improve customer support Archives - Page 5 of 41

November 9, 2024

Tips to reduce call center shrinkage: II

1. Forecast down to appropriate intervals:

A particular number of agents is needed at different times of day to handle typical call volumes. This number is termed as “Base staff” and varies by time of day or day of the week. It is said to be a good practice to forecast down to about 15- or 30-minute intervals and to take into account variations in both volume and average handling time. This would help reduce call center shrinkage to a large extent.

2. Employ WFM application:

A WFM application with schedule adherence allows you to measure call center shrinkage at a granular employee level. It has the ability to track the exact time spent in planned and unplanned shrinkage. It can help manage shrinkage in a suitable manner in the season based environment. Moreover, it enables you to calculate the impact of absenteeism, late individuals etc on the service that you deliver to your customers.

3. Avoid flat lining or rounding off the shrinkage:

You should avoid flat lining the call center shrinkage across the year. Instead, consider analyzing the trends related to shrinkage. The reason being, categories such as sickness, training etc cannot always be the same every week or month of the year. Also, you need to make sure that you use decimal points and do not round off the figures in the respective calculations. This is because even 0.1% has the potential of adding up to a cost over the course of a year.

4. Consider individual calculations for different departments:

In a multi-department call center, shrinkage should be calculated individually rather than for the centre as a whole. This leads a better and more efficacious calculation.

Individual calculations of different departments

5. Determine strategies that would reduce shrinkage for your business:

Based on the trends related to call center shrinkage and further calculations, base staff can be determined so as to facilitate a productive work schedule. Consider analyzing the data gleaned from monitoring the factors affecting shrinkage and discussing it with the entire team. Thereafter, you can determine and employ strategies that would work best to reduce shrinkage in your business

November 8, 2024

Importance of callback messaging for call centers

Callback messaging is a service that allows callers to leave personal contact information, either spoken or through the number pad so that an agent can call them back and they retain their place in the queue. This is very useful when call volume is high. This amazing feature offers the caller an alternative to either holding on the line or losing their place in the queue.

1.Shortens the call length:

Keeping your customers on hold for long intervals can cause frustration. They tend to loose patience with time and finally when the call is connected they often waste time complaining. Instead of starting off with the query that they called for, they angrily talk about their bad experience hence, increasing the length of the call. Callback messaging can help you start every conversation off smoothly, resulting in lower handle times.

2. Exempts call abandonment:

With high call volumes, call centers are left with the only option of telling their customers that “your call matters to us, please be patient” so many times. As a result, they hang up the phone and abandon the call. With the help of a callback messaging solution, customers have an option of receiving a call whenever an agent is available. This reduces call abandonment to a large extent.

3. Deflates telecom costs:

As a matter of fact, a PSTN line is occupied the whole time when a caller is kept on hold. Often, a toll-free DID at a premium per-minute rate. Callback messaging facility eliminates the telecom costs associated with hold time as no PSTN line is occupied.

Cost reduction — diagram of slope on white background

4. Enhances customer experience:

When customers are kept on hold, they tend to get irritated and abandon the calls. Since their calls go unattended in these cases, so, this leads to bad experience. Replacing hold time with a callback enhances the experience you provide to customers, hence, exceeding their expectations.

5. Increases productivity:

Callback messaging helps make more efficient use of agents by smoothing out the peak periods. this aids in improving call center productivity and reducing the need to hire additional resources. It further lowers the number of repeat callers, hence, reducing spikes efficaciously.

November 8, 2024

Why you should employ a predictive dialing system: II

1. Helps organize and maintain client database appropriately:

Making use of a predictive dialing system can help organize and manage the client database and maintain all relevant records systematically. In other words the manual process of manually scribbling down the notes is replaced by an automated one. Also, it can rework the call structure based on the record of previous calls, so the fear of misplacing the data is eliminated as well. Predictive dialing provides you a separate list of numbers which were busy or had received no answers, so that, you can call these. In addition to this, it also mantains a do-not-disturb log so that the manager knows who doesn’t want to be called again. The entire process helps filter the other numbers which don’t have any potential of generating sales so that the agents can focus entirely on the productive ones.

2. Keeps the database updated:

The predictive dialing system helps ensure the database is always up to date. Relevant information about the customer and past call history are taken into consideration. Also, separate call-back lists are maintained along with the time of preferred calling. The predictive dialing system automatically places the call at the right time, puts an agent on the call and supports him on a real-time basis with the relevant and updated information required to handle the call and solve the queries.

