Stories
Consume the Market
Consume the Market
Companies often say, “We are more than just colleagues- We are a family.” What are the elements within a company that can make this statement true? Ever since the masses within the population started to migrate to cities back in the industrial age in search […]
Editorial
Imagine a primary or high school student on the road to college without digital skills. The limited capability to conduct research, connect with relevant teachers, peers and stakeholders on the journey to their aspired career can be inhibiting. Ikumini Primary School On Friday, 9th July […]
Editorial
A few years ago it was quite easy to get business by traditional advertisement on print media. Times have changed and potential customers are flooded with ads on literally every platform. To blanket ads are not only expensive but as a business it’s not possible […]
Market
One lesson many businesses have learnt the hard way is that Customers always expect more. Customers not only want to buy your product or service but also expect you to provide a matching experience. That is why high end banks, hospitals, legal firms name them… […]
EditorialOne lesson many businesses have learnt the hard way is that Customers always expect more.
Customers not only want to buy your product or service but also expect you to provide a matching experience. That is why high end banks, hospitals, legal firms name them… give their valued customers super comfortable cosy seats, hot coffee and the like, while others let their customers faint on the queue. The purchase, complaint or any other interaction that a customer has with the customer service team should feel emotionally and intellectually satisfying.
That is why the most successful companies have employed professional call centers to not only provide a high end service but also save on the costs that might accompany hiring enough staff to manage the phone lines round the clock.
In the era before mobile phones and social media one could expect service provision during working hours. Today however, there are no bank holidays. Customers want to transact and deal when its most convenient to do so and that may mean outside a small businesses operating hours. Successful startups focus their precious resources on managing the business as effectively as possible whilst optimizing costs.
Each customer is unique and requires special attention when they knock on the “business door”. They expect to be listened to patiently.
A reliable multi-channel customer service platform is not only expensive to set up it is costly to maintain. Monthly fixed costs like staffing, networks, server maintenance and customer service training and management take a toll on the revenues generated by the business.
Outsourcing or Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) the name given to an innovative management practice where a firm outsources its customer service department to a professional company that expertly handles all the customer interactions.
Providing professional customer care is a must for entities that value their customers and clients. Customers calling in expect to be welcomed, served professionally and treated like royalty. Outsourcing this aspect of the businesses enables the management team focus on growth while a professional call center provides excellent customer service across all customer touch points, Tracking and reporting on customer tastes, trends and concerns.
Does Professionalism have a face? Firstly, to many people professionalism in the work place could cover different aspects. Secondly, Some of us will take professionalism to mean being dressed the part or delivering at work. Moreover, the HR department could probably interpret this as having […]
Editorial
Many at times we say something in a bid to express what we feel but we always end up using the wrong phrase which surprisingly most of us don’t know are wrong. How many times do we pick a phrase without getting it correctly and […]
Passion
Take A Peek What is product knowledge? You might be trying to figure out what this word means. In lay man’s language; product knowledge is the understanding that you have about a product or service. It is a key skill that each call center agent […]
EditorialYou might be trying to figure out what this word means. In lay man’s language; product knowledge is the understanding that you have about a product or service. It is a key skill that each call center agent must strive to have. The more your agents know about the product the easier it becomes for them to effectively answer customer inquiries. This in the long run will positively impact customer’s perception of your brand and whether or not they should continue using your products.
In order for your call center agents to have more product knowledge they need to have training sessions that are systematic. This means that the agents need to learn from one knowledge source and have a common orientation structure. This will reduce cases of contradiction and improve the chances that the product knowledge passed on will be more reliable and consistent. The trick is having continuous training sessions, no less than twice in a month however, the more sessions the better.
The most crucial way to ensure that the product knowledge sticks on your call center agents minds is by ensuring that they use the actual products or services that they will be selling to clients. This will ensure familiarity with the various product features through constant exposure to them. In addition the refresher training sessions need to be based on the actual experience that your call center agents are having with the clients. When you make the training sessions more realistic and product specific, your BPO agents will find it easier to put their learning into practice.
Your training sessions might be realistic and even quite engaging but your efforts will not bear fruits if your BPO agents do not feel motivated to learn. This means you need to come up with a compensation and incentive program that will motivate your agents to want to learn. You can introduce things such as bonus pay, paid leaves or incentives to the best performing call center agents during your training sessions.
