CX QA Live! | The Agent-Centric Customer Experience Show Vistio

Your agents are capable of feats even greater than what you could ask or imagine. So why are contact centers still treating agents like order takers? We're not sure, but Nate Brown is happy to take the mic and develop the conversation even further as we take another look into why contact center leadership is unknowingly hindering it's maximum potential. Put on your listening ears, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to hear some hard truths from one of the greatest voices in CX.



[5:10 - 5:54] We need challengers! It’s very important that we have people constantly pushing against the walls and trying to break out of the box.



[11:59 - 13:16] We put a lot of heat on our education for the lack of challengers, but really the issue is in the onboarding. 



[14:13 - 16:05] We need to make sure that agents are being paid enough that they can be safe enough to be pushed to be challengers. They will do incredible things if they are able to push themselves to be challengers. 



[21:01 - 21:50] As customer experience leaders, we are always looking for variables that get clients to stay. So much of that decision comes from the customer service interactions. 



[22:14 - 25:37] The challenger sale isn’t only accomplishable with individuals, because CX isn’t just for individuals. We can also have challenger groups. 



As always, thanks for tuning in! To listen to a recording of this and other episodes, visit vistio.io/podcasts. And to join our show live each week, go to vistio.io/cxlive.

Inspiration for good customer experience is all around us. We can be inspired from just about anything, should we choose to see it. Join us for a wonderful conversation with Stacy Sherman surrounding everyday inspiration for doing CX right!



[3:57 - 5:28]  There is a difference between simply having a customer experience moment and learning something from that moment from the perspective of the customer, and we don’t want to miss out on those opportunities to learn. 



[9:51 - 12:06]  Sometimes the customer experience is just bad and the situation is difficult, but there are ways that we can still try to make these situations better from both perspectives. Making sure that you are giving feedback for the good and bad experiences is very helpful for this. 



[14:38 - 15:54]  If leaders are not empowering their staff and training them well, then the customer can feel it and respond in unproductive ways. 



[24:37 - 25:38]  Community and peer-to-peer education and support can be just as important in teaching agents how to provide good customer support. 



As always, thanks for tuning in! To listen to a recording of this and other episodes, visit vistio.io/podcasts. And to join our show live each week, go to vistio.io/cxlive.

As we approach the end of the year, we reflect on all the major decisions we made, and we start determining what we need to do in the future to do better work. It's great when your leaders are in on the plan, but why are most contact centers leaving out the front line in the equation? We're listening in to Jeremy Hyde as we uncover why it's so vital to be transparent with your team, and how leaders can make the most of the feedback loop to ensure everyone is prepared for major changes.



[6:21 - 7:31] You have to create a culture where you are transparent and honest so that your agents don’t just think you’re telling them what they want to hear. Your actions and words need to be aligned with each other. 



[9:30 - 12:22] It’s important that you are looking at and receiving feedback, not only from customers, but from your agents to see how things are going. 



[17:23 - 19:11] We need to have a plan for how we are going to properly communicate with our agents or it won’t get done. 



[22:19 - 24:28] You need to know what moves the needle and what your executive leaders care about in your organization to ignite change from those executives. 



As always, thanks for tuning in! To listen to a recording of this and other episodes, visit vistio.io/podcasts. And to join our show live each week, go to vistio.io/cxlive.

November is "National Gratitude Month." What better time than to bring our friend Philip Bennett back on the show to discuss just how important it is for leadership (and not just in the contact center) to be grateful for their agents? We're going to learn just how big of an impact ungrateful leadership can have on your contact center, and as a result, your entire brand. We're not just talking about hurt feelings and poor culture; we're talking lost revenue and lost brand loyalty. Tune in to learn why you should ALWAYS be grateful for your contact center agents.





[3:31 - 5:21] What gratitude looks like in the call center and how we can properly show gratitude to our agents. 



