Multichannel Customer Service in Call Centers
With the increasing need for better and cheaper customer care services, call centers are in high demand. Call centers are an essential part of any successful customer care strategy because, well, that’s their job. They are staffed with people who understand great customer service and who deal with inbound calls of any nature you can imagine, 24 hours a day. From angry customers who need to be pacified to customers just calling to get more information on a product, they experience it all, day in and day out. Customers are why your business exists and they are why call centers are a thriving industry. You need to keep your customer happy and you need to open up every communication channel possible. Call centers refer to this as multichannel customer service. When you outsource, you not only open up a 24 hour telephone communication line, you have the ability to open up other communication channels.
The answering service staff are experts at handling customers. Even the worst services are better than having voicemail be your front end warrior in the battle of great customer care. Before these agents handle your calls, they are trained on efficiency, how to handle calls, and your own brand. Depending on the outsourcing model you are following, a per agent or a per minute course, each agent knows your business and how to represent you before they answer the first call. That being said, these CSR’s are qualified to handle any inbound communication. That is essential to a multichannel customer service approach.
The multichannel model means handling inbound customer service queries via multiple mediums. For instance, call centers can answer your customer service line but they may also be able to manage your live chat service on your website or your click to call service. With advanced routing procedures, call centers today can even handle support tickets and respond to customer’s emails. Imagine not only having your call center handle your phone but open up other channels; that is the essence of the multi channel approach. It is all about creating new communication channels and staffing those avenues with qualified people. This means the customer can choose the mode for communicating that fits their needs best and you can be there around the clock. From the answering service point of view, this means each customer care representative has to handle calls, chats and emails. Each email that comes in or live chat sequence that is initiated is managed with the same fervor as a telephone call.
No matter which channel of communication is used; each is a form of communication. With multichannel customer services, the customer is able to choose how to contact you. The multichannel approach really puts your business back into the hands of the customer. Integrating with the web or with help desk ticketing systems is something you may have never thought a call center could do, but they are doing it & taking the weight off of businesses like yours. Technology is a great way to help human interaction and leveraged within the call center environment, technology can help your customer service plan blossom.
