There are a plethora of jokes to be found about the perceived “nightmare” that is calling a customer service department. From viral videos to frustrated Tweets, the average person considers calling a customer service agent to be a huge headache.
If your company uses inbound call center services, chances are that you don’t want to have a reputation as one of the “nightmare” call centers. Here are some of the elements of a great inbound call center customer service call.
The Representative Should Be Polite and Receptive
One of the things that makes people become frustrated during customer service calls is the feeling that they aren’t being heard. When legitimate complaints are met with repeated choruses of “I understand, sir,” it’s easy for customers to become agitated and angry. Customer service agents should not only be exceedingly polite, but they should be receptive and understanding of customers’ individual complaints. At the end of the day, people want to feel like their genuinely being heard, even if the solution to their complaint is a complicated one.
The Representative Should Be Knowledgable of Company Policies
Customers hate being put on hold and if your representative needs to connect them with a supervisor to answer their question, they’re going to become angry. Plus, having a sea of customers on hold is a waste of your time. To cut down on the amount of calls that need to be forwarded to supervisors, representatives must be extremely knowledgeable of company policies and procedures. This means that all representatives should be trained to the point where they are an authority on most of the general issues that would come up in any customer service call.
The Representative Should Be Personable and Quick on His or Her Toes
People aren’t likely to get angry or explode at someone with who they’re connecting with. For this reason, your representative should be personable and able to form a rapport with any caller, personalizing their tone and word choices as needed. This means that the representative needs to be quick on his or her toes and good at making quick judgment calls. The less angry your customers become during a customer service call, the more likely you are to retain their business.
Customer service issues are always going to be a part of any company’s day-to-day operations. In a perfect world, customers would never have issues with your service or product, but alas, we don’t live in a perfect world. You never want to lose customers because they felt that their needs weren’t met during a customer service call. If your call center can regularly have customer service calls that meet the criteria above, you’ll be more likely to retain business and receive positive reviews from your customers.
Have you had customer service experiences that you’d like to share? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!