Help me do the impossible!

[Destrukto]

As some of you may know I've recently started a new exciting job.

What kind of kickass job do you have, I hear you ask.

Well, I am working for a new insurancecompany that is entirely web-based and is planning to become a big player on the European market. It is being set up by the same people who set up ebookers.com and who have sold it for 500.000.000 euros last year :D.

My job is the noble task of setting up the contactcenter.

Now we all know that Contact Centers do not always perform very well.
In fact this is an understatement. LOTS of Contact Centers just plain SUCK.

I, of course, have no intention of letting this happen to my Contact Center.

This is where you come in!

I would value any input of what you as customers find indispensible for a Contact Center that does what it should: provide *correct* information and *good* service.

Our contact channels will be phone, email and webchat.

Any input on what aggravates you or what makes you happy would be brilliant.

I'm thinking about things like return mails and how quickly they are sent, attitude of agents and quality of information.

That way you will hopefully make me very rich in short order \o/

D.

[Zhyl]

Putting people on hold makes them angry. having a callback option or something would be good rather than making them wait for ages.

[ZekeyLizard]

Yeah.

And if you put people on hold and that automatic hold music comes through the phone, make it music people will enjoy.

Like Shonen Knife, or Aphex Twin, or the Electric Light Orchestra.

(Alman Brothers are good too).

[Smartie]

Don't have a guy come on every 30 secs saying "your call is important to us, sorry for the fucking delay" cos everytime you thing it's someone taking your call. :( Damn you HMV.

Seriously, I much prefer - "you are 132nd in the queue" cos at least you know you're that far away from getting spoken to, and it gives you the chance to decide whether to hang up or not. Or at least an estimate call answer time.

If it's an outsourced CC (i've recently been on an outsourcing project team), make sure they use their own names. Nothing worse than an obviously indian call where the guy goes "hi, my name is dave" - NO INDIANS ARE CALLED DAVE!

[Scrumpopolis]

If you have to send someone a return e-mail, sent out an automated e-mail after they first contact you possibly saying how long it will be before you reply to them, so they know that you have recieved theirs.

[Destrukto]

Don't have a guy come on every 30 secs saying "your call is important to us, sorry for the fucking delay" cos everytime you thing it's someone taking your call. :( Damn you HMV.

Seriously, I much prefer - "you are 132nd in the queue" cos at least you know you're that far away from getting spoken to, and it gives you the chance to decide whether to hang up or not. Or at least an estimate call answer time.

If it's an outsourced CC (i've recently been on an outsourcing project team), make sure they use their own names. Nothing worse than an obviously indian call where the guy goes "hi, my name is dave" - NO INDIANS ARE CALLED DAVE!

Thanks so far :)

The queue thing we have \o/
It's not outsourced luckily, we are it. I've already made it very clear that people should use their own names. If only because it proves you are proud of your work and are personally not afraid of criticism. Works very well :)

Keep it coming!

[Thunderjew]

Hmm..

Promise e-mail response within 24 hours, and keep that promise. It's really nice to know when your reply are expected.

Don't have like four hundred milion choices like "Press 1 to blah blah.." When 1 is pressed, then "You pressed 1, now press # for another set of 9 options"..

That's all i can think of at the moment.

[voiceofcod]

If it's entirely web-based I think you can assume the majority of customers will be technologically competent since they have signed up in the first place.

As such, I would put a big emphasis on email contact, and make it ultra slick i.e. a fairly instant reply saying 'we have received your message and hope to have a full reply in x minutes or y hours' depending on how many open queries you have.

Very few people above the age of 25 will want to use web-chat, for example my parents would be utterly clueless, and I doubt my older brother (26) would use it.

Of course, some people like to hear a voice so you can't do away with call centres, but I think we can all agree that they're irritating at best. Emails ftw, unlike web-chat you are under no time pressure either e.g. can do it at work.

[steffie]

If it's entirely web-based I think you can assume the majority of customers will be technologically competent since they have signed up in the first place
i disagree with this completely. if it were left to me i would assume that every user is a complete n00b to make the contact centre as user-friendly as possible. making anything more complicated than it needs to be is a recipe for disaster!

[katt]

things that bug me are:

endless automated voice system options.

people who can barely speak the langauge they are meant to be communicating in

[Wahoo]

I think to start with, if you are going to have holding music, make it something a bit interesting, you know, not the same 20 second clip repeated continually (drives me mad at work)

Good service is having to be put through to as few people as possible before something is answered. If you have to have advanced people to deal with advanced problems then that is fine, but you shouldn't simply put someone through to that section, that will make the customer angry as it is wasting their time explaining the problem again. Have the agent go to the back bit themselves and then call-back. It is much better as the customer feels more important in the fact that it is being dealt with solely.

