Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Customer support is important, and can make the difference between losing and retaining a customer. According to a Harris Interactive study of more than 2,000 consumers, 85 percent of respondents indicated they would pay more money to ensure quality customer service. The study also found that 79 percent of participants who had a bad experience with a company went on to tell others about the incident.
To help improve their level of customer service, many contact centers use call quality sheets to help guide their customer support agents. Theoretically, these sheets ensure that the caller receives an optimal customer experience. As Jack A. Dempsey of Business 2 Community points out, however, these call sheets are centered solely on the agent, rather than the customer, too often. Consequently, a call may score perfectly on a call quality sheet, yet still leave the client unsatisfied.
Dempsey recommends businesses rely instead on customer-centric call quality sheets. Rather than asking questions like "Did the agent say 'thank you for calling?'" or "Did the agent mention the company's name?" he advises companies to create sheets with questions such as "Did the agent respond with enthusiasm?" and "Did the agent listen for a complete understanding of the reason for the call?"
With this customer-centric focus, call sheets will guide agents to provide a more satisfying customer experience for callers.
