Call centers are the first point of contact for customers. They help in bridging the gap between the company and its customers. Apart from helping customers with their queries, a call center company supports customers as a whole. They play a critical role in business’ growth and contribute towards achievement of company’s goals. An organization should always remember that it’s most prized possession—customers—rests with the contact center. They not only help in reinforcing the brand’s goodwill but also contribute significantly in increasing customers’ loyalty
A call center company would be able to work efficiently when its agents are able to handle massive call volumes, throughout the day, without degrading the quality of service. There are a host of different kinds of metrics which help in showcasing an agent’s ability to handle calls and customers efficiently. But are these assessments enough to build healthy long-term relations with customers? They are a vital part but apart from these metrics there are other things also which determine the quality of service levels. There are no two doubts about it that a pleasant experience is a result of good practices being followed by a call center company. However, there are some practices which are working against the organization rather than its favour and are degrading the overall experiences of customers. Knowingly or unknowingly, call center agents are still practicing them. Some of these blunders are highlighted below
Waiting time:
No one has time to waste and waiting is something which is condemned by all. When you ask your customers to wait you are casting an extremely poor impression of your brand on them. Waiting unnecessarily makes people unhappy and customers are no different. When you make them wait you are giving them the impression that their time isn’t valuable. The basis of every human need is importance. If you fail to make your customers feel important then you are surely digging a pit for yourself as you are going to create a lot of agitated customers. Routing can definitely help a call center company in managing its customers better as it helps in sending the call to the agent experienced and skilled in that domain. Call routing is basically able to ensure that the call gets transferred to the right person at the appropriate time in order to provide efficient services to customers.
Ending calls before resolution of the query:
The worst thing that you can do to any customer is to make him/her follow up. In other words, not resolving a customer’s query in the first instance is a big no-no. Customer approaches a contact center in order to seek solutions and if they are not provided then it is very annoying. Of course, it is impractical to assume that an agent would be able to answer all the queries quickly. For such instances, agents should be provided with such technology and systems which helps them seek solutions in real-time. This would empower them in giving the best suited solution to customer without causing any extra inconvenience to them.
Agents who aren’t proactive:
If you are thriving to achieve better relationships with your customers and you don’t have a team of proactive employees then, you will seldom be able to achieve your goal. The expectations of customers are skyrocketing and this demands organizations to come up with different ways to provide proactive solutions its customers. It is vital for the agents to have a friendly tone and show empathy towards customers. This is extremely helpful in gaining the trust of customers and building long term relationships.
Asking customers to repeat their queries:
Asking a customer to repeat himself, each time he calls, is a sure shot way to irate him. Customers hate to repeat themselves repetitively and doing this is a big no-no. A signal of bad customer service is to explain the same thing multiple number of times to different representatives. Having an integrated system is a definite hit as it will help in joining all the various mediums together and eliminating the need to repeat anything.Aforementioned practices are the top four blunders which are done by a reputed call center company. In order to provide impeccable customer service, it is extremely important to get rid of these unhealthy habits.