When you’re running an inbound call center, customer experience is the most important thing. By the time a customer makes the effort to place a call to your company they are either already a customer or have decided to become a customer, so you don’t want anything that happens over the course of the call to dissuade them or make them question their decision. That said, there are some factors apart from the actual conversation that happens between the agent and customer that could be detracting from or even ruining your customer’s experience. Here are four and how to fix them.

 

Vague Menu Options

 

When it is formatted correctly, a detailed interactive voice responder (IVR) can make a customer’s experience on the phone much smoother, helping them resolve their issue quicker. But if there are too few options on the menu or the choices are vague and the customer is unsure where to go with their inquiry it can stoke frustration before an agent even gets on the phone. Utilizing reports and data collected from past calls to ensure the IVR is set up properly can eliminate this factor as a possible detractor.

Unclear Wait Times

Customers who call inbound call centers are fully expecting to spend some time on hold. That said, the experience of being on hold is much easier to tolerate if customers are given an approximate wait time, information about their place in line and/or the option to receive a callback as opposed to just listening to elevator music or hearing the same message that a representative will be with them shortly over and over again.

 

Too Much Repetition

 

Wait times are also easier to handle if agents can get to the process of addressing a customer’s inquiry in a fast and efficient manner. When this doesn’t happen, such as if the customer is asked to provide information about themselves and their issue more than once over the course of a single call, it can be a source of dissatisfaction for the customer.

 

Handcuffed Agents

 

One reason why customers may be required to repeat their problem more than once is if the first or even the second person they speak to is unable to help them solve it. This can happen if agents’ capabilities are handcuffed and they are only trained and equipped to handle certain types of calls, thus needing to transfer customers with inquiries outside of their scope to other agents or supervisors. Taking the time to explain the detailed reason for their call to an agent only to be forced to repeat it all to somebody else just a few minutes later can be incredibly demoralizing for a customer and ruin their impression of the company.

Ready to improve your customer experience? CallShaper has the tools to get you there. To learn more, request a demo today.