Call Center workers are Positive
A recent study by ORC International has found that 80% of call center agents surveyed found that service to customers was improving. In addition 88% felt that their company was committed to customer satisfaction.
Other survey highlights include;
- 88% felt that they can meet the requirements of the job
- 74% said they can achieve positive work-life balance
TRG
We're Not Worthy of Customer Loyalty, Execs Say
Companies continue to take customers for granted, and the relationship between company and customer is worsening, according to the 2004 annual survey and customer experience management report from Strativity Group Inc., in cooperation with CustomerSat Inc. The survey of 212 senior executives worldwide found: 59 percent claim they do not deserve customer loyalty, up from 45 percent in 2003; 83 percent do not know the average annual customer value; and 89 percent do not know the cost of a customer complaint.
Originally published in DM News
Cost cutting costs customers
Companies risk losing increasing numbers of customers if they rely on cost cutting rather than service delivery as their main call centre strategy, according to new research.
The latest benchmarking report from the UK company Merchants, funded by IT firm Dimension data, finds that while more customers are calling contact centres than ever before, the number of abandoned calls has risen for the third consecutive year. Dimension Data believes that consumer impatience contributes to a record 13.3% of calls being abandoned before they are even answered. The situation is worst in the telecoms sector where one in five calls is abandoned.
The report attributes this abandonment rate to the fact that nearly half (48%) of surveyed call centres cite cost reduction and increasing efficiency as their main commercial driver. Almost six out of 10 centres have cost reduction targets in their business strategies, while metrics to measure performance are based on call handling and throughput, rather than first call resolution rates (used by only 17% of organizations surveyed).
All of this is telling us that many businesses around the world are failing to grasp how to apply technology successfully to deal with customers, says Dimension Data's Andrew Briggs. They are fixated by their perceived need to reduce cost through headcount reduction and automations, when in reality these are the very things most likely to make customers annoyed, frustrated and even move to a competitor.
Originally published in Callcentre.net.
Ask the Experts
The following are actual questions posed to the TRG experts. You can pose your questions on our website.
Leaving Voicemail Messages
Question: "We are an inbound sales team generating qualified sales appointments for our Sales force. We get a lot of voicemail when we place our calls and I wanted your opinion on whether or not we should be leaving a message or simply trying to reach the contact later?" Lynn
Expert Response:
Unfortunately not every prospect we speak with will be sitting and waiting to speak with us. As a result we will get voice mail, frequently. Voice mail provides an opportunity for us to leave a positive message about our company and our services. A good voice mail message will increase the likelihood that the prospect will take our call the next time we call.
People often ask if we should leave call back numbers and generally this is not a good idea. The role of Inside Sales is to place calls not to receive them. If the prospect does call us then we are likely to be on an outbound call, so we won't speak with them. The alternative is to make fewer outbound calls to increase our availability for returned calls. This simply reduces the effectiveness of the team and will fail to meet the performance targets that the company has set. It is better to suggest that we will call them back or in the lead generation scenario to offer the SALES REP phone number.
The voice mail script should include all of the elements of a call presented in a brief and logical flow. In the scenario we have been using this could look like this;
"Hello Mr/s___________this is AGENT NAME from ABC Inc.. I am calling you today because I understand that you are the person responsible for ________ and _______decisions at XYZ, Inc. As you may know ABC is the largest ________ in the mid west and we believe that we can offer superior service. REP NAME has asked me to call you to set up a brief meeting to discuss how we can assist XYZ, Inc. I will give you a call back later this week to discuss or if you prefer you can call REP NAME direct at 501-555-1212. Thank you and have a good day"
How would you have answered this question? Let us know at feedback@thetaylorreachgroup.com
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