Customer Satisfaction Is Directly Related To call center Effectiveness

What's the first contact a customer or potential customer is going to have with your business? Outside of advertising and a web site of course, but those are more passive contacts. How do customers first interact with your business on a personal level? In most cases, that crucial point of human contact is by way of the telephone. Customers form a lasting impression about your business when they speak to a representative over the telephone and this impression can make or break the relationship.

As a business, it's in your best interest to ensure your front line to customer service is the best it can possibly be. Few things frustrate callers more than voicemail, endless phone menu navigation or busy signals, but an overwhelmed and harried reception desk leaves a company open to unprofessional slips when answering live calls and that can cost you clients. A popular option for businesses that are struggling to effectively handle the volume of calls they have to deal with is to outsource call center operations to a firm that specializes in providing this service.

There are a number of companies competing in this area, but make sure you investigate thoroughly and pick a provider that you trust. Many have popped up in the past several years, hoping to take advantage of corporate cost cutting; but there are communications firms that have been in business for as long as thirty years, and that says something about their effectiveness. Another factor to consider is the breadth of service offered beyond basic live answering and call direction. Established communications firms will have the trained staff and know-how to carry out advanced tasks that you wouldn't necessarily trust to hand off to less experienced companies, tasks like:

• screening job applicants
• setting up appointments
• emergency dispatch
• taking orders from customers
• providing information about products and services
• executive reception
• event registration

If you choose an experienced, professional and full-service communications firm to handle your telephone needs, the decision will pay off in improved efficiency for your company and increased client satisfaction.



About the Author:

Yvette Gains is a certified call center manager and consults in all areas of corporate communications. She has contributed a number of feature articles to industry trade journals, focusing on the importance a professional answering service plays in increasing customer satisfaction.