Transforming Customer Service from a Cost Center to a Profit Center with Brett Frazer

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

1. How has the perception of customer service evolved from being seen as a cost center to being recognized as a profit center? 
2. What are the potential long-term effects of prioritizing cost reduction in customer service? 
3. Why should companies focus on aligning with customers on the desired outcome rather than just providing a direct solution? 
4. Why is it crucial for customer service initiatives to gain buy-in and support from key organizational stakeholders and leadership? 
5. How can organizations best empower customer support agents? 

Top Takeaways

• Customer service has evolved from being  a cost center to a hidden profit center. Focusing  on reducing investment in good customer experiences has  a long-term negative impact on customer loyalty and profitability. 

• Brett shares The 5 A’s of Successful Customer Engagement. 
  • Acknowledge – Acknowledgment is about empathy and addressing the customer’s emotional needs. Acknowledge the customer as a person, their relationship to the company, and the problem and solution they seek.  
  • Align – Listen, troubleshoot, and collaborate with the customer to reach the outcome that they are trying to achieve. 
  • Assist – Provide the most appropriate options for the customer that are personalized to the situation that they are in.  
  • Advise – Enable and empower your agents with knowledge and data about the customer so they can provide insights that add value. 
  • Ask – Ask for revenue, actions, and information, and create awareness to increase the customer’s lifetime value. 
• If you can’t get leadership and key stakeholders behind the transformation of your organization’s customer service and experience, it’s not going to work.  

• The focus should not only be on providing immediate assistance but also on building long-term relationships with customers. Customer service is an opportunity to add value that creates customer loyalty and can significantly impact the organization’s bottom line. 

• A great customer relationship hinges on understanding the customer’s needs, empathizing with their situation, providing tailored solutions, and proactively seeking opportunities to add value to the customer experience. 

• Plus, Brett shares more tips and strategies from his book, Your Hidden Profit Center: Mastering the Five A’s of Successful Customer Engagement, to  help your organization save time and increase profits. Tune in! 

Quotes:

“Over the years, customer service has been considered a cost center. The focus was on how we could make customer service as cheap and as quick as possible. This mindset takes away from the intent of customer service and support, which is to provide a great experience to keep your customers coming back.” 

“Reducing and stripping cost out of customer service may give your organization a short-term improvement in profitability. But, in the long term, you are damaging customer relationships and reducing customer loyalty.” 

“You can increase the lifetime value of your customers when you transition from a transactional connection to a relationship. Your company may not be the cheapest, but your customers will keep coming back when they feel that they can rely on you.”

About:

Brett Frazer is a thought leader and expert in customer service and contact centers. He is the co-founder of Service Matters, LLC, and the author of Your Hidden Profit Center: Mastering the Five A’s of Successful Customer Engagement. 

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