Call Center Technology And Improved Customer Service

Contact Center Technologies You Haven’t Considered

There is a wide range of call center technologies available to use to your business’ advantage. For example, you can find interactive voice response system, computer telephony integration, or workforce management solution in most, if not all, call centers. So, instead of going over the solutions, or the things you should already have in place, let’s talk about ones you likely haven’t implemented quite yet.

 

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  1. Gamificatoin

Gamification uses the typical elements of game playing in the contact center, which helps to encourage agent engagement and improve retention. By introducing this type of technology, a call center can induce healthy competition in their employees and make the workplace a lot more fun. Of course, this will require some effort but ultimately increase efficiency at work.

 

  1. Voice Biometrics

Voice Biometric technology extracts personal voice patterns and verifies the speaker’s identity using just their voice. Because it is so unique to each individual, voice biometrics has become a reliable way to authenticate a person. This technology is fundamental in preventing fraud, which helps to save time and money for organizations.

 

  1. CRM Software

Customer Relationship Management software provides businesses with a better way to manage their customers. Thanks to a 360-degree view of the customer lifecycle, agents will have access to a customer’s purchase history. Additionally, they will also have the ability to document interactions for future inquiries, which will help to further personalize each customer interaction. Having a track record of the customer can help CSR’s resolve issues much more efficiently, as well as up their time to service other clients.

 

  1. Speech Analytics

Speech Analytics is the process of analyzing recorded calls for the purpose of identifying customer needs. The process is primarily used to extract useful information buried within the client and agent interactions. Thanks to this technology, it has the potential to reveal hidden and rising trends, as well as areas of opportunity or major concern. Speech analytics can also identify competitive conversation and the underlying reason for a customer who has stopped doing business with you. This is both a positive for call center managers as well as businesses who outsource to them.

 

  1. Call Back Solutions

Call back technology has become increasingly more popular over the years compared to the traditional waiting game that everyone knows and hates. 75% of customers find that calling a business is still the most effective way to get a response. However, the longer the customer is placed on hold, the more severely and negatively the over customer experienced is impacted. Offering a call back solution is a great way to product positive solutions to lower call abandonment rates, reduce spikes in call times, and ultimately, improve the customer service experience in its totality. Call back technology also helps relieve stress from call center employees as well.

 

 

Technology is growing at a rapid rate and both businesses and call centers can benefit from this technology equally. Providing the ultimate customer service experience is the number one way to improve profits, gain new customers, and enrich the lives by adding value to existing customers.

Secrets for Boosting Customer Satisfaction in the Contact Center

Customer satisfaction is the degree in which a business can measure the success of their brand. Measuring the degree in which a product or service meets the needs of your customer will determine just exactly how to move a business forward. Here we want to discuss 6 secrets that can help call centers and businesses ensure a higher customer satisfaction rate.

 

  1. Understand Your Customers’ Expectations

With every customer complaint there are many more who have gone unheard or remained silent on the matter. This means that collecting customer feedback to get a good understanding of what they expect from a business is more critical than ever. If managing and distributing a survey isn’t something that is possible to handle internally, it can be easily outsourced to a contact center.

  1. Make Sure Your Metrics are Accurate

Data does open up to the possibility of being unreliable. While this is a scary thought, there are ways to prevent this from going from a nightmare to a reality. Be sure to watch and double check numbers collected from surveys accurately. Additionally, outlining goals and confirming those goals with contact centers can help to place everyone on the same page.

  1. Test Your Own Experience

Setting up an outsourcing resource center is not a one and done situation. In fact, it’s important as a business to know exactly just what the process is like. To do this, call your own company and see what the process feels like. What is it like to chat with an agent? You can use your experience to compare the customers’ experience for better insight on what could be done better. Additionally, this information can be shared with contact center management to help them improve their employee’s tactics as well.

  1. Keep Your Agents Happy

Even though an outsourcing center may be hundreds of miles away or in a different time zone, that doesn’t mean they should be forgotten about. Of course, there is not too much you as a business can do if you are far away. However, being nice and friendly can really go a long way to keep employee morale high at a contact center. Find ways in which you can increase engagement with the center and its employees. Offer incentives for improved customer service experience so employees are motivated to do their best work.

  1. Avoid Long Wait Times

Patience may be a virtue, but it’s a virtue you don’t want to test on a customer. Rather than placing customers on long wait times, ask your contact center if they have call back options. Long wait times can result in hang-ups, which ultimately lead to unresolved issues and potentially the loss of a profitable customer.

  1. Offer Training and Professional Development

A team that is well trained can make the world of a difference. Employees can’t help someone if they genuinely don’t know how. The more efficient they are in their services, the more effective they can be. Providing additional training and developing can help to increase customer loyalty, success in an agent’s personal and professional life, and will make them feel less stressed. Who doesn’t want that?

