All week long, the MeloTel Blog has been heralding the virtues of VoIP telephony. For the past ten years, MeloTel has been introducing the incredibleness that is our cloud-hosted Commercial Phone Services to entrepreneurs all over North America. However, it must be said that no matter how great the quality of your phone services are, the quality of your phone agents must be incomparable.
It’s no secret that top-of-the-line customer service is a key ingredient to the success of any company. And that goes double for companies that conduct the majority of their business over the phone! If you run a call centre business or have numerous phone agents working for you, it is imperative your team masters some top customer service practices.
Show a genuine interest in your callers.
We get it. Your phone agents spend the majority of their days on the phone. At a certain point of each day, calls just seem to roll into each other and there’s not much that can be done to remove the “mundane” element of the job. It’s important for phone agents to shake things off. Showing a genuine interest in the things your callers have to say can often mean the difference between gaining repeat business and losing a customer for life.
“Agents must take a genuine interest in the customer’s question or concerns,” says Shauna Geraghty on TalkDesk.com, “This will make the process more enjoyable for both the agent and the caller. Call center work can be very monotonous. Agents should keep it fresh by taking a genuine interest in each caller’s unique situation, asking personal questions and attempting to make a quick connection.”
Be empathetic.
Showcasing your company’s human side will go a long way in growing its reputation. Never forget that many of the calls coming into your business are from customers who have problems they’re looking to have solved. In some cases, those problems will include personal issues. Whether the concerns are of a personal or professional nature, displaying empathetic responses is of vital importance.
“I’m so sorry to hear that news, I can only imagine how difficult it has made things for you” is a great example.
“Show empathy to the clients, not sympathy,” insists Nicolina Savelli on Fonolo.com, “Don’t cry with them, but let them know that you’re there to help and listen. You’ll take care of their situation the best you can. If the customer knows that you genuinely want to help it will calm them down.”
Work to build trust.
Trust is the most important element of any relationship. It doesn’t matter what type of relationship you’re in – personal or professional – if there’s no trust, the relationship won’t last. When it comes to the customers you serve over the phone, it’s vital to gain trust in order for them to continue to support your business. Long story short: keep your promises.
“Building trust is essential, not only for the interaction to progress smoothly, but also to build positive brand awareness for the company,” writes Geraghty, “Trust is based on ethical principles such as character and competence. It requires truthfulness, honesty, reliability, loyalty and integrity. In order to ensure that your staff is trustworthy, monitor for their adherence to these character traits and the values of your company.”
For a dose of MeloTel’s unbeatable customer service, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the Live Chat feature on our website!
