How can the public image of call centres be improved? Related Articles What Is After Call Work (ACW) and How Can It Be Improved? Definition: Contact Centre Jargon and Terminologies Improving public sector contact centres Top 10 Contact Centre Software and Technology 6,617 Filed under - Hints and Tips, IFS, Infinity CCS, ISV Software, Jabra, James Lawther, Netcall, Rostrvm, Syntec, Ultra, Vonage We asked our Twitter panel “How can the public image of call centres be improved?”. Leon @tefleon Empower the agent so they can resolve problems rather than asking a manager or special back-office department. Emma Foskett @JacobsMummy17 If you say you will call a customer back PLEASE do it. Adam Riley @adampeterriley End the days of auto-diallers! They’re not good for customers, agents or managers. This would improve our image overnight. MCCA @MBCustContact Connect with local community partners that serve job seekers and deliver contact centre awareness sessions. Carly Morgan @CarlyMorganCCL Share real success stories of ultimate customer service & examples of how CCAs have a career path into management & more! Malcolm @MalcolmLouth Just deliver. Change perceptions one customer at a time. Akhilesh Kapoor @akhileshkapoor First and foremost, even today many people know them as Call Centres, this tag has to go away. mplContact @mplContact Promote inward investment, employee development, create & encourage customer feedback channels. Henry Ambrose – Team Leader. Netcall @Netcall Allow customers to opt out of the queue and offer to call them back when an agent is available #CallBack James Lawther @SquawkPoint Fix your business so customers don’t have to call you. A call centre is to help you not vent at. mplContact @mplContact Empower agents to make decisions, use customer-centric processes, listen to customers & offer services they want. Rob Peat NewVoiceMedia @NewVoiceMedia By offering an excellent, personalised #custexp every time. Don’t leave customers #onhold for ages & offer simple IVR menus. Karen Wenborn @BearskinNy Demonstrate career paths, invest (technology, training, people), promote best practice, industry qualifications, standards. Ultra Communications @UltraComms Set realistic, achievable performance and sales targets to banish the notion of the call centre ‘sweatshop’. #contactcentre Netcall @Netcall Voice, web or social media – offer your customers a choice in how they contact you #Multichannel James Lawther @SquawkPoint Stop outbound calling people selling products they don’t want and never asked for. Karen Wenborn @BearskinNy Run regular ‘Day in The Life’ stories from great Call Centres. Publish bios & career paths of industry leaders. Show careers & variety. O2one France @O2oneFrance “Shine inside to be viewed from outside”, recruit A-players, effectively integrate new players, give development prospects. Hussein Khafagy @sonbol81 First step is to check the weakness of contact centres then build a pyramid of solution and actions. JABRA UK @JabraBusiness Ensuring conversations aren’t overheard & background noise is minimal @CallCentre professionalism #PerceptionIsKey Ultra Communications @UltraComms Have a good understanding of your customer base and know the most convenient time to call #Ofcom #NuisanceCalls Infinity CCS @InfinityCCS Ask people if they’d rather queue up at the bank during their lunch time? ISV Software Ltd @ISVSoftwareLtd Don’t use recruitment techniques inspired by Nev from ‘The Call Centre’. Mplsystems @mplSystems “Give customers what they want: fast access to services; joined-up support across channels, & informed agents ready and keen to solve queries.” Simon Beeching @SimonBTweet Better payment card data security (PCI DSS) – Syntec’s research shows only 1% of people think phone payment to live call centre agents is the most secure. Akhilesh Kapoor @akhileshkapoor The agents should believe in helping the customers rather than showing empathy, Customer Satisfaction should be priority. JABRA UK @JabraBusiness Calm, polite, understanding & above all, helpful #CallCentre staff help dispel myths about unenthusiastic, untrained agents. Rostrvm Solutions @rostrvm Use technology to delight your customer. For example, if you transfer callers don’t make them re-tell their story. How do you think the public image of contact centres could be improved? Tweet your answers (in less than 140 characters) to @jontypearce Author: Megan Jones Published On: 11th Sep 2013 - Last modified: 30th Nov 2023 Read more about - Hints and Tips, IFS, Infinity CCS, ISV Software, Jabra, James Lawther, Netcall, Rostrvm, Syntec, Ultra, Vonage Recommended Articles What Is After Call Work (ACW) and How Can It Be Improved? Contact Centre Jargon and Terminologies Improving public sector contact centres Top 10 Contact Centre Software and Technology Related Reports White Paper: Accelerating Agents and AI in the Post-Pandemic Contact Centre 2 Comments This is very interesting! It’s really important to hear (or in here, read) what the customers generally feel about call centers. I liked one of the tweets here that says ‘allow customers to opt out queue and offer to call back’ and it’s also has to go along with what Emma Foskett said – “If you say you will call a customer back, PLEASE do it.” Alleli 18 Sep at 04:33 “Use technology to delight your customer. For example, if you transfer callers don’t make them re-tell their story.” – I couldn’t agree more. There’s nothing more annoying than having to explain your situation all over again. Dan 11 Dec at 05:02 Contact Centre Reports, Surveys and White Papers Get the latest exciting call centre reports, specialist whitepapers and interesting case-studies. 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