The call centre industry is BIG business and they often seem to have the upper-hand at OUR expense.
Many of these operators are professional, courteous and resolve the issue – but many simply DO NOT.
This is where we come in. The Champion of the Call Centre Customer!
We offer news / tips and tricks on how to get results.
Our popular online forum allows you to ‘name and shame’, share stories with other UK consumers, get advice from other consumers on how best to resolve a particular complaint or grievance you may have with a company, get direct details of call centre managers / decision-makers… and much much more!
Some Golden Rules:
* Always always take the name of the operator (or ID number) at the beginning of the call, and take notes of the conversation. Ask for the direct telephone number of the operator for future contact if possible.
* This may sound strange but as you want the call centre operator on your side to help you get the best / fastest result do ask them ‘How are you today’ – they will be so unused to that it will immediately encourage them to offer you the best possible service! And then do engage with them such as ‘Where abouts are you located’ in moments when they are accessing their information etc.
I recommend keeping a notepad specifically for all your call centre contacts – as this is often many times per year – so all the notes are kept in one safe place for future reference.
* Always give your phone number and instruct them to call you back immediately if you are cut off for any reason (as quite often seems to happen).
*Always escalate to the manager in charge if you are not getting the service you regard as satisfying your needs. Be very firm on this, as they will often try to fob you off or say the manager is not available.
* If you are at a computer when making the call always make refeence to the FORUM – as you will be able to enter the company name you are dealing with and as we grow this website there will success stories of other customers with that company / navigating telephone routing systems / direct telephone numbers of call centre managers etc.
It may sound trivial but if you are not in front of a computer when making the call do have a book / newspaper / magazine to hand – as this will reduce the boredom and stress of being on hold / redirected!
A poll for the BBC Two programme Losing It found 26% of those surveyed said call centre problems were the most infuriating situation for them. And remarkably this compares to some 23% said being physically attacked was most anger inducing, while being insulted and queue-jumping were rated joint third at 8% each.
A survey conducted by Which? magazine into the best brands and customer service established what should be obvious to companies but appears to have escaped so many: 95% of people are put off using them again by poor service; 83% want to feel “valued”; half of all those surveyed would pay more if better service was on offer.
According to the You Gov / Jacada research conducted in June 2011 which questioned more than 2,100 UK adults , almost half (48%) of respondents admit to “giving up” when using the phone with a call centre– without having their issues resolved. And for those that soldiered on, almost half ended up feeling “frustrated or annoyed”. If those findings don’t cause concern amongst UK businesses, then perhaps these will: just 20% of those surveyed reported feeling satisfied by their suppliers’ customer service efforts in the past year when accessing a telephone help line. In addition, more than one third of respondents stated that they now expect to get poor service when they call a company’s customer service call centre.Worse still, only 1 in 12 consumers reported feeling “valued as a customer” following their contact with customer services. Full report available on:
44 104 0909UK-Survey-Results-Customer-Service-Still-Struggles-to-Satisfy
The call centre is many customers only point of contact with a company, so how you are treated is an essential part of the company’s brand and its market differentiation…. it is after all most often the only direct interface with YOU – their customers.
There can be no question the call centre operators and the companies employing them will be consulting our Forum – which will also make a real difference.
Customer satisfaction is all about establishing the resolution as quickly and effectively as possible – please o to the forum now!
For an overview of the Top 50 Call Centres and more information on their relationships with consumers please consult http://np.netpublicator.com/netpublication/n30072607</body>
