From the Yellow Chair
From the Yellow Chair
Are Your CSRs Your Secret Weapon?
We're sipping some lemonade with the fabulous ladies from CSR Academy! In this episode, you'll discover the profound impact of customer service representatives (CSRs) on business success. We delve into training strategies, systems, and mindsets that can shift the trajectory of your company.
- Explore the essential role of CSRs
- Discuss the importance of training and leadership
- Emphasize hiring for attitude over skills
- Share successful systems for CSR processes
- Highlight the integration of technology in customer service
- Foster a positive culture for CSRs
- Examine the significance of attitude and mindset
- Call for investment in customer service teams
Don’t miss our exciting announcement about the CSR Academy’s upcoming training event!
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From the Yellow Chair is powered by Lemon Seed, a marketing strategy and branding company for the trades. Lemon Seed specializes in rebrands, creating unique, comprehensive, organized marketing plans, social media, and graphic design. Learn more at www.LemonSeedMarketing.com
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We'll see you next time, Lemon Heads!
Oh, what's up? Lemonheads, welcome to another episode of From the Yellow Chair. I am Crystal. I'm still riding solo in the virtual lemonade stand today, but y'all, I am so excited for today's episode. It is full of so much girly goodness, some of my very favorite people from the industry, incredible women doing great things. Many of you know most of them, but together in a little rock star trio. So I absolutely know that you guys understand how I am so passionate about the power of your CSRs, your customer service reps, being the very first line of defense. So we want to make sure they're improving and getting better, driving the culture and the customer journey with your company. They are the heartbeat of any service business.
Speaker 1:So grab your lemonade, get a little comfy, or at least that cruise control, whatever you're doing. While you're listening, let's drink up some knowledge about training and leadership and unlocking the real potential behind your CSRs. Let's dip some lemonade. Perfect, ladies, I'm so excited to have all of you. I'm so excited Look how full my screen is with goodness this morning. So I love each of you independently and collectively, and so we're coming off of the Lemon Seed Conference being one of many trips that each of you have been on lately, but Lemon Seed Conference had you guys there doing the CSR Academy. So, guys, they even had their green apples. They gave the cutest lemon bottle openers as gifts, so definitely my heart for branding was on trend there. So each of you introduce yourselves. Tell everybody that's listening who the heck is the CSR Academy?
Speaker 2:Who's going to go first? You got it, michelle. It's kind of like at a level 10 meeting, the first, last one in his first one up, so I'll be up first. I don't mind, I am. I am Michelle Myers and I run a, an operation putting CSRs in your business remotely, and I am super excited to hold onto this carabiner. I'm going to tell you all about this story next while we're together today, and also point out that we are the absolutely newly crowned, first and ever certified by service Titan Call Center. So I'm Michelle and I'm happy to be here. Thanks so much for having us, crystal.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Fantastic. And first call center like kudos girl. That's a lot, that's a lot of work, so I love it. I need my crown.
Speaker 2:I'm ready for a crown. I feel like I should have one back here. I think I need one. All of us on the.
Speaker 1:Lemon Seed team normally tries to wear crowns, so I should definitely share that with you. So all right, who's?
Speaker 3:up next, I'll go next. We have a fun thing that we do here at the CSR Academy we have a little mascot with, since you love branding and marketing, we have a mascot and her name is Mae, m-a-e for Michelle, angie, erica. So a lot of times that's the order that we go in. So she's a cute little CSR mascot and so I'll take a turn next. I am so excited.
Speaker 3:Thank you, crystal, for having us on this podcast.
Speaker 3:It's always so much fun to be with you and all of the Lemonheads and we just so appreciate what you do for our industry.
Speaker 3:You really were key in helping us as we were thinking of colors and branding and what we wanted the Cesar Academy to look like, and since the lemon was taken, we took an apple, a bright green apple, and so you definitely play some inspiration there.
Speaker 3:But it's an honor for us to be here and it's such an honor for me to get to work with Michelle and Erica on a daily basis as we are thinking about ways that we can empower and train and lift CSRs, and you know, when we do this, we know it's super impactful for the CSR and it really helps them gain confidence. It helps them have systems in place. It helps them get the right mindset that they need. But, more importantly, it helps the business owner, because the business owners have so much on their plate and all sizes of business, of business. If you can get your call operations down in your operation, in your call center, if you can capture those leads and turn those leads into great opportunities for your team, that's the key. And so my background I come from the trades, as a business owner, and so a lot of what I've created and done is to help a business owner be successful, so that they don't have to worry about their CSRs and their CSRs can feel confident in their role.
Speaker 1:Love it.
Speaker 3:Love it.
Speaker 1:Yes, so I knew Angie back when Angie was just a contractor, exactly, but so accomplished Angie. You have done such great things and so I know I think you're one of the most kind people in the industry. No one ever has anything bad to say about Angie Snow, so I'm lucky to have you on here and I think you make a great part of this team. So thank you so much. Thank you Appreciate that.
