PRODUCTIVITY HACKS
10
for customer service
BEST
PRODUCTIVITY HACKS

Brought to you by CTS Service Solutions
© Copyright 2016. CTS Service Solutions. All Rights Reserved.Service Solutions
Organizations today are stretched thin. Their teams
overwhelmed. Yet, to deliver Hero-Class® customer service,
teams must be able to address the needs of every customer.
Time is one of the most precious commodities for any
customer-facing team, and in a world or shrinking budgets, the
best way to “make” more time is to be more productive.
Are you ready to start hacking your productivity?
Productivity Is Essential to Customer
Service

1 Create and
Optimize Systems
Don’t reinvent the wheel with
every customer interaction.
Create systems that make
processes efficient and that
improve outcomes both for
customers and the organization.
Then, regularly optimize those
systems.

More on customer service scripts.
2 Use Scripts
While scripts can make reps
seem robotic, when used well,
they can save teams time.
Have scripts prepared for your
most common interactions, but
always remember, scripts are
just a starting point.
Personalize each interaction.

More on rule accretion.
3 Simplify and Purge
Processes
Processes and rules accrete
over time.
Many are no longer necessary.
Others are no longer effective.
Simplify your processes
continuously, and perform a
policy purge a few times each
year.

4 Train the Shortcuts
Often changing a process is
cumbersome, time-consuming,
or impossible in the short term.
Yet, team members often figure
out how to remove inefficiency
through shortcuts.
If someone has a two-step
method for a four-step process,
train your team on the shortcut.

5 Clean Up Your
Communication
Review all of your standard
communication for ambiguity
and potentially confusing
language.
Misunderstandings create poor
experiences and are inefficient.
Clarity is power.
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Here is a customer communication checklist.

6 Use Automation
Effectively
Automate— but do so tactically.
Incredible tools exist nowadays
for automating routine portions
of the customer journey.
Just make sure that automation
doesn’t denigrate the customer
experience by removing human
interaction from important
touch points.

7 Give Teams the
Right Tools
Don’t give your team hammers
when they need screwdrivers.
Technology investments are
challenging, but so is providing
Hero-Class® service with a
decade-old CRM system.
If you don’t have the budget for
upgrades, use third party tools to
bridge the gaps temporarily.

8 Keep Information
Current
Outdated information is even
worse than an outdated system
and is inherently inefficient.
Make sure your CRM system
and your team has the most up-
to-date, accurate information.
Just remember the old adage:
Garbage in; garbage out.

9 Empower Your
Teams
Empowered employees solve
more issues on the spot and do
not have to circle back with
customers or involve other team
members as often.
An empowered team is the
ultimate tool for preventing a
small issue from snowballing
into a much larger issue.
Learn more about employee empowerment.

10 Forward-Resolve
Issues
All too often reps want to click
the “resolved” box and
organizations want to decrease
ticket times. But taking the time
to address potential issues up
front saves time in the long run.
Anticipate future customer
issues through proactive
questions that elicit honest
responses.
FUTURE
PAST

© Copyright 2016. CTS Service Solutions. All Rights Reserved.Service Solutions
After you’ve hacked your
organization’s customer service,
never forget that the ultimate
source of productivity in
customer service is getting it
right the first time.
Issues that need to be fixed or
resolved are inefficient and
expend valuable resources.
Just remember..
“An ounce of
proactive service is
worth a pound of
reactive cure.”
Adam Toporek
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Brought to you by CTS Service Solutions

ADAM
TOPOREK
Adam
is
the
author
of
Be
Your
Customer’s
Hero:
Real-­‐World
Tips
&
Techniques
for
the
Service
Front
Lines
(2015),
as
well
as
the
founder
of
the
popular
Customers
That
Stick®
blog.
He
is
a
keynote
speaker
on
customer
service
and
customer
experience.
Adam
is
also
the
owner
of
CTS
Service
Solutions,
which
specializes
in
high-­‐energy
customer
service
training
and
workshops
that
teach
frontline
teams
how
to
deliver
Hero-­‐Class®
customer
service.

GO
TO:
CustomersThatStick.com
TWITTER:
@adamtoporek
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