There will always come a time when a company needs to invest heavily to upgrade technology or infrastructure so as to keep their contact centres efficient. However, there is also a myriad of low-cost improvements that will make a world of difference to customer satisfaction.
Never say ‘no’ to a customer
If a customer’s request can’t be accommodated, don’t say ‘no’. Diffuse the negative by offering freebies such as a credit, free goodies or loyalty points. It won’t cost you much but will leave the customers feeling that they have been listened to.
Let your dissatisfied customers guide you
Don’t be afraid of dissatisfied customers. They are the ones that will show you what went wrong and what needs to be improved in your organisation.
Show your agents how their actions affect the company
If you are one individual in a thousand-strong call centre, it is easy to feel like one unimportant cog in a big machine and perhaps not deal with customers as well as you could. This is why it is crucial to show your staff how each employee’s actions affect your reputation and image. Using real examples works best, but make sure you have a good balance of positive and negative outcomes.
Be transparent
If you can’t solve a customer’s problem, explain the reason why. Most customers will appreciate your transparency and will be more understanding of your constraints. Not doing so, on the other hand, will often be interpreted as a lack of good will.
Train your agents to be flexible
More and more actions in contact centres are being automated, so when a human being is actually needed, it often is to resolve a situation that is too complex for self-service. In those cases, encourage your agents to abandon their scripts when appropriate and approach interactions in a variety of way as no two calls will be the same.
Relay customer feedback to the rest of the company
As one of the client-facing departments of a business, contact centres have a crucial role to play. Recurring issues may be symptoms of a company-wide issue that needs to be addressed so make sure that they are relayed to the relevant teams.
Support your team
We can never say it enough. A happy employee will try harder to make your customers happy.
