Following many years of emphasizing cost reduction, retailers are combing back to a balanced outlook that puts equal weight on cost control and customer service. Retailers are also working hard to handle the high growth and strong demands of multichannel, direct-to-consumer commerce.
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This continues our series on great call center services customer service begun last week.
7. Account for wide varieties of customer types
There’s no substitute, in a lot of instances, for a telephone-based customer service. We are referring to automated customer service and order processing. Customers wanting basic service are growing more accustomed to automated
service – and some are perfectly content with it, but only if their customer service request is simple. When the customer rejects the automated service and abandons the call it is mostly because they have a complex need and desire a more complicated service than has been offered and requires speaking to a call center services representative. That’s when you need to take a fresh look at your customer support processes to ensure they stay on the telephone long enough to resolve their individual needs.
8. Self-service cannot equate to bad service
Nearly all customer-centric environments have a form of self-service. But operators need to be sensitive to its degree of user-friendliness and how inviting, warm and human that it sounds. This is, admittedly, very basic advice, but it is essential to achieving high customer satisfaction levels. And where self-service ends, human customer service interaction – be it telephone, email response or live chat – takes over.
9. Have able call center services agents
Similarly, call center services operators with complex products and services offerings need to be sure the option to speak to a friendly, helpful and knowledgeable customer service representative readily available on the automated call agenda alternatives. If a high number of customers opt for a live agent, managers need to be sure that there are adequate agent resources to handle the call volume – or else the service level expectation will fall, along with the company’s reputation.
10. The right call for the right call center services representative
If the right call is sent to the right representative, s/he will handle it effectively. There is a lot of discussion these days in the call center services industry about ‘automating the repetitive tasks’, i.e. automation of customer service. It is often assumed that most, if not all, processes can be automated. However, that is not true. The degree of call center services automation should be determined with care, and can be increased or decreased based on the success threshold of the automation process. But again, in most cases, the best alternative is human interaction: the customer speaking, email or chatting with a live call center services order processing or customer service professional.
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The principles of good customer service should be frequently re-visited – by call center customer service representatives and their call center services managers. What seems obvious can sometimes become forgotten.
Here’s Part I of a two-part series providing pointers on how to keep customer service alive and well:
1. Be Sure You Understand the Customer’s Problem
Customers can be inarticulate as they explain an issue or problem. They may be unsure of what the issue is regarding a product or service, they could be angry or frustrated, impairing their ability to be understood. For quickly and effective customer service call center resolution of the problem, the call center services representative must use effective communications techniques.
Open-ended questions – who, what, where, when and how – deliver good information because they require more than a simple one-word answer, while closed-ended questions generate confirmation. Use closed questions, which can be answered by a simple “yes” or “no,” to control the conversation and let the call center services agent move toward resolution. When additional information is needed, use open questions but use the word ‘exactly’ to get the customer to be specific about the problem being discussed.
For example:
“Can you tell me exactly when this problem started?’ as opposed to ‘Please tell me when the problem started?”
Using “exactly” will induce the customer to be more exact with their response, which will allow you to understand and address the problem more effectively.
2. Whatever you tell yourself – it’s true
You’ve probably heard the theory that the more you tell yourself something the more likely it is to happen. Tell yourself that you are good at your work and you may well become more focused and more effective. This simple act of telling yourself something and believing it delivers results.
It’s because when you start to believe something it manifests itself in body language and voice expression. So if you believe that your next call will get a disappointing result, the emotion expressed in your voice will convey disappointment and undermine your effectiveness on the phone.
No one calling a customer service call center wants to listen to someone who sounds disappointed on the phone. When it comes to delivering call center services, upselling and cross-selling, if you expect a bad outcome, the person on the other end of the phone will pick up on that and will refuse your invitation to buy.
Use this technique in a positive way. Tell yourself that you are great at delivering call center customer service and that your calls are getting better. Tell yourself you are happy, optimistic and confident. Get that feeling into your voice. That’s what your customer wants to listen to, and it will make them open to an informed decision to buy. Believe in your call center services skills and in your abilities. You will become more successful.
3. Smash your negative beliefs
Similar to point No. 2 is the importance of putting yourself in a positive frame of mind before taking a customer call.
It is uncanny how we can be enthusiastic and upbeat about handling a call and just as we are about to answer the phone a little voice in our head says something negative about the task ahead. Then, to no one’s surprise, the call does not go particularly well and opportunities for cross-selling or upselling – never mind delivering great customer service – are lost. Negativity becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Instead of thinking negatively, we should think positively and in the process trigger positive beliefs. Get in the habit of telling your brain: This could be my best call of the day. And at some point you will be right – there will be a best call of the day.
4. Be quick – every time
Consistency is important – consistently good and fast, that is. Pick up the phone by the fourth ring, use your skills to handle each call effectively and efficiently – thus supporting your First Call Resolution program goals – and keep your average talk time to a minimum. All of this require consistent focus, effort and call center customer service skill development.
5. Make proactive service contacts
Effective customer life-cycle management isn’t just about responding to customers’ requests – it’s also about anticipating customers’ needs and building on their consumer interest. It’s about being a call center customer service representative with active listening skills who responds to customers’ buying signals. Sure, they have called your customer service call center to place an order, but they could be in a buying mood and open to suggestion for other, complementary products sold by your client.
So why stop with the initial order? Suggest other products along the line of the one the customer has expressed interest in. Take pride and satisfaction in increasing the order size and maximizing your clients’ revenues. Go the extra mile with a proactive approach to call center services and sales. Think of every inbound call center call as a sales opportunity.
Mark Fichera, CEO
OnBrand24
Call Center Services
Beverly, MA
Savannah, GA
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Call center services outsourcer OnBrand24 has been recognized for the second straight year by TopTenREVIEWS for excellence in the delivery of inbound customer service and outbound lead generation services.
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Call center customer service and outbound call centers were the topics of conversation in a recent interview with our Vice President of Sales / Southeast Region, Jeff Velodota, on the “Georgia Works” radio show from Georgia Public Broadcasting.
Call center outsourcing services jobs were the initial focus of the conversation. GPB was interested in speaking with Jeff because OnBrand24 recently opened a second call center facility in Savannah.
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