Speaker 4:OK, I love, yes, and so I love working with Angie. Michelle. This is seriously one of the most biggest things that brings me joy in my life right now. It's so much fun. And, crystal, thank you for having us at Lemon Seed event. If you guys haven't been to the Lemon Seed event, it is a must. It was so detailed and branded and fun and content heavy and just so intentional and engaging with everything that you guys did, and so it was just an honor to be there. So, thank you so much. And, yeah, we love to talk Lemon Seed all day long.
Speaker 4:You probably come up at least with me in conversations, like when my husband, when I'm asking him to do stuff for like CSR Academy or OMSI or whatever it is for coaching, I'm like what would Lemon Seed do? Right, like, look at Lemon Seed branding because it is, like you know, michelle said and Angie said it's an inspiration of like how to look at all the different parts of branding and how it can help with business, and so, anyway, we just, we just look up to you guys so much and so, um, a little bit about me. I have a background in a lot of different things in regards to travel, I've been a world traveler for many years. I love to go around the world and learn about people and cultures and that kind of got me started in anthropology, where you know kind of the roots hit there and I just was really fascinated with people.
Speaker 4:I got really big into personal development, started creating programs and trainings, got involved in the trades, created some CSR programs and trainings and just absolutely love the ability to help people get to the next level. And I think all of us have a skill set here on this call, but also everybody listening. We have a skill set and if we can help teach other people that skill set, it is so empowering and rewarding. And so you know, I've absolutely loved doing that and I've loved helping as well, like the times where, of course, I can train CSRs directly but also train in-house trainers, help your, your training team know how to train your CSRs. A lot of companies that are a little bit bigger do you have these the ability to have an in-house trainer, and so it's really cool that we can work with CSRs and the whole call center operations on different levels.
Speaker 1:Awesome, Awesome, Okay, so love also. All three of y'all are just so much fun to listen to. So I'm like I could do I could talk to each of you individually, but I love this concept that you guys have of like. All of you have a different, had a different kind of approach to CSRs, but yet they were very similar. So y'all got together and created the CSR Academy. Right, and I know I've seen you guys are like hosting a workshop at ACCA, which I know is coming up really soon. I've seen you do something in Vegas. Y'all did a little workshop for me here. So tell me about what is the CSR Academy exactly?
Speaker 2:Well, I can take that one. Csr Academy is actually super secret, ninja status of the three of us being able to use our zones of genius right, like what are we really known for in the industry? And that's not to blow up who we are. But I identified in Angie what was epic about her. She identified something in me that I had never seen Erica same thing, I mean. So the three of us all came together in July of last year and said, man, there's gotta be something out there where we can kind of wonder powers unite.
Speaker 2:You know the three of us and how can we have a really interesting curriculum for the business owner to send their team to so that they really get a value in all the different aspects of what makes up a great CSR? And so it's really all about the different tracks that we teach. So I take on systems and I really place everything in a digestible framework or dashboard so that the business has a really cool place to put all their content and information for the CSR. And then Angie's just incredible with sales and scripting and word tracks and all the things that leadership needs to set them apart. And I think for me watching Erica in the team and watching her with CSRs, training them and doing role playing and getting people up out of their chair. It's very, very powerful, and so each one of us, I think, really kind of brings something special to the table, and that's what makes it so unique.
Speaker 1:I love it, I love that. So you know and I've watched this from afar a little bit too you know I, as a marketing company, lemon Seed's always trying to defend where people are spending their marketing dollars Right, because no one wants to write a check for marketing when they feel like call count is low and their revenues down or they can't find team members, and so it's a very frustrating part of being a business owner in the contracting space is being able to qualify and quantify your marketing, and so a lot of times my team is trying to look at how good of a job are your CSRs doing on booking the call. So people say we're just not getting anything. And I'm like man, I see the leads coming in, I just don't know what's happening to them once y'all answer the phone or don't answer the phone, because sometimes that's the problem, but for sure.
Speaker 1:So I've always taken a really big interest in the power that a CSR really has to impact the customer's journey of working with your company overall, and so, as much as I stick to you know, branding and strategy and all that, there is so much really good companies are built and scaled off of operations. Marketing is just kind of a vehicle to getting yourself there, but it takes strong operators to get there, and so I know that you guys really care a lot about like what that first interaction is in teaching the CSRs you know the traditional things of are they empathetic and things like that. Is there a secret sauce as a business owner like that we should be looking at for our CSRs? Like a certain personality type or a certain style, like what should we be looking for so that that CSR, that first point of contact, is great for our customers?
Speaker 3:My husband and I were just having a conversation about this actually last night, because we were talking about a fellow colleague who has a company and I've been working with some of their CSRs individually and they just pulled in a new operations manager for this business and they said you know what Two of these CSRs just have to go? And basically, as he was observing the training that I was doing, he could see that these two CSRs were not engaged. They felt like they already knew everything. They've been doing this a long time. They were not open to learning. They were not open to discovering new ways because they already knew how to do this job.
