Best Practices for Engagement in Employee and Customer Service

Engaged employees are at the heart of delivering exceptional customer service, particularly in contact centres. When employees feel valued, their performance improves, directly benefiting the customer experience. Here are some best practices for enhancing engagement in both employee and customer service:

1. Listen to Employee Feedback Regularly
Conducting regular pulse surveys helps gauge employee satisfaction and engagement. It highlights issues early and allows you to act quickly, as seen in a case study where a leading telecommunications company reduced agent churn by more than 20% within 24 months. Prioritising employees' voices makes them feel valued, which can directly reduce turnover and increase loyalty.

2. Improve Training and Development Opportunities
Agents in contact centres often express frustration when they lack the tools and knowledge to perform their duties effectively. Offering continuous training and development not only empowers employees but also improves customer outcomes. In the same case study, increased training was a quick win that led to a 10% boost in customer satisfaction scores.

3. Foster a Culture of Belonging
Engaged employees contribute more to the company’s success. When employees feel they are part of a supportive culture where their feedback is valued, the result is improved morale, reduced churn, and increased customer retention. Smoke CI helped an organisation reduce churn by 12% within the first 12 months through focused engagement efforts.

4. Utilise Post-Interaction Customer Feedback
A key to improving both employee and customer engagement is understanding customer interactions. Implementing post-call surveys can reveal pain points in customer service processes and highlight areas where agents may need additional support. By identifying unresolved issues, you can route calls to priority agents, significantly improving first call resolution rates.

5. Measure and Act on Both Employee and Customer Metrics
The success of any engagement strategy lies in consistently measuring both employee satisfaction and customer service metrics. Regular feedback loops, combined with proactive engagement strategies, resulted in significant cost savings and improved customer satisfaction in our case study.

By following these practices, businesses can foster a culture of engagement that benefits both employees and customers. Want to see how it works in practice? Download our case study on how we helped reduce churn and improve customer satisfaction for a leading telecommunications company here.