How Contact Centres Can Turn Customer Irritation Into Satisfaction

As much as you want to keep your customers happy at all times, sometimes things do go wrong.

It is how you handle when things go wrong that customers will remember, and this could make or break your relationship with that customer.

It is important to have processes in place which can help turn your customer irritation into satisfaction – and this article will help you see how contact centres can help you in a difficult situation with a customer.

Read on to see how contact centres can help turn customer irritation into satisfaction…

Contact Centres Keep Communication Open

Firstly, a hosted contact centre keeps communications between you and your customers open and running freely.

Contact centres can be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and so customers are reassured that they can contact you at a time to suit them, rather than having to take time out of their busy schedules – causing further annoyance. 

This immediately shows a customer that you are willing to invest in your customer service and work with them to solve their issue.

You can hire agents anywhere in the world, so language shouldn’t be a problem as the customer can connect to the most appropriate agent online no matter where that agent is based, as long as they have an internet connection. 

With 99.95% uptime, communications are unlikely to fail so you can be confident that you will be able to deliver great customer service at the times advertised to your customers too, without any embarrassing cut-outs during calls.

Save Detailed Notes To Pass From Agent To Agent

Once a customer has contacted your contact centre, Acefone’s online portal gives agents the chance to upload detailed notes on that customer’s records.

These notes can tell other agents exactly where any complaints are up to, without the customer having to repeat themselves every time they call.

Customers having to repeat themselves on each call may cause them even more annoyance, as they just want their problem resolved.

So, keeping detailed and accurate notes is important so any agent no matter what their knowledge of the customer can pick up where the last agent left off and continue delivering a great service.

The customer will be impressed that you have gone to the trouble of making a note of their situation and that you have gone out of your way to make their life that little bit easier.

Access Call Recordings Through The Online Portal

In the event of a dispute, you must have all of the information and evidence you need to protect your staff and business.

Call recordings are easily accessible from Acefone’s online portal and are a vital tool in getting to the bottom of a customer query.

You can simply listen back through customer calls to find out where something went wrong and can ascertain who may have been at fault and use this information to decide how to proceed with a solution.

Call recordings are a great way to ensure that your business is protected from any accusations, and can also be used to find out where communications broke down.

This can then be used to train staff further to ensure it does not happen again.

Once you have solved the customer’s issue, you can reassure them that the call will be used for training purposes to ensure that the same issue does not occur again, showing them you are truly sorry for their issues and are putting measures in place with your staff to prevent anything going wrong again. 

Showing you care about customer experience in this way means customers are less likely to leave and will feel more confident in using your services again.

Use IVR To Help Customers Reach The Right Person

Keeping notes for other agents is great if the customer is unsure where they need to go to get their problem resolved, but another solution could be to employ an IVR system.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) allows customers to choose a department from a range of options – all customised by you.

If customers can listen to the options and choose their preferred department this gives your contact centre more of a chance to solve the problem on the first call, which saves agents passing the customer around and needing to make notes.

Solving customer queries on the first call are ideal for contact centre managers, as this gives less time for something to go wrong or for the customer to go to a competitor.

Even when things go wrong, if a customer can have their problem solved quickly they will be completely satisfied and will continue doing business with you knowing you are on hand to solve their issues quickly and efficiently.

Allow Agents To Work Collaboratively

A contact centre gives agents the unique opportunity to work collaboratively, even if they are based in different parts of the world.

They can conference call to share expertise, transfer calls when they need help, send messages through their phone systems, communicate through notes on Acefone’s online portal and much more. 

If agents can work collaboratively, then any customer problems they come across can be solved together drawing on the expertise of each agent.

Although this will be behind the scenes, the customer will benefit from a speedy solution which could come from your agents working together and sharing vital information.

Fostering a collaborative atmosphere in the workplace can be challenging, particularly if staff are not physically present in the same place.

But done correctly this could elevate your customer service and ensure that any irritated customers benefit from your staff’s experience and get a speedy solution to any issues they present.

Overall, a contact centre gives you plenty of opportunities to turn dissatisfied customers into loyal happy customers.

If staff in your contact centre work together and ensure that they communicate openly with each other and with customers, it is simple to change customer irritation into satisfaction. 

To find out more about hosted contact centres, call our expert team on 0800-084-3663.

Acefone Editor

Acefone provides a broad range of cloud communication services to businesses of all sizes, which includes Hosted Phone Systems, Free Phone Numbers, and Cloud Contact Center Solutions. Being the UK’s leading provider of VoIP service provider, we always strive to provide excellent customer service and high-quality custom solutions to our customers.