How to Improve Your Call Center
Improve customer service in your call center by following these guidelines..
When your customers buy an important product from
you, they trust your company will support them after the sale. In many
companies, this trust is being violated. Customers are experiencing customer
service failures and translate these experiences into your company saying:
- "You've already bought. Now our priority is getting more new customers".
- "You want service? Go figure it out on the Web or wait on hold for one of
our poorly trained customer service representatives".
Per my company's research findings, the damage from poor Customer Service
Call Centre experiences is serious. Here's how.
- Sharply reduced willingness to buy from the company: 86.3%
- Negative perception of the company: 98.9%
- Sharply reduced likelihood to recommend the company to others: 91.5%.
Poor Customer Service is Not Company or Industry Specific
Companies spanning all industries and sizes are hurting their company image
and credibility with their customers due to poor customer care experiences.
In fact, in one of our recent studies about the impact of poor Customer
Service Call Centers, we discovered that two-thirds (66%) of professionals
rated their recent Customer Service Call Centre experiences as negative or
neutral. Only 34% report positive experiences with Customer Service Call
Centers.
This alarming statistic demonstrates the strong need for companies to focus
on customer service, if they want to keep customers and grow their business.
The first step in improving and re-engineering your Customer Service Call
Center, is to know exactly what customers want.
Top 7 Customer Service Improvements Your Customers Are Begging For Now:
1. Issues resolved in a single call by one customer service representative
who speaks clearly, understands their needs and has access to customer
records quickly.
2. Customer-friendly experiences including an easy-to-use menu with a
minimum of clutter to quickly reach a representative.
3. The ability to call back the same rep, should the need arise
4. Don't out-source customer care centers. In our recent research we
discovered that most professionals (98%) report a negative to neutral impact
when Customer Service Call Centers are located offshore or outsourced in the
United States
5. Adequately trained representatives who know how to actually solve
customer problems, and who will provide customers with a case number they
can use for credit if they do not receive great service.
6. Rapid access to a live person from a company with sufficient staff so
customers are not on hold for more than five minutes.
7. The ability to speak to a highly-qualified supervisor quickly if the
customer problem is not resolved in an efficient manner.
Here Are 3 More Tips to Help You Improve Your Customer Service Call
Center
- Do not view customer service centers as cost centers. These are
revenue-generating centers. In your rush to cut costs, you must consider the
financial ramifications of losing customers due to poor post-sales
experiences. Positive customer service call center experiences solidify
relationships between your customers and your company resulting in more
future sales.
- Do not cut back on training, quality control procedures and investments in
Customer Service Call Centers. The damage from poor customer service call
center experiences have significant impact on repeat purchase likelihood and
willingness to recommend the company
- Personally check your Customer Service Call Center to see if it's up to
your standards. Take note on the amount of time it takes to get a live
person or just to navigate the phone tree. Experience the frustration of
talking to someone who is not a native speaker. Ask questions that are not
in your pre-made scripts and experience the irritation you get when you talk
to someone who is not familiar with the product or service they are selling.
By improving their customer service call centers using these guidelines, one
of our clients, Golden Rule Insurance improved their sales conversions by
88%. You can expect to achieve this magnitude of increases to your bottom
line as well when you follow these proven customer service call center
techniques.
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