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April 25, 2025

All you need to know about high-touch customer service

Customer service at a call center is defined as the process of waiting for people to call in with a question and then answering the question or solving the caller’s problem. A high-touch customer service can be regarded as an advanced version of the traditional approach. In this kind of approach, the basic aim is to anticipate what questions or issues callers will have at different instants of time. A high-touch customer service also means evaluating ‘first-call resolution,’ which is resolving the callers’ issue the first time they call. Simply put, high-touch customer service is a category of contact center interaction that requires human interaction. Some contact centers train specific agents to deal with high-value customers and complex problems in order to achieve maximum customer satisfaction.

Software technical support systems employ a grading system for customers. According to this system, the low-touch requests may be handled through mediums such as an online community FAQ section or a customer self-service portal. Such that low-touch customer service often enlists FAQ sections or knowledge bases of articles with how-to answers. On the other hand, the complex issues may require the high-touch approach of a customer service agent who is well-trained in resolving these kinds of problems. In other words, high-touch solutions almost always require human intervention and guidance from a customer service agent for query resolution.

In order to anticipate the problems or issues that customers may have, a thorough study of the data accumulated over time needs to be done. This data is generally based on the types of questions for which the customers contact the call center. This can help identify areas of the program that require more detailed descriptions and information. This data can also be used by the call center employees for reaching out and educating members or customers in a more personalized and proactive way.

April 25, 2025

How to curb longest delay in queue

“Longest delay in queue” (LDQ) describes the longest time period that a customer in a queue waits before either connecting with an agent or hanging up. LDQ is tracked through two categories in call center metrics:

i) Longest delay to answer:

This is the longest delay for a caller before being managed by a call center agent.

ii) Longest delay to abandon:

It refers to the maximum time a caller waited for agent interaction before hanging up.

Delay, whether long are short is not at all good for a company’s success and reputation as well. So, the managers handling the customer care section of a company need to identify and employ effective strategies to curb these issues. In this post, we have mentioned some of the most effective strategies that can be employed to keep customers happy during unexpected service delays, such as being short on staff:

1.Transparency:

The managers should give customers clear and conservative information that will help them estimate their wait time. This reduces their anxiety level caused by the uncertainty of the situation

2. Deliver more than you promise:

Delivering more than what you promise is a clever strategy. Let’s take an example of a restaurant where the host can give customers a longer than expected waiting time, say 25 minutes. If customers end up waiting just 15 minutes, they will be delighted as they expected a longer delay.

3. Try to keep your customers busy while they wait:

You can consider giving customers something to do while they wait. It can help cover the issue and keep them distracted and can seem like time goes by faster. Some examples of this strategy are offering magazines or free wifi access to your customers

4. Admit delays rather than apologizing:

When you inform the customers about the expected wait time beforehand, they can be mentally prepared for it. This is far better than apologizing to the customers time and again about additional delays as it will only piss them off.

April 25, 2025

Tips to reduce FCD in a call center: II

1.Optimize call queue settings:

It is a known fact that customers hate waiting when they want to get their queries resolved. The best solution to this problem is modern contact center software. It offers various features to optimize call queues, reduce the wait time and thus exempt FCD. Some of its features are:

i) Queue to voicemail:

Using this feature, customers can leave a voicemail instead of waiting in the queue. This helps in reducing FCD to a large extent as it exempts the need of waiting a single minute in the queue. This further helps improve the quality of customer service and agents’ efficiency as well.

ii) Queue callback:

This feature allows the customers to exit the queue and leave behind their details such as contact information so that they can be contacted back. Whenever the agents are available, they refer to the details provided and call back the customers so as to provide them the required information or solve their queries.

2. Optimize your staffing:

This does not mean hiring a lot of agents but planning the entire process adequately. Optimizing your staffing in order to reduce FCD calls for adjusting your team size based on predicted call volume, especially during the peak time. Workforce management and efficient call center software can be used to do this. Moreover, the historical data can be analyzed to better understand the peak times, and staff accordingly. You also need to consider making contingency plans for those times when employees call in sick.

