Let’s face it: Most customers would rather avoid calling customer service if they can help it.
In a study made by Mattersight, it was revealed that two-thirds of calling consumers already feel frustrated even before a single word is exchanged with a customer service representative.
The study reveals that the main reason is that customers are already half-expecting that call center agents aren’t going to understand their needs.
This is just one reason among many. It’s an alarming trend. On the positive side, it gives you a great opportunity to make a difference.
To go about doing this, you need to know first the most common customer pet peeves which are enumerated below.
1. The IVR Loop of Doom
The IVR system has always been a constant source of frustration for most customers, especially those who prefer to speak to a living, breathing customer service rep.
When a customer has to go through a confusing jumble of lengthy voice prompts before reaching the right person, contacting customer service begins to feel like an obstacle course.
When an IVR system makes customers feel like they’re going around in circles, they are more likely to abandon the call and might start looking for business elsewhere.
2. Long hold times
Many customers would rather be elsewhere than be on the phone talking to a representative, and it would only annoy them more if they are put on hold for long periods.
If there’s always need to put customers on extended hold, chances are there are infrastructure or organizational issues that need to be addressed.
It’s recommended that a more efficient system for pulling up customer information be put in place. That way, reps can address customer issues with minimal time and effort.
3. Seemingly unhelpful representatives
Customers hate it when a customer service representatives aren’t giving them a direct answer to their questions or aren’t offering them a quick resolution to their issues. No surprise there.
More often than not, the fault lies with call flow protocol and service boundaries, not with the agents.
To buck this trend, a call center organization can empower call center agents by giving them more authority in providing customers what they need.
4. Rude customer support
Customer support representatives have to be accommodating and professional at all times when talking to customers. It’s what they are paid to do, after all.
Customers know this for a fact. Since they are paying for the service, they know they deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect.
As such, call center organizations have to train their agents not to take it too personally when a customer is irate or rude.
It will reflect badly on the image of the company if customer service representatives snap back at their customers.
It’s not a good look, and the repercussions could be serious when one takes into account the influence of social media.
5. Call transfers
Customers don’t like it when they’re being transferred from one department to another like a piece of potato.
It’s even worse when a customer service rep tells the customer to call the right number herself instead of transferring her to the correct department.
This kills customer satisfaction. After all, customers expect the first person they come in contact with to address their issues on the spot and to get to the root of their problems.
Frequent call transfers often lead to dropped calls, which won’t bode well for your organization’s reputation.
What’s Next?
By acknowledging the most common pet peeves of customers, you are already taking the first big step in making the necessary adjustments.
Once you’ve homed in on the right solutions and implemented them to a satisfactory level, don’t be surprised when customers start to reconsider their biases against call centers.
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