Answering and Wait Times: Keep Them Short

Customers have been trained to expect fast services. In order to maintain quality customer service, you have to have quick-response system. Technology can give you the speed that you need to get an edge over the competition. Instant chat and answering services will show your customers that you care about their business. Making it easy for your customers to reach your business is essential to maintaining client satisfaction. 

Complaints

If a customer is upset about your products or services, and they cannot get ahold of anyone in your company, it will only upset them more. Increasing your answering service efforts ensures that these customers can find someone to talk to when they have an issue so you and your staff can work toward finding a solution.

On Hold

No one likes to wait on hold, but there are times when a business has more callers than staff to handle those calls. You could over-staff but, you will end up having higher employee costs and lower productivity. You could let the callers wait, but eventually callers will hang up and find another company to do business with. Neither of those options would be good for the bottom line. Here are two solutions you could try:

1. Use a staffing calculator (Erlang-C is commonly used). This will help you calculate the average number of employees needed to keep your average hold time to a minimum. Every customer and business has a different tolerance for hold time, but most studies show that customers are willing to wait for about 18 seconds. You will need your average call time (in seconds), average calls you handle per hour, and what you would like your average hold time (in seconds) to be. You can experiment with different scenarios with your business.
2. Hire an Answering service for overflow and ask your telephone provider to install “no answer” call forwarding. This will allow you to maintain the most efficient staffing levels, but when you have un-expected influx in call volume your callers will not have to wait for an answer.

Answering Every Call

Customers rarely take the time to express their frustrations, they just go elsewhere. For example, there is a perception that patients will put up with bad customer service from a medical center as long they get to see a doctor. This is not true in today’s competitive environment. Answering the phone promptly, professionally, and providing a one call resolution may be the only chance businesses have to obtain a new patient. 

If your customers can always get through to someone at your company, it gives them a better impression of your business. Whether they are calling with a complaint or a question, the ability to talk to a real person helps them gain confidence in your business and your customer service efforts. This might inspire them to help tell other people about your impressive customer relations, which could earn you some new business. No matter the outcome, quick answering and friendly, patient service can only benefit your business. 

How do I lower employee costs?

4 Ideas for saving on employee costs.
You need employees to help run your business, but sometimes employee costs get out of hand. The minimum wage increases or the market for employees just becomes more competitive. This can be a huge challenge for small businesses that work with a small team. Sure, you can cut the number of employees but that can send the wrong signal to the team or customers. Here are a few tips that might help.

Start with Productivity
A better approach is to focus your efforts on increasing productivity. If you have a productive team it will be easier to absorb the costs because your team will produce more revenue for the same cost of labor. How do you do this? It is not always easy. Start by assessing the work they perform and look at ways of removing unnecessary tasks. Almost every small business will find that their team performs activities that don’t add to the bottom line, find them and remove those chores. Often, they are easy jobs that don’t require a lot of skill and some employees will choose that work over more challenging activities.

Focus on sales
Find ways of focusing your efforts on the work that generates revenue and creates efficiency. If your business relies on referrals, use that free time to have team members write thank you notes to customers, or call them and ask them if they are pleased with the service you provided and how you can improve. At the very least they will be reminded of the value of the services you provide and be more likely to refer a friend or ask you to do more work. Customers what to be appreciated. When you reach out to clients you give them an opportunity to do more business with you, all too often people get busy with life and put off things that may require your services.

Can you outsource
Outsource the activities that are not your strong suit. That might include virtual receptionist service that can take calls when your team is busy or your office is closed. At Contact One our services are usually much less than the cost of hiring employees directly. Outsourcing can free up time for your team to focus on performing the work that your customers hire you to do. Plus there is the added benefit of having someone answer your calls after hours and setting appointments for your team.

Check your pricing
Lastly, make sure you are charging enough for your services. You probably are ready to know of competitors that charge more than you do for a similar service. Try “shopping” your competition if you don’t.

Recently we needed someone to work on the generator at our office. It took me almost a month to find a business that would return my call. When they did, they gave me a quote over the phone and never followed up. Fortunately, I was able to get a referral from a friend. When I called someone one answered my call right away and the owner came to meet with me the next day. His proposal was more than twice the cost of the previous company I spoke with. I chose them because they presented an action plan and offered a guarantee. The rate he charged enabled him to hire the staff needed to support his customers and provide great service. The takeaway is that small grow when then invest in the resources that keep their clients happy and those resources pay dividends.