3. Offer self- help service:

In today’s era, customers prefer to get help themselves. A self-service feature on your website or social media profile will help to cut down FCD. By reducing the call flow to your contact center, it will further increase the productivity and efficiency of the agents.

April 25, 2025

Tips to reduce FCD in a call center: I

As we mentioned in our earlier post, FCD refers to a scenario where a caller hangs up the call after listening to the notice that ‘our customer care agents are currently busy, your call is important to us, please hold the line’. Fast clear down is a result of the fact that such customers are not ready to wait even a minute or two. This makes it a little harder to tackle FCD in an effective way but by making use of the following tips, it can be curbed to a large extent:

1. Consider employing advanced call center software:

All your call center needs can be met using the different types of advanced call center software available in the market. They help achieve productivity and benefit you in the long run. Using highly efficacious software, your agents will be able to provide exceptional customer service and resolve the customer’s issue in a very short time. This is because advanced software enables the agents to have all the information at their fingertips. So, the moment they start their interaction with the customer, they can refer to the available information and provide the fastest query resolution. Moreover, the software will help to optimize the after-call work of an agent hence, further increasing customer satisfaction and reducing FCD.

2. Train your agents adequately:

When the agents are not adequately trained, they are not completely familiar with a process and this impacts the call. In such cases, the agents are not able to troubleshoot properly. Also, they may have to get help from the seniors on the call which would prolong the overall call time. As a result, the customers may get frustrated with the inefficiency of the agent and ask for the supervisor. In order to avoid all this, and reduce FCD, you need to train your agents thoroughly.

April 25, 2025

All you need to know about FCD and its impact on call centers

A fast clear down is a call center term for a caller who hangs up upon hearing a delay notice. FCD is basically used for callers who hang up immediately after they come to know about the delay in reaching a customer care agent. This is a scenario where a caller hangs up the call after listening to the notice that ‘our customer care agents are currently busy, your call is important for us, please hold the line’. Fast clear down is a result of the fact that such customers are not ready to wait even a minute or two.

In such cases where a caller hangs up before the agents get a chance to talk, the call centers are likely missing the opportunity of making them satisfied and happy. For an exceptional experience, a customer should be able to reach an agent and get his/ her queries resolved without any delay. But this is not possible when the call volumes are high and customers have to wait in queues. There can also be many other reasons responsible for a lengthy or even short call center queues. Some of them, are:

i) Sub-optimal staffing: If there are not enough agents, it could lead to the calls getting piled upii

ii) Agent incompetence: It means, the agents may not be competent enough to finish the calls on time.

FCD has an adverse impact as it is directly related to call abandonment rates. Since customers call into a contact center to get immediate support and answers to their queries, so, they are less likely to be in a mood of wasting their time waiting in the queue. Also, due to a negative experience, they hang up and never call back. Hence, abandonment rates are related to customer churn.

April 24, 2025

A complete guide to call center analytics: I

In order to measure the performance of a call center’s customer service representatives individually and as a whole, call center analytics is used. Also, this is used to gauge a call center’s overall approach to customer relationship management (CRM) in a quick and responsive manner. Call center management uses this analytics to evaluate interactions, spot patterns, identify knowledge gaps, and make corrections through more training or other means.

1. Text analytics:

The term text analytics refers to a set of linguistic, statistical, and machine learning techniques that model and structure the information content of textual sources for business intelligence, exploratory data analysis, research, or investigation. It is extensively used to respond to business problems, whether independently or in conjunction with query and analysis of fielded, numerical data. Also, the communication with customers these days is not limited to just the written documents. It is also carried out through email, secure messaging, Facebook, Twitter, and other text-centered media. Text analytics, as call center analytics, can review and monitor not only the messages sent to customers but also the message they send to the company. This helps in having a thorough knowledge of customers’ issues.

