking to your customer, you should inform them of new products and company policies directly and help solve their problems calmly and transparently. Body language should be positive and welcoming when speaking to a customer face-to-face.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example: </strong>When a customer calls to order dinner, your customer service representative answers with a cheerful and welcoming tone that sets the mood for the entire conversation.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">7. Time management skills&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Every excellent customer service has quick responses to every customer inquiry. Today, customers expect instant replies, specifically on online chat. Providing customers with adequate information is crucial; no one wants to waste their time.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> If you are an online representative, you must reply within seconds of your customer&#8217;s inquiry. Online chat was created for a faster and more accessible customer experience.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">8. Collaboration skills&nbsp;</h3>



<p>In the work environment, collaboration occurs when teams work together to achieve the same goal. Good collaboration skills are when you can work well with others and set the same goals and objectives for the company.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> Every team member should have a strength the other teammate doesn’t so they can achieve better outcomes. Imagine you and your colleague working on a project, you create the ideas, and they execute them.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">9. Writing skills&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Writing skills give you the advantage of communicating clearly with customers. Writing is an essential tool used in all companies and corporations worldwide. An agent must have a range of writing skills that can provide more opportunities in any industry to become popular enough to generate new employees and clients.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> While applying for any job, an applicant must fill out an application that requires the simplest writing skills.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">10. Persuasion skills&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Persuasion is a skill people use to convince people to act or agree with an idea they propose. Customer representatives that operate persuasion to persuade customers to purchase a new product or switch phone plans hold great skill. Influencing others to act on actions professionals recommend will significantly impact your company&#8217;s sales.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> When a customer calls the company’s hotline, an agent helps them with their inquiry, but before they hang up, that agent doesn’t forget to introduce new products and services of the company and persuades that customer to upgrade to a new plan.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">11. Creativity skills</h3>



<p>Creativity is essential; an agent needs to think on the spot. Using your imagination to create new ideas for the company is an excellent skill. This skill will increase employee attraction and retention, improve teamwork and collaboration, and enhance productivity and problem-solving.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> Every week there is a team meeting and your entire team gets together, it’s brainstorming time. You started bouncing off ideas with your teammate and suddenly a new idea comes to mind. Brainstorming is a great way to awaken your creativity skills.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">12. Acting skills</h3>



<p>Situations where you have to act occasionally happen as an agent during one of your shifts. Sometimes things happen that are outside your control; for example, a customer who is having a bad day and taking it out on you will occasionally occur. Every excellent customer agent needs basic acting skills to keep up with occasional hiccups with a customer.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> A customer calls, and it’s your first shift of the day; they seem angry and must calm down. Your first instinct is to try to have them lower their voice, try to console them, and keep stating that they are correct; that is when acting comes in handy. It would help if you remembered the customer is always right, think on your toes, and satisfy your customer.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">13. Open-Mindedness</h3>



<p>Open-minded people are known to be good listeners without being judgmental. They picture different opinions and don’t overanalyze them. As an agent, you must be open-minded because you never know who is on the other line, stay professional, and listen. Becoming open-minded means being more insightful about various beliefs, lifestyles, and cultures worldwide. There are many benefits to being open-minded, like gaining compassion for other people, developing great personal confidence, building mental strength and knowledge from the conversations you’ve had, and becoming more honest with your emotions.</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> As a customer service representative, you will receive many unique encounters. One day, while sitting at your desk at work, a customer comes up and starts speaking a different language that doesn’t seem familiar. This is the time to open your mind and try to calm them down, start trying to communicate, be creative, grab a pen, and start drawing. Maybe in the end you will understand them.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">14. Critical thinking skills</h3>



<p>Critical thinking is a skill that helps you analyze facts to understand the problem and come to a solution. There is a process with critical thinking; you must gather information and data, ask specific questions and generate possible solutions.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> If there is a conflict between two of your team members, you can use critical thinking to understand both points of view and decide which action to take to resolve the problem between them.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">15. Ability to read customers</h3>



<p>It is crucial that you understand simple principles of behavioral psychology. This knowledge will provide you with an understanding of different customers’ emotional states during a phone or face-to-face interaction. Try to watch for clues while communicating with your customer, read their mood to see which direction your language should take. The ability to read customers will go a long way with them.</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> A customer couldn’t&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">16. Goal-oriented&nbsp;</h3>



<p>A customer service agent always needs to be goal oriented. There is a career path to becoming an agent; you don’t just stop at being an agent. There is always a better position and more to learn. Set a career timeline, set goals, and see what you can achieve. You never know; this could be the encouragement you need.</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> A great way to achieve your goals is if you can do it as a team. Set a meeting at the beginning of the month with your team, set individual and team goals and encourage each other to achieve them.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">17. Tenacity skills</h3>



<p>You must be eager to accomplish all your tasks for the day. A great work ethic is a key skill when giving the kind of service that people rave about. This skill will make your customers have positive feedback and will impact the company tremendously.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>For example:</strong> Whenever an agent finishes their shift, they don’t go home; they stay after hours and work on new ideas to increase product sales.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How to Develop These Customer Service Skills</h2>



<p>Here are four tips on how to develop the customer service skills listed in this article.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Learn new skills</h3>



<p>You can enhance your skills like empathy and patience with everyone you interact with, in and outside the office. You should also update your product or service knowledge so your solutions will improve when you speak to your customers about their inquiries.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Ask your manager for feedback</h3>



<p>Your manager is there for you in any work-related task or interaction. A great way to develop yourself is to send your conversation reports to your manager so they can support you on your strengths and points you need to improve.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Follow up on customer feedback reports</h3>



<p>If your employer provides customer feedback forms, take the chance to review them to see what needs to be worked on. Following up on customer’s feedback can benefit you. Also, at the end of every call you can ask your customers for their feedback to see if they were satisfied with their call.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Set career goals&nbsp;</h3>



<p>All customer service agents should set years objectives and goals for their career, work at achieving those goals, and learn from them. This is a great way to grow in your field.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Conclusion</h2>



<p>An excellent customer service representative has to work on many qualities to ensure 100% customer satisfaction. Using the 17 essential customer service skills, should help grow your customer service career path.&nbsp;</p>


17 Essential Customer Service Skills and How to Develop Them

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