Unlock the Power of Customer Service Community Benefits

In the customer service industry, human connection is a critical factor to finding success. Not only does the agent–customer relationship matter, but so does CX professionals’ rapport with one another. The pros of a customer experience community cannot be underestimated, as it provides new agents and experienced leaders alike with new opportunities for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and support in delivering exceptional customer service.

In a recent Gladly Connect Live session, Chris Van Wagoner, Director of Lifecycle and Community at Gladly, addressed the benefits of joining a customer service community and how Gladly Connect fulfills this need. Here are a few takeaways from that conversation, as well as some pro tips on how to leverage a CX community like Gladly Connect to benefit your agents.

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Customer Service Communities Solve Challenges

Even with a wealth of knowledge, it’s impossible to have all the answers to every issue your customer service team faces. By becoming a part of a CX community, you have access to other support professionals who can provide valuable answers, insights, and strategies.

Van Wagoner compared community to the band of heroes idea found in popular stories like “Star Wars” or “Lord of the Rings.” “[Community is] this idea of unlikely heroes coming together to solve problems that they’re all dealing with; problems that the world that they live in is dealing with,” Van Wagoner said.

Especially given new challenges in CX — such as how to approach AI, emerging tech, and shifting customer needs — belonging to a CX-focused community provides access to learning and mentorship, both of which foster growth and innovation across the industry.

Customer Service Communities Enable Networking

Joining a customer experience community invites members to connect with colleagues who have the knowledge they may lack and need in order to grow and enhance their customer service skills.

According to Van Wagoner, “Folks within the community connect learning to mentorship to really allow the real-world experience of CX enthusiasts to take root and help those learnings translate into real-world application.”

A CX community creates a space for the exchange of information — joining one gives you the opportunity to stay up-to-date on the latest insights and trends in customer service. This shared knowledge also includes access to valuable resources, like the Gladly 2023 Hero Experience Report, which provides an important examination of agent experience.

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Customer Service Communities Provide Mentorship

As a community grows and learns together, long-time members collect valuable knowledge that can be shared with new members. Leveraging these experts through mentorship allows your overall community to expand and thrive. However, while having experienced CX leaders is vital to any community, listening to fresh perspectives from new members helps your community innovate and transform.

“[The purpose of mentorship is] coupling the expertise of the informed learner and balancing it out with the excitement and enthusiasm of the novice,” Van Wagoner says.

By ensuring a free flow of information between mentors and mentees, your customer experience community will develop new leaders, solve common problems, and create solutions that could be the next big idea in customer service.

About Gladly Connect Community

Gladly Connect is a zero-cost, sales-free customer service community where learning and mentorship come together to solve the customer service problems of today and the future.

When you join Gladly Connect, you’ll gain access to all of the benefits of a customer service community and a number of exclusive benefits, such as:

• Skills for today and tomorrow. Gladly Connect provides you with access to a group of individuals who are here to help you learn through curated community insights and in-person events. These resources are available to help you build connections and grow as a CX enthusiast.
• Growth at your own pace. Not interested in following someone else’s schedule? With more than 200 expert-led courses and in-depth certifications, you can design your CX education to fit your needs. See Gladly Connect Learning courses.
• Access to resources. Whether you’re an experienced CX veteran or new to the industry, Gladly Connect has the resources to help you develop your skills at your unique experience level. We connect users with highly skilled mentors during quarterly enrollment periods. So, even if you’re not sure if now is the right time, there’s always another opportunity to begin your journey.

What are you waiting for? Join Gladly Connect today to learn more valuable customer service insights from industry experts and access thought leadership resources that can help you level up your business.

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