Call Centers
by the Numbers
We can sit here and discuss how beneficial it would be for your business to have and outsource its call center until we’re blue in the face, but in the end, it’s really just us telling you a whole bunch of information. These days, if you really want to put together a convincing argument about why something is or isn’t needed, you need facts. If this were the court of law, you’d need proof. Proof, by way of statistics, is exactly what we’re going to provide.
Professionalism’s Impact on Satisfaction
It’s hard to argue that customer service isn’t one of the most critical aspects of a business. If customers aren’t happy, your products or services probably aren’t being purchased. In recent studies, it has been shown that 80% of customers prefer talking to an agent on the phone. Additionally, only 26% of customers answered positively when asked if they thought customer service centers provided great support. This is compared to 49% of those customers who thought they did not. 80% is a fairly large number, and 26% is obviously not as high as businesses would want. If you’re not employing highly trained professionals to handle customer service calls, satisfaction can obviously suffer as proven by these statistics.
Ensure all Mediums are Covered
Today’s call centers are equipped to handle any and all mediums of customer service. This includes phone calls, emails and social media. A study by Forrester Research found that 42% of their customer respondents reported using Facebook, Twitter or similar outlets for customer service while 39% use social listening tools (software or third-party services). Customer service is so much more than picking up a phone these days, so be sure you enlist a call center prepared to cover all areas and mediums of service.
Skills Equal Satisfaction
One of the golden rules for call centers and customer service is to try your best to get whatever issue has occurred resolved on the first call. Not only does that provide the customer with extreme satisfaction, but it also allows the call center representative more time to handle other areas of customer service. Recent studies have shown that when a customer’s problem is resolved on their first call, only 1% are likely to try a competitor. This is compared to 15% when the problem isn’t resolved in a sufficient amount of time. If you want to keep your customers coming back for more, be sure to employ the right call center that is prepared to get the job done in a timely manner.
Additional Stats
When looking to enlist the help of a call center, it’s important to know just what kind of help you’re getting. In today’s world, technology is key – and that’s especially true for call centers. In late 2011, the aforementioned Forrester Research partnered with CustomerThink to survey call center professionals about the roll technology plays in their office. Their results found that 62% of call centers use IVR or self-service speech technology, 58% use workforce management solutions, 53% use case management solutions, 50% use chat solutions, 48% use quality monitoring, and 44% use email response management systems.
When you seek the help of a professional call center, the above information mentions the type of technology you can expect them to wield, along with superb support and professionalism.