3. Improves administration-workforce relationship:

Sice in this system, workload is assigned by an automated system, so, all the agents get an equal chance to improve. This makes the work challenging and hence, improves the efficiency of each agent working in a team. Also, it helps improves agent morale and makes it easier for them to fulfill sales targets. This further improves the professional relationship between the administration and the workforce.

4. Cost reduction

With this highly efficient system, there is no room for an expensive PBX setup or an operator who manually maintains the call log or routes calls to agents. Thus, it helps in cost reduction to a large extent.

November 8, 2024

Advantages of using a power dialing system: II

1. Improves idle rate per agent:

Power dialing system refers to an automated telephone dialing system that connects prospects with agents more efficiently by allowing agents to focus on live connections instead of manual dialing. It makes use of a manually-configured calls-to-agent ratio based on which the system automatically dials the next contacts as soon as the agent becomes available. As a result, the agents do not have to waste their time managing list of telephone numbers and rectifying errors. They can simply focus on enhancing their interaction skills with frequent coaching and training sessions. Power dialing system ensures maximum engagement with the customers such that the agents are always connected to a live call hence improving the idle rate per agent and boosting customer satisfaction.

2. Eliminates time wastage:

Whenever a call is placed, there are a number of reasons for agent time wastage, some of them being uninterested parties, busy signals or empty households. Employing a power dialing system helps eliminate all these possibilities and ensures that the agents connect with the right prospect at the right time. It further eliminates unanswered calls, dropped numbers and automated answering machines. This is how time wastage is eliminated and unproductive calls are avoided.

3. Boosts sales:

Now, with all the advantages mentioned earlier, call centers can gain huge profits and long-term customer relationships. As mentioned earlier, power dialing system helps you eliminate time wastage, increase agent productivity, generate and nurture leads more efficiently, and also avoid missing opportunities. Collectively, all of these advantages lead to a bigger advantage i.e. boosted sales. With the help of power dialing system, call centers can witness their sales to get double or more. It further leads to improved ROI as it not only increases the quality of calls dialed but also the quality of customer interaction and hence, customer satisfaction.

November 6, 2024

Steps to design an effective quality monitoring process

Quality monitoring process aims at evaluating the agents in an effective manner. It is employed to identify the calls failing to meet predefined standards. Thereafter, you can make informed decisions to make the process better, faster and quicker. The following steps need to be followed when trying to design an effective quality monitoring process:

1. Determine and define the objectives:

The very first step of this process is to determine important goals. Once it’s done, these goals need to be defined along with intended results. Based on the goals and intended results, tasks should be assigned to the various individuals.

2. Educate the agents about the process’s merits:

When you decide to install a quality monitoring system, you may face resistance from the agents. You can combat this problem by explaining the merits. This would encourage them to support you.

3. Call selection:

Non-routine customer calls need to be selected for greater effectiveness of your QA program. These calls include the ones:

i) that were transferred multiple times

ii) those were either shorter or longer than usual

iii) that originated from certain geographies or customers

iv) that involved some particular activity on the PC screen of the agent

4. Conduct a monthly audit procedure:
Conducting a quality audit procedure can help examine the various qualities and skills like adherence to processes, product knowledge, call control, courtesy, empathy, accuracy, and clarity of voice. The scoring evaluation should be capable of reflecting the goal of a contact center. Moreover, scorecards or quality monitoring forms should be arranged by categories.

5. Make use of process maps:

Consider creating and documenting a process map for the call center’s quality monitoring system. The document should describe responsibilities of people, their roles, and the techniques/tools to be used. Calls recording should be employed and the agent must listen to his/her own calls from time to time to conduct a self-assessment.

November 6, 2024

All you need to know about call scoring

Call scoring is a process that enables you to derive additional benefits from efforts to analyze recorded calls for information. This process can benefit customers, agents and company sales and marketing plans. It provides a systematic means to conduct these reviews and identify the weakest areas of agent performance. Moreover, it lets you know the steps necessary to improve the agent’s performance.

