“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.”

—Mark Twain

In this era, companies offer impeccable solutions on multiple support channels so as to bolster the customer base. However, the thing that companies are mainly supposed to offer is reliable 24 hour telephone answering service. It is so because customers often expect a company to be available around-the-clock to solve product-related issues.

With time, providing immaculate solutions on the voice channel has become a daunting task because the footfall of customers is increasing on it with every passing day. Due to the popularity of voice channel, companies often encounter these problems:

  • Poor response time.
  • High hold time.
  • Repetitive calls.

Because of these problems, companies fail to lift customers’ calling experience, which consequently, affects the business’s brand image. In order to ensure that customer calls get handled perfectly, companies generally join hands with UK BPO firms.

Well, getting a specialised service provider on board is really a good move to dodge the hassle of handling huge customer call traffic. But business owners can render phenomenal 24/7 telephone answering service on their own by simply rectifying the hidden errors.

Do you want to give an amazing support experience while handling queries on the voice channel? Here are the top 3 call answering mistakes that you must be aware of:

1.   Adding too many options

Do you know why most of the support service interactions take place on the voice channel? No? The answer is customers are emotionally connected to this traditional channel, and that’s why often place a call whenever they seek support service.

But managing a myriad of customer calls on a daily basis could give an exasperating experience. Here one thing that can help to reduce the customer call traffic is ‘Reliable IVR system.’ This fact shouldn’t be taken lightly because customers, especially millennial ones, often solve issues on their own after choosing an appropriate option from the IVR menu.

However, companies that handle support requests by themselves often make a rod for their own back by adding too many options in the IVR menu.

Why shouldn’t companies include several options in the IVR menu?

Whenever customers have to listen to a litany of recorded instructions, these two scenarios are more likely to take place:

  • Customers get frustrated and put the phone down.
  • Customers put more efforts in order to reach the desired option.

Both these scenarios make a negative impact on the customer experience, which, in turn, affects the business’s brand image. So, if you want to ensure a long-term relationship with customers, start removing superfluous options from the IVR menu.

Off the topic: It is imperative to note that every call answering mistake be it small or big makes a negative impact on business growth. Therefore, we suggest you to avail 24 hour telephone answering service from a reputed vendor.

2.   Incapability to manage AHT and FCR simultaneously

BPO firms generally get hailed for their stupendous customer service. But the question that appears here is ‘Why do companies that run an in-house call centre fail to offer impeccable 24 hour telephone answering service?’

The good news is that we have cracked the code, and it is “Incapability to manage AHT (average handle time) and FCR (first call resolution) simultaneously.” Usually, companies that handle customer service requests by themselves struggle in securing the low AHT and high FCR. Because of this, they fail to meet customers’ expectations.

Both AHT and FCR play a decisive role during the support service interactions. It is so because low AHT leads to prompt resolutions while high FCR prevents the hassle of repetitive calls.

Henceforth, it is extremely important to learn the technique that helps to manage both AHT and FCR at the same time as that’s the best way to enhance customers’ calling experience.

3.   Not soliciting feedback from customers

In the business world, it is believed that unmatched resolutions should be delivered during the support service interactions as that’s how you can keep the customers’ loyalty and trust for the long time span. In order to know whether the provided solutions are good enough or not, it is significant to solicit feedback from customers after the interaction.

The prominence of customers’ opinions shouldn’t be taken for granted because reputed BPO organisations often get success in improving the quality of support service owing to their habit of studying survey results.

Unlike BPO firms, companies running an in-house call centre usually don’t put much effort in collecting customer feedback, thereby, they fail to give stupendous support experience on the telephone, live chat, and other channels.

So, if you don’t want to commit any mistake while rendering 24/7 call answering service, try hard to get feedback from maximum customers. And take necessary actions after getting results of your sent feedback forms.