Leveraging Frontline Knowledge to Enhance the Customer Experience

It pays to respect the old adage, “the customer is always right.” But it can be equally valuable to remember the true importance of frontline workers, because they’re often the ones interacting directly with clients, making sales, delivering items, and managing transactions. And their knowledge can be crucial—if it’s actually taken into account.

In this article, we’ll discuss ways that companies can utilize the expertise of frontline workers to enhance the quality of the customer experience and encourage innovation in the process.

Problems a company may face that prevent frontline feedback

The real experts aren’t always paid consultants or marketing gurus. Often times, the people who have the most crucial insights are the ones who are actually interacting with the customers and the products on a daily basis.

They have first-hand knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. But a number of factors stand in the way of companies receiving this kind of valuable input.

• Siloed teams and limited communication channels can make it difficult for frontline workers to share their experiences and expertise with each other.
• Limited resources and time constraints may make it difficult for companies to gather and analyze frontline insights on a regular basis.
• Frontline workers may be hesitant to share their insights and ideas, especially if they feel that their feedback will not be heard or acted upon.
• Limited access to training and development opportunities may make it challenging for frontline workers to build new skills and contribute to their own career growth.
• Limited recognition and rewards may discourage frontline workers from exceling in customer service or contributing to the development of new products or services.
• Limited opportunities for cross-functional collaboration may make it difficult for frontline workers to work together to solve problems and improve customer service and development.

What is the best way, then, to capitalize on frontline experience and expertise? Enable top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer exchanges of information!

Solutions for capitalizing on frontline worker expertise

For knowledge to be transmitted, there has to be a free flow of information—and not just in one direction. Too many companies focus solely on top-down structures to give directives and offer instructions. But for frontline workers to be included in the conversation, employee communication needs to become much more dynamic. This can involve:

Peer-to-peer sharing

Empowering frontline workers to share their experiences and expertise with each other, leading to knowledge sharing and continuous learning. Sociabble’s chat feature, for example, makes this easy, facilitating conversations between co-workers.

Feedback and suggestions

Encouraging frontline workers to provide feedback and suggestions for improvement, such as through surveys or suggestion boxes, in order to make improvements to customer service and development.

Keep frontline workers informed

Using your communication platform to keep frontline workers informed about new products, services, or policies, and to provide them with the tools and resources they need to perform their jobs effectively. With Sociabble, you can share content across the platform and social networks, with a simple click.

Provide training and development

Providing opportunities for frontline workers to participate in training and development programs, which can help them build new skills and contribute to their own career growth while improving customer service.

Recognizing and rewarding frontline workers

…who excel in customer service or contribute to the development of new products or services, in order to build morale and motivation.

Connecting frontline workers with colleagues in other departments

…such as R&D or marketing, to help them better understand customer needs and develop new products or services that meet those needs.

Facilitating cross-functional collaboration

…among frontline workers, encouraging them to work together to solve problems and improve customer service and development.

Providing a platform for frontline workers to share

…success stories, best practices, and lessons learned, in order to promote continuous improvement and enhance the services that the company provides. UGC (user generated content), like that which Sociabble facilitates, plays a critical part in this. Seris Security took on this challenge and decided to reconnect with its field agents through digital communication.

Sociabble: The communication solution that keeps frontline workers connected

Sociabble is the total communication solution that’s specifically designed to keep frontline workers connected, informed, and engaged with company life.

With Sociabble, they’ll receive the updates and notifications they need, regardless of if they’re at a desk at HQ, or on the frontlines, relying on a mobile device. They’ll also be able to contribute their own insights, by creating and sharing content, or by participating in polls and surveys.

Sociabble has already teamed up with industry leaders like Coca-Cola CCEP, Primark, and L’Occitane en Provence to enhance their employee communications, and we’d love to discuss ways we can partner with your company as well.