Connor Brooke
The tides have changed in the call center world, due to the enormous power customers now wield to drive change in businesses. One need only look at the profits of Apple, Amazon, and Zappos to see the advantages of delivering an incredible customer experience.
Unfortunately, very few companies are able to satisfy, let alone impress, their customers. In fact, only 2% of companies meet the high expectations consumers have for their call center.
Read on to learn what it takes to get an ‘excellent’ rating in the call center, extracted from Avaya’s 2011 consumer preference report.
The report asked consumers, “Ideally, what should a company’s customer service center offer you in order to rate your experience as truly excellent?”
Here is a summary of the results:
Fast Speed of Resolution
With social media literally at their fingertips, customers have become more demanding, especially when discussing the call center experience. They expect to quickly reach a customer service agent and have their problem solved.
Still in doubt? Do your research. Check out OnHoldWith.com and see what happens when you mix long hold times and disgruntled customers.
You’ll find that:
- Consumers expect to reach a customer service agent quickly
- Consumers expect to have their query resolved quickly
Hire the Right Agents
Your call center agents are front line super stars for your organization. Communication and personality will have a major impact on the caller experience. So if you’re looking for ways to improve your call center, hire the best.
Your consumers want agents who:
- Are based in the same country
- Have good communication skills
- Are friendly, polite, and easy to understand
- Exercise empathy
Customer Information is Available and Accurate
Nothing kills the caller experience faster than having to repeat information. Repeating information can quickly kill the caller experience. When customers are forced to repeat information, it kills the caller experience. That was as much fun to read as it was to type. Forcing customers to repeat information is one of the biggest turn offs. Don’t do it.
Make sure that:
- Service reps have access to all of a customer’s account information
- Customer profiles are up to date and accurate
- All customer details are recognized
Source: Avaya Consumer Preference Report.
What else is important for a great call center experience? Share your thoughts below.
Free Webinar: How to Resolve 3 Common Call Center Complaints
Sign up for our free webinar to learn how to eliminate the most common call center complaints and provide a better caller experience.
Date: Thursday, July 19th at 2:00pm ET
Presenter: Shai Berger, CEO, Fonolo
Who Should Attend:
- VP’s and Directors of Customer Service
- VP’s and Directors of Contact Centers
Learn How to Eliminate These Customer Complaints:
- Phone Menu Hell
- Long Hold Times
- Repeating Information
Space is limited. Sign up today!
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Connor Brooke.
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“Your call center agents are front line super stars for your organization”
More companies need to understand that. Your contact center employees are the ones dealing with your customers day in and day out and they impact how your brand is received. One agent has the power to destroy or cement a relationship with your customers and they usually only have a few minutes to do so.
Thank Omar for this overview.
It allows us to analyse our own performance.
Fast Speed of Resolution: Our callers have their queries answered in 90 sec (average). If we cannot solve it at the moment, the call will be escalated to the manager or our client. Hence, we increase our first call resolution level and decrease the time in hold for the caller.
Hire the Right Agents: Our low turn over and our high retention of clients ensure that our agents are of the highest standard.
Customer Information is Available and Accurate: We are 24 hours open for callers and clients. Hence, any update of the information can be done at any moment and all our agents are constantly updated.