Contact center call scoring can be regarded as a useful training and management tool. Scorecard is an essential element in the entire process. Using this scorecard and setting contact center standards, you can improve your contact center performance. Call scoring can be done by determining whether:

i) the customer was met with a friendly greeting or not

ii) he/ she was asked their name and was it used during the call

iii) the agent keeps a positive attitude across all customer contacts

The very first step in the call scoring process is to determine what elements are important in each customer engagement. This is followed by a process of knowing how each effort should be scored against these pre-determined criteria. As a matter of fact, most of the scorecard elements are fairly standard and are derived from dividing a call into segments. Moreover, the calls can be scored on a 1-10 scale, or 9 in the form of A-F letter grades.

A basic open-middle-close format is employed in many companies. This approach focuses on determining:

i) how the customer is greeted

ii) how the problem or question is resolved

iii) how the call ends

iv) whether the agent was able to answer all questions

v) whether the agent was friendly when the caller was hostile

vi) if any upsell opportunities were missed

Once the scoring has been done, the results can be shared with each agent. Additional training can also be scheduled in cases where the agent performance falls below the expected level.

November 6, 2024

Call recording and its significance: III

1.Enhances customer satisfaction:

The quality of interaction between a call center agent and a customer decides the efficiency of customer service which further affects customer satisfaction. Therefore, the agent has to communicate clearly, maintain phone etiquette, treat the customer with respect, maintain a pleasant tone throughout the conversation, and provide resolution to all their queries. As mentioned earlier, call recording helps management check whether an agent has efficiently performed in an expected manner or not. It helps managers to resolve customer complaints in an appropriate manner. Also, it enables the agent to play nice knowing that his / her call is being monitored. Moreover, this forces the agent to be consistently professional in all the calls.

2. Improves security:

An appropriate call recording system can be highly beneficial to a company employing it. It helps reduce inappropriate calls and detect any security problems. It enables you to monitor employee interaction to reduce inappropriate conversations. Call recording exempts the chances of agents using the resources for personal use as it also helps to reduce personal phone calls. However, all the call centers are required to inform the customer beforehand that the call is getting recorded. This, in turn, causes the customers to refrain from using abusive language on the call. In other words, a call recording system actually helps to keep the conversations professional.

3. Corporate liability and compliance:

As a matter of fact, even a simple miscommunication can lead to a potential lawsuit. So, almost all companies have the potential to face lawsuits. Hence, a call recording system enables your company to diffuse many such scenarios. Moreover, new and old government regulations require all companies to be compliant with their business practices. So, call recording also helps to maintain compliance with all these regulatory groups. In other words, it exempts any chances of you being prosecuted or fined.

November 5, 2024

Benefits of using speech analytics: II

1.Deflates operating expenses:

Speech analytics can help deflate operating expenses by detecting cost savings and ways to avoid spending money while generating incremental revenue. In order to tune a speech analytics application for a specific site, a significant investment in time and resources is required. This highly efficacious technology then filters out and provides cost savings data across the board. This enables the call center owners to avoid counterproductive spending and enhance their reputation among businesses requiring call centers. Moreover, it improves customer experience.

Reduce costs — Golden coins and red arrow Graph falls on white background

2. Reduces customer churn:

Speech analytics can help businesses/ organizations to curb customer churn. The tools engaged in this process can be used to identify the factors responsible for customer churn. It provides an opportunity to all such businesses to make the changes necessary to keep customers coming back. This results in improved quality service which further improves customer experiences and satisfaction, giving customers less of a reason to leave. Also, the more information companies gather about existing and potential customers, the better they can take advantage of general consumer behavior.

3. Improves customer experience:

This amazing software can be used for audio data analysis. This data analysis includes:i)

i) detecting things like emotion and stress in a customer’s voice

ii) the reason for the call

iii) the products mentioned and more

With the help of speech analytics, organizations can quickly identify a customer’s needs, wants and expectations, and work to meet them. These days, more and more call centers are relying on call center speech analytics to enhance customer experience. Organizations depending on call centers to provide their customers with satisfying and fruitful interactions can actually leverage the power of this wonderful technology to take their business elsewhere by discovering inferior agent-customer synergy.

November 5, 2024

Benefits of using speech analytics: I

As we mentioned in an earlier post, speech analytics refers to the process of analyzing recorded calls to gather customer information to improve communication and future interaction. The information cumulated using speech analytics can be used to discover information relating to strategy, product, process, operational issues and contact center agent performance. Moreover, it can be leveraged to identify areas in which contact center agents may need additional training or coaching, and can automatically monitor the customer service provided on calls. Easing out a number of processes at the call center, speech analytics provides a number of benefits.

