Business owners may focus so much on providing the best possible services and products at great prices that they can, at times, underestimate the importance of outstanding customer service.
As the Houston Chronicle notes, customer service is what truly sets a great business apart from the rest of the bunch. After all, your clients are the reason that your company is there in the first place, so keeping them happy is paramount. Once you have a new customer, you and your team should do everything you can to keep them happy and to inspire them to do repeat business with you.
You can provide outstanding customer service either by working with call centers in the Philippines or investing in a professional call center solution that offers a number of useful features. If you are in the market for a call center solution for your company, here are three features you should look for.
Let Your Customers Reach You on Their Terms
As great as your employees are on the phone with people who call in with questions, not everyone wants to give your company a jingle on their smartphone. When selecting a call center solution, find one that offers omnichannel customer service options, including social media, text, e-mail, online chats, and the telephone. This way, customers will not only get the information they need in a timely fashion, but they will also get it in the way that is most comfortable for them.
Choose Interactive Voice Response
Another useful feature for your call center is an interactive voice response (IVR), which is essentially an electronic voice menu that will help people who do call into your company be connected to the appropriate representative. This will save a lot of valuable time, both for the customer and for your team. Instead of having someone in sales pick up the phone and then have to re-route the caller to the billing department, he or she merely needs to navigate through their options by pressing a few buttons on their phone.
Opt for the Call Recording
You have probably heard this yourself when calling your bank, your credit card company or your pharmacist: “Your call may be recorded for training purposes.” There is a good reason for this message and why you should opt for the same thing in your new call center: listening to these conversations will give you valuable insight on both how your team is doing on the phone as well as customer satisfaction. Hearing examples of both outstanding and, if you have them, challenging calls can be immensely useful as an educational tool.
Hiring New Employees
Once you have your call center in place, you may need to hire new people from time to time. If you have never interviewed someone with the sole intent of adding them to your call center team, Indeed has some helpful advice in terms of which questions to ask. From “How would you describe the role of a call center representative?” to “What steps would you take when speaking with a customer?”, you can gain valuable insight as to their skills, personality, and how well they will handle working on the phone.
An Outstanding Call Center Solution Can Make All the Difference
Having an effective call center is a crucial part of any customer service plan. By knowing you have options in what type of solution you choose, and selecting the services that will satisfy customers and their communication needs, you should be able to retain more clients than ever and ultimately boost your bottom line.