Tag Archives: customer support

How to Avoid Call Center Disasters Even Before they Happen

Posted on May 10, 2015

Read these three tips and prevent call center disasters even before they happen.

When we have questions that need answers or require tech support, contacting customer support over the phone is one of the most infuriating experiences that a customer has to face. However, if you are a business owner, it is your job to ensure that your customers have the exact opposite experience.

So, what infuriates a customer? Most customers are infuriated by speaking with an incompetent or rude call center agent. Customers also get dissatisfied when they are unable to reach a live person, when getting disconnected, when having to explain their issues more than one time or when being put on hold for a long amount of time.

When you outsource call center services or if you run call center operations in-house, there are a few steps that you can take to make sure that your valuable customers receive the best possible customer support.

Here are three tips on how to adequately prepare for customer service disasters even before they happen.

1. Start with your call center agents

Delivering good customer services start with engaging the best call center agents and providing proper training. According to recent studies, over 93% of customers will forgive a company that is unable to help them, if the representative is friendly, respectful, patient, knowledgeable or sympathetic.

Your business should equip your agents with the right information and tools. You would also need to provide agents with customer data and readily available scripts even before they start taking customer calls.

Your company should also have a greater knowledge of how your agents are performing, in order to determine their weaknesses and strengths. Understanding the capabilities of your agents over time can be used to match customers with the right call center agents. This will deliver better results. Continue reading →

11 Essential Traits That Your Customer Support Executives Must Possess

Posted on March 21, 2015

Do you know the secret behind a successful call center? It is your customer support executives. Find out the 11 essential traits that your agents must possess.

The current age is often referred to as the “age of the customer”. To be a hit with your customer, you will need to transform your call center into an action center that is focussed on meeting and often exceeding the expectations of your customers.

A recent report stated that 31% of all companies look closely at the quality of their customer support interactions that take place every day in their call center. Around 30% of companies reward their employees who deliver quality customer services. Here are some more surprising facts:

86% customers are more likely to make a purchase of a product/service after a good customer service experience
58% of companies do not invest on training
13% of customers will share their disappointment with a bad customer support experience with 20 others
15% of customers will cut ties with a company that provides poor customer service
90% of US customers still wish to resolve issues over the phone

These facts prove that companies are ignoring customer support, while in reality customer services need to be at the heart of the business strategy of any company.
How do you guarantee better customer retention, loyalty and sales? The key does not lie in the amount that you invest in call center technology or the processes and systems that you follow. The key lies in how effectively your executives are connecting with your valuable customers. Here are eleven traits that you must look for while choosing your customer support agents: Continue reading →

Reassure your Customers Through Product Recalls

Posted on December 5, 2014

Did you know that product recalls can cost your company money and time? If a recall is not handled professionally, it could harm the reputation of your business and even break the faith that customers have in your company and brand. However, with efficient product recall services, you can make a direct connection with your customers.

By investing in product recalls, you can strengthen your relationship with your valuable customers by addressing their concerns and resolving their problems (refunds, returns or repair related issues) through concise and clear communication.

Today product recalls are required by most industries like Automotive, Appliance, Electronics, Software Hardware, Gourmet and Beverage to name a few.

What are product recalls used for?

Product recall services are mainly used to:

Retain the loyalty of your customers
Provide customers with the services and information that they require
Reassure customers
Handle, process, dispose or forward returns made by customers
Quickly deliver spare parts or provide replacement items

Continue reading →

5 Customer Support Trends That Your Company Needs to Implement

Posted on September 20, 2014

Experts predict that call center outsourcing services will continue at a fast pace in 2014. However, customer demands will change, thereby forcing call centers to come up with new service delivery mechanisms. With communication channels improving and expanding, phone calls and emails will no longer be the only means used to help customers. Customers of today want to engage with companies via social media and messaging apps.

It’s time your company started reaching out to customers in the way that they prefer and keep up with the latest call center trends. Otherwise you would not only run the risk of missing your boat, but you may also lose out on valuable customers.

The following five trends in customer support deserve your immediate attention:

1. IVR with voice analytics

Over the last few decades, call centers have be effectively using IVR (intelligent voice response) systems to accurately route calls to the right help desk, where they can help themselves through automated instructions or reach out to an agent. Now with the coming of voice analytics, the interest of the caller can be gauged and then connected to the right department. Voice analytics also has the ability to ascertain the mood of the caller. An irritated customer can now be quickly routed to an experienced executive who can address the problem.

2. Intelligent call backs

This is an emerging call center trend that is gaining vast popularity. For example, you are a regular shopper at a specific store and you only buy certain types of products. However, you ignore the perfume section. Back-end analytics will reveal this and the store will send out a customized offer via email/phone with a special discount on perfumes. You may end up buying the product or at least you will be aware of their perfumes. Another tactic that stores use is to put out a discount on the things that you have put into your wishlist. Call centers of today are investing in such high-end analytics to help out their customers.

3. Video chats

Video chats will make a bid difference to technically-challenged customers, who require full services. Video chats are also of great help, when you buy a DIY product, but need assistance in putting it together. However, this facility will cost more and would require extensive bandwidth and other infrastructure requirements. At the same time, video chats can help you save a considerable sum of travel time and money for your engineers. Continue reading →