The 5 C’s: A Recipe for Customer Service Success –
Compensation, Culture, Communication, Compassion, Care
Hopefully, this isn’t a new concept for you. You know, the value of an employee? Our team at VIPdesk Connect compiled the 5 C’s that make up the perfect recipe for customer service success.
Compensation
We want to be as transparent about finances as we can. Let’s not dance around it, let’s talk about it right up front! It’s very simple. Pay your employees what they are worth.
Not to make it about the paycheck, however, it is a principle that showcases the value of the employee when you are willing to create a substantial compensation package for every Brand Ambassador or Customer Service Professional.
“I’m going to pick “compensation” as this will likely be the least popular selection of the five. I’m a big believer of Daniel Pink’s philosophy around compensation…you must pay enough to where money is not a distraction. Once you pass this threshold and take the topic of money off the table, it enables the employee to focus on more meaningful motivators. The reality is that money is not a sufficient driver for engagement. Monetary incentives lend themselves to a more black and white world than customer service. For example, if you build 100 widgets…I’ll give you 1,000 dollars. How do you compensate an agent’s ability to go above and beyond for customers and create an exceptional experience? You are far more likely to inspire this type of behavior through a sense of purpose and meaningful work. Pay enough to relieve your employees from the distraction of money and focus in on the things that matter most.” –Nate Brown, Director, Customer Experience, Co-founder at CX Accelerator, ICMI Top 50 Thought Leader
Valuing your employee through their worth reflects on their work ethic! It’s a simple formula, pay the employee what they are worth = better employee engagement and value of work. Another recipe for customer service success!
Don’t believe us? Check out our current openings at vipdeskconnect.com/current-openings.
Culture
No doubt this is one of the most important core values of any company! What is a company without a fun culture? People truly are torn between an amazing work environment and an amazing paycheck, let’s be honest.
Zenefits states: “People are looking for a healthy culture with values that are aligned to their own,” says Shawna Clark, founder and executive coach at Clark Executive Coaching.
Culture can mean a lot of things! We found that surrounding ourselves with amazing people is the key to a positive company culture. It’s not just what we SAY we want to be, we DO it and lift our team members up in the process.
Wellness in culture is super important! Especially to Jenny Dempsey who has been in Customer Experience for over 10 years.
“In order to take the best care of others, we must first take the best care of ourselves. When we create and support a culture of self-care in the workplace, agents can dive into customer interactions from a place of empathy, compassion and genuine care.” – Jenny Dempsey, Customer Service Leader & Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, JennyDempsey.com
It is important to incorporate your style into your employee engagement programs too! Encourage them, interact with their successes and showcase the awesome work they do. Positive breeds positive.
At VIPdesk Connect, our VP of People & Culture, Jen Vinciguerra created a “Cheers for Peers” channel in our Microsoft Teams IM and it’s simply dedicated to celebrating team member successes. Not only does it encourage empowerment of others, it’s also adorable to see all the wonderful small things people do for each other. A fun “recipe” for customer service success!
Communication
There are so many forms of communication that this one almost seems like a must! What do we have without communication? A lot of confusion!
The most important style of communication? OPEN! Free to be yourself and to speak your mind to better the company. By being direct and transparent, we can be sure to rid the uncertainty in the workplace.
“It is owed to our customer support staff to have a regular communication line between support and other areas of the organization (marketing, sales, product design, etc.). These other areas make decisions which have unattended consequences that land in the lap of customer support. By building a cadence of open communication, you are mitigating surprises or issues that will roll downhill to customer support.”
– Becky Roemen, Customer Experience Transformation Strategist
Open communication is key!! Susan M. Heathfield from The Balance Careers breaks down the importance of communication and the different ways to implement it. She mentions that the environment of communication is just as important! Being available, being accessible and being reliable are all ways to communicate correctly with your staff.
“Your body language, your tone, your texts, your emails, your spoken words, and your social media contributions are all intertwined to create the unique person people look up to and respect – or not. As a leader of customers and teams, take a moment to think about how your presence impacts those around you. Be a beacon of inspiration and bring the best YOU to the world.” –Emilia D’Anzica, Customer Success Strategy & Founder, Customer Growth Advisor
Compassion
Compassion is something every human being should have more of. Even if you are full to the brim, compassion will forever prevail as a fantastic quality when taking care of employees.
“For me, the biggest of the C’s is compassion. You cannot begin to provide good service unless you can empathize and have compassion for your customer’s situation. At the end of the day, we are all humans (well…most of us). The best customer service is a human response to a human situation.” – Lyndon File, Director of Customer Experience & Advocacy, G Adventures
Care 
To care is so much more than it used to be. It’s now about individual care, personalization, and understanding of each employee with heart. People know when you care and when you don’t. We strive to set apart time in our day to care about the little things that make the big things work so well.
“I believe the number one ingredient for amazing service is CARING. If we can show our team members, we care about them – they in turn will take great care of customers. I think most of these speak to how we want to treat those that deliver front line service. So the culture together as one means our culture is that of our clients. All driving towards creating a positive environment.” – Sally Hurley, CEO, VIPdesk Connect
Care in customer service is the heart of the whole career. We are so happy to be showcasing care in the workplace that it shows throughout the entire team. Show someone you care today! Care is at the heart of all customer service success.
There you have it, the 5 C’s for Customer Service SUCCESS! No go out there and show someone you care, by communicating, compensating, being compassionate and living up to your amazing culture.
We believe in you!
–VIPdesk Connect Team
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