5 reasons why it’s important to prioritize your support agents

1. Happy agents, happier customers

It's simple: when your agents feel valued and supported, their job satisfaction skyrockets. This isn't just feel-good fluff. Satisfied agents are more engaged, more empathetic, and more motivated to go the extra mile for customers. The result? A customer service experience that feels genuine, attentive, and human. In a world where consumers are quick to share both grievances and praises online, this can be the difference between a raving review and a viral complaint.

When we talk about making your agents feel valued, this includes making certain changes to processes that might otherwise be strict when it comes to meeting individual targets like ticket resolutions or KPIs as a whole team like First Response Time, Average Handling Time, First Contact Resolution, and more. Working with higher ticket volume can be tricky but that shouldn’t put pressure on the agents just to ‘close’ tickets as fast as possible, without caring about what’s at stake in order to get there.

This is where Agent Assist tools like Threado AI can empower and support the agents to be able to resolve tickets faster. Threado AI features a Chrome extension that sits on top of your favorite ticketing or help desk tools like Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom, etc., and can perform actions like summarizing tickets, providing response suggestions, personalizing answers based on customer tone and voice, and much more.

With AI assisting your agents, even with higher volume, customer satisfaction doesn’t suffer because you see much higher First Contact Resolutions from the bot being able to comprehend and answer queries accurately at once. With the help of the bot, agents save a few minutes searching and curating answers for customer queries which amounts to hours saved every day of manual redundancies. Therefore, higher agent throughput leads to higher customer satisfaction automatically.

2. Expertise at your fingertips

Investing in your agents' growth pays dividends. With continuous training and development, agents become product experts and skilled problem-solvers. This expertise means faster, more accurate resolutions for your customers. Imagine a world where every support interaction leaves your customer thinking, "Wow, they really know their stuff!" That's the power of prioritizing agent development.

Investing in your agents entails continuous learning. By prioritizing continuous learning, your agents keep abreast of the latest developments, products, and solutions. This isn't just about formal training sessions. It's about creating a culture where learning is part of the daily routine, where agents are encouraged to share knowledge, explore new tools, and even learn from customer interactions. This ongoing improvement cycle ensures your team is always equipped to handle the evolving landscape of customer needs and expectations.

When agents have deep expertise, they move beyond scripted responses to providing tailored solutions. This level of personalization makes customers feel heard and understood. It's the difference between a support experience that's frustratingly generic and one that's refreshingly relevant. Expert agents can read between the lines, anticipate customer needs, and even provide proactive advice that prevents future issues. This proactive approach not only resolves the immediate concern but also builds customer trust and loyalty.

Prioritizing agent experience is about more than just training; it's about building a culture of continuous learning and empowerment. It transforms your support team into a dynamic force capable of delivering personalized, proactive, and highly effective customer support. This not only enhances the customer experience but also positions your brand as a leader in customer service excellence.

3. Lower turnover, higher consistency

The churn and burn of customer support roles can be a real issue. High turnover leads to inconsistent service, a drain on resources for constant hiring and training, and a knowledge vacuum. By making your agents feel like valued members of the team, you not only retain talent but also build a repository of deep institutional knowledge. This consistency is key to delivering reliable, high-quality support.

A stable team is the backbone of reliable customer support. When agents stick around, they accumulate invaluable experience and insights that only time can provide. This experience translates into a more nuanced understanding of customer needs, a deeper familiarity with products or services, and a mastery of the company's support ethos. The result? A level of service excellence that's hard to replicate with a constantly changing team.

High turnover isn't just a logistical headache; it's a financial one. Recruiting, onboarding, and training new agents is a significant investment. When turnover rates are high, these costs can spiral, diverting resources from other critical areas, such as development and innovation. Moreover, every new hire represents a period of adjustment, during which service levels can dip. Reducing turnover is, therefore, both a cost-saving and a quality-maintaining strategy.

Consistency in your support team allows for the accumulation of institutional knowledge. Veteran agents become repositories of information, not just about the company's products and services but also about customer behaviors, common issues, and effective resolutions. This knowledge is a precious resource, making every interaction more efficient and effective. It's also shared within the team, elevating the collective expertise.

4. Innovation from the inside

Support agents are on the front lines of your customer experience. They see the gaps, the recurring issues, and the opportunities for improvement firsthand. When you prioritize their feedback, you tap into a goldmine of insights. Empowering agents to contribute ideas fosters a culture of innovation, where the next big improvement might just come from your support desk.

Innovation often happens at the intersection of different perspectives and expertise. Support agents, with their hands-on customer experience knowledge, can collaborate effectively with product development, marketing, and other departments to create holistic solutions. This cross-functional collaboration can lead to breakthroughs that might not be possible in siloed environments.

Support agents can also play a crucial role in testing and refining new ideas. Their close relationship with customers makes them ideal candidates for gathering feedback on new initiatives before a full-scale rollout. This real-world testing can refine innovations, ensuring they meet actual customer needs and preferences before significant resources are invested.

5. Building a brand ambassadors squad

Your support agents are your brand ambassadors. They shape the perception of your company one interaction at a time. When they believe in the value of what they're providing, their enthusiasm is contagious. Customers can tell when they're dealing with someone who's proud of where they work and what they do. This authentic brand advocacy is priceless and starts with how you prioritize and treat your agents.

Recognizing and rewarding your support team for their role as brand ambassadors is crucial. This recognition reinforces the value of their contributions beyond traditional support metrics, such as resolution times or ticket volumes. Celebrating successes and sharing stories of exceptional brand advocacy motivates the team and highlights the impact of their work on the brand's reputation.

Give your agents the right opportunities

Support has become one of the biggest decision-making factors for customers to consider a brand. Being aware of the fact that customer acquisition is far more expensive than customer retention has caused companies to majorly focus on their support strategy. Prioritizing your agents is a major part of that strategy which demands that you shift your focus on things like employee retention and empowerment through changes in processes and by including AI tools that can assist them in being more productive. As customer support directly impacts customer satisfaction, prioritizing your support agents would eventually lead to better customer health as well.