[10:19 - 12:40] Having ungrateful leadership will lead to a sense of resentment and disengaged employees, which will trickle down to customers. 



[15:36 - 17:33] When customers are calling in, they are usually frustrated and they can put that frustration onto the agent. The conversation needs to be turned around so that the frustration is directed at the company and not at the agent personally. 



[22:52 - 24:38] We should be looking for ways to make our agents’ jobs easier. If we can make their jobs easier to do, then it will be easier for them to want to stay. 



As always, thanks for tuning in! To listen to a recording of this and other episodes, visit vistio.io/podcasts. And to join our show live each week, go to vistio.io/cxlive.

AI has a variety of use cases, and we know how helpful it can be when assisting customers, but what if we were able to take advantage of it before we even deployed it out onto the front lines? How can we best use the advantages that AI provides us when it comes to training? Well, we've got Sheri Kendall with us yet again for another deep-dive into how your new agents and AI can coexist, and make your service teams even more efficient and empathetic.



[2:25 - 4:19] As contact centers, we usually have a very limited learning and developing budget. AI, specifically ChatGPT, can help us in this space by improving and coming up with ideas for new ways to learn.



[9:12 - 10:02] When we are using tools that allow us to become more efficient in the interaction with customers, it leaves space for us to develop power skills. Our power skills are what set each company apart. 



[14:19 - 15:20] People in learning and developing professions are excited to be allowed the space to define their skill set and get better. If you are not excited and you aren’t finding ways to integrate these new tools and technology into your practice, then you probably won’t be around in a year. 



[17:08 - 18:27] An issue that comes with having new technologies that are moving so quickly is being able to budget for them. You could start by using some free tools to demonstrate their efficiency, and make a case for the spending. You don’t have to have the money now, but starting to integrate and seeing the importance of these technologies is a good starting point to getting the money.



As always, thanks for tuning in! To listen to a recording of this and other episodes, visit vistio.io/podcasts. And to join our show live each week, go to vistio.io/cxlive.

Artificial intelligence has the ability to revolutionize the customer experience. Some would argue that AI can replace your service/support teams and provide customers with a more efficient experience. Stacy Sherman sees AI in a different way.



There's so much value to human interactions and if we're going to do CX right, we need to recognize that AI is so much more than an agent replacement tool. In fact, we can use it to enhance the agent experience, creating better interactions for the agent and customer alike. 



Set your clocks appropriately, we've got a lot to learn from this special edition of "CX QA Live!" happening LIVE at 6:30AM from Reuter's CSX event in NYC!"



[ 2:50 - 4:08 ] Whether you’ve been using AI in your contact center or you’re new to AI, there’s room for improvement for everybody. Here’s an example of a use-case: AI can be implemented to listen to calls, register when problematic words are used and give leadership a chance to coach the agent. 



Overall, let’s give the agent more tools to save them time.



[ 5:01 - 5:28 ] When we talk about listening to the agent calls we aren’t listening to punish them. We are listening to be helpful.



[ 8:18 - 9:29 ]  Imagine being trapped in an elevator and calling the help line. Who would you rather talk to, AI or a human? 



[ 11:03 - 11:42 ]  You can also switch the narrative and call outbound, not to sell anything or to do a survey, but to ask if your customers are OK and see if there is anything you can do for them.



11-12 The agents need customer service too. When their computer doesn’t work they can get fast help and not have to wait two days. Or, if they are trying to find the answer to a customer’s question they could use a chatbot to get the support they need. Use AI to solve a  pain point for the agent.  



[ 17:26 - 18:13 ] Imagine using AI for training. It pretends to be a customer and the agent can practice in advance in a safe environment. This would be used for onboarding and ongoing training.  



[ 24:35 - 26 ]  Here’s how to pick your AI vendor.



As always, thanks for tuning in! To listen to a recording of this and other episodes, visit vistio.io/podcasts. And to join our show live each week, go to vistio.io/cxlive.