What also annoys me is people who try to help but are actually being of no help at all, make sure they are well trained and have training sessions every once in a while.

[voiceofcod]

i disagree with this completely. if it were left to me i would assume that every user is a complete n00b to make the contact centre as user-friendly as possible. making anything more complicated than it needs to be is a recipe for disaster!

Not quite what I meant, I was saying put an emphasis on emails since most people will know how to use them (and as I said they can do it at work), not do away with them completely.

[Wahoo]

But you can't completely focus on e-mails surely, they are not the quickest form of communication especially if you just want a quick correspondance.

[steffie]

Not quite what I meant, I was saying put an emphasis on emails since most people will know how to use them (and as I said they can do it at work), not do away with them completely.
i knew exactly what you meant, and i still disagree. telephone contact is more convenient than e-mail because there are still plenty of older people (my parents, for example) who have used web-based services i.e. online shopping facilities, but still can't use e-mail. as i said, assuming everyone is a n00b is the best way forward. also, there are telephones everywhere, getting to a computer isn't always possible. therefore, i don't think that one particular method of contacting this company should be favoured over another.

[Comrade Smith]

The hold music play list should be frequently updated, by hand to make sure that its not a list full of one hit wonders.

I Recommend Supertzar from Black Sabbath, a classical piece with a full choir and overdubbed electric guitar.

[dead]

I recommend not having hold music, it pisses me off when asked to hold and it plays stupid easy-listening music, when I'm in a room with a fine hi-fi system that could play whatever the damn hell I wanted, not whatever music is considered to be popular with the masses. An occasional (say every 30-60 seconds) little note letting you know where you are in the queue should suffice.

[four styx]

I'm a manager of a call-centre (ooh, impressive) and the main points that niggle me when calling other call centres are:

Decent hold music. - As mentioned before, none of that "repeated every 20 seconds jangly tune" If I wanted to hear a badly programmed rendition of Greensleeves, I'd dig out my old ZX Spectrum. Greatest Hits of Frank Sinatra seems to do the trick, covering both the young & old spectrum.

If you can, institute a system where you get told where you are in the queue. But make it accurate - no-one wants to hear they've descended through the ranks from "5th caller" to "next call answered", only to be told "whoops, sorry. You're back into the queue at position number 15"

Employ people who are grateful for the job. I'm talking tramps, crack addicts and prostitutes. They often want to work so hard to prove that they're not a burden on society that you'll get many more hours of work out of them, rather than those namby-pamby people with roofs over their heads and such luxuries as bed-linen.

[bionic sheep]

Make sure your web chat monkeys have a sense of humour.

Nothing funnier than spending a bored afternoon nattering with online help centers.

Although that probably doesn't help.

[sirch]

The combination for a perfect call center:

Webchat - (AOL) Getting told the problem is fixed when it clearly isn't.

Phone - (Tiscali) INDIANS! Just dont do the Job well. Everytime I need to call one I think 'Do I f**king have to' and put it off for days.
Any call center in the country of the company is great. I also like the you are number 20 in the queue thing.

E-mail - I always prefer to phone so I know someone is actually listening to me. However unlike a couple (Acer and Windows Live) if you can get back the same day and not 5 days later then thats excellent service.

Hope this helps,
You can cut me in on your fortune!

[Destrukto]

The combination for a perfect call center:

Webchat - (AOL) Getting told the problem is fixed when it clearly isn't.

Phone - (Tiscali) INDIANS! Just dont do the Job well. Everytime I need to call one I think 'Do I f**king have to' and put it off for days.
Any call center in the country of the company is great. I also like the you are number 20 in the queue thing.

E-mail - I always prefer to phone so I know someone is actually listening to me. However unlike a couple (Acer and Windows Live) if you can get back the same day and not 5 days later then thats excellent service.

Hope this helps,
You can cut me in on your fortune!


Judt giving a few things I am working on:

Webchat is (fairly) new so I need to know what you'd want from it. I've had 20 minute convos and i want them down to 10 IF that is possible. How would you rate any webchat you made involving mone...

Email: I'd like to use this for more complex problems, but what kind of problems would you put to email as apposed to phone?
my guess would be more complex mattters but please tell me what you would like.

Phone: how long should the queue be, we have no music (thank God) but is there a differemt thjing we can do?

Any respondents will get a free drink from me at any meet (provided it is not a silly drink!)