5 Myths About Call Centers Debunked

Call centers often get a bad rep because of the myths about them. Unfortunately, these myths usually get their way around. Some of the most common ones are the following:

1. Call centers cost more than their worth
   This is probably the most common misconception about call centers. And this is the reason why there are still small business owners who are hesitant in getting their services. But did you know that consumers tend to buy from companies associated with excellent customer service? Call centers play a significant role in that. So, the next time someone tells you not to get the services of a call center because its cost is more than its worth, ask yourself: do I value my clients that I wanted them to experience satisfying customer service each and every time? If the answer is YES, then getting the services of a call center is right for you.
2. Language barrier is a problem
   From time to time, you may hear of customers complaining of customer service agents who may seem to speak English but they can barely understand them. You have to know that this is an exception and not the norm in the call center industry. Things like that can happen especially if companies opt for international services. However, if you hire the services of a contact center in Northern America, you will rarely experience this.
3. Customer service line is obsolete
   The growing use of email, live chat, and social media for customer support may make it seem like phone lines are no longer needed but the truth is, phone lines remain a popular choice among customers. Most customers still prefer to talk to live customer service agents especially for resolving complicated issues. Compared to newer channels of communication (i.e. social media, chat, email), a phone conversation with a call center agent enables a customer to clarify and ask questions.
4. Agents don’t really care about customers
   This is far from the truth. Call center companies, in general, spend thousands of dollars to train their agents. Aside from that, their recruiters tirelessly search for the right people who have the right skills and values who will take good care of their customers.
5. Call center job is a mindless work
   It may be mundane but definitely not easy and mindless.

Working in the call center industry requires a lot of thinking. From the way to greet a customer to solving their problems, agents constantly think of different ways to leave a client satisfied.

The job of a call center agent is far from being easy. This is why it requires people with certain traits to fit into the role.

More Call Center Services Articles:

1. Contact One is nominated for Customer Excellence Award
2. What Happens When You Don’t Pick Up the Phone?
3. Use Square to Make Point-of-Sale Easy and Cost Effective
4. What to Look for in A Medical Answering Service
5. What’s Your Unique Value Proposition?

How Customer Service Affects Your Brand

People usually buy from companies that they love. And what fosters that love? A great customer service experience.

How Your Customer Service Affects Your Brand

These days, customers no longer spend their money based on what they hear and see on ads. They base it on the customer’s experience on the brand.

Recently, businesses had a shift of focus in their marketing strategy. From creating simple brand messages, brand managers have turned to strategies in building a lasting brand-customer relationship. This is a result of customers now equating brands with experience.

It turns out that many customers are willing to pay premium prices on brands that are associated with excellent customer service.

Negative company reviews can spread very quickly (thanks to social media). Hence, if you’re just starting out, it’s important to prioritize customer service. It’s always worth the effort and time in ensuring a satisfying customer experience.

How Your Brand Can Create Worthwhile Customer Experience

Below are simple ways on how your brand can start building long-lasting relationships with your clients:

• Make your brand stand out
  We mean that in a good way. Whether it’s changing your logo, your brand’s offering, or the way you market your products, small tweaks here and there can actually make a difference on how your brand is being perceived.

• Adapt to the current changes
  This may seem like a challenge given the wealth of information and options we have these days but with a meticulous market and ‘trend’ study, you can make it work for your brand.

• Add a personal touch
  Adding a personal touch such as customizing your email to your clients is a way of connecting with them on a personal level. When you exert effort in personalizing your connection with your client, it sends a message of gratitude and appreciation. And this message is usually reciprocated.

Hiring the Right People

If your business thrives on feedback from your customers, then it’s important to make customer service a priority in your business.

A lot of customer service skills can be taught but there are certain traits that can make one deliver exemplary customer service. This is why it’s crucial to find the right employees for your customer service department.

Ideal Traits for a Customer Service Representative

For most organizations, a great customer service agent is a people-person. This simply means that the person is comfortable in engaging with other people regardless of their race or background.

When hiring a customer service representative, it’s also important to look for an individual who is resilient and positive. This person is capable of coping and overcoming difficult situations with the client without losing his/her cool and/or comprising the quality of customer service.

Finding the Right Employees

Having the right employees for the job doesn’t just happen. Companies who have mastered it have come up with a meticulous process starting from the placement of ads down to the job interview.

The interview is an important part of the process. Hence, the questions should be carefully crafted to filter out only the best candidates. They must also reflect your company’s values.

3 Ways to Build a Culture of Customer Service

Customer service is not just a department. It goes beyond the rules and policies that are set in place to make sure that customers get the best experience with your brand. It’s a philosophy that should be embraced by every employee in your organization.

Creating a Culture of Customer Service

The key to creating a culture of customer service is making a choice in becoming customer-focused. The best companies have meticulously created policies and procedures that are customer-focused and turned it into a culture. And all employees, not just the front desk, are taught and trained for this culture. Creating a culture of customer service in your company won’t be a walk in the park but the time and effort you’ll spend on it will be worth it.

The following ways can help you get started:

1. Get the right people
   Everyone in the company must be committed to your service values. It can be challenging to create a culture of service if you don’t have the right people to work with.

2. Make sure everyone has a base of knowledge to work from
   You cannot empower your people to do the right thing if they don’t have the base of knowledge to work from. So, make sure everyone understands the basics and undergoes the basic training for customer service. This helps them understand your vision in delivering your products/service.

3. Provide feedback
   Customer service triumphs and missteps are opportunities for growth. Provide feedback to individual employees and use success stories as examples for teaching.