Customer Call Center

More information on Customer Call Center

Written by Steven Bryan

Modern technology has made communication easier than ever before, with smart phones that can perform many of the tasks of your office PC, and automated answering systems. Even with these innovations, many companies are not fully connected to their clients. A customer call center can close that communication gap between your staff and your clients, but only if you choose the right options.

Getting lost in the automation maze

When customers dial your customer call center number, they are seeking help without a lot of headaches. Depending on your business, a caller can get the answers to such basic questions as account balances and transaction history by pressing a few buttons on their phone.

If your call center is too heavily automated, though, a client can get lost in a maze of automated menus from which there can be no escape. After listening to countless menu options, chances are good that they may hang up in frustration and take their business elsewhere.

If you rely on automation in your customer call center, always make sure that you have a "press zero" escape button. This option lets them speak to a live call center agent, regardless of what menu they're in.

Offshore customer call centers

As a cost-cutting measure, many businesses maintain call centers in places such as India and other countries outside the United States. Although this can save your company money initially, there has been some consumer backlash to having calls routed overseas. Offshore agents typically are schooled in English and slang, but sometimes their accents are hard to understand, making a frustrated customer even more upset.

A more expensive option, but one that can pay handsome dividends in the long run, is hiring an onshore call center, either maintained by your staff or an outside company. Clients want quick and simple solutions to their problems, and an onshore facility can help achieve greater customer satisfaction.

Call center responsibilities

Before placing a good portion of your customer service duties in the hands of another company, make sure that its staff is well-versed in the following:

• Product familiarity. Customer call center agents must know the products and services that your company sells. Each agent should be schooled in the product lines and should not have to refer to a manual all the time.
• Improvisation. An operator who gives only scripted responses can send a good customer running to a competitor. Call center agents need to really listen to the caller and determine their needs, which may mean going "off the page" at times.
• Escalation. No caller wants to be trapped with an agent who is fumbling for an answer. If the question is outside of their area of expertise, make sure the agent can refer the client to someone who does have the answer.

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