Lots of organizations perceive a phone call as nothing but a plain tool that they utilize to communicate with their customers for numerous reasons, whether to address certain problems, questions, or give them more information about a particular service and/or product.
Even though there’s no doubt that it’s essential, at times, it feels as if some enterprises do not pay attention to it as much as they should, because poor communication, a missed call, or any other similar mishap can surely make a lousy lasting impression.
That’s precisely why call handling must always be prioritized. Now, it doesn’t mean that you need to make any radical changes, but simple, smaller tweaks regarding technology, training, etc.
Calls Must Always Be Answered!
One of the most obvious fixes is also the absolute most important: simply make sure someone is actually there to pick up the phone. Customers have zero clue what’s happening behind the scenes when their call rings out.
If nobody answers, they’re probably going to assume your business is either drowning in chaos, completely disorganized, or just doesn’t care enough to help them. To fix this, you need to look at when your phones are actually ringing off the hook and schedule your team to match those crazy hours.
If you’ve got certain times of the day that are always slammed, you need to bring in extra backup. It’s also totally worth tracking your missed calls instead of just shrugging them off as “part of doing business.” Every single missed call is likely a missed sale, a ticked-off customer, or a blown chance to fix a major problem.
Why Are Customers Calling In The First Place?
You cannot handle calls correctly if you first do not try to understand why they are contacting you in the first place. If you still haven’t figured that out, then you should simply go through the most frequently asked questions, feedback, etc. to establish the pattern.
Maybe they are calling your firm because your website isn’t informative enough, or maybe the status of their order isn’t crystal clear. All of these pieces of information are causing unnecessary friction.
Your aim shouldn’t be solely to lower the number of calls you get on a daily basis, because, at the end of the day, you’ll be dealing with customers who are longing to talk to a person when an issue arises.
That’s usually the case when they are struggling with a complex problem. The goal of your organization is to ensure that everything that your employees tell them is not only properly explained but also useful, too!
Once you’re familiar with the reasons behind phone calls, then you’ll know exactly what to do in terms of the tools you’ll be leveraging, training you’ll be holding for your workforce, and many other things that are going to influence the outcome of call handling.
Cutting-Edge Tools All The Way!
Most businesses these days make use of all sorts of tools whenever they want to support and enhance customer experience. Call-routing solutions can direct customers to the suitable sector, while customer relationship management systems are intended to help workers access the most important customer information.
Automated tools can also help companies manage calls even after office hours. In these circumstances, they can rely on an AI receptionist service to offer their customer an extra layer of support by tackling routine inquiries, directing callers, gathering information, or managing any task that cannot be handled by people. By virtue of the latest technological solutions, you will effectively decrease friction.
Minimize Wait Times
Let’s be real: sitting on hold forever or getting trapped in a never-ending call queue is the absolute fastest way to upset your customer. When someone calls in for help, being stuck in wait-time purgatory makes them feel like just another number instead of a real, valued human being.
That is exactly where Interactive Voice Response, better known as IVR tech, can step in to completely save the day. IVR systems crush high call volumes by instantly routing people to the exact right department or letting them handle easy stuff completely on their own. They can check an account balance, change their info, or track a package without ever having to wait around to talk to a live human.
Believe it or not, IVR is still the absolute king of customer tech across tons of industries. It actually handles double the amount of action that live agents do and handles a staggering five times more interactions than text chats.
IVRs take a massive load off your team’s shoulders, lower running costs, and make wait times plummet.
Do Not Ignore Negative Reviews!
There’s no such thing as a perfect company. You can have the latest tools and the most skilled workforce; you’ll still deal with the negative reviews, and that’s okay. Some will be related to difficult customers who perceive the quality of your service as poor.
Since even negative comments must be taken into account, you need to do whatever is in your power to address them; otherwise, your business will be perceived as negligent and that it couldn’t care less about its customers.
In contrast, if you embrace them as well and work on enhancing customer experience, then you’ll immediately notice a positive change in overall customer satisfaction.
Ensure First Call Resolution (FCR)
First-call resolution, or FCR, means fixing a customer’s problem on the very first try so they don’t have to call back or follow up. Studies show a perfect one-to-one match here: every single time you boost your FCR by 1%, your customer satisfaction scores shoot up by 1%, too.
If you want to start achieving your FCR goals, you’ve got to invest in serious training for your team and make sure they actually have the right tools and info right at their fingertips.
Automated Menus Should Be Simplified
IVR systems are a massive help for routing business calls efficiently, but only if you actually design them with real human beings in mind. A messy, complicated phone menu can turn a quick question into an absolute nightmare.
Your customers end up trapped listening to a million irrelevant options just to find the one they need, and if they accidentally press the wrong button, they get dumped right back into a never-ending cycle of transfers.
The secret to fixing this is keeping your menus plain and simple and using clear, everyday language. Put the absolute most common reasons people call right at the top of the menu where they’re easy to find.
And look, if your customers are constantly calling because they just want to talk to an actual human employee, stop hiding that “speak to a representative” button behind ten different layers of automated robot guards.
It’s also super smart to dive into your call data on a regular basis. If you notice callers constantly hanging up on the exact same menu prompt, or if people choose a specific department only to get transferred immediately afterward, your system is telling you it’s broken.
Automation is supposed to make your customers’ lives easier, not act like an annoying obstacle course standing between them and the help they need.
Your Workers Must Listen Carefully!
Although you will rely on technology pretty frequently, it doesn’t change the fact that people are still an integral part of your corporation and that they are the ones who have a massive impact on the overall customer experience.
Something that a vast majority of people appreciate is when their questions and concerns are really seen and heard. That a person on the other side is actively listening to everything they have to say.
One of the best ways to show them that (which is the thing your team must learn) is to ask them essential questions and confirm every detail they mentioned. Only then can you proceed with taking further steps.
Rather than immediately trying to solve the problem, it would be much better if they first summarized everything they’ve heard from their customers, because that will show them whether they’ve understood everything perfectly or not.
By doing something like this, they will radically reduce the chance of any potential misunderstanding and, simultaneously, decrease the need for customers to repeat themselves, which can be quite frustrating for them.
Another reason why active listening is highly beneficial is that it shows that your employees aren’t just some emotionless robots who want to get their job done fast but also humans who understand what your customers are going through regardless of the severity of their problem.
Even if their issues are seemingly benign, they still need to act as if the problem is huge and, concurrently, demonstrate just how empathetic they are. This will not only take the entire conversation to the notch but will enhance the reputation of your business! Basically a win-win situation, right?
The whole point of enhancing customer call handling is to make sure your customers get the help they need at any given moment. When customers get in contact with the right person, their issues will be resolved in no time!
