Customer satisfaction is a vital component to the efficiency of any call center. One of the biggest contributors to the success of any business today is consumer experience. If the facility is lacking in this regard, the competition will surely benefit.
There are four major factors in the performance of a call center. These are: quality, responsiveness, productivity and cost. Customer satisfaction is part of these metrics. It’s the job of management to make sure all four of these components are working for the company, not against it.
Defining Customer Satisfaction
The goal of any call center is to ensure a high-quality customer experience. It’s all about satisfying the needs of those who are looking for help. If a reasonable and favorable conclusion is reached, the caller is often satisfied.
On average, the global metric to strive for in customer satisfaction is 90 percent. This is achievable by making sure callers are addressed quickly, respectfully and having issues resolved on time.
In fact, it’s possible for a customer to have a good experience even if he or she still believes the situation to be negative. For example, an agent explaining why a person’s bank account is in the negative can still have a good outcome if there is mutual respect established.
About Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
A Customer Satisfaction Score, or CSAT, is a measured percentage with 100 percent demonstrating complete satisfaction from a customer. This is determined by various questions and responses to calculate an actual score.
The purpose of the CSAT is to give a company an impression regarding how customers view service. This provides a visual aide as well as data to show where areas need to be addressed to improve relationships. After all, a business in the United States loses $289 on average from a customer relationship that goes sour.
It’s safe to assume companies with a low CSAT are less likely to solidify loyalty among target consumers. This is pertinent because options available today allow customers to simply seek out a different provider of goods or services. With a simple search in popular engines, almost any business can be replaced by a competitor within seconds.
Measuring Customer Satisfaction
The best way to ensure an accurate score is to directly ask consumers what they think of the experience. Many people are willing to provide a personal opinion of an experience whether it’s good or bad. Depending on the services provided, there are a number of ways to engage the customer to respond.
Post Service Questions
Post service surveys are perhaps one of the most common methods of getting feedback for call centers. This is the questionnaire that is often provided at the end of a call and referred to as an Interactive Voice Response, or IVR. Once engaged, customers can choose to hang up or spend a few moments answering a short series of questions.
Surveys Via Email
Email is still one of the most utilized methods of communication since it became publicly available. This method allows users to respond to questions either directly through messages or through links which take customers to an online polling system. This has potential to be effective as it becomes a voluntary interaction for consumers.
SMS, or Text Messaging, Surveys
Some people will prefer not to involve email simply because they’re afraid of filling the inbox with “spam.” However, many will feel comfortable using text messaging to respond to service quality questions. Considering how text messages have an open rate of 99 percent, there is great potential for quality surveys to be completed in this platform.
Volunteered Input
Hosting a survey on a website is often an effective way to engage the audience. This is especially true if the results are made public. It works much like testimonials for products or review scores and can have a shaping effect on any business.
In-app Questionnaires
For organizations that have apps available to the public, in-app questionnaires are a good way to connect with users. This is in part because of how saturated society is with mobile technology. Essentially, someone can fill out a questionnaire regardless of where he or she is currently standing.
Improving Customer Satisfaction within the Call Center
Improving customer satisfaction should be an ongoing process. A call center’s management should never assume enough is being done to boost the relationship between a company and the caller. What are some of the more effective ways to enhance this relationship?
Providing Agent Training
Agent training for both call center technology and products offered is imperative. A knowledgeable agent can assist customers and solve problems faster than one who is lacking.
Improving Agent Morale
Morale doesn’t just improve attendance ratings and create a pleasant workplace. It also affects how agents interact with callers on a daily basis. If someone is not in a good frame of mind, it will impact the quality of interaction with customers.
Offering Multichannel Methods for Support
There is more than one way to engage people when it comes to support. Not everyone prefers direct phone calls. Things like live chat, email and website contact forms may be more effective for certain individuals.
Creating Communities Around Customer Service
Service communities are web-based areas where customers, agents and even random experts gather to resolve and discuss issues. Forums, social media groups, chat apps and other gathering methods all work to build this community mindset.
Offering Proactive Customer Service
Essentially, proactive customer support is providing service before it becomes an issue. For example, app developers will push updates in the event they find a problem with coding before people begin to complain. It’s the process of fixing a problem before a customer realizes he or she needs assistance.
Using the Data from Customer Surveys
Perhaps one of the most effective ways to improve customer satisfaction is by using the data collected through surveys. For instance, managers may want to work on improving call handling times if an overwhelming number of customers state that communication takes too long.
Boosting customer satisfaction is an important part of success for any business. Without the consumer, there is no income. As a result, call centers need to be vigilant in providing the best experience possible. Let the metric data guide the process of improving customer satisfaction.
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