Agent variability creates risky gambles that you can’t afford to lose

Top customer service agents are wonderful; every company wants them. While some agents consistently deliver exceptional experiences, others may have room for growth in their customer service. The performance gap results in a noticeable impact on customer experience. Inconsistent service may leave customers confused, disappointed, or uncertain. Understanding how customers perceive service is crucial for improving their overall experience.

When customers expect one type of service and receive another—perhaps a regular interaction takes twice as long, or they are asked for different information than expected, or the agent seems unprepared—customers perceive this negatively. Too many ups and downs result in customers leaving for another business. A full 44% of consumers say they will stop doing business with a company after just one poor experience.^[1] You can’t afford to gamble with agent performance variability. Stop playing roulette and ensure that your customers get great service from your agents, every single time.

A snapshot of agent variability

Looking at the behaviors and tools of high-performing vs. low-performing agents shows the disparity in service quality. Let’s take a customer who recently purchased a refrigerator that uses an app to control its temperatures. The customer’s challenge: they can’t get the app to work, and the app won’t even connect to the refrigerator. The customer calls in, wanting to talk with an agent to get this squared away.

Not only is this agent a top performer, but they also have a real-time AI assistant that alerts them to the customer’s frustration and provides suggestions on how to ease the customer’s concerns. With the agent’s expertise, and inputs from the AI assistant, the customer’s distress decreases and they are ready to tackle the problem. The agent realizes the customer downloaded the wrong app. This high-performing agent directs the customer to the correct app and stays on the line to guide them as they install and connect it until they can adjust the temperatures—ta-da! This customer is ready to go, and feels so happy to have chosen a brand that sets the bar for service!

Fast forward two weeks and imagine the same customer has another problem with the refrigerator. This time, it’s the water dispenser. When the customer calls, they reach a different agent who struggles to identify a solution to the problem. The customer’s frustration increases with each failed attempt. The customer tires of the unhelpful assistance and eventually ends the phone call, worked up and not anywhere closer to resolution.

The customer’s overall experience was negatively affected because of the difference in service between their two interactions. So, how do you increase consistency in your interactions to benefit your customers? This is where AI can help to reduce agent variability. In this example, real-time interaction guidance and a centralized knowledge management system can help the top-performing agent resolve customers’ needs faster, and more importantly the same tools would support lower-performing agents in finding the answers and replicating the experiences of the top agents.

While there will always be variability in agent performance, organizations leveraging AI in their customer service increase consistency for their customers. By creating similar experiences, brands build greater credibility and trust regardless of the agent, ultimately increasing customer retention.

How can agents use AI to help customers? Real-time interaction guidance can help to identify customers’ frustration by measuring customer sentiment and offering prompts on what to say to help address their concerns. In the heat of customer distress, these prompts provide options for agents to reference to support customers quickly, and in a personalized way.

As for having the right information at the right time, AI can keep agents up to date with product knowledge by centralizing information in the cloud. Agents gain confidence in having the right information across knowledge sources, from FAQs to websites and detailed knowledge guides. Even better—the maintenance of the knowledge systems is made almost instantaneously and can filter out just as quickly.

What variability feels like for customers and agents

When you interact with a brand and receive service that misses the mark on speed and empathy, you begin asking questions: Is the service a reflection of the overall service quality for the company? Was the first positive experience a fluke? What should I expect each time I call? Has service quality started to decline? What kind of service will I receive if I have another issue?

This unpredictable nature of customer service makes consumers question if it’s worth staying with the brand. And some might decide it’s time to leave for a competitor.

On the flip side, how does variability impact your agents? Top performers may feel they are taking on too much, since they are often tapped to handle the most complex, challenging inquiries. Lower performers may not get the coaching they need to grow despite well-intentioned, yet infrequent or inconsistent feedback.

NICE can help make agent performance more consistent

What can be done to improve agent consistency? Brands don’t need to go so far as to make every agent a superstar to see great results. It’s simpler than you might think. Companies can boost their CX by helping their agents to perform more like the top agents, and AI can bridge the gaps in performance that affect customers and agents.

Our groundbreaking State of CX research report features insights from analyzing over a billion customer interactions. One key finding is that by reducing the gap between lower-performing agents and top performers, organizations reduce handle times and boost customer satisfaction scores, ultimately creating better customer experiences. Download the report to see how variability across agents affects customer experience.

Ready to tackle variability to improve customer satisfaction? Together, AI and automation streamline processes and help organizations scale key knowledge—a holistic approach to customer service results in consistent experiences that make customers want to stay. With NICE CXone Mpower, you can analyze 100% of interactions for a comprehensive, objective view of your customer service. You can identify trends, uncover hidden patterns, and ensure comprehensive insights into every customer-agent engagement for continuous improvement. Watch the demo to see how a unified AI hyper-platform helps businesses deliver consistent customer service that elevates their brand.

Make the sure bet

Why roll the dice with inconsistent agent performance? When service quality is left to chance, it’s highly variable, causing customers to lose trust—and businesses to lose customers. By elevating agents' skills, you can stack the customer service deck in your favor, ensuring every customer interaction meets your standards and building lasting loyalty with each conversation. NICE CXone Mpower provides the tools and platform to help every agent play their strongest hand—and reach their full potential.

_{[1] Metrigy: Transforming Customer Experience: Six Vital Projects to Help Improve CX (2023)}