1. Helps manage operational and performance issues:

Speech analytics can be used by call center managers to monitor customers and call center agents simultaneously. They can actually keep an eye on their performance in order to make sure regulatory requirements are met. Moreover, this highly efficacious technology can be used for coaching call center agents. Well trained agents are efficient enough to resolve customer queries which further improves first call resolution and reduces call volume. In other words, operational and performance issues that occur throughout the enterprise can be tracked and managed, hence, resulting in improved service quality.

2. Provides valuable insights regarding marketplace:

Not only call centers but the entire enterprise can benefit from speech analytics. As an example, sales organizations can leverage the power of this amazing technology to identify up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. The tools engaged in this process can actually be used to track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Sales managers can utilize the data gathered using speech analytics to learn about how a particular up-sell or cross-sell impacted a customer’s level of satisfaction. They can also determine how different customer demographics respond to the offers, using this technology. This does not end here! Personalized up-sell and cross-sell opportunities that meet a customer’s specific needs can also be created using this wonderful technology.

November 5, 2024

Blended universal queue system and its advantages

Blended universal queue, more appropriately known as the universal queue (UQ) refers to an advanced concept in contact center design. As per this concept, multiple communications channels (such as telephone, fax, and email) are integrated into a single queue to standardize processing and handling. In other words, the universal queue is essentially a combination of email, chat and other data enabling universal queuing along with call blending.

Importance:

1. Universal queue system provides a single unified workflow which integrates all the various trouble tickets, CRM cases, mobile, social and traditional channels into a singular entity so as to eliminate improper handling of customer issues.

2. This highly efficacious system allows the customers to opt for a communication channel of their choice. Thus, people who do not wish to talk over a phone call can use email or another such channel of communication while the ones who are comfortable with calls can directly talk to the agents for query resolution.

3. Blended universal queue system provides improved cross-channel flexibility. This further results in an enhanced user experience leading to a higher customer satisfaction.

4. As far as the business agents are concerned, they can leverage the universal queue to gather valuable insights and information available across the various channels. This may help them manage their customer care workload more effectively.

5. The universal queue system helps in increasing the productivity of an organization by providing the facility of optimizing work patterns of its employees according to the operational requirements of the center.

6. It facilitates a smooth delegation of work among the agents according to the customer priority, availability, and their individual skills. Moreover, this technology is capable of identifying as to which of the channels need precedence over the rest of them, based on the individual priority.

November 5, 2024

Call blending and its unmatched benefits

Call blending refers to the capability to make outbound calls while also being able to receive inbound calls, all in one easy technologically created the system. It helps in the equal distribution of calls among the workstations in a call center. This means that all the agents have the same workload which further leads to increased customer satisfaction. These days, call blending is being used by a number of call centers to maximize the productivity of agents without overworking them. This process is entirely automatic as an agent finishes with an outbound call and becomes free, a tone will emit from his or her headset signaling that the line is connected to another caller.

There are a number of benefits of using call blending:

1. It increases customer satisfaction:

When you allow your agents to take both inbound and outbound calls at the same time, a number of incoming calls lowers down. This causes the workload to be equally distributed such that each agent receives the same number of callers. Since everyone stays busy and productive, the number of net calls accommodated in a day boosts up which further results in a higher satisfaction level from your customers.

2. It helps cut down on expenses:

Call blending enables your agents to take inbound and outbound calls which cut down your need to hire more employees. Thus, you can save on your payroll. With proper training, each agent can take on the responsibility of handling both inbound and outbound calls. Also, they can carry out the task without sacrificing the quality of customer service calls.

3. It helps accommodate customers’ needs efficiently:

With call blending each agent is provided with all the necessary information through utilizing a feature called screen pop. This enables all your representatives to respond more intelligently to their calls. Thus, with sufficient information on hand, an agent is able to accommodate a customer’s needs effectively.

November 4, 2024

Your guide to speech analytics software

Speech analytics refers to the process of analyzing recorded calls to gather customer information to improve communication and future interaction. The process is primarily used by customer contact centers to extract information regarding client interactions with an enterprise. Speech analytics is somewhat similar to automatic speech recognition, however, it can also be used for analyzing the topic being discussed, which is weighed against the emotional character of the speech and the amount and locations of speech versus non-speech during the interaction. The technology can be leveraged to know about cost drivers, trend analysis, identify strengths and weaknesses with processes and products, and help understand how the marketplace perceives offerings.

