Your contact center is a critical part of your customer service infrastructure. Done well, it can deliver timely, customized customer care. And in a world where customers have high expectations regarding how quickly and how well their questions and requests are dealt with, delivering excellence is a must. Here are six key customer service failures you can avoid with the help of the right cloud-based customer contact solution.
1. Long Wait Times
Long waits on hold are a major source of frustration for customers. These can happen when your customer service team is understaffed or when calls are inefficiently routed, leading to bottlenecks. Combining a cloud-based solution that incorporates multiple ways of routing customers with an on-demand team of customer service agents can reduce wait times and improve customer satisfaction.
2. No Self-Service Option
While in many cases, customers are calling because they have a specific question, they need human help with, sometimes their issue is simple enough that it only needs a few button taps to be resolved. Activating an account, checking a balance, or booking an appointment are examples of these. Failure to provide a self-service option for these simple tasks means unnecessary waiting and extra work for both your customers and your staff. The right solution can help customers help themselves in these situations.
3. Being Bounced Around
Customers want to be connected with the right agent the first time, not transferred multiple times between different agents. Every time a customer is transferred, they’re effectively beginning the contact process again, resulting in a feeling of redundancy and inefficiency. If you’re frequently transferring customers or receiving customer complaints, you may need to reconfigure your automatic routing system.
4. Problem Not Solved
No customer wants to call up and be told that the agent doesn’t know the answer to their problem. Failure to resolve an issue can lead to dissatisfaction and a poor impression of the company’s knowledge and professionalism. Properly routing calls can help increase the likelihood that a question can be answered. So can “whisper” solutions, where the agent is able to connect with a supervisor while keeping the customer on the call without transferring them. A cloud-based contact center solution can help solve all of your – and your customers’ – problems.
5. Software Slowdowns
An agent who seems to be struggling with software can be frustrating for customers who expect a streamlined interaction. This situation arises when an agent is working with multiple, siloed systems and must toggle between them or log into separate accounts to resolve an issue. Shifting to an all-in-one CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service) solution will bring all of the pieces of your customer service delivery together, ensuring smoother, faster results.
6. Low Agent Rapport
An agent can solve a problem for a customer, but the experience can still be less than ideal. Personality, humanity, and understanding go a long way to ensuring a great interaction. Be mindful during the hiring process, train agents on the Dos and Don’ts of customer service, and provide scripts that can help prompt thoughtful engagements can help. At ACD, we leverage an agile staffing model to deliver vetted, quality customer service staff who can ensure a great brand experience every time.
Ensure a Customer Service Win with ACD
Experiencing one or more of the above customer service failures? Shifting your customer contact offer to an all-in-one, cloud-based solution with ACD can dramatically improve your customer service, ensuring great outcomes for customers, agents, and your bottom line. For more information about how our solutions can improve your call routing, wait times, and overall customer satisfaction, contact us today!
