Most companies understand the importance of their frontline workers interacting with customers daily. But how many will build a customer experience strategy around them?
At JetBlue Travel Products, the contact center is in the middle of everything the company does–literally and figuratively.
It’s all in the name of trust and customer-centricity. Andres Barry, President of JetBlue Travel Products, says customers have become more selective about how they book travel and want a company they can trust if something unexpected happens. They want to work with companies they can trust have their needs in mind.
For Barry, that trust and connection come from investing in the contact center to create the best human interactions possible. Investing in the contact center isn’t an option–it’s necessary for a customer-focused company.
JetBlue Travel’s contact center is at the center of the action. Technology leaders all sit within earshot of people taking calls and talking to customers. Barry overhears calls all day and often walks over to get a closer listen at what’s happening with customers. Having everyone physically close to each other helps people stay connected to customers and better collaborate because they understand the impact of quality customer service.
Barry and his team meet daily to discuss the previous day’s customer interactions. He tries to keep his finger on the pulse of what the company is doing and pay attention to the insights and metrics from the contact center, such as efficiency, customer satisfaction, and customer value.
Andres Barry believes that getting the contact center experience right is the biggest indicator that customers will return and want to do business with JetBlue Travel again. That means providing consistently high-quality customer calls. Barry names three elements of a good call:
- Understand why the customer is calling. Contact center agents need to quickly get to the why behind the call. Customers might have a deeper reason for the call than the question they ask, and a good agent gets to the root of their problem.
- Act quickly. Customers don’t want to be on the call for longer than they need to be. A good call covers everything customers need without being too long.
- Give people confidence. Customers should leave the call feeling confident about their purchase decision. JetBlue sends contact center agents to its resorts so they can share personal experiences with customers. Having agents who can answer questions with real experiences builds more confidence in customers.
Customer experience is all about providing value. JetBlue Travel starts with what customers want and works backward to create a solid experience to meet those needs and wants. Central to that is a contact center that is constantly learning, adapting, and building customer confidence.
Contact centers shouldn’t be pushed to the side. As JetBlue Travel shows, putting them central to a customer experience strategy can lead to incredible success and happy customers.
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Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist and the bestselling author of The Customer of the Future. For regular updates on customer experience, sign up for her weekly newsletter here.