Speech analytics applications are capable of spotting spoken keywords or phrases, either as real-time alerts on live audio or as a post-processing step on recorded speech. It can also be used for categorization of speech in the contact center environment to identify calls from unsatisfied customers.

Call centers employ speech analytics software to identify things like the reason for the call, the products mentioned and the caller’s mood. Speech analytics software is capable of quickly identifying a customer’s needs, wants and expectations if used efficaciously. Moreover, it also helps in identifying areas that need improvement for agents and the business.

Speech analytics software can also be used to monitor and coach agents. It can further be used for assisting in managing customers and their data. In the case of call monitoring, speech analytics software can help identify selling opportunities and track script adherence and regulatory compliance. When inculcated in the training module, this software can help to improve first call resolution and shorten call times. Operational and performance issues can be found and managed effectively through customer as well as agent monitoring.

November 4, 2024

Tactics to reduce your call abandon rate: V

1. Provide your agents with the right tools:

The tools that you provide to your agents play a crucial role in deciding the quality of their service. In certain scenarios where the agents are provided with complex tools, that they are unable to use appropriately, they take much more time than expected to handle calls. This affects the quality of customer service and boosts the call abandon rates. Thus, instead of using five different tools which are for free, consider having a developer create one tool that incorporates all the five tools and is easy to use as well. This will help increase your agents’ efficiency and ultimately lower the call abandon rates.

2. Find the appropriate agents:

Finding the right people to do work can help assure that calls would be handled quite nicely. With all the calls handled well, the time spent on one call should be short and there would be a lot less number in the queue. Thereafter assigning the respective tasks to the appropriate agents will help you be sure that work will be done well and there will be minimal or no delays. This further means that the callers will not have to wait for long time intervals and their calls will be transferred to the agents as soon as possible. Therefore, customer satisfaction would be an added bonus along with a lowered call abandon rate.

3. Make use of the right technology:

Though there is no harm, making use of old tools and old equipments but sometimes these can run slow and affect how agents work. This can, in turn, increase the call handling time and also increase call abandon rate. So, you need to find and use the best, fastest and most efficacious technology. An upgraded, efficient technology helps a lot, especially when you are multi-tasking.

November 4, 2024

Tactics to reduce your call abandon rate: IV

1. Know your customers:

This is one of the most important and effective strategies when trying to reduce your call abandon rate. In order to be able to provide your customers with good messages, good music, and everything else that would help you improve your call abandon rate, you need to know them thoroughly. Therefore, you need to go above and beyond to get the information that you would need to further improve your queue message, on- hold music etc.

2. Keep yourself updated with the latest trends:

In order to effectively reduce your call abandon rate, you need to keep yourself updated with new trends being used in the world of customer service. You need to be aware of the new trends in providing service. Moreover, you need to figure out those specific days of the week when there are a lot more calls as compared to other days. Once you have figured out the busiest days, take measures to lessen the burden and increase the call center’s capacity for those particular days. This would help lessen the call abandon rate and give your business more positive reviews from customers.

3. Train your agents appropriately:

Consistent training sessions should be held to improve the efficiency of training agents. They should be trained to handle even the worst of all customers. This would help you keep them updated with the latest trends and make them learn about the advancements in the technology. Moreover, these training sessions would help them perform better even during times when they are too pressured and stressed out. When trained appropriately, these agents can easily handle calls and provide solutions that are needed by the customers. This would effectively improve the quality of customer service and lower the call abandon rate.

November 3, 2024

Tactics to reduce your call abandon rate: III

1. Offer a callback facility:

In order to reduce the call abandon rate, you can consider replacing hold time with a callback. According to research conducted by Forrester, providing the customers with an option to hold their place in the queue and go on to do something else is highly appealing, with 75% stating a preference for it. Therefore, instead of asking your customers to wait on hold allow them to request for a callback. This will lead to the customer being immediately released from the waiting list. Thereafter, he can be given a callback as soon as an appropriate agent is available. Apart from lowering the call abandon rate it also leads to an increased first call resolution, thus benefiting the organization.

2. Employ omni- communication channel:

This is yet another tactic that can effectively reduce your call abandon rate. Omni-channel communication channel refers to various channels of support other than the phone. Employing omni-channel communication channel would definitely lower the burden and reduce call abandonment. You must consider adopting omni-channel communication to provide a consistent experience to your customers across channels.

