Well-established businesses can afford to outsource their customer service to a call center to save time and free up staff. Still, smaller ones keep their operations in-house, employing all team members and servicing all equipment. To make every penny count, each investment must strengthen the company’s position in the market. Customers hate waiting on hold, find it unbearable and tend to hang up in frustration, which can lead to lost business. They want to see an effort, literal or not, to meet their request. To people, long wait times mean a business doesn’t value or appreciate them sufficiently to be there when they need support.
Since long hold times are a frustrating part of the customer experience, doing your best to reduce wait times in your call center is vital. All organizations use customer service as a brand differentiator.
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Use A Knowledge Base to Make Important Information Readily Available
An organization can improve productivity by creating a knowledge base to provide a single source of information for company customers. The content can be based on several factors, but the end goal remains the same – enabling individuals to find solutions to their problems without relying on external assistance. With an ever-increasing number of customers preferring to find answers on their own, a knowledge base is a vital component of your business. Rather than waiting on hold when they need help, customers can refer to this source as an alternative to calling your business. Ensure that your knowledge base is up-to-date and easily accessible.
Maybe you already have a knowledge base. In that case, all you have to do is to update it from time to time as you discover new solutions. You could add media elements to improve quality. Even if articles are well-structured and educational in nature, readers mightn’t get the trick, so think about attaching collateral such as screenshots or videos so that it’s easy for people to review their progress. If your company launches new products and services, your knowledge base should incorporate the latest developments so that customers can use them. Outdated or incorrect information can lead to confusion.
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Provide Adequate Training for Call Centre Operators
With training, you can equip your call center agents with much-needed skills and knowledge to do their jobs magisterially. A company may face several challenges in implementing a call center training program, such as budget, resources, time, and training expertise. Training remote employees requires forethought as well. Without face-to-face interaction, training can feel impersonal. At any rate, providing thorough training to your call center representatives enhances their ability to improve customer satisfaction and offer comprehensive support. When everything is taken into consideration, an effective training program costs less than agent turnover.
Use On Hold Music to Offset Long Waiting Times
When they call, all customers care about is getting a resolution to their question or issue. Frustrated customers who hang up after a few minutes are more likely to defame the business or switch to a competitor. In short, it can have disastrous economic costs. Having callers listen to music while they wait in call queues keeps them engaged and entertained, shortening their perceived hold time. To be more precise, customers stay on the line longer, so call center agents have a chance to serve them. On hold music indicates that the line is still open, so you don’t end up in a nightmare situation. Solving customer issues is better done sooner than later.
Undoubtedly, music is more effective than silence. By using on hold music for business, you give the caller enough time to absorb the information they’ve just heard, therefore, increasing recall. Sitting in silence is unimaginable, but listening to the same song time and time again is also annoying. If your customers call you on a regular basis, update the on hold music more frequently to provide a welcome relief. The golden rule is there’s no golden rule, meaning you can change your on hold music as often as you like. Avoid very fast or slow music and take into account quality.
Have Alternative Customer Support Channels
Customers who receive less than a satisfactory experience might leave a negative review online, and although this doesn’t seem as much of a problem, it could have a ripple effect. It’s a good idea to offer customer service across various platforms and channels if you seek to gain a competitive advantage over your competitors. Think about how your customers reach out, identify communication gaps and needs, and tailor your strategy accordingly. Consider the following customer support channels if you want to decrease the volume of cases your call center receives:
- Email – There are no limits to the amount of text that can be included, so call centre agents can incorporate links and attachments to explain complicated matters. Email enables asynchronous communication, so just one person can work on multiple conversations at the same time.
- Live chat – Live chat offers customers quick answers to their questions, solves problems faster, and assures them you’re present when they need you the most. Also, it’s less time-consuming. Individuals want real-time engagement and expect support to be rendered without delay.
- Social media – Think about the social media channels where your customers are most active and develop a presence there. Any comments or complaints must be resolved in a timely fashion because customers expect a response within a couple of hours. It’s not something you can afford to get wrong.
Record Customer Calls to Understand Their Needs Better
Finally, yet importantly, record and review phone calls to identify areas of improvement, enhance call quality and efficiency, and reduce overall hold times. Current and future call center agents can uncover alternative guidelines, polish their delivery and improve customer satisfaction. Simply put, by playing back conversations, employees can heart themselves and make the necessary adjustments. Management can pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and allocate training time to improve performance. Active listening should be every call center agent’s asset, but it can become challenging to recall the entire conversation, especially when pulling customer data and taking notes.
Concluding Thoughts
First impressions count, meaning that one bad experience is likely to stay with a customer forever. Ensure customers can reach your business quickly. If you manage customer expectations adequately, you can run a low-cost, highly efficient operation.
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