FEATURE DEMANDS OF A CONTEMPORARY CUSTOMER
With customer expectations becoming increasingly exacting, FMs have to put in place a strategy to manage overflow and out-of-hours calls. Paul Macildowie, CEO of MPL Contact, puts forward the case for offloading these challenges through outsourcing.
Over the last few years, the term ‘flexible working’ seems to have gone from a buzzword to a genuine trend that’s sweeping the nation; it’s estimated that six in ten full-time employees now have access to ‘flexible working’, whether that be the ability to work flexi-time or to work remotely, on set days.
Companies are adopting such policies in a bid to improve employee wellbeing and to become more of an ‘employer of choice’, offering staff a good work-life balance. It’s become such a desired benefit that nearly a third of people would prefer flexible working over a pay rise.
From a commercial perspective, flexible working enables businesses to stay open for longer, because there will be staff that naturally want to work as early as possible, or as late as possible. This helps companies to remain a competitive advantage and to ensure that they’re delivering the best possible customer service - sometimes even around the clock!
It’s no secret that customer expectations are changing; we want to be able to get through to a business when it’s convenient for us, usually in the evenings or at weekends. Many companies have chosen to embrace these changes and are investing in solutions such as overflow call handling and dedicated evening and weekend customer care services. Despite this, not many smaller facilities management companies have the spare budget or resource to recruit enough staff to work around the clock to cover these expectations.
Everyday demands, along with the new age of digital, have made us impatient. Previously, matters would be resolved via a lengthy snail mail process; having to wait up to a few days to have a query resolved was not an issue. Today, most things are available instantaneously at the click of a button, so we have an expectation for issues to be resolved in a timely manner. Additionally, sometimes there is increased demand which cannot always be predicted due to trends or an unwarranted influx coming in the form of unexpected enquiries and complaints.
Offloading through outsourcing The unpredictable nature of calls means it’s often more effective to invest in outsourcing, as opposed to hiring more staff to man the phones ‘just in case more calls come through’, or changing your current shift patterns.
Thankfully, the UK is home to one of the most 62 | TOMORROW’S FM
technologically-advanced contact centre industries globally, offering solutions such as overflow call handling, out-of-hours calls (if the business isn’t open 24/7) and call-out requests.
With this in mind, here are some things to bear in mind when implementing an outsourced emergency response solution that will ensure you’re better equipped to deal with the demands of the modern customer.
Real-time access and trust Outsourcing hasn’t always had a good reputation, which is why it’s important to be thorough in your research, especially when you’re investing in something that’s so critical to the success of your business. Technology today ensures that agents are more integrated into the workforce by having access to a business’ back office systems, which can include real-time data for the amounts of calls handled, outbound calls made, call durations, call types received, speed of answer etc. which means that they can be more integrated than ever. In this way contact centre staff are an extension to your own workforce, rather than be seen as separate, and builds a fundamental foundation of trust on both ends.
“Companies should have defined
processes in place to deal with the onboarding of new clients.”
When choosing an outsourced company, then, it’s recommended that you check out any on-site testimonials, case studies and reviews. Reviews can be found on social media, on Google or on third-party review platform sites. Get a feel for what others are saying about that business, particularly in relation to how well they harmonise with those they work with.
Experience and training The second tip when it comes to choosing an outsourced contact centre is to ensure they have a wide variety of facilities management experience, as well as vertical industry knowledge that may be relevant to your sector. This means they’ll be better equipped to deal with a range of requests and will have learnt best practices for the
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