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Going Beyond "Have A Nice Day"
Call Center Success
It seems there's a lot more to customer service than wishing someone a nice day. Whether in a call center or on the shop floor, those on the customer-service front line in your organization face a constant battle to keep a fickle public loyal to your organization.
When it comes to human contact, technology doesn't always help: call-center staff and automated phone systems often aggravate rather than appease customers looking to contact organizations. A current trend is to humanize customer-contact systems rather than to put in any more stress-raising automation. And consider taking staff off-script so they can have an adult- to-adult conversation with the customer.
This doesn't mean that you can expect an in-depth discussion about politics or global warming every time customers call. Rather, the aim is to equip staff with the skills and knowledge to handle a customer's call in an efficient, friendly and conversational manner using relevant key phrases and words as the building blocks of a conversation. The best communicators often find a script very limiting.
Chances are, your customer service staff will respond enthusiastically, and the number of difficult calls will decrease as newly empowered employees take on greater responsibility for resolving customer problems. You can also encourage staff members to develop their own knowledge about your company’s services and products so that they can handle a customer's needs in a single call, rather than simply transferring them from department to department.
When hiring, keep in mind the best customer service professionals are those who can establish an immediate rapport with others, who can be perceptive, ask the right questions and have a positive approach when presented with problems. Although these kinds of people are born, not bred, training can improve the charm rating of even the surliest employee.
As hard as your work to get them, you want every single one of your customers contacting your company to feel cherished.
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