3. Consider changing your on-hold music:

According to a research has shown that 71% of customers like to listen to music while they are on hold. Therefore, your choice of music plays a crucial role in maintaining the customers’ patience. As a matter of fact, the music played at the time of hold could be causing the callers to hang up the phone. Therefore, you need to check the analytics and see when the maximum drop-offs occur. In case it is after the music starts playing then consider replacing it with the customer’s choice of music. This can be done by asking the customers’ feedback about the on-hold music on social media sites. Based on their consensus, the required modifications can be made.

4. Change your queue message:

Customers tend to learn your queued messages when they call frequently. So, they tend to skip the instructions and directly press the required numbers as they memorize the sequence. This causes problems. Thus you can consider changing your queued messages consistently. This will help buy the agents time to finish up on earlier calls. Therefore, by the time the call goes through, there would be a lot less waiting time for the new ones.

November 3, 2024

Tactics to reduce your call abandon rate: II

1. Leverage CDR systems:

You can leverage CDRs i.e. call detail report systems to effectively improve the customer experience and lower your abandon rate. The call detail report systems capture information about which line a call came in on, the time it came through, how long the customer was on hold for, and which agent they eventually spoke to. It also lets you know if they hung up before being connected.

2. Manage the call queue efficiently:

Managing your call queue is a clever tactic of reducing the abandon rate. You can leverage these call detail reports to gain insight into your calls including the ones that never got answered. By knowing the KPIs such as who abandoned a call, when they called you, and how long they waited before hanging up, you can make informed decisions regarding problem resolution. Since it provides you a detailed understanding of your callers’ patience, so you can actually employ this information to improve the customer service.

3. Consider changing your welcome messages:

You can consider replacing the generic messages with a short welcome message which informs your customers that they are being held in a queue. As an alternative, you can also include a compliance message such as “all calls are being monitored for compliance purposes”. Also, providing them additional information will keep them on the line for longer, increasing the chance that they will get through to one of your agents.

4. Alter the frequency of queued messages:

As a matter of fact, callers would much prefer to hear music until they get through to an agent. Since in most cases, the callers get occupied with additional while they are kept on hold, every repetition of the message will draw them away from their activity, hopeful that their call has finally been answered, only to find out that they are still on hold. So, you can consider alternating between automated messages and hold music with varying intervals. As an example, you can first play the automated message and then play the hold music for 1 minute. This can be followed by another automated message and then the hold music being played for two minutes and so on.

November 3, 2024

Tactics to reduce your call abandon rate : I

As a matter of fact, callers do not like to be on hold for a long time and agents do not enjoy talking to callers who have been on hold. Bu8t these things occur quite often. According to a research, call abandonment is on the rise, as call centers are being asked to do more with less while facing increasing call volumes (growing at 20% per year). Moreover, each abandoned call reduces first call resolution (FCR) rates and leads to customer service inefficiency. This further means that a high abandon rate is a sure sign of caller frustration.

In order to deliver an exceptional customer service, consider lowering abandon rates as it lowers costs, improves customer satisfaction and experience. Here are a few strategies that can be employed to lower the abandon rates:

1. Consider increasing the capacity:

This is the simplest way to improve your call abandon rates. This will help in reducing or eliminating the number of customers that have to wait. Therefore, you should consider increasing the number of staff that you employ. As an alternative, you can also consider making changes to your scheduling or reducing your average handling time.

2. Be honest to your customers:

In cases where hold-times are an issue, consider preparing customers by placing a message in the interactive voice response system or automatic call distribution system. This will inhibit a sense of loyalty as you will be honestly informing them of estimated wait times. This will lower their desire to abandon the call and encourage customers to call during off-peak periods.

3. Increase your ring time:

Another useful tactic to reduce abandon rate is increasing your ring time, rather than clicking straight through to an automated message. This will help you gain vital extra seconds at a low risk. People are less likely to abandon calls at such instances because listening to the repetitive ringing sound is a familiar experience for most people and is less likely to irritate them.

November 3, 2024

Call abandonment rate and its elements

An abandoned call refers to a call or any other type of contact proposed to a call center but ends before any communication takes place. Call abandonment rate better known as “Abandon Rate” further refers to the percentage of inbound phone calls made to a call center or service desk that are abandoned by the customer before speaking to an agent.