2. Speech analytics:

The process of analyzing recorded calls to gather customer information to improve communication and future interaction is known as speech analytics. This process is used by customer contact centers to extract information buried in client interactions with an enterprise. Using speech analytics, companies can monitor calls in real time and unearth inefficiencies in their current model, and make process improvements, such as moving to a call script or developing systems for call center agents to utilize in order to achieve the desired outcome. Moreover, the technology can pinpoint cost drivers, trend analysis, identify strengths and weaknesses with processes and products.

April 24, 2025

Screen pop and its importance in a customer support center

A screen pop is an enticing feature of a computer telephony integration (CTI) application. It automatically displays all of the relevant caller and account information on a call center agent’s screen during a call. In order to match the incoming call against a customer database, caller ID , voice response or an automatic call distributor (ACD) may be used. This is done to identify the caller before the connection is made to the agent.

In other words, a screen pop is a feature that automatically displays caller information on call center agent screens when a call rings into the system. It is also known as automatic screen pop, automated screen pop.

How it works:

i) A customer or prospect reaches out via a phone call

ii) As soon as the call center software receives the call, it alerts the agent.

This alert includes information that there is a caller on the line and other relevant caller information found in the system. A screen pop can pull the data from a number of sources. As an example, some of this information can be pulled from public databases like data.com. However, the main information present in a screen pop should come from a company’s robust database as accessed through their call center software and helpdesk systems.

A number of advanced call center software solutions allow for customized screen pops, where companies can choose specific information to be displayed. Generally, this may include the caller’s name, phone number, address, email address, company, job title, information entered in your IVR, and other relevant information.

The screen pop feature is of utmost importance for a customer support center as it is a way to ensure that call center agents are primed to help customers even before the call is answered. Also, it is easy and automatic. Moreover, it allows agents to personalize conversations from the get-go, which improves customer satisfaction. This personalized service speeds up call resolution and helps your company stand out of the crowd.

April 23, 2025

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

April 23, 2025

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.

April 21, 2025

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.

April 20, 2025

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.

April 20, 2025

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.

April 19, 2025

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.

April 19, 2025

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.

April 18, 2025

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.

April 18, 2025

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.

April 18, 2025

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.

April 18, 2025

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.

April 18, 2025

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.

April 17, 2025

Strategies to improve first call resolution stats: III

1. Avoid conflicting metrics:

Call centers make use of a number of metrics to determine quality and profitability. Some of these metrics are business oriented and others are customer oriented. In order to boost the first call resolution stats, the metrics provided by the call center should be clear enough in order to avoid any confusion. Let’s take an example of conflicting metrics: If the focus is on reducing the time per call the call centers might find FCR rates falling as agents would be looking to wrap up the call as soon as possible, irrespective of the customer issues. Thus, the call center metrics should be exempted of all sorts of confusions.

2. Make use of agent feedback:

Agent feedback is yet another tactic of improving first call resolution stats. This requires instituting a system of soliciting feedback from your agents. Since they deal with customers all day long, they can provide insights on what changes can be made to improve FCR rate. These agent feedbacks can be used to ask about workflow, systems and processes that need to be tweaked or implemented to achieve higher rates.

3. Ensure the proper functioning of your IVR system:

A properly functioning IVR system is highly recommended for improving first call resolution rates. It exempts customer frustration so that do not hang up. Moreover, this improves the efficiency of the call center system.

4. Ensure proper resource access to the agents:

There are instances where given the dozens of applications agents need to deal with on each call, they aren’t able to quickly access that information. This causes customers to be transferred multiple times which further leads to customer dissatisfaction. Another common hurdle to first call resolution is that agents are not given the authority to deal with issues beyond the basic, such as dealing with returns, offering discounts, etc. and then the customer call gets forwarded. Therefore, providing proper access to resources can help your agents work efficiently and hence increase FCR stats.

Tag: customers

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