Speaker 3:And so, for me, when you're looking at hiring a new CSR, it comes down to attitude. And are they willing to be open? Are they willing to learn? Do they have this mindset of teach me something new and let me try it? Erica does a great job of helping our CSRs get out of their comfort zone a little bit when it comes to role-playing, and they have to be willing to role-play. If they're not willing to role-play and walk through a situation with you in a pretend play fashion, what makes you think they would be confident to pull something off with an actual customer. So it comes down to attitude. We can teach, we can teach communication, we can teach skills, we can teach how to overcome objections, we can teach ways to do outbound calls, but if they're not, they don't have that willing attitude, then then that is really, that's going to be your. That's their downfall as a CSR, at least in my opinion. I don't know if Eric or Michelle thinks something different or wants to add to that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like I, I've definitely seen how people will well not give up on CSRs just because they're like, oh well, you know you've. Like, if they don't give them the opportunity to invest them, to train and participate in those things, you know, before people would like fire or let go of a CSR, you'd want to make sure that you've invested in their training and setting good expectations and all of those things. And yeah, it does come to the point, like what Angie says, like it is attitude. And if you're investing in them to learn the skillset, learn the communication, do the trainings and all that kind of stuff, and if you put forth all of your effort to that and you're like, yeah, this is not going to work out.
Speaker 4:I think that's, you know, being generous, of course, to people, but a lot of times CSRs just don't know what's clearly expected of them. You know, don't know what's clearly expected of them. You know they're often handed like here's a script or here, answer a phone, how hard can it be? And like not the strategy behind it. So if you have invested in teaching and the strategy and spent the time coaching them and it's not working out because you can tell their attitude or their effort or whatever it is isn't playing out, then, absolutely like they're on the wrong seat of the bus.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, great customer service doesn't just like happen by accident, right, it normally takes design and I know, michelle, like you mentioned, like systems being like your key point, which I've actually seen that with my own eyes and you've had great conversations even with they can be revenue drivers and customer relationship pros for your company, just really big advocates. But a lot of times I think business owners it's just a little old school mentality we start thinking, man, let me just find me a CSR and pay him nine bucks an hour, eight bucks an hour, whatever, stick them behind the phone, how hard is it to answer the phone? And we lose that. And so I've learned just by watching you guys like systems and expectations and accountability. All of those things are really impactful, michelle, and I know that you talk a lot about that.
Speaker 2:I do.
Speaker 2:I mean what I tell business owners all the time is when you're on the phone, you're fully engaged right. You've got your mind, your eyes, your mouth, your ears, your hands, your heart Everything is on that call, especially if you're in a CRM and you're placing everything in a digital format. So to then expect that CSR to remember the script or remember the services, that takes months or years. And so to get them to speed really quickly, you should give them a colorful, bright, interactive and easy visual to be able to understand your business quickly.
Speaker 2:Because here's the secret CSRs leave and I don't want to be the one to blow up everybody's mind, but that is the truth they leave. And so if they leave and you've done all this incredible training and it's all in someone's mind, but that is the truth they leave. And so if they leave and you've done all this incredible training and it's all in someone's mind it's really hard to replicate that same customer service center again. It's really hard to build that up again if that person leaves. And so building systems is actually an insurance policy, not only for you as the business owner, but it has so much success driving for that CSR. They feel as if they're living and breathing in an environment that is really customized for them and that really takes hold in how they deliver care to your customers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, you know, I just to that. I just firmly believe and I know I'm going to probably harp on this a lot, but I firmly believe that the majority of contractors truly underestimate the impact that these people, that these team members, can have and sometimes even, like I think they diminish it a little bit. Like I don't know, I don't hire anybody off the street to be a CSR and I'll be honest, you probably can train. There's a lot of people out there that would be great CSR and I'll be honest, you probably can train. There's a lot of people out there that would be great CSRs if they had training. I don't know that.
Speaker 1:People are born understanding how to, you know, navigate conflict or pricing and things like that. So you know what are you. What do you guys think are like some key skills that maybe every CSR should be working to master to be a great CSR? Or have y'all, do y'all know of a company that's got a great CSR? That's like really, really resonated with you guys. Or like set with you guys Like man, this is phenomenal, or he's phenomenal at this.
Speaker 3:When we did our training in Las Vegas, I actually sat down with our group and I said can you all describe the perfect CSR for me? If you could design the perfect CSR, what would that look like? And I had each of them and I've got them sitting right here, actually, because I'm working with this. I had each of them write on sticky notes traits of a great CSR, like what would that look like? They'd be great at making connections, they'd feel supported, they'd be competitive, they would be a critical thinker and we, you know, I think this is a really good exercise for business owners.