[Bail]

Make sure people read the whole email, and you if you get a reply, and then send one, you get to talk to the same person. I've had to email Tesco re my internet, (i refuse to pay 50p per min) So I send an email detailing whats wrong etc, they ask me to check a few things, I do and reply, then I get another reply from a totally different person asking me to check if its a virus etc despite my original email (still attached, saying "ITS NOT A VIRUS ITS YOU" only less angry...

Most annoying, I didn't reply, and my internet still doesn't work.

Oh also, make the phone line free if you can (0800) always a good thing and you don't mind being on hold as much.

[katt]

also make sure your employees are educated about the company and procedures. i have had a few calls to companies where i felt like the employees had no clue which end was up

i love it when i can call a company and the person answering the phone knows just what to do and what i am talking about.

[Scrumpopolis]

When it came to holding music, I prefer when there isn't any, that means I can put my phone on speakerphone and get on with something else while waiting and I'll hear when the call is taken.

[katt]

i prefer low key classical holding music. its neutral...generally not annoying.

i prefer music over a message babbling about the company and its new deals etc.

although messages about how much longer it will be before your call is answered are appreciated. gives you a sense that you are progressing forward in line

[The Grim Reaper]

i love it when i can call a company and the person answering the phone knows just what to do and what i am talking about.
I love that.

So on that note, if they don't know, have them admit they don't know, and that they will pass you on to someone who knows what they are talking about. Nothing aggrivates me more than someone who doesnt know what they are talking about but still gives you a whole heap of instructions that won't fix it.

Also, please allow people to request to be reconnected to the person they were talking to if they need to dial again. This prevents from spelling out the whole issue again describing it and repeating possible solutions. Even if you have to hold a little bit while that person finishes with whoever they are working with, it will be the customers choice of whether to wait for the original person, or go straight to the new person.

For web based chat, keep the pre-made text down to a minimum. Mushtaq from Symantec is terrible at this.
"I appreciate your concern. Please follow this link below for instructions on how to complete a full system antivirus scan"
"I have already done that"
"I appreciate your concern. Please follow this link below for instructions on how to complete a an online antivirus scan"
etc.
Listen to what the person is saying. If they insist that they have completed that step, move on and try something else. I much rather having the chat slightly more personal (not too personal) than default replies.

Think thats all that annoys me, perhaps for hold times allow people to select a radio station or something to listen to?

[Toph]

Not sure if this has been said, but make sure you can understand what the call takers are saying. It happens so many times when you have to wait for ages, and then you get someone you cannot understand.

Well annoying! :p

[katt]

i've had a few like that who seem to get offended you can't understand them through their thick accent.

the worst customer phone service rep

1. has a thick accent/poor grasp on the language
2. doesnt know what you are talking about/what to do
3. thinks you not understanding their speech is insulting
4. overly brusque

i am more sympathetic to the reps who cant speak english well but have a very polite manner than those who get a bit huffy

[Destrukto]

Thanks for the comments so far :)

Incidentally I forgot to post the url to our site.
It's www.firsteuropa.nl
It's in Dutch but there is an option at the top of the screen to view it in English.
Any comments are welcome :)

D.

[Dr_nwa]

I really like the co-operative bank's system. There are "press blah for blah" options but they are simple to use and after maybe three numbers you get a human. I can ring up, say, to order a new cheque book, I press 1, then 1, then i get a person who is EFFICIENT!!!! and helpful and actually knows what they are doing.
A spot of banter is always welcome. I love it when I call a centre and get someone at the other end who is willing to engage in conversation while the computer/midget/gremlin is updating. Last time i rang telewest I was getting sky sports for the ashes and for about 3 minutes i got fantastic banter about england's chances. With an aussie.

I'd also really like all girl call centres and sexy talk, but I'm hornier than a bag of reindeers.

[faragher]

If you have a hold queue, give people the option to leave a message and get a call back instead.

Assign ownership to an enquiry - have someone take control and be responsible for all the call backs etc.

[kotu]

My tips:

1) Use gabba techno as your hold music
2) Hang up on random calls using a lottery system
3) Only employ people who sound like Julian Clary

*EDIT*
4) Regularly inform those on hold of their position in the queue, then tell them someone 'pushed in' :D

[Destrukto]

Had a talk with my supervisor and Service Levels for emails will probably be set to:

a) automated email to let people know their email has been received (thanks Scrumpopolis :))
b) will have to be handled within 8 hours, and if not possible at least within the working day.

Good decisions methinks.

[Timmeh]

I've worked in a good few call centers over time and designed a good chunk of the customer accounts system for one major one. What I've generally found to be good from both a staff and customer point of view:

Ensure staff take ownership. There's nothing worse than "oh, you have to speak to y department" or "you need to speak to y person" followed by being put into a transfer queue, that's just a pain in the arse. If possible, try to set the center up to not to have departments or levels beyond worker and team leader, ensure all staff know that they must deal with every call without passing anything off and always avoid escalation (the "oh, I'll pass you through to my manager" is just as bad when the person on the phone could've dealt with it themselves).

