The link between your customers and your business lies mainly with the people who are answering your phone. The first interaction that a customer has with an entity is with a customer service representative. With that said, wouldn’t you want the business lines being answered by people who will make a great first and lasting impression? By ensuring that you have employees who can provide your customers with a memorable experience (in a good way), you can improve your chances of converting them into buyers and retaining existing customers.
The phone reps you have within your business should communicate in a professional and coherent manner each and every time they answer a phone. Your representatives should also speak with confidence, expertise and in an engaging way. Customers pay attention to more than you realize when they contact your call center. This interaction can make or break a new or existing relationship. Having a team of skilled phone reps to handle customer support is equally important. The idea is to provide a place where people can call to get the service they need to complete a transaction or continue the use of a product or service you offer.
Read on to see how you can train your employees to be great representatives of your business.
Hiring employees to handle the call volume of your call center is only the beginning. Providing them with the necessary tools to perform their job satisfactorily is also necessary. Having business phone systems that allow your employees to manage the needs of customers is important. Once you have an automated business phone system, you can proceed with giving your employees the direction needed to be excellent representatives.
What Elements Are Problematic During Customer Calls?
Before you begin training your employees, you’ll need to determine what elements of customer interactions are problematic. Write these down, so you’ll know what areas your team needs to address. You’ll need to focus your training around these elements, so that the right areas are getting approved. This will also help you to establish what your expectations are for phone interactions between the reps and customers.
What Happens at the Beginning of the Call?
When your phone reps first answer the phone, how do you want your customers to be greeted? Not only does this include the words/script that should be recited, but how it is recited. It’s important that there is clarity and courtesy being conveyed through the tone of the representatives, so to make customers feel welcomed, rather than than they are an inconvenience.
What Tone of Voice Should be Used?
When customers call your business, they shouldn’t be met with mutters and flat tones. Upbeat seems to work well for cable companies and phone providers that have a strong focus on customer service. The tone of your reps’ voices should also be sincere, to show a genuine interest in helping customers with their questions and problems. It’s important that this tone is kept throughout calls, even if customer are problematic or rude.
How Long Should Calls Last?
The amount of time your representatives spend on calls will vary based on the situation of each customer. However, there can be a timetable drawn up that can act as a guideline for how long certain types of calls should take. This will also help give your phone reps an idea of how to better meet your standards.
Do Your Reps Have Sufficient Product and Technical Knowledge?
If you have a company with multiple departments, you can easily combat this issue by having customers transferred to the right department for assistance. However, the reps that answer the phone shouldn’t be completely clueless. It’s a good idea to train your employees about the products and some technical knowledge. For more complex situations, the IT department can be contacted. Since prospective customers will contact your initial reps first, extensive knowledge of products and services is necessary to help convert callers into customers.
Developing Training For Your Employees
Once you have covered all areas of customer-rep interactions, it’s time to implement them into your training. The format can be in video, presentation or in-person. Make sure to allow your employees to ask questions, so that everything is understood and actionable. Test calls can also be performed to ensure that the employees have gotten everything memorized.
No matter how you decide to train your employees, make sure that you have everything included that will help make the culture of your call center customer-centric. After all, this is the point of access for bringing in new customers and keeping your existing customers happy.
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