Increasing call volumes are not always a good thing!
Several companies miss-interpret increasing call volumes with the fact that more people are trying to connect with the business service. Well, not always!
Sometimes, increasing call volumes can be because of any dispute in the business service, which eventually results in increasing complaints/call volumes. This is one-reason call centers in India and BPOs around the world are trying to introduce some quick fixes to avoid increasing call volumes that deteriorate the business brand name.
In times of a pandemic, like the COVID-19, companies offering call center services may receive more calls from customers complaining of some system error. During such tough times, the agents need not get irritated and help the customers in all ways possible. As the customers are already suffering a lot due to the worldwide crisis, thus this is the best time when call center companies can earn customer satisfaction for their clients with outstanding outsourcing services.
Most companies outsource their customer support to a reliable call center firm because they want professionals to handle customer calls. In such times, when it is hard to handle the customers’ agony, some quick-fix ideas to limit increasing call volumes are obligatory.
Every company wants reduced negative call volumes and increased positive inquiries and to help companies with the same, we are here with some ideas, check out:
Differentiate the Calls of High Importance with the Low ones
Prioritizing calls can at times simplify the increasing hassle of call volumes. When the call volume increases, the call queues need to be prioritized with IVR systems based on the high to the low important calls. Not only is this, but agents can even seek help from different departments of their organization asking them to keep a check on activities that may be lifting the call volumes.
When different departments take care of not introducing something new and a check on previous services, it helps to reduce call volumes as the in-efficiency in the on-going services are checked.
It is well said that a simple change in the marketing plan can help eliminate all disorders. Thus, use the IVR system to differentiate calls based on importance and handle the answering services accordingly.
Extra Working Hours
High call volumes are alarming for any firm and the agents have to suffer a lot while handling multiple tasks at the same time. Such times demand companies to introduce bonus ideas and ask the employees to do overtime.
Since rising call volumes can be monotonous for the agents, thus incentivizing them with bonuses can help them ease through those extra working hours.
"The greatest asset of a company is its people."
- Jorge Paulo Lemann (Co-founder, Banco Garantia)
When the call volume increases, changing the existing staff’s working hours can also be of great help. Imagine a person working 8 hours shifting to 10 hours daily, and teams divided to take care of services 24X7. Won’t it be helpful in answering multiple callers 24X7X365?
Well, indeed such a change can manage much of the rising call volumes, nevertheless, make sure you pay your staff for those extra hours. When companies ask their staff to work extra and do not pay heed to their mental pressure, the agents might not be able to bring their best and may leave your company too.
Take Help from other Staffs
Call centers in India are famous among the top BPO companies around the world for strategizing the marketing plan well. Amid the plan to stabilize high rising calls, it would be great to ask other department staff from the organization to help in handling multiple calls.
Since increased call volumes lead to the most dissatisfied customers, which is why companies need to take the necessary steps on time.
When employees from other departments come together for some time to handle the increased call volumes, it becomes easy to answer each customer with the same ease and the threat of rising customer dissatisfaction is reduced too.
When call volume increases suddenly, hiring and training simultaneously will not bring adequate results. Thus, it is better to use the available resources and cater to customer satisfaction.
Allow Work from Home
Companies using software to ease their call center services can help their employees work from home easily. At times of rising call volumes, all that a company needs is more employees at work. How will they sustain that?
Well, allowing work from home is the best way. With the help of a cloud-based call center service, companies can easily manage work from home and can simplify answering services.
For companies that still prefer on-premise systems, various cloud vendors can help in easing work-from-home facilities. The important factor here is considering the right partner for cloud solutions, as customer satisfaction should never be at risk.
A check on After-Call Work (ACW) Time
Directing agents to keep a check on their after-call-work tenure will be quite challenging and may make the agent pressurized resulting in negative results to customer satisfaction.
To check the call tenure and to minimize it, there are some effective techniques to consider. What are they? Check out with us:
Train your agents to take notes while on calls. Wasting time on re-asking any query to the customer and re-thinking over the same wastes time and even effects the customer satisfaction. Thus, take notes about the important things from the call.
Encourage the agents to use acronyms as it helps to boost the speed of the advisors while typing, thus saving time on call.
Emergency staffs are necessary as they help the business at times of crucial staff need.
