3rd Party Remote Call Monitoring Feature

Lots of companies know just about every trick in the book to getting new customers. Yet not so many know how to really keep those customers, once they’re on board. Those who don’t pay a heavy price, as the cost of getting new customers far exceeds what it costs to keep those you have. Research firm McKinsey notes that 70 percent of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. Are you treating your people right?

According to a new blog post by Karyn Dupree, Director of Quality Solutions and Social Media at BPA Quality—a global leader in independent-quality evaluation, customer insight and people development solutions—she says that one important factor is to listen to the “Voice of the Customer,” or VOC for short.

“Capturing the voice of the customer can be tricky when companies listen to customer-agent interactions with their ‘corporate’ headphones,” Dupree says.

She notes that a book addressing this very topic, “Leading on the Edge of Chaos”, says that if companies reduced their customer defection rate by five percent, then profitability would increase by 25 – 125 percent. Many companies believe that their current quality of service is best in class; but, only one percent of customers feel that vendors consistently meet their needs, according to Forbes magazine. That glaring discrepancy can be rather costly.

As such, Dupree spells out five ways to capture the true VOC and consistently meet your customers’ needs:

1 – “Have an unbiased human listen to or read customer interactions with your customer service, sales, or technology agents,” she recommends. The best scenario is to utilize a 3rd party quality company or, if that isn’t possible, have the Quality Assurance team at a different location from the call center.

2 – Break down each piece on the scorecard into distinct measures. And, “Have a Quality ruler to ensure that all scoring is fair and done properly,” Dupree suggests.

3 – Calibrate, calibrate, calibrate: “Having everyone on the same Quality page is crucial when it comes to your company’s brand and service,” she says. “If supervisors are not coaching to what the agent is being scored on, then what really is the point of your Quality program?”

4 – Coach based on trends, not just individual calls. Utilize reporting to demonstrate best-in-class service and share among all service groups, so that the entire company is winning and so are your customers.

5 – “When listening to customer interactions, capture as much business intelligence as you can,” Dupree says. “Don’t get stuck on just the measures on the scorecard. Listen for additional ways to best service the customer and trends affecting your business.”

Finally, she closes with this caveat: “Remember, if your customers are not being treated well by your agents, you better believe that your competitor will accept them with open arms.”