Best Practices for Call Center Customer Service

September 7, 2017
Best Practices for Call Center Customer Service
Call center customer service is a crucial asset for your company. It is the first opportunity you have to improve customer satisfaction. Technology has increased the number of calls handled; however, call center customer service relies upon the live agents as well. For superior call center customer service, you must implement best practices to ensure both customer and agent satisfaction. By implementing these best practices, you will ensure the quality of every call.

Effective Communication

This means more than communication between the agent and the caller. Your agents need prompt alerts to anything that may result in angry calls from consumers. Service outages or product recalls will undoubtedly impact call volume. With real-time information at hand, your agents will be prepared for the challenging calls, and this improves call center customer service. In addition, your agents need consistent, constructive feedback about performance.

Consistent Feedback

Today’s mobile environment has created a landscape of instant, continual information. Your agents, in particular Millennials, are highly driven by constructive feedback and acknowledgment of their achievements. By sharing real-time data on their performance through metrics, you will keep them informed about their successes while creating a healthy atmosphere of competition to improve their numbers compared to their peers.

Improve Morale

It is unfortunate, but call centers have significantly high turnover rates in America. Your agents spend their days listening to and resolving customer complaints, which can result in a pervasive sense of negativity. By highlighting successes frequently, you can help improve your call center customer service by improving your employees’ morale. That positive feeling will be reflected in their voices and tone with your customers.

Focus on Other Metrics

Every call center focuses on metrics to rate their agent’s performance. However, the key metrics that rate the length of the call and keeping to the script can seem cold. You do want high productivity, but you also want happy, satisfied customers who aren’t rushed through their experience. Take into account other metrics as well, such as first call resolution and customer satisfaction surveys. The best call center customer service practices will use a combination of data to evaluate the overall performance.

Use Visuals

Call center metrics and key performance indicators are much easier to understand through easy-to-read graphics. Managers and agents alike will be able to meet goals more efficiently, and you can program alerts when the metrics fall out of certain ranges. Using color coding will transcend any language barriers, and agents can quickly see areas of opportunity for improvement. This type of real-time data visualization will motivate your managers and agents to achieve their goals and provide excellent customer service.

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