Types of abandoned calls:

Short abandoned calls:
Calls abandoned in the IVR:
Transferred calls

Calculating abandon rate:

The mathematical formula to calculate abandon rate is as follows:

Abandonment rate % = [Number of Calls offered – Number of Calls handled] / [Number of Calls offered] * 100

There exists a revised formula for the above calculation which excludes shortly abandoned calls ( occurring due to various reasons):

Abandonment rate % = [Number of Calls offered – Number of calls abandoned in 5 seconds – Number of Calls handled] / [Number of Calls offered – Number of calls abandoned in 5 seconds] * 100

Common mistakes regarding abandon rate calculation:

i) Excluding short abandoned calls:

Generally, calls that abandoned in the first 5 seconds are excluded due to two reasons:

Customers dial the wrong number and only realize when the call is connected.
They dial the right number but think they may have dialled a digit incorrectly and then hang up and redial just to be sure.

ii) Failure to measure calls abandoned in the IVR:

The correct procedure of calculation is measuring the abandon rate from the telephone network side of the system and not the agent queue. But unaware of this fact, many people fail to measure calls being abandoned in the IVR. The reason being that they had chosen to only start the statistics from the moment that people left the IVR and joined the queue proper.

iii) Counting transferred calls as two different ones:

This is yet another mistake that people often make. It is not a correct method of abandon rate calculation if you count transferred calls as calls that have been handled twice.

November 3, 2024

How to deal with a difficult customer: III

1. Leverage the power of your smile:

Callers would appreciate calm and friendly demeanor. Donning a pleasant expression automatically helps your voice convey friendliness and openness. On the other, staying straight-faced, on the other hand, immediately removes that kindness from your voice. Therefore, try greeting a pretend client as you would on the phone i.e. out loud, first with a smile and afterwards without. This would help you deal with a difficult customer and please him/ her. Moreover you would not be subjected to hear hear more of a strain indicating that you do not really want to be talking to this person right now !

2. Understand that nothing is meant to be taken personally:

There are many instances where while dealing with a difficult customer, business owners or customer support agents take it personally. It needs to be understood that customer is being difficult due to past experiences with other companies. It is a fact that customers who have had bad prior experiences with other companies are often hyper-sensitive and read into things too much and often end up becoming difficult over the smallest things. Whenever any such case is encountered, it is important to calmly and clearly put the situation into perspective for the customer and assure them that their queries will be resolved in the shortest possible time span. This will lead to the customer being calmer and more cooperative.

Dont take things personally — Don’t take things personally

3. Business owners and customers desire the same thing:

A pleasant, happy and speedy transaction is what both business owners and customers desire. Therefore, while dealing with a difficult customer, business owners can resolve any disputes by letting the customer know they are willing to fully work with them to make them happy. Letting the customer know they are there to help will lead to the customer becoming less difficult and easier to work with.

November 3, 2024

How to deal with a difficult customer: II

1. Let your customer’s know that you care:

In order to deal with a difficult customer, numerous of strategies can be employed. It becomes crucial to show concern for the customer’s feelings. Your voice communicates your attitude when handling customers on call. People respond more to how you say something than what you say, so, try to be as polite as possible. Your words should be convincing enough to make your customers realize that you care.

2. Let your client vent:

Never try to interject with a solution or even interrupt with clarifying questions when your client is bursting out. In most cases, clients are looking to release their frustration. Since it is a part of the job, so, it cannot be ignored but a clever tactic can be your savior. You can mute your end and let the client vent. As a matter of fact, giving the client full rein over the conversation for the first few minutes helps him or her get out those frustrations, blow off some steam, and eventually, be able to focus on getting to a resolution.

3. Exclude the blame game:

Instead of blaming others or your company, use indirect approach or “I” statements when trying to clarify. In order to explain what went wrong, use either the indirect approach i.e. asking relevant questions before refunding or “I” statements like “I need additional information.” as much as possible. Never acknowledge that you or your company is to blame as it could lead to lawsuits.

4. Use caller’s name in the conversation:

Interjecting the caller’s name into the conversation is yet another strategy to deal with unfavorable situations and a difficult customer. Addressing your client with the given scripts without using his/ her name sounds a lot more formal and much less sincere. Once you use a name, you are suddenly speaking with a real person who has a legitimate reason behind his or her frustration.

5. Go above and beyond to solve customer problems:

Try leaving no stone unturned in solving your customer’s issues. Never avoid solving their problems even if solving the customer’s problem isn’t among your job duties. Try to get all the facts you can, and then tell the customer how you can help. This would further help you tackle a difficult customer as well.

Category: improve customer support

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