Happy New Year! It’s time to look back at the positives and negatives of the past year, but more importantly, focus on achieving more positives in the year ahead.
For businesses, this sort of reflection combined with fresh resolutions can be especially important, and definitely more meaningful than the typical personal goals of “lose more weight and have new adventures.”
The corporate version of “What we can we do better?” includes looking at processes, operations, personnel, and even vendors.
One area definitely worth a closer look, especially this time of year, is the performance of a call center you may contract with. Your arrangement should give you the ability to make suggestions or set requirements any time, but once things start slowing down after the holidays, it can be a useful time to consider what works with your current set-up or if another company is needed.
Try these suggestions for what danger signs to look for.
- Your calls are going unanswered. You may have an unpublished number to actually talk to someone there, but it’s smart to see how the process works for your customers. Is there a longer wait time than you think there should be to reach someone? Does anyone answer at all? If your current team can’t seem to handle a large volume, maybe it’s time to upgrade to a company that can.
- Customer complaints. A small amount of unhappy people may come with the territory, but if the quantity increases, or more specific reports about the quality of customer service calls make it to your attention, it’s a good indicator that your customer call center isn’t doing its job fully.
- High employee turnover. Customers aren’t going to know if the call center staff changes since hopefully they’re not calling enough to notice. But a high amount of churn could be a big danger sign. A good call center should have a blend of new faces and veteran faces to serve as role models plus effective managers. If one of these is askew due to working conditions or internal drama, it could spell trouble, which could mean people leaving, or worse, communicating their unhappiness to customers.
- Your sales are dwindling. Is your call center staff performing to its highest abilities and accomplishing your goals of helping customers with their needs and driving business? Are you given excuses for them not to handle your calls and messages well?
Evaluating a customer call center can be tricky, especially if you’re also seeking efficiency within your own company. But it can also be positive– if your current call center is no longer up to the challenge, it might be a sign that your company is ready for the next level.
