Tactics > customer service
Profi ting
from your call centre
By Guy Tweedale
How to tap
or years now, the call centre has them a complete view of their customers’ needs
largely been viewed as a necessary and the relevant company information required
evil, an inescapable cost centre to solve problems, answer questions, and sell
the hidden
F
that needs to be more and more services effectively and quickly. If the necessary
effi cient, with the ultimate aim information is not easily accessible and the CSR
sales potential
being the shortest possible calls has to go hunting for it while the customer waits
being handled by the fewest number of staff. impatiently on the other end of the phone,
As a result, modern call centres are often better the chances of selling additional products and
of your
known for providing customers with frustration services diminish greatly.
than with effi cient service and for evoking Without doubt, businesses can increase
feelings of anger and resentment instead of customer loyalty and boost sales by changing
customer
customer satisfaction. the quality of customer interaction, which is
Most companies are trying to achieve made possible when agents are able to focus on
the same goals when it comes to managing the customer rather than on the systems they
service reps
customers: They want to improve the quality of use. After all, one bad interaction with a contact
customer service and reduce the churn of both centre agent can destroy all the customer loyalty
customers and customer service reps (CSRs) that a company has worked so hard to earn.
whilst maximising contribution to the bottom The importance of this was highlighted in the
line. Traditionally, however, the focus has been CFI Group’s Contact Centre Satisfaction Survey
on the latter, primarily managed through cost 2008, which found that 95 percent of customers
reductions within the call centres. This is not a who have a satisfying contact centre experience
sustainable model for the majority of companies will do business with the same company again,
in today’s competitive environment. compared with only 35 percent of dissatisfi ed
customers. What’s more, 92 percent of
Simplicity sells customers who have a satisfying contact centre
Things are changing. Many call centres are experience will recommend the company
becoming more sales and customer orientated, to others, compared with only 9 percent of
in recognition that every customer touch point dissatisfi ed customers.
must now take on greater importance in the
pursuit of greater profi tability. Indeed, many Handling interactions
businesses are starting to realise that the The customer service problems are being made
CSRs who are taking inbound calls are in worse by companies that have chosen to place
Listen to this
the perfect position to sell more—more too much focus on average handle time (AHT).
products, more extended warranties—to This is the average duration of one call, typically
A tough economic climate means that
happy customers. CSRs can also turn measured from the customer’s initiation of the
consumers are under greater fi nancial
unhappy customers into happy ones by call and including any hold time, talk time, and
solving their problems and answering their related administrative tasks that follow the call.
pressure and therefore tend to more
questions effi ciently and effectively. By placing too much focus on AHT—and
critically weigh their “needs” versus their
As such CSRs can begin to move from a incentivising their agents using this measure—
“wants”. As a result, superior customer
traditional customer service role to a new companies are putting pressure on the CSRs to
service becomes even more critical to your approach that will transform service into spend less time on the phone and to reduce or
company’s success. According to a recent
sales. But they need the right technology, eliminate “wrap-up time” in order to complete
study by Maritz, satisfi ed customers are 50
processes, systems, and targets in place. certain administrative tasks, thus reducing
percent more likely to listen to a sales offer
In many call centres, the chaotic maze the opportunity and inclination of the CSRs
than unhappy ones. What’s more, should
of applications and tools that reside on the to spend time cross-selling or upselling. The
computers is a real hindrance. CSRs who overall reduction in operational costs gained
they choose to listen to an offer, dissatisfi ed
have a dozen or more open applications from this reduced call length is almost certainly
customers are twice as likely as satisfi ed
or cumbersome screens on their desktop outweighed by the cost of the lost sales, not
customers to decline it.—GT
at one time can all too easily become to mention the cost of losing a dissatisfi ed
confused or misdirected. With the latest customer who feels that his problem was
unifi ed desktop technology, CSRs can not solved or that he had been rushed and
benefi t from an intelligent, contextual view unappreciated by the organisation.
of customer and organisation data. This gives Instead of focusing on AHT, you would be
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