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I recently came across Impact Learning's blog article: "Empathy First, Process Second"
So often the cheaper answering services are concerned with staying cheap: getting through calls as quickly as possible, procedures that anyone could execute without question, and hiring agents for as low as they can, even outsourcing to places like India and The Philippines. They do exactly what they have been trained to do, they follow protocol, read exactly what is on the script and get you on and off the call as quickly as possible to move on to the next call. On paper the call passes the checklist and would even be considered statistically efficient. What's missing is what makes you feel like you're talking to a human being and not a robot: Empathy.
The author of the article reflects on the call:
One recent call I listened to demonstrates this perfectly. I heard a customer telling the Agent that she had to cancel an appointment due to a death in her family. The Agent was "flipping" system screens distractedly and simply said, "Uhuh.… We have an appointment open next Tuesday at 9 a.m., OK?"
Did the Agent satisfy the Customer's need for a new appointment? Yes.
Was the Customer problem was resolved? Yes
Did the Agent show interest in that Customer during that “moment of truth”? Absolutely not!
It's not just empathy, but compassion, caring, friendliness and much more that makes for a great customer care experience. Very often we have clients returning back to A Better Answer after going
with a cheaper answering service because they could tell a difference in the quality of the call, and so could their customers. It has become so important that awards for call center quality, like the ATSI award, added a "Wow" factor, which takes into account the 'impression' the operator leaves with the caller into the grading process.
A good answering service will get the job done and follow your protocol, but a great answering service will do all that AND go above and beyond for your callers and your business!
