Facial Coding in the Customer Experience

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Top Takeaways:

Learn about “customer avoidance” and why it happens.

In the age of digital transformation, companies must find ways to eliminate customer service and experience avoidance and create a seamless customer experience with technology and customer relationships.

When customers call companies, one of the first things that they hear is “Your call is very important to us”, followed by a hold tone. Customers want to feel like they are moving towards progress when they are calling about a problem. When they don’t feel that they are progressing to a solution, customers will feel anger towards customer service representatives and ultimately, the brand.

Companies avoid engaging with their customers for the following reasons:

• To limit their cost.
• To limit the time taken by their staff in interacting with customers.
• To avoid revealing that their staff is not well-trained or prepared to field questions.

Companies sometimes become enamored with the technology. They use it as a shield to avoid interaction with their customers. When this happens, it negatively affects the brand and the whole value proposition. Dan provides some insights on how to restore the customers’ confidence in the organization:

• Companies must use technology to facilitate collaboration, not to replace human-to-human contact.
• The transition from chatbots or any type of automation must be seamless. When the customer is connected to the frontline, they should not have to repeat their story.
• Frontline employees need to be knowledgeable enough to answer questions and give customers the confidence that they are progressing to a solution.
• For more insights from Dan Hill, listen to the full episode!

Quotes:

“About 25% of managers are believed to be bullies. If people are feeling bullied or oppressed, that’s going to translate in how they relate to their colleagues and their customers.”

“Sometimes technology is not the bridge to connect us but a shield to block us and keep us away from our customers.”

“Transfer more people to customer service instead of hiring. Put people who already take pride in the organization that they work for and are knowledgeable about the company’s operations.”

“Emotional Intelligence provides a 6% edge. Hire people that can provide immediate solutions to what customers are calling about as well as restore positive feelings towards your brand.”

About:

Dan Hill, Ph.D., is the author of nine books, including Emotionomics and Blah, Blah, Blah: A Snarky Guide to Office Lingo. He is the founder of Sensory Logic, Inc. whose clients represent over 50% of the world’s top 100 advertisers.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and your host of Amazing Business Radio.

This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions … and more:

1. What is customer avoidance?
2. How do you deal with call avoidance?
3. Can we turn customer service from a cost center into a profit center?
4. How might CX be staffed differently?
5. How can C-suite get more involved in the CX storyline?