Call back option is great. As is estimate of time left to queue with music that doesn't make you want to puncture your ear drums just to stop the pain.

Very carefully monitor the use of release buttons on the phones. Have a small web form for whenever a worker users it that'll have to be submitted to their team leader with a reason. Customers can be twats, but at the end of the day, they're customers, no representative should be hanging up on them (unless, for example they fail to hang up properly at the end of a call).

Make sure customers ALWAYS get the name of who they spoke to and a reference number for every time they contact you. This makes them feel like they can trust you, you're giving them information to come back to you with any further problems.

Ensure your staff log EVERY call. Also ensure there's a foot printing system in place. Believe it or not, but when working at a very major digital media company I will not name, their customer service reps SO often lied, couldn't be bothered to deal with the problem, didn't leave a note and were therefore untraceable, customer says they promised to do x thing that can't actually be done, don't have the name of the person, can't track them down etc. One day we implemented a footprinting system without telling anyone, IE every access to the user's account would be logged. Every time someone looked at an account, couldn't be bothered to deal with it, fobbed them off or lied and told them they'd sort the problem, the staff member's name would be right there on the account. Strangely, after around 400 people were fired a few weeks later, the mystery of the "lying" customers stopped.

Be strict with time keeping. If staff are supposed to start at 9:00, they need to be logging in EXACTLY at 9:00. Lunch is a bit harder, but they should be taking calls right up the time their lunch break starts, and, if they go over, of course they're entitled to take 45 mins/an hour or whatever from that time, but make sure they take exactly that amount of time, have the system check. The first time a person's late, have the team leader issue a verbal warning, the second time, a formal sit down and warning, the third time a meeting with call center management discussing their future. It sounds cruel, but one person gets away with being two minutes late, everyone thinks they can do it. If half the call center is 2 minutes late in total every day (taking in to account coming in late, coming back late from lunch etc), out of a staff of, as an example, 500... that's 125 man hours lost a year. If a customer service rep's call turnaround is 5 minutes, that's 36000 customers waiting over the course of the year. Two minutes starts to become a hell of a lot, so make sure people know it's not acceptable.

I'll think of plenty more and will edit when I do :)

[FuriousPanda]

Employ people who are grateful for the job. I'm talking tramps, crack addicts and prostitutes. They often want to work so hard to prove that they're not a burden on society that you'll get many more hours of work out of them, rather than those namby-pamby people with roofs over their heads and such luxuries as bed-linen.

Prostitutes could be a bit dodgy ground there :P

"hello, the knob for volume control on my TV fell off"... And the call just runs from there...

[sushi.]

I had to make three phone calls to customer service places before I made my trip to London:

My cell phone company to see if I would be able to make calls from over there,
My bank to see what kinds of surcharges I would get using my debit and credit cards in a foreign currency,
Nintendo to see if the power adaptor I got would blow up my DS.

The most helpful of all? Nintendo. The first guy that picked up the phone gave me the correct answer I needed.
My bank gave me the right answer after a lot of switching departments.
The cell phone company gave me the wrong answer after a lot of switching departments.

I don't mind being transferred once-- twice is irritating, and three times plus is ridiculous. Also wrong answers suck. I vote for footprinting so you can fire people who make things up.

[TheSheep]

dont charge them £1 a minute and keep them on hold for 5 minutes

[Tweekish]

Make sure customers ALWAYS get the name of who they spoke to and a reference number for every time they contact you. This makes them feel like they can trust you, you're giving them information to come back to you with any further problems.

QFT. A while back I had problems with my broadband provider, after waiting for an hour to get through nobody would tell me their name or give me a reference number. They fobbed me off a little by telling me I should submit a ticket through their website. Yes I would, if I could actually connect to the internet at the time. I found making a complaint impossible because I had no idea who I had spoken to.

And letting people know how long they need to wait or how many people in the queue before them is a brilliant idea.

Cut out as many automated phone options as possible, or the ones where you have to say what you want. Oh, and make sure that if you do use automated systems, that you can get the answer to your question. Orange are rubbish at this, I went through the options to find out of I could use my phone abroad and it told me to call the number I had just dialled.

[technoboggan]

Customer service has to be the key, I think... Respond quickly and accurately to all calls, and give customers a good idea of what you reasonably can and can't do for them. Help them find other solutions if you can't personally fix it.

[Instinct]

If you're sending emails, don't put in loads of links and large blocks of text. Make them easy to read.

Like that :D