Offshoring to South Africa: Connecting with one of our Customer Service advisors – a Q&A with Kadin Russoe

Whether it’s via telephone, email, or face-to-face, good customer service hinges on your ability to empathise with your customers.

Empathy is a complex human emotion that invites you to feel as others feel about setbacks (or triumphs) in life. It is a pillar of good customer service because it allows customer service advisors to identify and address consumer issues in a precise way that also boosts customer loyalty in the long term. After all, people want to be heard and understood.
So, in the spirit of getting to know others through sharing personal experiences, we spoke to one of Sigma Connected’s customer service agents, Kadin Roussouw to get his take on empathy in the customer service industry. 

Kadin is based in Cape Town, South Africa –– a vibrant  and diverse city that makes for the ideal location for customer services  teams.

In this Q&A style interview, Kadin also discusses how Cape Town and South Africa’s unique culture has shaped his professional skills.

Introducing Kadin Russoe, Customer service advisor, Sigma Connected

Kadin works on behalf of Sigma Connected within one of the UK’s leading energy suppliers, in the credit operations and collections team. He is from Cape Town and has worked in the customer service industry for five years. 

“I have a flair for customer service that’s just built in me,” he explained.

“I love connecting with people, networking, and understanding different people in different situations. In January this year, I won the Sigma Connected Top Advisor award. That was very motivating for me. Not just from a stats point of view, but ultimately for showing that I’m consistent in my approach. I have managed to navigate the different ways I can offer my skills and assistance to people, which I’m continuing to do today.”

What does your average day look like as a customer service advisor?

“Before I go live, I always remind myself of the three P’s; professionalism, patience, and people-first attitude. If you have that mentality, you’re going to do well.

“The rest of my day flows from there. I get anywhere from 60-80 phone calls daily, and we do outbound dialing. So, for instance, we run a health check on the customer’s energy account to see how it’s looking, and we give them informative advice to help them fix any issues.“
“I get support from other advisors as well. I would say that we do that quite a lot at Sigma. We work off one another’s knowledge. So it’s an ever-evolving learning environment –– which I think is phenomenal. Yesterday, actually, I heard about something called a New Erroneous Transfer, and I was like, ‘let me hear more about this,’ so it’s definitely ever-evolving.” 

To learn more about Sigma Connected and Kadin’s specialism in placing empathy at the centre of the collections process, check out this previous post.

Why is empathy important in customer service?

 “Showing empathy helps customers feel that their concerns really matter. Sigma Connected is a people-centered company that is built on the power of human connections.  

 “So while it may not always be possible for our customer service representatives to solve a customer’s problem, showing empathy helps the customer to know that their concerns are valued.”  

 For more information on how Sigma Connected cultivates empathetic customer support –– even in difficult circumstances –– read our previous article on handling sensitive customer service situations.  

 What makes South Africa/Cape Town a great place for customer service advisors

 “Everyone is so diverse in Cape Town; it’s a fun-loving space. I mean, you can go almost anywhere, and you’ll have somebody be able to help and assist you –– tell you the best places to go, etc.” 

 At Sigma Connected, we’ve got so many different personalities and people with different backgrounds here as well. So we all learn the different dynamics,. It’s a skill to understand somebody from a different cultural perspective and work with them.” 

What’s the best thing about working in a call centre in Cape Town, South Africa?

 “The best part of my job is meeting so many different people and ensuring the  service we deliver for our clients is  what people need. Being a customer service advisor is very hectic, but you learn so much every day.”  

 “I learn from a practical and theoretical approach and communicate it so that the next person can be fully-equipped with the proper knowledge. So yeah, it’s an excellent place to be — to be a customer service advisor. My goal is to be a leader in this business.”  

 We’d like to thank Kadin for chatting to us about life in our busy Sigma Connected Cape Town office.   

 How to access customer service advisors like Kadin

 Cape Town is home to many great customer service advisors like Kadin and has many other great benefits for business owners looking for help with outsourcing.  

 For instance, the city has a large, available workforce and a diverse community, giving Call Centre South Africa teams unique empathy and communication capabilities. 

 Outsourcing to a company based in South Africa can also be less expensive than hiring customer support teams domestically. There is also the advantage of working with a brand like Sigma Connected, which operates in a compatible timezone with European business hours.  

 Kadin and Sigma Connected’s friendly and talented advice team are dedicated to learning and honing their people skills every day. You can read more on our commitment to five-star customer experiences in this previous article about taking your customer service from ‘good’ to ‘great.’  

 Succeed through offshoring with Sigma Connected

 We have over a decade of experience in providing offshoring customer service solutions in a wide range of industries and specialisms (such as, collections and helping customers in debt).  

 Get in touch with us to see how we can help you customise an offshore customer experience solution that meets your exact specifications for delivery, efficiency and customer satisfaction scores.