You Take Internet Customers & Complaints Serious, So Why Would You Treat Phone Customers Any Different?

It’s a simple rule of business; treat your customers right or someone else will. No matter what sector you’re in, it is likely that you’re facing increasingly stiff competition, and thanks to technology, every industry is facing increased global competition. Often, this competition plays out on the Internet, leading companies to focus exclusively on creating optimized websites that quickly resolve customer issues. However, for many customers, the best way to deal with a company is still via telephone. It is important to put the same care and attention to detail into your customer service via the telephone as it is via the Internet.

Despite the disconnect between phone and Internet customer care, there are some parallels that can be drawn. Most people know that if a website doesn’t load quickly, you stand a very high chance of the customer leaving your page, also known as bouncing. The same principle applies to the telephone. If you can’t respond quickly to a customer call, you may lose them faster than you think.

Because of the high number of options present in most industries today, customers are also much less likely to give companies a second chance. The amount of time that they will wait on hold depends on the circumstances surrounding their call, but if they hang up you’ve caused damage to your relationship, past present or future, with that customer.

Even customers that have been loyal purchasers in the past won’t stick around forever if you can’t respond in a timely fashion to their calls. When you calculate the cost of marketing, advertising and sales professionals, the cost of acquiring a new customer is much higher than that of retaining an old one. All it takes in some instances to turn a previous customer into a repeat one is to provide outstanding customer service. Properly staffed and trained customer support representatives in a call center give you the capability to do exactly that.

Another pitfall that can sour a customer quickly is when they feel like they’re being tossed around without ever being listened to or having their concerns addressed. It is equally problematic when customers feel stuck answering the staff’s questions instead of the other way around. In an ideal world, you want a team of CSRs in your call center who can do three things: answer calls within the first handful of rings, promptly and effectively resolve customer concerns, and be autonomous enough to complete most tasks without needing to transfer customer calls. This not only streamlines internal processes to maximize available resources, it also greatly improves customer satisfaction.

The best way to achieve this is to partner with an organization that understands the business of staffing effective call centers that focus on the customer’s satisfaction. Every single business has competitors out there, and if your customers have a difficult experience when they call for assistance or to place an order, it will only be a matter of time before they start exploring other options. You can avoid this by prioritizing the customer telephone experience over internal protocols, and by partnering with a call center with the capacity and experience to handle your call volume properly.