Speaker 3:If they're trying to like, who do I want in that seat? They need to go through this exercise themselves. And if you could design the perfect CSR, what would that look like? What would their mindset be like? How would they? How would they fit into your, into your office? What do you need in your office? And they really need to picture and visualize that individual and what they would like them to look like. I don't think a lot of people go through that exercise right. It's not just someone to answer the phone, it's someone that can be adaptable. It's someone that has courage and is willing to pick up a phone when the phone's not ringing. So, thinking about the mindset of a CSR and those things that you want in a CSR individually.
Speaker 3:For me, when I was developing my seven-star CSR program, I developed that program for my team because I was just like that contractor you just said, crystal. I was someone who knew how much money I was spending on marketing and I needed to make sure that those marketing dollars were turning into booked calls, and so I needed a way to make sure my team was set up for success. And so there were a lot you know, I don't want to say, a lot of training programs. There were several different programs, but nothing I felt like was the right fit for my team, and so that's why I really developed what do I want in a CSR? Well, I want a problem solver, so I'm going to teach a whole lesson on problem solving. I want someone who uses positive language, so I have a whole module on just positive language. I want someone who knows how to build a relationship of trust, and I just went through and I made that list for myself and then I built training around every single one of those things so that when they finish that training, they now have all of those qualities and skills that I'm looking for in a CSR and I have metrics to put to those to measure their performance and be able to grade those and score those and have that clearly defined.
Speaker 3:If you're doing this, this and this, you're saying the customer's name. You're making a connection. You sound like you're doing this, this and this, you're you're saying the customer's name. You're making a connection. You sound like you're smiling, your tone is great, you know your pace is on, on track, like there's a couple of things that if you're doing all those things, you're going to build a connection with the customer. Yeah, you're not. I can quickly identify where you're not and we can work on those things, yeah, I mean I love.
Speaker 1:So out of pain comes progress, right? So you know, you start looking up and you're like man, I mean this is every business owner probably, no matter what industry you're in. You have this struggle sometimes of like why can't people do what I need them to do? You know. So today I was talking to a friend early this morning and she was like, oh people, people are such a challenge and they are, but I choose to like default to good as much as I can Listen.
Speaker 1:I'm not perfect at it and I will get hung up on someone sometimes and I can't get off of it and I have to remind myself, like you know, let me step back, but I love the fact that when you're looking at your own team, specifically your CSRs, your dispatchers, kind of all in the same there, realizing where the pain points are and addressing those and, like you said, the power of positive mindset, being positive of this mindset in general, that is something that most contractors are not going to think to train on. They're going to train on like, well, how do I get them when the people are price shopping? Like, how do we win more tire kickersers? Well, you really have to think about a CSR goes through a lot of emotions, like you got people that are mad, you got people that are flippant, you've got people that are frustrated. You've got and so they've got to like navigate all these different temperatures all day long. And so, like I love kind of creating your own, like documenting where you think your struggles are and communicating those with whomever's going to help train your team, and investing in training that team is very important.
Speaker 1:And, erica, I know you've listened to thousands of calls. I feel like probably more than thousands of contractor calls. Do you think there's like a secret style of personality and I know we've kind of talked about like Angie's little exercise there but do you think it's the super bubbly personality? Like I get asked this all the time what type of person should I be looking for? And I'm over here like I wrote down competitive and solution driven and positive. But what I know you've listened, so what do you think that comes from?
Speaker 4:Yeah, like I think the bubbly personality and just like that upbeat energy. Of course, I think that that makes a big difference in customer service. But I also work with plenty of people who are not like that, and that's where having a good process like okay, just make sure to do this, like I don't want you to feel like you're a complete cheeseball every second, but like follow the process and if you're doing the process of you know, hitting these things, asking these questions, making sure that you are engaging with your customer, like even the people who are not super bubbly can still have a high booking score and a high success rate. And you know, one of the things that we do with our scorecards is where our scorecards that we, when we listen to phone calls and and design them. It's not a scorecard of of did you book this call or not, because that's data that's coming in from service tie-in or whatever your CRM is. Our scorecards are designed as are you following the process to create a great customer experience? Are you hitting the metrics that you need to do that are proven to have a good impact on your customers?
Speaker 4:And my biggest thing, too kind of something you said triggered this, crystal is like business owners sometimes just think like, well, let me overcome objections. You know, how do I, you know, deal with these tire kickers and these price shoppers, all those things. But a lot of what I like to teach is how do you prevent that pushback from happening. What can you do up front through your marketing, through your branding, like what is the expectation you're already setting through your marketing and branding? And then how do you align your CSRs with that expectation to prevent people from having buyer's remorse, to prevent people from canceling calls, and so, yeah, all the time, like, how do we overcome this? How do we deal with these cancellations? Like, yeah, there's, there's skillset for that, but what are you doing upfront to prevent that from happening? And a lot of things that you can do to prevent objections.
