Satisfying All Customers, Including the Picky Ones!

If you stop a series of random people on the street to ask them about their past experience with call centers, you will probably end up with a lengthy list of common complaints that crop up over and over again. After all, stereotypical call centers leave customers waiting on the line for lengthy periods of time with background music, advertisements, or automatic recordings blaring in their ears. Then, on top of the obnoxious background noise, that customer may be frustrated by the crick that starts to form in their neck from holding a phone to their ear or by the number of minutes being used on their phone plan. One of my personal pet peeves is being forced to deal with a machine rather than a living human being who has the mental capacity to answer my unique customer questions quickly and thoroughly. Whether I deal with one or all of these problems though, I am less than a happy and patient person by the time I actually talk to a real person. As a result, the employees working in such call centers tend to be a little short-tempered and frazzled too. In summary, the whole system is a recipe for disaster that leaves both your customers and employees disgruntled or angry.

In spite of how prevalent these poorly run call centers seem to be, there are rare instances when I come across a company that has learned how to eliminate all of these frustrating problems. With these companies, my call is answered quickly and I am able to speak with a real person who is not only knowledgeable, but helpful and polite too. As a result, I hang up the phone feeling properly cared for, helped and satisfied. Unfortunately, high quality call centers don't usually spring up of their own volition. Rather, it takes the right kind of company philosophy and equipment to make everything run smoothly. That is why this article highlights a few ways that companies can improve their call center efficiency and bolster their customer communication and loyalty.

There are several reasons why good communication is a valuable tool for businesses of all shapes and sizes. First, it is the best way for companies to learn what their customers want and need. Second, it needs to exist for a lasting and loyal relationship to form between companies and their customers. And third, it allows companies to convey the messages that they want to send to both new and old customers.

Aside from all the fundamental things that communication accomplishes, it is an effective way to get your audience's attention. If you need a little help understanding how communication does this, take a lesson from Benjamin Franklin who once said, "If you would be loved, love and be loveable." In the same vein, if you want customers and other businesses to pay attention to the messages you send, you need to listen to them in turn and illustrate that you value their input.

Now that we have gone over the importance of good communication in a business setting, the next step is learning how to establish that kind of communication in your company. One of the most effective tools you can use to accomplish this goal today is an effective system of contact center software. This organized and effective solution possesses several capabilities that make communication run smoothly between your company and its customers. A few of these capabilities include real time performance, multiple channels of communication, information storage, system monitoring, and task prioritizing.

Real Time Performance Real time performance is an important element to look for in contact center software because it cuts down on the time you need to accomplish different tasks and consequently shortens the amount of time that both employees and customers have to spend on the phone. This is a huge factor in delivering customer satisfaction in your communication department.

Multiple Channels of Communication Having more than one channel of communication makes it possible for more people to reach you from more places. For example, many companies are easy to contact not only by phone, but via fax, email and instant messaging as well. Before your customers can take advantage of multiple communication methods though, they need to be in place and they need to yield timely responses. For example, a lot of people are willing to pay bills or send information to certain companies online because it is a quick and easy way to accomplish a task on their to-do list but they are less likely to send in email inquiries or wait for fax replies. Unless you are good at responding promptly to a fax or email, having those channels of communication in place will do you little good.

Information Storage Information storage is another mandatory feature that facilitates good customer service. After all, customers often call into a contact center with questions about their bills, shipments, accounts and other individualized issues. If your employees can not enter or view information on individual customer histories, it will be very difficult for them to straighten out mistakes, answer questions and resolve other issues that arise.

System Monitoring System monitoring can tell you as much about internal company workings as it can about prevalent customer needs and wishes. For example, with good system monitoring tools, a manager can see which employees are most effective, which questions are most frequently asked, and which tasks weaknesses need attention within the company. Using the information they gather, a manager can then capitalize on strengths, reward employees for the work they do, devote more attention to internal company weaknesses and meet customer needs more efficiently.

Task Prioritizing Task prioritizing is also a valuable tool because it ensures that you always have time to get to the most pressing assignments. With the ability to list and assign those tasks to employees as well, it will be easy to improve time management skills and ensure that everyone always has something to work on.

Other features that your customers may appreciate could be an estimate of how long they would need to wait on the phone in order to speak with a representative. That way, they could set a timer and do something else while they wait or make an informed decision on whether to call back another time or stay on the line. Or, you could keep longer hours for you call center which would make it possible for customers with a full-time job or other time conflicts to call in the evenings when call volume is low and they have the time required to accomplish what they call for. No matter how you make your call center more customer-friendly, the effort will definitely make a huge difference in your customer satisfaction.

Since customers will always have questions about your products, services, bills, operating hours and other aspects of your business, the need for call centers probably won't disappear in the near future. Consequently, it would probably be wise to make your call center the kind of facility that serves your customers quickly and efficiently. After all, it is an investment that will pay off immediately and serve your needs for years to come. And, since contact center solutions are valuable for anyone who deals with customers, businesses in every industry from high-tech, financial, health care, government, and consumer companies to utility companies could benefit from an upgrade.

Shopping for a good contact center software system As you shop for a good contact center solution, you should certainly use the criteria we have discussed above to assess how effective the software will be, but you probably need to spend just as much time reviewing the company as the technology. After all, you will be one of their customers and you want to sure that they provide good customer service and technical support to meet your needs as well. Another way to gage the software's worth is to see if it has earned any awards or acclamations. A few places that may have more information on the top contact center solutions could be the Society for Technical Communications or the Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine.