Okay, so before we closed our doors in bankruptcy, what did our call center offer that our competitors didn't?1. Personal attention: we got rid of our IVR or VRU (voice response unit). Unless we were busy, we answered calls by the second ring. Most customers never heard a recording. We would sometimes hear a surprised silence before the customer would say. as they did constantly, "I expected to get a recording."
Of course, we had to take drastic measures to make that work. When we had eight calls in queue, supervisors were required to log onto the phones and take calls. Perhaps there are better ways to deal with too many calls in queue, but still...
Eight calls is a relative measure, of course, and it would take us longer to knock down a queue like that than a larger call center. I remember apologizing to an MCI supervisor about my slow response because of our high call volume. After an amused silence on the other end, she replied in a low voice, "Do you know how many calls we have in queue right now? 143. But we'll take care of that in about five minutes."
» Reader’s Corner: How IVRs Should be Set Up from CallCenterScript
I personally don't like dealing with IVRs, but it is integral to any call center. It has its pros and cons, and it really depends on what the center's call volume looks like. It also depends on the company's strategy... [Read More]
Tracked on: February 24, 2008 5:10 PM | Permalink to Trackback