Building Strong Colleague And Customer Relationships

Consumer-Business Relationship Evolution

The relationship between consumers and businesses has undergone significant changes. Social media has amplified consumer voices, with a single post or tweet capable of influencing a company's reputation and financial standing. Additionally, consumer feedback on platforms like Trustpilot and Net Promoter can sway potential customers and investors.

Regulators have also prioritised consumer protection, giving consumers more power when dealing with businesses.

This shift is particularly noticeable in essential service sectors such as utilities and financial services. While businesses may view these relationships as purely transactional, access to these services significantly impacts consumers' daily lives, making the interaction more emotional.

Adapting to Challenges Together

The past few years have seen social and economic upheaval, prompting regulators and governments to introduce numerous initiatives to support vulnerable consumers. There's an increasing expectation for financial and utility providers to actively assist consumers during challenging times.

According to the Financial Conduct Authority's recent Financial Lives Survey, a significant percentage of consumers have faced financial difficulties, leading organisations to emphasise their commitment to personalised customer support. Cultural shifts, such as the Consumer Duty and the rise of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) initiatives, have also influenced investment decisions and customer considerations.

Front-Line Hurdles

While the overall situation may be improving, consumer vulnerability can manifest in various forms, including ongoing impacts from the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, mental health issues, and unexpected financial burdens. Customer service staff are at the forefront of a company's response and tone, shaping interactions with consumers through direct communication, information dissemination, and technology use.

Effective Communication

Communicating with consumers about complex financial products presents a challenge, as companies often possess more information than consumers. Firms strive to share this information clearly and without jargon, aligning with the FCA's Consumer Duty to ensure customer-centric financial products and services.

Miscommunication and lack of understanding have led to several remediation cases, with mis-selling like the PPI scandal highlighting the impact of unclear communication. Therefore, it's essential for companies to re-evaluate their approach when it proves ineffective.

Understanding and Supporting Customers

Building trust between businesses and consumers is pivotal. Customer-facing staff play a crucial role in developing this trust, as active listening and empathy can transform difficult conversations. It's important to cultivate an environment where consumers feel comfortable sharing their circumstances, allowing businesses to address any issues promptly. Independent advice organisations such as Citizens Advice, StepChange, and the Money Advice Service recommend prompt communication with providers when problems arise.

Optimising Colleague/Customer Interactions

At EQ, we often witness exemplary efforts from colleagues and clients in exceeding basic requirements to assist customers. Drawing from our experiences, we have compiled our top five tips, all revolving around empowered colleagues:

1. Understand Your Customers

What information do your colleagues need about your customers to provide the best service? How can you encourage customers to share information in a GDPR-compliant manner? Action items for your team might include implementing the proper data capture tools or refining analytical skills to gain better insights into how customers engage with your business. This goes beyond simply listening during calls or webchats and actively seeking feedback. It also involves taking ownership of the information and using it to enhance the customer experience.

2. Proactively Engage Customers

Despite increasing consumer confidence, many still struggle to openly engage with their service providers, especially those in vulnerable circumstances or when dealing with complex products. Make it easy for customers to reach out, whether through their preferred channels or by reaching out to them. By proactively seeking feedback and staying on top of any recurring complaints, companies can establish a continuous improvement programme tailored to customer needs.

3.  Review All Communications

What may make perfect sense to you could be completely lost on your customers, especially when dealing with high-value yet complex products. If customers are put off by jargon and convoluted explanations, the value of the product diminishes.

In addition to proactively seeking input from consumers, new and temporary staff can serve as excellent test cases. If your customer-facing staff find the product difficult to explain, this confusion will likely translate to customer interactions, potentially leading to future complaints. By directly incorporating feedback from consumers and staff, companies can adjust their messaging to communicate clearly and confidently with customers.

4. Embrace Flexibility

Demand in customer service fluctuates, with peak periods or changing regulations leading to both anticipated and unforeseen spikes in activity. The ability to promptly respond to these while maintaining a lean and flexible operation is indicative of a successful system.

Building strong partnerships with resourcing partners capable of providing specialised customer-facing staff is key. It's important to keep options open, as even the best partner may struggle to meet the specific requirements often needed in regulated customer service. Considering multiple partners can minimize the risk associated with relying on just one.

5. Actively Support Your Customer-Facing Staff

Now more than ever, frontline staff are shouldering significant responsibilities. They play a key role not only in assisting customers with queries and complaints but also in identifying and responding to any signs of customer vulnerability.

Ensuring that customer-facing staff have the support they need to handle these expectations is essential for their mental well-being, work performance, and longevity with the company. Support can take various forms, from sharing ideas and advice with peers and managers to the processes and technologies underlying customer service operations.