Speaker 1:I love that. So you know, man, like I get all back in my marketing feelings about this. But you know, I laugh at some things sometimes. So one time this contractor actually it was another vendor talking to me and they're like, I got this contractor and he had this very chill, laid back brand, like everything was meant to be like super laid back and relaxing, and he said but when you talk to the guy he was like loud and rambunctious and very energetic and I was like this does not match. And so I brought up the point like it's literally so silly, but it is customer confusion. You know, like when you you have to, your brand is actually a tangible living thing. So you know you can't buy a brand off of the shelf unless you're really ready to adapt who you are to that brand. So branding is literally more about how you make people feel, how people interact with you, what you look like, so. But it's the sum of all of those things. So it's not just pretty van wrap. And so, to your point, if I have this very fun and outgoing brand, I would expect that that's how my interaction is. Thank you for calling. You know, not so much like hello. Thank you for calling. You know what energy level does it match? Because, again, we want customers. The way that we say sticky and memorable in our markets is every touch point is reflecting back onto the actual brand of who we are, and so I love that touch point.
Speaker 1:We rebranded a company and called them Knock, knock, knock, knock, heating and Cooling. And, super cute, he chose a chicken. I mean it's wild, but it's wild and it's memorable. And we were like, please answer the phone, knock, knock, who's there. Like it would just give me life. Like when you answer that. Because, again, do you think people are going to hang up? Be like did they just answer the phone? Knock, knock, who's there? It's sticky, it's memorable, it's, it's endearing a little bit. Like it may, it just softens the load.
Speaker 1:Like people are irritated. No one gets excited to call and say my AC is broken in Texas when it's 105 degrees in July, you know. Or when it's cold and snowing and you're like, gosh, my heater won't work, you know we need, we have to have something to match that. So I love that idea that you know your CSRs have to live up to what your brand, that you're putting out there. Some of you don't have to worry about it because you're telling everybody that you're old and boring anyway. There, some of you don't have to worry about it because you're telling everybody that you're old and boring anyway, but most of you that are an engaging brand. This is such a good opportunity to do that and overcoming objections Well. So I do know this.
Speaker 1:That, I think, is the biggest issue. So when we're helping our clients and we're listening, looking at their dashboard, especially inside of service type, and you're like looking at their dashboard, especially inside of service type, and you're like man, this booking rate is only at 50%, I'm like how does this happen? We're spending a lot of money to have 50%. When really come to find out again, michelle, this is probably going to lean more in your court here.
Speaker 1:It's lack of like. They literally will say well, you know, I can't expect them to answer all the time. And well, that's during our lunch hour. And I'm like you, no longer should you be closed during the lunch hour. It's not 1985. I don't know what else to say to that. It is there's too many tools to help you cover where your phones are not left unanswered and undone. And then the other thing I'll bring up for somebody to kick around is like who should be scoring their calls. So we've got this ability of like unanswered calls during unique times early in the morning, late in the evening and during the lunch hour but then letting them score their own calls is also strange to me. So I was just curious, like what does that look like from a manager standpoint? Like how do I help control that?
Speaker 2:Well, I can jump in on unanswered calls, and it's funny because it has to do with my carabiner. Look, a perfect place to talk about this. We're seeing artificial intelligence come in to support those early times, off times, lunch times, and a lot of business owners are maybe unsure. I think is the best word, right, how is it going to work? Well, does it sound like a person? And is it going to be like ours and is it going to be like us?
Speaker 2:And so we've integrated AI into Pink Collars and so you get it as part of your service when you come to work with us, and I have seen it just solve so many of those tiny little people problems where it's like the five minutes before somebody gets on and the 10 minutes after five. You know all of those little tiny parts. I'm seeing AI help to get people to the top of the mountain, which is why I have this little carabiner. It reminds me that this technology is really changing our industry in a rapid way, especially as it comes to CSRs, and so how are we going to safely get to the top of the mountain? Right, and I think that the ladies on this call, for sure, are seeing that change and implementing small parts of that into all of our businesses, and I think that showing the way is going to be really helpful, and the CSRs have to be a part of this solution. It is not in any way a replacement, but it is a support and another tool in their toolbox.
Speaker 1:Is what I would say A resource, a resource, a resource, a resource, a resource, a resource, 100%, 100%. Yeah, it's such a tool. It alleviates frustrations, it alleviates sometimes even. It alleviates like, sometimes, even like hiring a whole other person. I was watching the old day which I'm old, I say I'm old school in the very least, but like me, I'm like man. I don't really want to talk to an AI person, but right now, why not utilize those to fill in the gaps at the minimum size?
Speaker 1:Like let them fill in gaps, especially when you're struggling to find somebody early in the mornings or late in the evenings or you don't want to bring on a full time another employee, like that's a very employees are expensive, right In all kinds of ways, and so I agree, I think that is such a cool way to start filling in some gaps and some missing things.
Speaker 2:I think it's really important to note, though, that it must be trained. It has to listen to your calls, it has to listen to your people and has to replicate the human experience. It is by no means a plug in and forget it sort of a system, and so it takes a while. It's a little bit of a climb, and so each one of us can speak to that differently, but I think that it's really an incredible positive for customer service. I know I've heard a little bit of pushback from some other folks, and I just think it's overall.