Having a database or publishing reference materials that your call center agents can access easily is one of the ways of reinforcing product knowledge. These materials will not only help your call center agents to self-learn but also interact more with your products at their own pace. However you need to make sure that your manuals and reference materials are constantly updated to ensure 100 percent accuracy.
Customer service skills that are a must have for any call center champion “Oh no, I do not know how to use this product!” “Shoot, I am not happy with this service!” “Oh my, I need to get more information about the product!!” All these […]
Editorial
The public is under the authority of numerous entities from health, security, transport, safety, name them. All these institutions have dos and don’ts. Unfortunately, specific relevant information is usually easily accessible. Especially during an emergency. If you have an injured pedestrian calling for help or […]
EditorialThe public is under the authority of numerous entities from health, security, transport, safety, name them. All these institutions have dos and don’ts. Unfortunately, specific relevant information is usually easily accessible. Especially during an emergency. If you have an injured pedestrian calling for help or lost your bag at a waiting lounge. The first course of action is not to search the web for “how to” but to call someone for help.
Large government institutions, nonprofits and social service agencies all require a public service hotline to record and report information accurately and responsibly. Callers are expected to speak directly or anonymously and confidentially to professional helping agents, who are sensitive to callers’ needs.
A dedicated call center helpline instantly transforms service delivery by enabling the public communicate directly and get served. On the other hand the public entity benefits by collecting crucial data to enable resource allocation and deployment of services where they are needed.
When everything goes wrong, one hopes for a hotline to call for help and that the help come to their rescue in good time.
They say women are from Venus and the language there is different. To connect with them you need to understand their language. It is the same with every industry. “Double Park” means to park behind another car in the motoring industry. If you work in […]
PassionThey say women are from Venus and the language there is different. To connect with them you need to understand their language. It is the same with every industry. “Double Park” means to park behind another car in the motoring industry.
If you work in a call center there is a a unique mode of communication that employees have to adhere to. Having in-depth knowledge about call center jargon is critical. Here are eleven terms than an agent has to embrace.
Handled calls – The number of calls that came into the call center that were handled by a specific agent
Hold Time – Amount of time that elapses when a customer is put on hold by an agent (Normally less than 40 seconds)
Wrap up Codes – Unique codes to help an agent identify the type of calls. For example C.I for Complete Information
Ticketing – It is a way of tracking a customer’s queries or issues. Divided into two types. F.C.R (First Call Resolution) – The agent is able to close resolve a customer query on the first call. Escalation – Means the agent needs to send the customer request to the back office for further assistance.
Time Per Call Average – It is the average amount of time an agent spends on a call with a customer.
Preview Dialer – Allows a call center agent to view information of the caller prior to answering a call.
Tier – The classification of agents according to the level of skills and knowledge and expertise.
Remote Access – Ability to access functions or data bases from an external location via an internet connection.
Call Volume – The number of calls fielded by agents in a specific time frame.
Call Blending – A service that allows an agent to handle both inbound and outbound calls depending on the call volume.
Do you have someone working hard to shower you with success? Are you worried where the next business opportunity will come from? Who will close the next sale in your business pipeline or where your customers are going? Inbound Sales. It’s important to manage inbound […]
MarketDo you have someone working hard to shower you with success? Are you worried where the next business opportunity will come from? Who will close the next sale in your business pipeline or where your customers are going?
Inbound Sales.
It’s important to manage inbound calls. Customer care professionals are a key cog in the business. They proactively handle inquiries from customers/clients with relevant information that enable customers/clients make purchasing or engagement decisions.
After Hours Support.
Offering after hours answering services enhances brand promise. Corporates that have live answering 24/7 systems close more connections with customers. Customers prefer to have the issues they need addressed as soon as they face them.
Lead Generation.
Building your business prospects list and sourcing for new clients is a key aspect for growth. Lead generation is a service that enables you create a hot pipeline of prospects.
Data Entry.
Increasing compliance requirements and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations may mean updating your database with new customer information. Evolving technology and scattered customer data through the life of an entity may mean migrating data to have full visibility of your client environment.
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Market
Midas Touched The Romans were not accustomed to dealing with a woman like Cleopatra, who, as Stacy Schiff points out, was “a goddess as a child, a queen at 18,” and was “…a capable, clear-eyed sovereign who knew how to build a fleet, suppress an […]
Passion
