The soft skills of Customer Care and Help Desk operators

For a qualified Customer Care operator, the ability to listen is the first and most important soft skill to be developed to effectively get in touch with the interlocutors and provide a solution at the first contact attempt (one contact solution).

Centax front-end resources are specially trained in problem solving, applying a three-step strategy: listen, understand, and act.

Active listening is the foundation of effective communication. In customer service, listening means being proactively focused on the message the customer is expressing. Behind every call there is a person who needs to be heard, understood and accompanied in the management of his problem or request.

However, to be an excellent operator, it is not enough to provide correct information: the greater empathy we will be able to create with customers, the more they will appreciate the service, increasing loyalty to the brand.

However, these aspects must take into account certain organizational, supervisory and planning complexities that risk lowering the quality of the service provided.
During peak periods, for example, when you receive an unexpected number of calls, it’s only natural that some customers can be nervous and impatient due to longer wait times.

At this point, two further soft skills come into play: time management and problem solving, fundamental for a quick and efficient management, as well as qualitative.

Operators’ communication skills must be able to transform a frustrating situation into a positive one.
Excellent communication skills always translate into an improvement in customer satisfaction and brand reputation.

Centax front-end resources are to all intents and purposes consultants: vertical experts in the reference sector, trained ad hoc thanks to technical paths that allow them to get to know each product or service in depth.

Initial training is also accompanied by periodic briefs and training refreshes to stay up to date on the evolution of procedures and workflows.
Finally, each team member is encouraged to a constant dialogue and direct comparison with colleagues, knowledge leaders and operational accounts, carried out through dedicated communication channels that allow them to be aligned and to relate uniformly with customers.