Speaker 1:I think it's really good, and then sorry when you said something that sat with me, you know. So again, if you're struggling with, I don't want this AI thing like you just said something that sticks with me when I say this, you can't have your cake and eat it too as a contractor. So here's the good news, right? The good news is it's going to listen and act as you. The bad news is you have to give it time to listen and learn you, and so I think it's important as a contractor, having realistic expectations of timelines and return and performance and giving things time to mature and cut and really work. Well. If you invest the time up front, it will drastically save you time in the long run. You just have to know what you're getting into, and I think I see it every day.
Speaker 1:Contractors jump into something thinking like well, this will solve my problems and once I sign the dotted line and give you money, you're gonna fix to fix it, and I'm like no, it's a partnership, Like we need to be at the same dance. We don't have to dance together every song, but if we can just be in the same building listening to the same songs, because sometimes I think contractors just want to mark things off their list, Like these CSRs. They're whiny, they complain. I can't make them happy. Give these CSRs. They're whiny, they complain I can't make them happy. Like, give me this AI solution when really what they need to sit back and realize is it's an investment all the way around in both the training of my live CSRs and the training of my AI CSRs. I mean just such a cool opportunity to set good expectations there of what to expect so you're not disappointed. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think honestly Erica should answer anything about call scoring, because that is her zone of genius, so I'm passing that one to her.
Speaker 1:Accurate.
Speaker 4:Well, you know, what's interesting is you find that you know you especially summertime you're taking hundreds and thousands of phone calls and there's some AI things out there to really help with that, and NCSR Academy has a few things up our sleeves to help with that too. But what's very interesting is that you have your team leads or your managers people who are supposed to be training your CSRs and doing your one-on-ones. They also have a lot of other things that they are asked to do, so for them to sit down and listen to phone calls is very time consuming and very tedious. Of course you want to have the exact things that you're looking for in the phone calls, right, like you got to set that up beforehand. Like what are the non-negotiables that our CSRs must and must not do? Like if you have specific questions you want to ask if you have. You know a certain way that you want to handle pricing or whatever. It is like that.
Speaker 4:But your team leads and your managers will be honest they do not have the time to go in and listen to all the phone calls.
Speaker 4:If they're lucky, they're going to get to maybe two or three, but two or three phone calls in my experience, is not enough to really gauge where the CSR is at, because you could have pulled a call at random and it was the day they were sick or something.
Speaker 4:Right, like you do need a variety of days of inbound versus outbound. You do need to have a good solid like like platform there of like what you're going off of, so that when you train them, you and you sit down and have those one on one on ones that's where the scorecards come in is like you can speak to these scorecards. So, yeah, if you want a third party to do all the tedious listening for you, we can do that, and then all you have to do is is show up with the scorecard and like hey, it looks like your percentage on this particular topic was low, or this topic is high and you're doing great here, but not here. And it's a really nice way to evaluate and have productive conversations, because you know it's just really hard to do it when you have that many phone calls.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Well, you know, how do you? So this was I was training my marketing coordinators the other day and we were talking through some of this and I said you know, one of the things that I want them to know is how do they give good advice? You know, we're not, we're not CSR trainers, we're not. We like to think we know our way around service type really well, but at the end of the day, we work in it from a very marketing 30,000 foot view and so in every contractor does it so different? And so I'll be honest, like some of it is like y'all aren't reclassifying anything, so everything is just dumped into these buckets. And I'll be honest, like this is a little bit of a I would never say this to a contractor.
Speaker 1:Some would say it's all contractors listening to the podcast. It's kind of because you're lazy and it shows me a little bit that you really don't care. A call is a call is a call. When, really when you invest the time to do these scorecards like you're talking about, get things organized, I think it allows your CSRs to be like okay, number one, they're watching, they care enough to be invested in it, but also the company is prioritizing these calls. Everybody will. You know what is it? A rising tide rises all ships.
Speaker 4:What's the saying A rising tide raises all ships.
Speaker 1:You know when the expectations of man, they're listening to calls and they're they're helping me get these things moved around and they really care. Like what was an actual lead. So I mean, the other day this guy was like we've only got like a 65% booking and I'm like, what are all these local numbers? And he's like, well, those are my technicians calling in. And I was like they're counting them as a lead. It's not a lead, sir, unless you want the CSR to sell your own technician on services. And so you're beating up the CSR and I'm like, give them a hotline. I don't care what you give your technicians, give them a phone number to call in. That is easier for people to see, because it's unfair. So then I'm like, are y'all paying spiffs off of this? Like it made me crazy because I thought, man, we don't have our head together here. And so you know, again, it goes back to valuing that position in your company and scoring them and letting them see. So we just started scoring our marketing coordinators, which is the team that kind of comes alongside the contractor very much, a lot more frequently than the other parts of our team, and one of the things is like we were doing scorecards and I thought you know for them, because I know they want good feedback. My, I do not think anyone on my team is going to be afraid of feedback. It's more scary when they get no feedback, because then they assume that they're doing everything right.
