Call Center Makeover for Improved Customer Experience

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Some businesses go years before they make changes to their premises and processes, while others change their strategy to reflect current trends. Regardless of the change, even small improvements can make a dramatic impact. Some call centers operate the same way, offering the same level of service via the same channels without even thinking of making improvements. Others don’t hesitate to undergo makeovers, either big or small, and live to reap accompanying compliments. Let’s explore these six steps in giving your call center a makeover which will make the customers even more happier.  

Understand where you are

Before attempting any changes, try to understand your current state. Just like any makeover, the business needs to be analyzed, changes discussed, and plan to be agreed upon before anything can be done. What are the features that your call center lack? Have the customers been complaining about something in particular? If needed, even launch a customer survey or anything you need to get an insight into the current status of your customer center.

Unleash creativity

Once you have some data to base conclusions upon, assemble your team for a brainstorming meeting. This session is the first step in your action plan. Come up with a detailed list of ideas about how can you solve the most urgent problems in your call service department. If customer feedbacks reveal that hold times are a problem, write down all the ways you can solve this issue. Consider adding more staff or introducing new technology, like a call-back protocol. In both cases, it’s important to write your ideas down and discuss the pros and cons of each solution and then choose a winner. Remember to take a screenshot of your board, so if the idea fails you can go back to the blueprints.

Include agents

Unless you involve your front-line staff in the changes that are about to take place, you risk missing important points that only they can see. By missing a big piece of the puzzle, your solution won’t be as effective. Keep in mind that your operators are likely to have more feedback about your customers than dozens of surveys. Besides, keeping them involved in the makeover process is a great way of making them feel valued. By allowing them to reflect on critical issues they’re facing every day, you’re letting them know that even though they’re on the first line, you’re right behind them.

Invest in office space

Transform the look of your office into a more inspiring space by replacing traditional walls and doors with glass. This faux-open plan setting can add transparency to any space. Your operators will be able to see where everyone is and what they’re doing, while the glass screens make their phone calls private and undisturbed. Before you invest in new desks and chairs, see if you can repair the existing pieces that are worth salvaging. In addition to performing required furniture repairs, restoration technicians often offer a range of after-sale services aimed at keeping your furniture in the best condition. 

Update equipment and tech

Technology is the primary source of customer satisfaction. It can even allow you to optimize the workforce in new ways. Analyze whether you have the right tools and whether you’re using the available ones to their full potential. These include software for workforce management, call recording, screen recording, quality assurance, desktop analytics, and speech analytics. When a call enter adopts workforce optimization systems and other processes, its service levels increase, which leads to more satisfied customers. In case you run a Shopify store, there are now e-commerce software solutions that connect you with suppliers and drop shippers, while saving time and money both for yourself and your clients.

Re-evaluate processes

Can you remember when was the last time your customer center procedures were reviewed? Perhaps a few updates or alterations to operator scripts would result in a faster and more streamlined customer experience? Taking a new outlook at how business is done, how agents, managers, trainers, and customers are introduced into the process might give birth to new ideas that can make a positive impact.

Over time bad habits or soft business practices slowly and gradually infiltrate even the best of customer centers, causing customer experience to suffer. In cases like this, a business-wide transformation is needed, as it’s the only way to get the call center back on the fast track. In the process, allow each change to take effect and see how it impacts other aspects of the business.  

 

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Lillian Connors
BizzMark
As a senior digital marketing consultant, Lillian Connors believes that the question of business goes far beyond the maximization of profit through different money-grabbing ploys. Instead, she likes to think that ethical principles should be at the core of every commercial venture, paving the way for much more balanced distribution of wealth on a global scale.

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