Customer services

Customer Services: Phone Mistakes That Hurt Your Business

Billions of phone calls are made to businesses each year from consumers asking for help, seeking information, paying bills, or making purchases. If even 10 percent of those calls ended with an unhappy or disgruntled customer experience, you can see that the number would be staggering. Sadly, individuals report that negative phone experiences occur at least once a month. Now it is true that sometimes the customer wants the impossible when phoning a company for help, but there are other times that the customer has a right to become upset when trying to reach out. The way your company handles phone interactions with your customers or potential clients can be vitally important to the overall health of your business. That is why it is essential for you to understand the phone mistakes that are hurting your business.

1. After Hours Business

You know how important customer satisfaction is, but still, many businesses have a phone message that simply states they are out of the office until a given time the next morning. In a society with individuals working shifts, some people may not be able to reach you during your open hours. If you sell items, that means you lose business every time someone calls your shop, and a call isn’t taken. Why not get an answering service to help with phone traffic during after hours?

2. IVR Call Traps

Many companies use the new and improved Interactive Voice Response systems to help direct telephone traffic to various departments. Although it can save time, trouble, and money, there is a growing dissatisfaction with the robotic IVR programs when it comes to how customers feel they are being treated. Reporting a waste of valuable time as they are forced to listen to a long barrage of cookie-cutter number prompts from the nameless voice is the first reported problem, while the second comes in close behind as the lack of human response or inability to contact a human on the system. If you have an IVR, remember that when people are calling to purchase your products or services, your robot voice will be the first impression those individuals have of your business. Make it easy to purchase an item, or you may lose the sale when an annoyed customer hangs up in frustration.

3. Last Words Signoff

You may not think of the last words you say to a customer as a problem, but it can leave a lasting impression, or it can make them disgruntled. Many large companies have learned this valuable lesson, and the last words their representatives say to customers are often, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” or “Thank you for contacting us. Have a great day.” Those words are what the customer will remember when they think about that company for the next few days, and that is why they are important. If you sign off with a gruff “Yep, okay, goodbye.” or “I will try and get back to you.”, you can only imagine how that can hurt your business.

4. Hold Is Destructive

Customers are busier than ever before, so when you put a customer on hold, it is often a damaging and destructive indication that you don’t value the time your customer invests in talking to you or purchasing from your company. If you or your customer service representatives don’t have an answer, ask the consumer if you can call them back instead of losing the valuable sale while looking up information.

You invested time, money, and your life into your business, so when you find yourself with a problem as easy to solve as phone mistakes, it doesn’t make any sense not to rectify the situation before you lose potential customers or numerous sales. You can easily and quickly improve verbal contact with your customers, and thus enhance customer satisfaction when you expand the way your company communicates with those individuals.

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