Speaker 1:And so this weekend, emily, my partner at Limited, she had kind of said hey, you go score these, I'm going to score these, and operations manager will score these. And so, as I was listening, I would I mean, of course, if you've never listened to calls before, it will make you hurt yourself. You're like, oh my gosh, I needed a stiff drink, but I'm Baptist so I couldn't do it. But I was like man, because at the end of the day, you know, you're just like this is terrible or this is great. So I all the emotions, right, this is great.
Speaker 1:Or people that maybe I thought were struggling. They were actually really good on the phone. They just are maybe struggling a little bit on the backend side of things. But it opened my own eyes because I you know Emily helped me like go score these calls. And I'm like like this is really opening your eyes as an owner. How do you help people be successful? Right, shouldn't that be our goal is helping everybody on our team be successful and the end is that our company benefits from it. But also, like, these are people. These are not just another number, another employee. Like these are people and most of them want to be successful yeah, I love that you say that, crystal.
Speaker 4:Oh, sorry, and you go ahead. No, go, you go ahead, I'll. I'll follow up, okay. Well, I just wanted to say one quick thing about feedback is everybody does like feedback, and sometimes feedback can be bad, but the delivery of the feedback is very important. I would tell everyone for a million years to come Don't do the sandwich. Formula of feedback hey, you're really awesome at this, you're crappy at this, but you're great at this. Like, don't do the sandwich, because really now do people believe you? No, they don't Like it's. It's a like little bit of manipulative. It's like they know it's coming. Okay, tell me the good, tell me the bad.
Speaker 4:There is a different way to give feedback than the sandwich, and so I would just say, like, keep that in mind. We could put a couple of resources, I know a couple of good books, but really, like, if I have to deliver like hard feedback, I would say, hey Angie, or hey Michelle, or hey Crystal, I'm noticing that this is happening or that your score is a little bit low of here. Can you tell me your thoughts on that? And you just leave it, and they're like yeah, my empathy is really down or yeah, I'm not. I'm really struggling with the price shoppers really down, or yeah, I'm not. I'm really struggling with the price shoppers and you let them give themselves the feedback, but you just have to bring it up in a sense. But I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't know if anyone disagrees with me, but I well, I've gone to Angie before and been like Angie, I'm too kind, Like I need to be more direct and there is a way to be kind and direct.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I you know what, when you were talking and kind of going through your dilemma with your own marketing coordinators, what that made me think of is just it's the same thing that contractors are going through as well. Right, like as a leader, we have two things that we have to watch. We have to. We have a people side. We've got to manage a lot of relationships relationships with our team, relationships with our our leadership team, relationships with our team, relationships with our leadership team, relationships with our vendors, relationships with our customers. But we also have this other side that we have to focus on, which is very data focused. We know the numbers, we know how many calls we've got to have and we know what booking rates we need. We know you know we've got the numbers that we're tracking as well, and so it's this delicate balance of people and data that makes a good leader, because, ultimately, you need your people to help you get these numbers right. You can't just be like people. Here are the numbers and the people will follow you. You have to be able to lead people, influence people, build people. So you've got to bring those leadership skills, but you also have to know what numbers you're looking at so that you can get the results you want. And when it comes to the data and to know what to train your people on and know how to get them there, to your point, crystal, if the data's not right, you don't know what to do. What are you even leading your people to? And so it's garbage in, garbage out. How do I manage this? How do I know that the data I'm looking at is even accurate? And that's when it takes time.
Speaker 3:If you're going to use a tool, especially a tool like ServiceTitan, you better understand that tool. You better take some time to understand how calls are classified. You better understand what numbers are contributing to that booking rate filled and that booking rate number. What is a good number for that? And so there are a lot of things right there that a leader should understand and a leader should take the time to dive into, especially on Service Titan.
Speaker 3:We now have a, as Michelle has shown you. We have a certified Service Titan track for all of your CSRs to take that really walks them through Service Titan. It helps them understand, and your CSR manager should be doing this so that they understand how every single click of a button affects those metrics and the fact that Michelle's team is the first certified call center. They know what buttons are doing what and so you can you can be assured that her data, for data for her teams, is going to be accurate. If you're going to use a tool and measure that data, you should know how to use it. So it's finding ways you can automate, delegate, but also have faith in the tools and the systems that you're using automate, delegate, but also have faith in the tools and the systems that you're using.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I mean what there is again. You know that really all this comes back to mindset. I mean every time I'm just like, from listening to this, like coaching yourself as a contractor, like you know how, how to, how to be supportive, and so I just, you know, I don't there's so much like beyond answering a telephone, like it kind of blows my mind.
Speaker 1:You know so well, listen, I know so like let's do this for business owners on each of you to answer this question in your own right. For business owners who really want to take their CSR team to the next level, where should they start? And so I'll give you all a second to think about that. But I know that here in a second, you're going to tell us all about what the CSR Academy has coming up some cool things. I'm excited to see you guys in Austin. So I'm excited to hear about that. But, as a business owner, if I'm listening today, you know what I'm like. I know I have an issue. What can I do to go to the next level? Is anyone ready to answer that pretty quickly? Okay, Michelle, of course, Michelle, It'd be like me. Is anybody ready to talk Me?
