Call handling - a framework for success

Call handling done well can contribute significantly to business success, but without the right framework to support it, the opposite is also true. If customer calls are unanswered, a backlog of leads accumulated, or enquiries poorly handled, your brand reputation and your bottom line will suffer.

So, what needs to be in place to ensure you get the most from your call handling service?

Let’s look at the key elements of a best practice framework.

Customer experience design (CX)

Today’s buyers assign significant value to a positive experience with a brand. Recent research by IBM shows that businesses that prioritise CX drive three times more revenue growth.

Good CX design should be a priority in general, but it can really help you target your call handling effectively. Identifying gaps in the customer journey, backlogs, points of high churn, as well as peaks and troughs in call volumes will flush out areas where call handling expertise can smooth and improve the customer experience. It will also pinpoint touch points that provide an opportunity to wow and delight customers, bottlenecks where revenue is being left on the table or sales opportunities missed.

Employee satisfaction

An expert call handling service that elevates CX needs skilled, trained, and motivated staff. Customers reaching out via phone are looking for the caring, empathetic support of a real human who can provide high-quality, responsive care and resolve their issue effectively.

However, attracting and retaining skilled staff is one of the most difficult challenges for employers today. It requires not only the right compensation, but a package of support including:

• A well-defined career-path

• Structured training and coaching

• Tools that enable staff to do their job well

• A supportive working environment

• A sense of value and appreciation

By investing in these areas and ensuring your staff are happy and motivated, you equip them well to deliver a positive experience for your customers.

Systems and measurement

Employee engagement can be reinforced by measures and rewards that drive the right behaviours. A bespoke platform can provide visibility of how your call handling function is performing, so you can manage resources, balance peaks and troughs in call flow and meet client SLAs (Service Level Agreements).

Typical measures might include:

• Average Handling Time.
• ​Average Time in Queue.
• Call Abandonment Rate.
• Average Speed of Response.
• First Contact Resolution.

Recent research by Contact Babel involving 2,000 customers found that ‘first-contact resolution’ is seen as the most important factor contributing to customer experience. Whilst this might be the most important, no measure can be looked at in isolation. A balance of measures is vital to ensure call handlers don’t just focus on hitting numbers but pay equal attention to the quality of each interaction.

If, for example, you prioritise ‘first-contact resolution’, consider also the fact that agents are likely to spend longer with customers on that first call. This will have a knock-on effect, for example by increasing ‘average handling time’ or ‘average time in queue’, which may in turn negatively impact the overall customer experience.

Integration

It is important that these systems, resources, and processes are integrated to avoid fragmenting the customer journey.

Recent research shows buyers are becoming smarter in how they use channels; for more complex transactions, for example, they are less willing to self-serve than 12 months ago. Whether phone, email, web chat, messaging or social media, your call handling function must be integrated across channels to provide a high-quality and consistent customer experience.

Integrating outbound calling alongside inbound at strategic touchpoints or to target priority customer segments can also help improve customer experience. This might include:

• Call backs to inbound enquiries that were missed.

• Follow-up calls to high value customers to resolve any outstanding issues.

• Qualitative surveys to drill down to understand the reasons behind low satisfaction scores or negative trends.

• Welcome calls to new customers to support smooth onboarding and minimise churn.

If you can create a harmonious experience for your customers, this will increase their loyalty and retention.

Expertise

In addition to handling calls effectively, skilled, trained agents can add further value by identifying sales opportunities and transferring live leads to your in-house team, so the hottest prospects don’t go cold. They can highlight new product features, more cost-effective subscription levels, or upgrades that better address customer requirements. Even a complaint handled well can increase brand satisfaction and provide a potential cross sell/up sell opportunity.

If you don’t have the resource or expertise in house to support your call handling needs, this function can be outsourced. A specialist agency can manage sudden or fluctuating requirements, and provide a range of solutions including:

• Tailored customer service operations.

• Lead management and qualification.

• Product launch or promotional inbound call management.

• Seasonal or out-of-hours call traffic.

• Recall and crisis helplines.

• Transactions – credit or debit card orders.

• Global multilingual response.

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