Getting Ahead of Customer Complaints in the Call Center

The call center is the front line for customer service, serving as a typical initial point of contact. Each interaction poses the opportunity to build loyalty and invite repeat business or serve to further frustrate. It is integral that customer service is in the business of delivering customer service. Let’s take a look at a few tips for taking a more proactive approach to customer complaints.

Quality assurance solutions are quite effective in enhancing contact center operations and this is crucial in agent onboarding and training. Beyond suggesting each agent answer the phone with a smile, it is important to ensure each agent is aware of ways to actively discover and resolve issues – without a customer needing to say anything. An added benefit of this approach is it usually results in an agent pinpointing a problem in a process, and leads to more efficient and effective operations.

Managing expectations is something people do on a regular basis. And in between sales and fulfillment, sometimes there is a bit of a customer expectations gap. Whether it’s a simple miscommunication or undeliverable promise by sales, it is vital to clearly illustrate what the customer should expect while conducting business. This starts with training, manifests with culture and is then clearly communicated. It’s a lot easier to keep customers from complaining, if they don’t have something to complain about.

An untapped resource for far too many call centers is customer feedback. Provide customers with an easy way to deliver their opinions on their experience, and pain points along the way. The firsthand perspective is invaluable. Additionally, customers can provide the building blocks for future products. Customers will tell you what they want, you just have to listen.

A quality customer experience is something that starts with call center management and is delivered with an investment in call center agents. These are just a few tips to help your call center stay ahead of the game when it comes to avoiding customer complaints.

Edited by Maurice Nagle

Share this Page