Photo Credits: garrulus
They say customer service is the new marketing. Many companies, however, still don’t “get” phone customer service, and they consider it a cost rather than a marketing opportunity.
In addition to having overly complicated automated systems and poorly trained representatives, some companies make things worse by doing this:
Forcing callers to dial “1” for English
If you’re in the U.S., English should be the default language. There is no need to make callers push an extra button. Request callers to “press X” only for other languages.
Welcoming callers by asking them if they knew they could go to the web for help
Callers don’t need to be reminded up front of other ways to contact you. They are already on the phone, with a problem. Solve their problem first, and then, at the end of the call, remind them about your website.
Asking callers up front to stay after the call to answer a survey
Like in the previous example, this is better done at the end, once you have addressed the caller’s problem.
Not giving callers the option to speak to a representative
Sometimes callers have problems that can’t be answered by an automated system, or simply don’t have the time to navigate through a complicated maze of options.
Some companies make it impossible or nearly impossible to talk to an agent, to the point that there are now websites that specialize in telling us how to bypass the automated systems of most companies.
Not giving callers the estimated waiting time before they can talk to an agent
Saying “your estimated waiting time is 8 minutes” is better than just saying “your call will be answered shortly”. A good automated system should make it easy for callers to decide if they should hang around or hang up and call later.
Using the call as an opportunity for a sales pitch
Some companies build a sales pitch into the recording, for when the caller is on hold. Being on hold with a problem doesn’t exactly put callers in the best frame of mind for a sales pitch.
In addition, some live operators are given a hard-sell script to be delivered after the customer service transaction. The rationale is that customers will feel guilty to say no to somebody that has just helped them solve a problem.
This may work sometimes, but most of the time it will backfire and make you come across as self serving.
Do you have a phone customer service pet peeve of your own that we could add to this list?
Getting the run-around. I don’t know how many times I’ve called our phone company (or local University) to be told, “Oh, that’s not our department, let me transfer you” only to be told the same thing by the next representative. They’ve started to improve, but it’s an unmet need…
Am I the only one?
I agree about everything. I’m sick of dealing with all these runarounds when trying to get help on a call. The one that kills me is when I can’t get on line and the message says, “see our help on line.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called for support, get put on hold, finally get someone I can barely understand and then we are cut off and I have to start all over again. I’ll end my rant with a good word for the tech support at CafePress. I always get a live, real person who speaks fluent English, understands the question and gives me the answer all in a few minutes. But CafePress is not the usual experience.