Speaker 2:Yes, we are so terrible. I believe a contractor should put together a system in which they can collaborate with their customer service team, their CSRs, call center managers, so that there's a place in which they can communicate effectively and in writing, so that they have a really good understanding and knowledge of what each of them experiences and what they each expect from the role. And so that's what I would give them a system in which to communicate.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. Okay, who's next?
Speaker 3:I'll go next, okay.
Speaker 1:We're going to go in the.
Speaker 3:May movement. We'll go in the May. So if you just want to get started, you're not sure where to start. Start listening to calls, listen to calls together. Identify things that are going good on calls. Identify missed opportunities. Identify opportunities for growth. Like just start listening to a call, listen to calls together and, as a leader, take some time to let that CSR know that you're invested.
Speaker 3:I heard one of the best lines I've heard last week at a training and it was as a coach or a trainer if your team's not performing, that's on you. And that coach just kept saying whenever I have an underperforming team member, they say you know what? You know you. You really didn't show a lot of empathy on call that call, but that's on me. I'm going to make sure you have the training to get that and so that you're more empathetic. So can I get your support in that? Can we do that?
Speaker 3:And the coach, the leader, the trainer, they take the accountability for that CSR until they've given them and that you know like hey, you missed this, but that's on me. I'm going to give you some training on that. You give them the training and now you can hold them accountable. It goes back to setting expectations. But until you've identified areas for growth, it's like start there, listen to calls, identify areas for growth and then just start training on things, one at a time, until you help that CSR get to that level. But that's not going to happen unless you have a relationship with them as well. So you've got to build that relationship.
Speaker 1:Love that. Great advice, great advice Okay.
Speaker 4:E for Erica Awesome. Well, these are such good things and I would just say, like we talked a little bit about mindset and everything, as a business owner, if you're finding little gaps in your mindset about customer service and your CSRs work on your mindset, they're absolutely big revenue drivers, just like your technicians. And if you're doing all your trainings on your technicians and you give your CSRs the leftover banana cream filled donuts after those trainings, that is not showing that you're investing in your CSRs. So if your mindset needs to be changed of I'm only going to pay you $8 an hour to answer a phone I'm sorry they're going to quit. That's a waste of your money, wasted their time. Like pay them as well as you can pay them. You know, invest in them, of course, in training, but just like you would everybody else in your business, like everybody in your business is important to drive revenue. They just have different. You know like little departments that they do it from.
Speaker 4:But if your mindset needs to be changed on how your CSRs can drive you revenue, that's where I would start to and what you can do to invest in them, help them grow, pay them better. You know hybrid flexibility. I mean. There's so many different ways that you can support your CSR team. And then I'm going to throw a plug like we've got a discount code for ACCA. If you want to come to the CSR Academy for a one day event where we are going to help train your CSRs or your managers or you as an owner, whatever, whoever you'd want to send to San Antonio, we've got a discount code. It's lemon and and we'll put the link here for Crystal. But if you just want help, that's where you should come.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I will be in Austin as well at the event, and so I can't wait to see this. I will say this I do think contractors that are listening, when you can trust the professionals, people that have dealt with other CSRs and other companies small companies, large companies, people that have dealt with other CSRs and other companies small companies, large companies Probably a lot of you have experience even with, like private equity or privately, all the different scenarios. Like you can learn so much from trusting professionals like these three that this is definitely not their first time in the arena, so I encourage you to take advantage of that. I will be at the Women in HVACR booth in Austin for ACCA, so very much an exciting, exciting time there. So, hey, michelle, if anyone wants, like I want more information. How do they get more information about you guys?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. They can go to the csracademycom. That's our website and they can check out all of our socials. We have a Facebook group that is very vibrant. We got we drop knowledge in there all the time. So please get in there and join the Facebook group. But CSR Academy is, on all the average, only the way you work. But it's going to help you connect and it's going to help you lead and you're going to get some something really good in each of those tracks as a student at the CSR Academy.
Speaker 1:I love it. That's very true. I mean, I've seen these ladies work so I can attest to that. But hey, one thing I think we've learned today is the best businesses don't just have great products or services, they have a great customer experience, and the journey for the customer to work with your company is being cultivated and tending to, and that starts with training your team to make sure you guys are the best in the game. So, ladies, I'm so blessed that you took time out of your day to be on from the yellow chair. Thank you all three for your support of Lemon Seed. But, guys, if you're ready to invest in your CSR team, take your business to the next level. Please go check out the CSR Academy at thecsracademycom. Don't forget, if you loved our episode, loved this, share it with a friend that needs the support. Leave us the review for more fresh marketing insights and ideas. Thanks for sipping some lemonade with us. We.