Companies know that improving their brand image must include investments in customized customer-centric strategies. Though that realization is welcome, a critical driver of positive brand image is still overlooked: Customers’ perceptions of a company are heavily driven by the quality of their interactions with the customer-facing functions of that company.
Customers engage with brands through customer-facing employees, who are typically the first and last people with whom they interact. Many of the functions performed during those interactions are critical to the customer experience. Thus, those employees’ ability to perform their respective functions efficiently and effectively is essential for brand reputation.
To perform well, customer-facing employees must be aware of the importance of their roles in the company, be equipped with the right tools, be appropriately trained to use those tools, and be empowered to make expected decisions. And, they need to check all those boxes in a way that is in line with companies’ vision, culture, and values.
Engaged customers
Even before the pandemic started and challenged traditional operations and business models, the business world was already facing a high level of change and disruption. Developing a competitive edge and increasing market share had become even harder in an unpredictable environment.
One persistent rule survived: consumers will still spend their money with companies with which they feel emotionally connected.
According to a Gallup poll research, highly engaged customers generate 23 percent more revenues on average, and even more in some industries. Engaged customers buy more, buy more often, are more loyal, and are more likely to promote companies over the long term.
The impact of customer-facing functions
Positive experiences with customer-facing employees primarily drive customers’ emotional connection with companies. Research confirms that frontline employees directly impact customers’ level of satisfaction and engagement.
When frontline employees can handle an issue at the first point of contact with a customer, the positive impact on customer satisfaction is greater than it would be at any other time.
Customer-facing employees who are better prepared and properly motivated to perform well generate increased revenues and increased profits for their employers. And, while this appears obvious for retail and service businesses, it applies to all industries.
Pillars of successful customer-facing functions
To engage and empower frontline employees, companies must provide them with information, training, empowerment, and engagement.
Information:
To effectively serve customers, companies must provide frontline functions pertinent data and proper knowledge to make informed decisions in real time. For instance, companies could invest in new CRM technology or customize their existing CRMs to support those functions better.
Customer-facing employees would then be able to provide real-time service to customers by accessing pertinent company information, communicating with other departments, and much more.
Training:
Customer-facing functions are best performed when employees understand how their performances fit within the bigger company picture.
Corporate training on company values and policies and procedures must be part of employees’ onboarding.
Recent studies found that one third of frontline retail workers received no formal training. Even among those who did, a significant number of employees said it was ineffective and not engaging. A real opportunity for informed and committed companies.
Empowerment:
Empowering employees to make decisions based on customers’ specific situations is most effective in improving customer satisfaction. Where risks must be managed, those can be input into decisioning models that could easily be integrated with CRMs.
A while back, we shared a disappointing experience with a popular big-box retailer. While their systems showed an item in inventory, their associate was unsurprised to find out it was not. What if that associate had been empowered to offer a small discount on a subsequent purchase or offered to send us an SMS when the product became available again? What if she had researched nearby locations for the board game we wanted? It would have changed a poor experience into a positive one.
Engagement:
To perform their functions effectively, employees need to be engaged and motivated.
A study published in the Harvard Business Review reported that 56 percent of frontline employees had suggestions for improving company practices, and 43 percent believed these insights could reduce company costs.
Customer-facing employees have a high level of first-hand knowledge and insight from which employers should benefit. Encouraging those insights, capturing them, and adjusting policies and procedures, where applicable, will keep employees engaged, knowing that their feedback was valued.
Employee motivation increases when employees feel that their efforts have an impact, and customer satisfaction increases when employees are motivated to excel.
Companies create sustainable, long-term success by providing proper tools, proper training, and empowering customer-facing employees.