For call centers – or any enterprise that provides a product – it is imperative to remember that shipping, supplying and updating a product isn’t enough. It is important to actively deal with the consumer; to not only listen to their needs, but to actively help resolve them.
One of the easiest solutions to customer complaints and criticisms is the extension of a simple concept that should already be implemented. The most basic form of this is acting upon the knowledge that already exists within the company. The right call center software should make this a relatively easy process, as building a database to work within and to communicate agent-to-agent and agent-to-supervisor is a system that is already in play. With histories, knowledge and resources that are already cataloged, it should be easy to address and expand upon customer interactions in a consistent and effective manner.
Sure, this is good and well, but this idea needs to be taken a step further.
More specifically, companies need to use the information at their disposal to not just solve problems that are presented to them. They need to utilize these interactions and use them as a tool to help grow company resources. Oracle’s 2011 Customer Experience Impact Report shows that 57 percent of customers feel that companies they interact with are clueless, and that it can often feel like the consumer is more knowledgeable about the company than the agent that they are interacting with.
To head this off, properly empowering the agent is one step. Teaching them to think critically about the company, problems and customer needs is the next. The agent needs to not just resolve a given issue, but be able to ensure that it won’t happen again.
Acting on and thinking critically about new knowledge gives companies a way to not only ensure its future use, but to ensure the quality of the call center customer’s overall experience.
