5 Tips for Building a Customer Interaction Management Team
Building a great team of any type takes time and patience. But, when it comes to taking care of the most important asset of a business (your customers), making sure you have the right people in place to manage these complex relationships is essential. Here are 5 tips to keep in mind when building a customer interaction management team…
1) Look for excellent conversationalists – This won’t always show up on a resume, so make sure to interview potential team members in person to see how well they pick up and react to different types of language. Observe their reactions not only to what you say but also your body language and tone of voice. Non-verbal communication is just as important in business as what people say through words.
2) Lean towards prospects with a strong technology background – Even the best conversationalists are now expected to be well-versed across multiple communication channels. Being only a smooth talker on the phone with customers isn’t good enough anymore, employers now seek out team members who are concise yet thoughtful in text-based mediums including email, chat, and messaging apps.
3) Evaluate internal communication capabilities – One of the pillars of a strong customer interaction management team is actually having effective and efficient conversations with colleagues. Since many employees across various departments can interact with customers (especially in the B2B industry), it’s essential that two employees aren’t providing conflicting responses. Finding excellent internal communicators isn’t easy, but once you do you should hold onto these employees as the skill is rare and valuable.
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4) Leverage a system to archive customer information – No matter how good your customer interaction management team is at creating engaging and impactful dialogue, they simply can’t remember each detail of every single conversation. A customer interaction management system that also acts as a repository for customer information is essential for ensuring conversations are frequent and effective. In addition, an archive of customer discussions is great for transitioning accounts should an employee get promoted or move to a different department.
5) Seek to hire people with different backgrounds and opinions – Most companies have a diverse customer base, meaning you should also have a diverse customer interaction management team. Try to find employees who are not only a good fit with your culture but also have unique perspectives created by their personal background and history. While lifelong “local” employees may be less transient, they also can sometimes have difficulty relating to customers from other areas of the country or even the world.
These tips will help you in creating a successful customer interaction management team. Seek out employees who can hold their own in a personal conversation yet are tech-savvy enough to converse effectively across multiple mediums. A diverse team that communicates well together and comes from different backgrounds is also vital to success, especially if you’re an international company. Lastly, and most importantly, having a customer interaction management technology system as the backbone of your communication holds the entire team together and prevents missteps with customers. Best of luck on building your team!