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Steps to Handling Angry Customers at a Call Center

Working with the public can be tiresome and isn’t always an easy task. This is especially true when a customer comes in or calls in already upset and angry about a product or a service. Luckily, there are some actions that customer service agents can take in order to make a bad conversation end on a positive note.

 

  1. Don’t Take Their Anger Personally

This is difficult, especially when someone is placing the majority of the blame on you as an agent. Even though you know you didn’t do anything or cause the initial issue, it is still your responsibility as an agent to resolve it. When a customer is expressing strong emotions, it is best to not get caught up no matter how difficult that may be. A rep should be listening carefully to help identify clues that will help to fix the problem. By distancing themselves from a customer’s anger, they can better listen and acknowledge as well as resolve a complaint.

 

  1. Repeat the Facts and Be Empathetic

Even if you are an agent, at one point you have been a customer as well. There is no worse feeling than feeling like an agent or a business rep doesn’t understand the problem and why it is an issue for you as a customer. By empathizing with a situation, a customer will automatically start to feel better and less enraged. A simple confirmation of their issues and needs will help to calm them down and allow both the rep and the customer to emotionally and mentally regroup.

 

  1. Let the Customer be Angry

We all have a right to our own emotions and how we express those. This means that, as a rep, even if you don’t feel like a customer’s anger is necessary, let them be angry anyways. The most effective way to calm someone down is to just let them vent. Do not judge or invalidate their anger or their issue. Always start with the assumption that the customer’s anger is justified and move from there. This helps the customer see that the rep is there to help and not judge.

 

  1. Apologize and Try to Solve the Problem

Sincerely apologizing to an angry or upset customer can help to calm everyone down. In fact, nearly 75% of customers call in when angry looking only for an apology. Most times they are unaware if the issue can even be resolved and that’s why they only want an apology. Unfortunately, only about 28% of those customers receive that apology. A rep should start with apology and try their best to solve the issue at hand. Most times if there is not a solution, an apology makes their anger and issue feel justified.

 

  1. Always Follow Up

If a customer calls an agent already angry, it is important and imperative to the success of a business to always follow up with that customer. Following up is a great way to demonstrate a level of attentiveness. This also helps to boost customer loyalty. Following up can help to relieve or resolve other issues that might have popped up in between the time they called and the time the issue was seemingly resolved.

 

There’s no hidden secret to a successful customer service experience. However, we know exactly how to help a business perfect that experience. With call center outsourcing, businesses can go back to focusing on providing value to their customers’ lives.

Four Strategies to Reduce Customer Churn with IT Outsourcing

The growing market of IT outsourcing has helped to fill the gap between the businesses and their under or undeveloped IT departments. Businesses that invest in outsourcing for company maintenance and the development of the business’ IT department is not only beneficial but crucial to a business’ success. The harsh truth is that lots of business, even successful ones, struggle with retaining a large chunk of their profitable customers. Let’s discuss four fundamental strategies that can help reduce customer churn with the help of IT outsourcing.

 

  1. Ensure Value-Centric Experience

The most crucial strategy that would keep on strengthening a bond between business and customer is the level of value every experience has. If a business and a representative can deliver value to customers, this will help to foster and maintain positive relationships. Ultimately, this will result in further enriching the bond for a significant amount of time.

  1. Minimizing Risk and Enhancing Flexibility

As technology continues to improve at the rapid pace it’s currently at, it is becoming more difficult to make informed decisions without proper research and information as a business alone. Fortunately, with an IT outsourcing center, this service can help providers with knowledge and technology strategy not previously known to a business. Additionally, by acquiring a IT outsourcing service, there is a reduced risk for data loss and an enhancement in business flexibility. Outsourcing companies not only help reduce the risk of downtime but also provide a robust backup plan and procedures to reduce the risk of losing crucial and private customer and business data.

  1. Boost Employee Morale

When employee morale is down this is often reflected in their quality and level of service they pass on to customers. In order to retain customers, it is crucial that a business maintains high employee morale. Fortunately, with outsourcing, the stress and weight of running all aspects of a business is appropriately spread out amongst individuals who are best suited for each aspect. With outsourcing, a business can focus further on employees’ growth, efficiency, and other extremely crucial and imperative objectives of the business.

  1. Cost Effectiveness

Many companies, big and small, often believe the false narrative that outsourcing is expensive. Most small business put the idea of outsourcing completely off the table due to the perceived financial burden of using one. However, this is simply not true. The capital and operating expenses of an IT outsourcing services fall solely on the provider themselves. A business is not required to buy the resources, hire employees, or purchase the costly equipment necessary to run an outsourcing firm.

Running a successful business today is not only about product or service selection. Most successful businesses are adept in creating and implementing a total customer service experience from start to finish. This means that before a customer even purchases a service or item, help or guidance is available. Of course, it is impossible to ask a business to run all aspects, including the total customer service experience. Reach out today to find out how IT outsourcing can help improve your business for a better tomorrow.

Learn how to make the most of the current leads you have right now by using a call center.