What are some of the important factors of Call Centre Phone Etiquette?….. Let’s take a look. Providing excellent service to every customer should be the top priority of every inbound and outbound call centre, as your agents are, in effect, your company’s face, and your brand’s image will be greatly affected by their interactions with your clients.
Here are the core values that every call centre must get right to deliver first-rate customer service:
Courtesy
It goes without saying that courtesy should be a priority but it doesn’t stop at talking with a smile and being polite in the strict sense. Waiting for the customer to finish talking before talking, trying their best to pronounce a difficult name correctly, being respectful of the caller’s time and needs, are all indirect ways of showing customers courtesy.
Professionalism
Even faced with the most irate customers, agents should always remain professional, which means, however challenging it may be, that they must stay calm and rational, and remember that their goal is to provide resolution. As a representative of your company, they must convey your corporate values at all time and shouldn’t offer personal opinions or demonstrate prejudice; while showing interest in the customer’s concerns and the genuine will to find a mutually satisfying solution.
Honesty and Reliability
Brand loyalty is a vital component of a company’s success and is invaluable. To build trust, it is essential that call agents be honest. Promising more than they can deliver, even done with the best of intentions, is a catastrophic mistake. Saying that you will call back and not do it will also harm customers’ perception of your brand.
Competence
Nothing will test your customers’ patience like an agent who can’t use your computer or phone systems properly and puts them on hold or takes too long to deal with their enquiries while they are training themselves! Likewise, an operator who comes across as diffident will raise questions as to the professionalism of your company. It is therefore crucial that your staff is well trained and well equipped, so that they can address your customers’ issues with competence and confidence.
Flexibility
What makes being a call agent so interesting is that they can expect the unexpected! They should be trained so that they can deal with most situations, but being prepared to adapt depending on the information exchanged during a phone call is essential, as it can change the nature of the issue, and therefore of the solution, and help resolve the problem.
