Embracing data. How to unlock successful customer service?

Why do you shop in one store or another, regardless of whether it’s online or physical? We like quality products, but often our decision is also influenced by how we, as customers, are served. Quality customer service ensures that the customer will return, and if they don’t, it will certainly result in positive feedback about the product, service, or company. 

Toma Strelčiūnė, the head of the Quality Team at CyberCare, talked about the importance of quality in an organization and why quality specialists would be seen as feedback givers. 

Quality standards in an organization

Toma claims that quality primarily depends on the organization’s approach. “The organization must know and strive to become the best. Quality inspection in an organization ensures the integrity of the company’s work. When a customer contacts us regarding a specific product, they should receive consistent professional assistance with the company’s tone: friendly, professional, business-oriented, and similar,” says the speaker. “The main factors by which customer service quality is evaluated are two: CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) – the feedback left by the customer, which is very important, and secondly, technical evaluation, how a customer service specialist can address issues.”

Recommendations for organizational quality standards come from the head of the Quality Team, as this leader should know what is happening in the market. These recommendations are discussed with key organizational leaders, and then a joint decision is made regarding the company’s quality standard.

Punishment or feedback?

Feedback is necessary for every employee. Some need it more frequently, while others need it less often. There are employees who want to know how they are doing, and in this case, quality team specialists provide feedback. According to Toma, feedback helps improve, notice certain things that would allow growth as a specialist. However, this system works only in a theoretical world. Quality departments are often seen as enforcers who only impose penalties.

“There are two sides to providing feedback. The quality specialist must provide this feedback by depersonalizing the situation and describing the mistake in detail based on certain documents. This way, the feedback will be clear and professional,” explains the Quality Team lead. “The second side is the employee themselves, who should also be interested in what feedback is, why it is provided, and how it can help them improve as a specialist.”

According to Toma, feedback is a two-way process. And if a quality specialist sees that an employee takes professionally presented criticism too personally, they need to have a personal conversation and educate them. 

Numbers can be tamed

Numbers and data can often be boring. Is it possible to make numbers appealing to people who are not inclined towards them? Toma Strelčiūnė claims that it all starts with curiosity and effective communication from the leader.

“The leader’s job is to explain to a young specialist why numbers are important, how to read the data and how they relate to the development of the entire organization. With a young specialist, you should start working from their own set numerical goals: how they are calculated and why they are necessary. Then the whole team and organization come into play: what impact these numbers have on the team and the entire organization, how to track this change, and what the trends are,” explains Toma about the magic of numbers.

However, data is not just about numbers. “Through data and numbers, the leader explains why our team performs specific quality control tasks. Everything is based on the values of the organization because the quality team is responsible for the quality of the entire organization’s operations and how the organization fulfills its goals.”

Quality never sleeps. Will artificial intelligence replace humans?

“If we create a quality-regulating process, we cannot rely on it constantly,” shares the quality manager based on her experience. “Over time, it can become inefficient, categories or benefits can change. Because an implemented system must constantly adapt to market and organizational changes, growing together with the company.”

All companies in the market strive for efficiency, and therefore, artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining momentum in many areas. It is not surprising that organizations invest in artificial intelligence products to maintain high-quality standards. This also applies to quality departments.

“In the customer service field, artificial intelligence is ready to check not only grammar but also empathy. Currently, artificial intelligence interventions in quality systems are more pilot in nature. However, in the future, AI will greatly help organizations save costs and maintain high-quality standards by reviewing the entire data stream, unlike humans,” Toma shared her insights on the impact of artificial intelligence on the quality system.