Today, we continue our two-part Q&A with Christopher Musico of CRM magazine. Chris has quickly emerged as one of the leading voices in the Social CRM industry. His work in pulling together the content in the June edition of CRM magazine on the "social customer" stands today as one of the most comprehensive looks at how CRM is undergoing a fundamental paradigm shift affecting virtually every aspect of the enterprise. We are pleased to have the opportunity to share the content of our exclusive interview with Chris on his views of how Social CRM is impacting customer service. We invite you to read the second part of our interview with Chris and join in the discussion in the comments below.

What sorts of challenges or changes in the customer service environment are agents dealing with today?

Customer service agents are facing a lot of the same challenges other employees are facing globally, particularly in the midst of this recession. They are being called upon to do more with the same -- or less -- resources. For example, many customer service agents are being called upon to also cross-sell and upsell customers once they have contacted the contact center. All the while, they are being charged with improving service-specific metrics like average handle time and first call resolution. Agents are mandated to keep tabs on myriad channels -- email, Web, live phone, IVR, chat, Web self-service, and now communities and social sites like Twitter and Facebook. While some companies have some agents on specific channels, the fact that many companies' end goal is to integrate and form one cohesive network muddies agents' jobs a bit.

Also, since it is more expensive to obtain new customers, the onus is on customer service to keep the consumers they already have. Whether this is fair or not is debatable. While the financial problems may not have stemmed from the contact center, it is being called upon nonetheless to keep the business afloat. With those high expectations comes a great deal of stress.

The fact that a growing number of contact center agents are in their early to mid 20s, Generation Y, they have grown up on the Internet and are used to the lingo that comes natively to online communities and chat -- not necessarily phone and email. For companies that have not yet integrated communities, social media, or chat into their customer service repertoires, these agents may feel out of their comfort zone, which can ultimately impact the end-result of customer interactions.

Another challenge, along the lines of doing more with less, is that oftentimes people who do call into contact centers or send emails are asking basic questions that could be answered through an online community or an updated Web self-service/FAQ page. This clogs up agents' time, not allowing them to get to the more complex problems or issues a customer may have, which really do need specialized assistance.

How can community-based technologies help agents address those challenges?

Community-based technologies, when implemented and managed properly, can be a great help to overburdened agents. For starters, since consumers are increasingly working with each other to try and solve problems and find answers to issues, contact center agents will not even be contacted for many basic questions. This will leave agents open for the more complex calls I referenced earlier.

By keeping agents available complex calls, while it can be more difficult, it does a better job in engaging agents and allowing them to use their knowledge, talents, and reasoning to help them come to a favorable conclusion. This can help improve morale for agents who may be bored at their jobs, or feel that they are not making a real difference from day to day.

Along the lines of agent morale, there is another benefit community-based technologies can give agents: empowerment. This can come in two forms. First, these collaborative technologies can help give agents the tools they need to know what is going on about their company on the Web, what is being said and established. That way, agents have a more comprehensive view as to what is going on and aren't "flying blind," if you will. Also, communities themselves are a departure from what many agents are used to using. This can mean different titles and different roles, which can revitalize good agents who are growing bored and thinking about leaving your company.

About Chris Musico

Christopher covers the contact center and the customer service industries for CRM magazine and destinationCRM.com. He received a 2009 Northeast Region Award for editorial excellence from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for his role in CRM magazine’s November 2008 issue on generational spending. Christopher received his BA from Seton Hall University, where he served as a news staff writer, copy editor, and opinion editor of The Setonian, the school's newspaper. As opinion editor, he took second place for Opinion Writing from the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association in 2006.