Tip: Use effective call centers to build customer loyalty |
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| 12 Feb 2007 | Written by: Paul R. Timm |
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The following is tip #1, Use effective call centers to build customer loyalty, excerpted from Chapter 6 of the book Technology and Customer Service: Profitable Relationship Building, by Paul R. Timm, published by Prentice Hall Publishing.
What you'll learn in this chapter:
- A call center has become an integral part of a complete customer-service
strategy.
- Modern call centers are sophisticated multi-person operations supported by
telephone and computer technology.
- Telephone strategies can lead to effective customer conversations.
- Key customer-service skills are needed to provide an A-plus experience.
- Call centers will continue to evolve as the e-world expands.
Customer service techniques for building customer loyalty
Call centers offer customer convenience. Without having to trot off to a retail
location, the caller can place orders, make reservations, check balances,
register complaints, ask questions about products and prices, or clear up a
mistake in billing. This convenience comes at a price. Conducting business
over the phone is never as personalized as face-to-face interaction. Too many
visual cues are missing -- the people can't see whom they are speaking with --
leading to less than complete communication. Then there's what seems like
an interminable wait in the call queue or, worse, the handoff to yet another
agent who can't really seem to make the problem go away.
The cost of convenience
includes impersonal agents, long virtual lines, and the runaround
that leaves many customers apprehensive about their chances of successfully
resolving difficult concerns on the telephone. Superior customer-service
skills can help call center agents overcome caller angst, injecting some personality
back into the customer conversation. Andrew O'Driscoll, a consultant
with Managing the Service Business, Ltd., suggests seven techniques
for creating customer loyalty:
Build rapport. To engage the customer, build rapport. To build rapport,
modify your tone, tempo, vocabulary, and volume to suit the
customer's speech patterns. If the caller is an executive, short, direct
language may be needed. If the caller is a disgruntled consumer, a
warm, friendly approach using simple language may be best.
Be an optimist. How you phrase what may be received as bad news can
really make a difference in the mind of the caller. Cushion the blow
by focusing on the bright side of things. The following response will
end the conversation: "I'm so sorry. We no longer carry that item." Try
this approach instead: "Our product line has recently been upgraded.
The item you requested is now available in a new and improved
format. Would you like it shipped ground or next-day air?"
Listen actively. Before call center agents can effectively assist customers,
they have to find out what a particular customer wants. This requires
listening to what is and isn't said. Agents should use confirmations
such as "yes," "I see," and "I understand" as verbal substitutes for the
eye contact or head nods of ordinary conversation. Agents should also
listen "between the lines" for what is left unsaid. Perhaps there is a
special offer or an additional product of which the customer is
unaware. Through active listening, agents can create a conversational
connection that reassures the caller that someone cares.
Offer an apology. No one is perfect, and no organization faultless.
Mistakes happen, and when they do a sincere and unconditional
apology helps defuse an angry caller. What's interesting is that a
genuine apology and proper handling of the complaint can increase
customer loyalty. In fact, research indicates that if customers feel their
concerns are addressed appropriately, 85 percent will continue doing
business with the organization. That's even better than the rate for
satisfied customers, only 65 percent of which will return for repeat
business.
Stay positive. Listening day in and day out to people you don't even
know gripe and complain can be emotionally corrosive. Customers
can be, and often are, difficult. They rarely hold back. They think
nothing of directing their disappointment, dissatisfaction, and
displeasure at you. What can you do to stay upbeat in the face of
phone rage? First, avoid the tendency toward "fight or flight." Be
proactive. Listen. Put yourself in your customer's shoes. And if the
customer continues to be unreasonable, involve your supervisor. Just
the thought that someone higher up is now involved will calm many
a frustrated customer. Finally, take a break from time to time to blow
off steam. A little lunchtime walk or a jog around the track can help
you re-center and get back to a positive place.
Take greater responsibility. All too often, call center agents hide behind
the limitations of their computer scripts as a way to avoid dealing
with the unusual. For the anticipated, scripts provide an efficient way
to conduct customer conversations. It's when the caller has a concern
that deviates from the planned that differentiates the A-plus rep from
the "robo-agent." A-plus customer service reps can think outside the
script. They take the initiative. They assume responsibility for doing
whatever it takes to resolve the case.
Solve the problem. Customers contact call centers because they need help to do something they can't do for themselves. They have a problem. Superior call center agents have been trained in problem solving. They know how to assess need. They know what resources are available for addressing that need. They put together people and resources to get the job done. They
involve customers throughout the process by asking, "How can I help solve this problem? What would you
like me to do? Is there anything else I can try for you?"
Download the entire chapter for more information on building customer loyalty. This chapter includes application activities to implement loyalty-building practices in your call center, as well as commonly used customer loyalty terms and other useful tips.
Building customer loyalty: Four tips in four minutes
 Home: Introduction
Tip 1: Use effective call centers to build customer loyalty
Tip 2: Offer help desks to build customer loyalty
Tip 3: Apply the power of CRM to build customer loyalty
Tip 4: Design Web sites that build customer loyalty
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These chapter excerpts from Technology and Customer Service: Profitable Relationship Building, by Paul R. Timm, are used by permission from Prentice Hall Publishing.
Purchase the book here |
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