Last week we were at the Greater Manchester Business Expo. Once we’d explained what we do, we would repeatedly have people telling us we should contact a company they’d called recently, where they’d had to wait ages for their call to be answered, the music was terrible and once their call was answered the contact centre agent was disinterested and unhelpful.
In my experience the organisation I’ve heard the most complaints about is HMRC, I called them the other day and after stating what I was calling about the automated woman said “Garbage garbage, is that right?” I was then placed on hold for 45 minutes.
At the end of May Which revealed the UK’s most dreaded call centres. In a survey with more than 7,000 responses, there were three large companies which were placed at the bottom of the customer satisfaction scale.
Naming and shaming BT, TalkTalk and Scottish Power, the survey focused on several areas of customer satisfaction, from staff knowledge and politeness to waiting times and of course the dreaded phone menu system.
The areas the survey focused on are so important when giving your customer the right first impression, why would you torture them with terrible music and then let them be greeted by someone who is poorly trained in call handling?
The survey highlights several areas that the worst rated companies need to improve, but it’s not a bad idea for a company of any level to ensure that they’re doing the same thing to keep their customers happy!
Another survey carried out by Hello Operator noted that customers prefer unscripted calls, with 69% of those surveyed revealing that they would have an improved call experience if the agent they spoke to didn’t sound like they were reading from a script. Their survey also revealed how important manners are when speaking to a customer or potential client.
Can you say that you provide each of the following for your customers?
- Acceptable call answering times
- Phone menu clarity and ease of use
- Understanding customers’ needs
- Excellent Customer service
- Staff knowledge
In order to reduce the rage customer’s feel, take the first step by ensuring your on-hold marketing is modern, professional sounding and easy to use – call us today on 0161 850 3033 (we promise not to make you listen to awful music!)