Ask anyone who's ever served some time in customer service and it's a safe bet they'll have a horror story or...several...about the customers they served. Loudmouthed, abusive, lecherous...these stories run the gamut of cringe. Yet we all know that our customers are the lifeblood of any business: since the ultimate goal is to make money, we need customers to meet that goal. So how do we get our contact centers to focus on the customer? The process might be simpler than you think.
How Do I Make a Contact Center More Customer-Focused?
Thankfully, any amount of contact center improvement will likely be noticeable to the customer. That means greater satisfaction and an improved chance of return business.
Speed up. Look at your average hold time and ask, “how would I feel, if I were waiting that long?” If you don't like the answer for yourself, you likely won't like that answer coming out of customers. Reducing hold times helps show that you really do value the customer's time, rather than just telling the customer that their time is valuable and doing nothing to act accordingly.
Invest in your people. Employees are the front line between customers and competitors. Reduce the amount of calls your employees have to deal with by using automated methods like interactive voice response (IVR) systems to handle simple calls. This helps prevent burnout and keeps employees cheerful on the phone, plus puts them to work on more challenging tasks. Don't forget to adjust the compensation regularly; if even your best employees are worried about making rent, they won't deliver the best customer service.
Consider dumping the script. If all your contact center can do is explain why your company's rules forbid a customer from being helped, you'll lose customers. Instead, give your contact center the power to actually solve problems; if a customer's been having terrible service, give the contact center the power to dispatch repair teams and provide discounting to the customer. There are limits here, of course, but decentralizing your operation a bit and giving more control to the contact center can be a big help.
How Do I Get Started Making the Best Customer-Focused Contact Center?
For those who want to make a customer-focused contact center, one of the best ways to start is to get in touch with us at Snap Recordings. We can help you get the best in sound files to tie to the more automated portions of your contact center operation.
