How Call Centre Software Can be Profitable for Your Business

Phones are one of the key channels in which businesses can invest in to further their growth. However, choosing the right channel is an art in itself. If you would like to figure out, which channel to shortlist from phones, email, social media, live chat, or knowledge base do check out this page on call center software which has a detailed description of the various channels and when it would be advisable to use them.

However, if you have shortlisted phones which are one of the most suitable means of communication with your customers, then you will need to understand how investing in good call center software can make it worth your time and money. 

How can bad customer support dent my business?

• 95% share bad experiences.

If you are not investing in your phone conversations or your phone teams are not empathetic towards your customers, there is a big possibility of people knowing about it. Why?

• 54% of customers share bad experiences with more than five people.

People are making phone calls for instant gratification and if they are not handled carefully, more people will know about your careless attitude. When you look at it, if two people have a bad experience in a day, it is more than likely that at the very least 7 people know about it. If you have a bad service hour, you can kiss your growth good-bye. 

• 80% of businesses believe they provide excellent customer service, but only 8% of customers agree

All businesses (including yours truly’s) believe that we have built a proper support channel and expect our customers to be happy with our effort. In reality, the actual facts are scary and definitely not excusable at all. Very few customers feel good at the end of a conversation with you. 

• $62 billion of business was lost due to poor customer service.

There are at the very least 80 countries whose GDP is lesser than the money lost owing to poor customer service. Let that sink in. 

Are phone calls a vital part of good customer service?

Shep Hyken, the leading customer service and experience expert was as shocked as we were when we read the Customer Service Benchmark Report. He tried to find out how companies actually respond if he disguised himself as a “customer”. The very first question on his short list of queries was:

‘ Do you have a phone number I can call you on?’

There is a strong reason for checking if websites have a phone number. A phone number is the easiest way to get in touch with you. The best part is that phones give you the opportunity to directly converse with the customer in a way that no other channel can. The customer does not need to be technology-adaptive and businesses can cater to a wide set of target audiences. Phones really are a universally popular mode of having serious conversations in an intimate manner.

Can you set up a call center without losing too much capital?

Yes. With the advent of cloud-based call center solutions like Freshcaller, Aircall etc.- most business owners are finding out that they can indeed own their own business call center without spending too much capital. The cloud-based system helps in zero expenditure on hardware, zero maintenance, and no long-term contracts or capital investments. While you can start cloud based solutions from a $0 per user plan (in the case of Freshcaller), typical costs for an on-site PBX system range from $500 to $1000 per user. Cloud-based call centers are best suited for up to 100 agents.

So is call center software profitable for your business?

Definitely! A cloud-based call center can help you get started with absolutely no lock-in period and a limited per agent fee. They can help you make your conversation personal. By providing a great support experience, you are satisfying your customer when they are directly reaching out to you. This will always help you grow your relationship and your revenue.

An additional benefit of using phones is that you can always use the opportunity to proactively help the customer about their previous queries or anticipate their needs. This converts a normal customer into a delighted one. This customer is going to give you genuinely favorable reviews on all social channels as well as spread the good word about your business. Nothing can uplift your brand as a call center agent listening and responding to the caller’s needs.

How to use phone calls to convert customers into loyalists?

• Listen to the customer and make them feel important.
• Provide immediate value to the customer by solving the customer issue or suggesting a good work-around (temporary).
• Ensure satisfaction for the customer so that they will be one step closer towards being loyal.
• Proactively keep in touch to build long-lasting partnerships that stand the test of time and competitors.
• Gain trust by maintaining a healthy, transparent, and a close working relationship with your customers.
• Customers out of their own volition start sharing good feedback about your brand and their positive experience with your phone team. This leads to increased number of prospects and new revenue. The added benefit is the reduction in churn of the existing customers.

Let us know what you think about setting up call center software for your business and whether you can give us more tips on how to make phone teams translate to better business growth.

Written by Apoorv Bhatnagar. 

Prepared and edited by Andrew Carroll, Journalism MA in DIT. 

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