How Leveraging a Virtual PBX Change Turns Customers' Frowns Upside Down

No matter how robust your technology suite is, without a growing and extremely satisfied customer base, a business won’t remain profitable for very long. I’m sure that you have been in this situation in at least one point in your life: You purchased a very expensive innovation, whether it was a new smartphone or computer, and after not being able to overcome a problem on your own, found yourself getting even more frustrated by the long wait time you were forced to suffer through when dealing with the company’s customer care division.

Infuriated customers can make a major impact on your firm’s bottom line. According to Shep Hyken, author of “The Amazement Revolution: Seven Customer Service Strategies to Create an Amazing Customer (and Employee)” and international customer service speaker, “Someone who calls a customer service line is most likely already pretty upset. But if they get bad service on the other end or can’t reach anyone at all, leads to even higher levels of anxiety and anger.”

The first piece of advice is to realize the sheer vitality of always being accessible to the customer. When deciding to purchase a product, the last thing the buyer wants to do is wait days upon days to understand what the specific problem they are encountering is being caused by and how to fix it. Needless to say, if they call your contact center and it happens for one reason or another to be closed, it is likely they won’t be buying anything from you ever again. Running a center that is open 24/7, 365 days a year can drive customer satisfaction rates through the roof.

 Second, being empathetic towards consumers’ troubles goes a long way in enhancing their overall experience. Enabling a consumer to feel as if the issue they are currently dealing with is truly important to your firm can quickly change the outcome of any scenario. According to Hyken, be sure your agents kick off the conversation by expressing that not only do they understand the problem, but they will take the exact steps needed to remedy the situation rapidly. “As long as you make them feel like you now own their problem, they will calm down,” he added.

 Next, it is key that you completely comprehend what the customer is dealing with. To do this, you should right away clarify that what you think is going on is actually what is taking place. The more details you get from the customer from the very beginning, the simpler it will be to get to the root of the problem.

Fourth, try to avoid involving your manager when possible. The last thing an annoyed consumer wants to here is, “Hold on I need to ask my manager about that.” As long as what the client is asking for won’t hurt the company or cause it to lose money, in most cases answering with a “yes” will show your customer base that your agent knows what they are doing and will do whatever they can to assist the caller.

As you can see, multiple steps should be taken if you wish to not only continue to expand your company footprint but also build loyalty amongst customers for the long term.

Edited by Alisen Downey