How Businesses Can Improve Their Inbound Customer Service

Posted by Anushka

Good brands always excel at customer service.

If you have a favorite brand, you don't just love them for their products and services, but it is because of the unbelievable offers you receive, the high-quality services you adore, and the fact that they simply excel in customer service.

For customers, the quality and price don't hold that much meaning, but the relationship they built with the brands does.

And, this is what inbound call center service can help your brand with.

Customers these days need responses right away. Patience is not the virtue brands should practice when it comes to solving problems of their customers. It is their responsibility to provide adequate engagement channels so that the customers can discuss their woes.

Remember, happy customers, are healthy for brand development and reputation.

What Are Inbound Calls?

Suppose, a customer has a query, complain, or wants to report an issue with a brand's product/service. And, they are furious about it. So, you dial up the customer care number provided by the company.

Now, there are two possibilities; either the customer connects with an in-house call center, or a remote one takes the call.

In either way, the customer contacts the brand. So, it is termed as inbound. Mostly, these calls are related to product-related queries or complaints, or when a customer wants to get some information. Mostly, customer service centers are active 24/7

On the other hand, the call centers utilize certain tools to assist the correct distribution of inbound calls. Depending on the outsourced industry, the systems can screen the incoming calls and analyze a customer's request. Nowadays, the inbound customer support services have modernized in such a manner that they can review the caller history too.

Once an inbound call in connected, the agent tries his/her best to resolve the issue during the first interaction. Otherwise, reps also have to engage in follow up with the customer via email or through other channels.

The Impact Of Inbound Calls On A Business's Reputation

Despite the rising prominence of chatbots and other tools, customers still prefer to place a phone call. No matter the multi-faceted tools available as the consumer arsenal, and the use of social channels, email, and live chat, there are still customers that prefer to hear a human voice. Voice-based assistance will be an imperative part of customer service, no matter the innovation taking place in the same field.

For businesses offering inbound customer support, improving the current landscape is the best path towards customer satisfaction.

Ease The Process Of Calling

Customer service is not what it used to be before. As of today, inbound customer services are an integral backbone of every business, irrespective of the domain.

Although there is an increased focus on live chat, email, and social media interactions, the idea doesn't suit the human appetite of many. Also, getting issues resolved over call is much easier than on text, therefore, the reputation and need of inbound customer service in the market. However, if consumers encounter poor service through voice channels, they will lose all their trust in the brand. Therefore, never miss out on any phone calls that hold the potential of converting leads to loyal clients.

Qualified And Soft-Spoken Agents

soft spoken call center agent

A no-brainer way to improve your inbound customer services, still most businesses hire people not competent to take up the task. An agent should not only be qualified for the job, but they should be empathetic towards the customer. Also, capable voice agents can make every customer feel important and imperative.

All in all, not only does the quality of the voice channel matter, but the ability of your voice agents to convince and calm a customer can be wonderful for your brand. So, find agents that can say what a customer wants to hear.

Analytics Helps In Analysis

So, your agents are attending customers, but do you know how they're doing?

The only way you can improve is through analysis of your current stature. The same goes for inbound customer support centers. Mistakes happen, but you must learn from them and move forward. Inbound calls provide you with priceless information about their customers, the type of services and products they prefer, and the level of satisfaction they need. This data can be analyzed and fed into the system, so that the next time an agent attends to their issues, they have a broader insight about how to handle them. In the long run, analytics can improve, broaden, and transform inbound customer services.

Invest In CRM Tools

CRM tools are like the need of the hour, not to mention they can be utterly useful for businesses too. CRM tools improve customer services by collecting personal and social data about the customer, or record their previous calls.

This data can be pulled by an agent when attending a customer, streamlining and easing the process. This way, reps will be able to treat and handle customers better, browse through their previous issues, and provide solutions based on the computed information.

Minimize On-Hold Times

For a customer on a call, there is nothing more frustrating than being on hold for an inordinate amount of time. Moreover, you don't know whether your query will be answered, and when will you be connected to an agent. This uncertainty is the cause of irritation, which is ultimately blown over an agent.

Therefore, reduce the wait times, compress the hold-times, and assure the customers that their query will be handled instantaneously. This will keep the customers in the loop, and they won't be as angry as they usually are when connected with an agent.

Train The Agents About The Business

Reps or agents need to have a clear understanding of their clients. Only then can they handle the customer queries and issues better. Agents should be able to understand the pain points of the customers and answer them with confidence. Not every solution is handy, but you can only move around the hay if you know about it. Therefore, train agents about the brands they have to deal with.

Conclusion

Inbound customer services are a significant form of interaction for any business. With the increasing customer pool and the diversified product portfolio, inbound customer care will become stronger and needful than ever. They are the most commonly accessed point of interaction with a brand, and every interaction counts. For businesses that deal with the B2C market, inbound customer service is an absolute essential for them.

Tags: Inbound customer services customer support services customer support outsourcing