A Better Answer Blog

As a consumer, there is nothing worse than a call into customer service. You really have no idea what you're in for, how long you'll be on hold, if your problem will be resolved or if the person on the other end of the line even cares to help you. Let us share a few familiar scenarios that will remind us all why we shudder to think of the dreaded customer service line.

Hot Potato

Scenario: Mark called his insurance company to ask about mental health coverage options. After spending an hour on hold, he spoke briefly with an agent who told him he needed to speak with someone in a different department. Mark went back on hold for 15 minutes, got redirected from the new representative to yet another person. Four hours later he hung up the phone without an answer to his issue.

There are few things that consumers hate more than having their time wasted. They understand that sometimes call volume is heavier than usual, and they are willing to wait a few minutes for service, but when they get shuffled from person to person and no one seems to have an answer, the consumer gets testy. Your call center solution should service your company in one of two ways. Either the staff can be trained enough to field most questions from the average consumer or they must be professional and courteous enough to gather contact information from the customer so the right person can call back with a response and the customer doesn't have to wait on the line.

No Habla Espanol

Scenario: Maria's son was arrested for staying out past curfew, and this agitated single mother tried desperately to find an attorney to help her get him out of jail. In her excited state her limited command of English vanished. She tried half a dozen attorneys offices, but after being met with a constant stream of "No habla Espanol", she gave up.

Demographics in the United States are changing rapidly. With more and more Spanish speakers arriving every day, a company that cannot communicate in both English and Spanish puts severe limitations on its customer base. Your call center needs to have a staff, not just one or two people, who are fluent in both languages and can move quickly back and forth between the two.

No One's Home

Scenario: Tim works 12 hour shifts, usually overnight, at an oilfield site. He needs to find an attorney to write a power of attorney document for his ailing father, but none of the offices he calls are open when he's awake and alert, and the few voice mail messages he left seem to be ignored.

People today work different hours and have different sleeping patterns than ever before. The typical 9-5 workday is too small a window to catch many of the customers that your business targets. A call center is a 24 hour service that provides a voice and a human connection with the caller, so they feel like someone is working on their problems.

The right call center is an extension of your business that serves you and your customers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Deliver the highest quality service you can, stop missing calls and improve the consumer experience by investing in a call center partner.