How to Improve Customer Service in a Call Center

Your customer service call center is the heart of your business, and has a direct effect on customer satisfaction. If they experience long wait times or ineffective agents, customers will be unhappy with your company and may start to look for other solutions. Customer Service Manger reports that 91.5 percent of customers are unlikely to recommend your company after a bad customer service incident. That's why it's important to focus on improving call center operations. 1. Train your call center representatives through an an extensive program. Not only should representatives understand the basics of customer service and how they should treat customers, but they also should also know your products and services thoroughly to help resolve issues quickly. 2. Give representatives the tools they need to resolve problems within the first call. This includes computers that bring up data quickly, as well as access to customer accounts and to a knowledge base with potential solutions. 3. Reduce call wait times with intelligent routing. This is an automated system that helps direct callers to the correct department. 4. Allow customers the ability to reach a representative easily. One of the biggest frustrations that callers face when calling a customer service center is not being able to reach a live person. Though intelligent routing can decrease call wait times, customers should also have an option to "talk with a representative." 5. Review customer calls. You can do this by listening as agents speak to customers or by recording the conversations and listening to them later. Look for weaknesses in the conversations that you can address one-on-one with the representative or with a group. 6. Track customer phone calls by account number. Customer service agents should be able to pull up a customer's account to see important details and any notes from previous calls. This eliminates the need for customers to explain their problems another time to a different agent. 7. Assign major customers a single point of contact. Undoubtedly, you have a few customers who represent the bulk of your revenues. Improve satisfaction by designating a customer a service representative as the regular contact. This representative will develop a relationship with the customer, understand her needs and resolve issues more quickly. Source: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/improve-customer-service-call-center-1130.html