Analyze the Reason for Increased Call Volumes
While at times of rising call volumes, most companies hurry up to increase agent numbers so that each call is handled hassle-free. Nevertheless, at such crucial times, it is important to first analyze the reason for increased call volumes.
When the business understands the faults in the service that led to increased call volumes, it helps in simplifying the same and controlling increasing calls further. Every company wants customer satisfaction and wants to uplift the business processes. The same cannot be done without analyzing the pitfalls of the business and where the organization lacks in boosting customer experience.
Rising call volumes can be easily checked when the reason for the increase in calls is checked on time.
Analyze and address the shortcomings on the business webpage, check the IVR systems, and simplify the probable default that may be causing an increase in call volume. Resolving the same, increased call volumes automatically be resolved to a much extent.
Queue Management
Increased call volumes always result in long queue times. Customers do not appreciate providers who keep them in long queues to get the calls answered. Thus, to save customer satisfaction, companies need to work upon their queue management techniques so that gaining customers’ trust is not a dream.
Adding texts in IVR systems can help. With the help of a message, customers get the clue about the expected wait time and the message explains the client the reason why the queue time is stretched. Without a message, the customers might feel that the company is non-considerate about keeping the clients updated.
Keep the Staffs’ Morale Boosted
"Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first."
- Angela Ahrendts (Senior Vice President, Apple)
Call centers in India give importance to staff morale. This is one big reason the country has always been on the top list of preferred outsourcing destinations.
What is staff morale essential?
Well, call center service has a monotonous work environment mostly, which is why attrition disputes are higher here. Since at times of rising call volumes, an increase in attrition would not be good for business health, thus keeping the employees’ morale high is essential.
Help agents get some free time even at times of crisis, award the employees for extra hours so that they feel valued, engage the staff in exciting games while they work, etc. and you will easily uplift your employees’ morale.
Do not Emphasize too much on Callbacks
Providers for call center services should not emphasize too much on callbacks. Yes, callbacks indeed have the potential to gain customer satisfaction; nevertheless, emphasizing too much on callbacks can strain the services at times of increased call volumes.
When there are multiple calls to be attended, it is important to not stress over callbacks for some time. Prolonging wait times of other agents is not a good idea, thus a check on callback service to be done at the right time is essential.
Rather than stressing over callbacks, it is vital to manage queues and stress upon resolving the cause of increased call volumes.
Cancel Leaves
Canceling the leaves of employees is the most common tactic most companies use. At times of rising call volumes, most call center companies cancel their agents’ leaves and ask them to get back to work.
At times of an emergency, even the police forces do the same to meet the adequate requirements. However, here it is essential to keep a check that the employees’ morale is not deteriorated. When the agents are called off unexpectedly, they tend to come to work without the will to work dedicatedly.
To avoid the same deteriorating the business brand name, offer some incentives to the agents who are back to work. Motivate the agents with some games so that they do not feel frustrated working on a day on which they might have been resting.
Mood plays a crucial role in allowing the agents to give her/his best, thus, companies need to take care that canceling the leaves does not lead to employee attrition. Senior managers’ behavior with the employees plays a crucial role here thus needs to be considered.
Call Forwarding to Digital Channels
There are call centers that handle inquiries well on digital channels. This is one more way companies can reduce their call volumes through digital call deflecting.
At times of rising call volumes, companies can deflect some calls to digital channels. How can companies do that?
Well, this can be done by adding messages on the IVR signaling and informing people that if they want to avoid the call queue, they can drop a text on any online channel and it will be answered as soon as possible.
Isn’t it an amazing way to minimize call volumes and even check customer satisfaction brilliantly? Indeed it is!
Wrap Up:
Increased call volumes are a great cause of concern for any business. If a call center company is taking care of the clients’ call answering services, they need to handle all calls efficiently at times of high rising inquiries.
Thinking of times when the business might receive increased call volume, most firms outsource their call support responsibility to a reliable experienced partner that has professionals on-board.
Talking of reliable professionals handling the business calls, Herve Humler says, "I believe in the power of recognition and empowerment leading to great employee engagement. And employee engagement is critical to guest engagement. Employee empowerment and recognition is the core of our culture and how we achieve outstanding customer service."
The staff helps companies at times of rising call volumes, thus employee satisfaction along with customer satisfaction is crucial.
Thanks for reading!
