It was a great leap forward when call centers migrated from PSTN to VoIP.
If contact centers have not yet made the transition to incorporating video chat in their operations, it is time they did.
The rise of WebRTC and OTT apps that permit voice and video chats has partially shifted focus to video which is gaining in importance as a valuable tool for better customer interaction and satisfaction.
The human mind is always taking in gestures, facial expressions, eye contact and body language all of which are correlated to arrive at an interpretation and understanding.
Caller can see an agent and knows who he is interacting with and interpret body gestures and facial gestures.
Caller can show a video of a product if that is what his complaint is about or a copy of the invoice or any image.
Recently call centers have evolved rapidly in many sectors such as banking, retail, Government, tourism etc. from being a simple add-on, customer-facing service to an important differentiator. In today’s race for competition and internationalization, customer satisfaction can have a serious impact on a company’s bottom line where, though one can easily calculate the direct loss of losing a customer, he often ignores the damage caused due to customer sharing his negative experience in his immediate social circle. Before diving further into the ‘how’,
Let’s take a look at ‘why’ customer satisfaction is so crucial for your business-
– Happy customers will always interact with your brand over and over again resulting in higher revenue.
– Because offering terrible customer service can make them switch over to the competition in a heartbeat.
– Great customer experience leads to brand promotion via satisfied customers sharing content across social media.
– Providing better service quality than your competitors will also give you an edge over the competition.
So, it doesn’t matter whether you run an in-house customer care team or availing your services from an Indian outsourcing company or any such, as long as you are ignoring the fundamentally interactive nature of customer service transactions, chances of improving customer satisfaction in your call center will always be slim. Below are some such transformative ideas to help you along the way toward generating the virtuous circle that customer service is always meant to create.
Abstain from the Agent Maze
Don’t waste time by escalating or passing over the problem to multiple agents who cannot help them and, in the process, leave unsatisfied customers and frazzled agents. Instead, install data-directed routing system to your contact center platform to automatically directs the calls to the best possible agent. Also encourage operators to handle situations on their own by spending time with the customers, thus taking full ownership of the problem.
Provide Multiple Support Channels
Making yourself available on as many support channels as possible and providing multi-support channels such as telephone, email, live-chat, social media etc. to your customers goes a long way toward improving customer satisfaction and higher retention. It not only offers a seamless transition between channels but also works well for customers who want greater flexibility and real-time interactivity.
Bestow a Human Touch
Providing a humanly touch to your customer service is the best way to make sure all your customers get equal and excellent service. You can do this by
- Engaging customers proactively
- Keeping your agents accessible at all times
- Keeping your language simple
- Always ask for a feedback
- Offer personalized recommendations
- Treat customers as individuals rather than demographics
Use KPIs to Measure Satisfaction
Choosing the right KPIs or Key Performance Indicators such as Net Promoter Score, Overall Satisfaction, Brand Attributes etc. to measure key metrics and analytics is crucial to building a service footprint that delights customers and delivers insanely great experiences by gathering actionable insights to guide long-term planning, smoothing out the kinks in the system along with fostering goals and objectives among staff.
Monitor Performance through CSAT Scores
CSAT or Customer Satisfaction Surveys is a form of research based on your customer’s reviews regarding your company’s performance. It’s a great way of understanding your customer’s requirements and concerns in order to improve the quality of your products and the standards of your service to that of the customer’s needs which in turn will improve customer loyalty and generate revenue and profitability.
Never Underestimate the Importance of Critical Moments
Creating meaningful relationships is a sure shot way of standing out from the crowd. Though there are numerous ways of showing your appreciation but keeping track of and acknowledging critical moments such as anniversaries, birthdays and other important achievements with the help of various tools available in the market will help strengthen the relationship and take you long ways towards your journey to success.
Wrapping Up
Customers’ expectations are constantly on the rise, sometimes even faster than the speed with which call centers in India and elsewhere can improve their customer satisfaction service. The important thing to understand here is that customer service is an area that needs great nurturing and care with focus and in due time, you will be rewarded with a positive impact on customer loyalty, increased revenues and higher retention.
At (v)WeCare, we understand the significance and responsibility of customer service and are an inbound call center outsourcing company located in New Jersey. Trusting someone to run customer care operations is a big step and is not a situation to be taken lightly.
