What makes a brilliant customer service agent?
When your mission is to deliver the very highest level of service and care to your clients and their customers, having world-class agents is fundamental. At Digicall Assist, when a motorist calls for roadside assistance, their first interaction is with a customer service agent, so it’s important to make that first impression count. But what makes a brilliant customer service agent, exactly? Here we break down what we look for when hiring a top-notch customer service agent, and how we cultivate these skills and attributes.
A passion for helping
A passion for helping is what drives us as a business, and it drives each of our customer service agents assisting customers across Australia and New Zealand every day. Our agents often need to go above and beyond to help a distressed motorist in a sticky situation. This could mean staying on the phone with them while they wait for their technician, or following up with them afterwards to check that they are okay. A genuine desire for helping others is a non-negotiable, as is patience and a personable demeanour. If the representative makes the caller feel reassured from the get-go, it sets the scene for a positive customer experience. Not only does this typically mean the situation is resolved more quickly — as a calm customer can more effectively describe the vehicle issue — it helps to build trust in your service. While our agents may not physically be by the customer’s side in their time of need, their genuine care should be felt through the phone.
Hands-on experience
At Digicall Assist, we employ a diverse range of staff in our national contact centre in Sydney, including many that come from an automotive background. This could mean they were previously a technician, hold a trade qualification or have worked for a dealership. This hands-on industry experience is invaluable. When a customer service agent understands the ins and outs of how vehicles work, they’re able to get broken-down motorists back on the road faster, often by talking a motorist through what they need to do themselves to fix the issue.
“Our contact centre technicians are able to mobilise many vehicles over the phone, meaning that the customer doesn’t have to wait for a technician to get to them,” says Digicall Assist’s Contact Center Manager, Rebecca Goss.
Mark Cividin is one of our talented customer service agents who joined Digicall Assist after closing his mechanics business. With a growing young family, he also wanted to get off the road and work in an office environment. Now, he’s putting his mechanical expertise to good use by helping customers in our call centre.
“I think a lot of things can be done better when you’ve got a tradesman sitting in the office,” he says. “Not everything requires someone to go out on the roadside to fix the problem.”
Even if our customer service consultants are unable to resolve the issue remotely, it lays the groundwork for technicians and minimises unnecessary hassle, so that when the technicians get out there, everyone’s on the same page.
A brilliant customer service agent is not only the first port of call for your roadside assistance service — they’re the glue that holds it all together. By investing in your customer service staff, you are investing in the future of your company.
Problem-solving skills
While our customer service agents can often swiftly mobilise motorists, there are plenty of situations when the issue isn’t obvious. Without being there in person to diagnose the problem, they need to think laterally to determine what has gone wrong. Mark Cividen is one such customer service agent who thrives on solving problems.
“Not everything goes according to the plan on roadside. There’s a lot of hidden things that can be going wrong,” he says. “I love trying to get someone out of that sticky situation and thinking outside the square.”
A sense of community
Culture fit is pivotal when it comes to having brilliant customer service agents. “Our culture at Digicall Assist is one of the most amazing things that we have, our team is like a family,” says Rebecca Goss. “We all look out for each other.”
Often, our call centre staff are dealing with people during very stressful moments — especially when it comes to more severe breakdowns or when a child is locked-in the car. So, a strong sense of community is important. “If one of our agents has a difficult call, there’s always somebody there to say, ‘Are you okay?’”, adds Rebecca. Added to that is the ongoing focus on continuous learning, with all agents participating in regular training and development sessions, to keep a customer service edge.
A brilliant customer service agent is not only the first port of call for your roadside assistance service — they’re the glue that holds it all together. By investing in your customer service staff, you are investing in the future of your company.
Want to know more? Contact Geoff Ohlsen at Digicall Assist to understand how we can support you with B2B2C roadside assistance.
