Companies looking to expand their contact centers to improve the customer experience often look at a couple of distinct options. Should they hire more help internally or should they outsource to an external company? It used to be that outsourcing meant getting generic help from customer service agents who knew nothing about your company. These agents would answer calls and respond to tickets on your behalf, but they did nothing to improve the brand. Modern contact center services are nothing like that. Let’s explore these services and how they are actually enhancing the customer experience.
What Are Inbound Contact Center Services?
Customers call in to businesses because they might have a question, a complaint, need help with a technical problem, or they need to place an order. Inbound contact centers become the frontline of people to answer these incoming calls and resolve these issues quickly to ensure customer satisfaction.
Whether they’re replacing a damaged order, resolving a challenge with a product, or you’re helping them fix tech glitches they are experiencing, these professionals help get it done. Inbound contact center services allow you to outsource this role to a trained team of professionals who know how to speak and think like your brand. They offer the same quality care that you would experience with an internal team. They also allow you to scale up more easily during busy seasons, and have a smaller team of customer care agents during slow seasons.
The Role of Live Agents in Customer Satisfaction
While AI is gaining in popularity when it comes to chatbots and answering basic issues, speaking to a real live person helps customers feel heard and more connected to your brand. When customers know they can hop on the phone and call in to speak to a human agent it reduces frustration and builds more loyalty.
Live agents are trained in how to resolve real issues. They can answer questions and this helps to create a positive experience with your brand. Plus, using contact center services means that your customers can get 24/7 access to help so that they get support on their time.
Reception and Frontline Support
Businesses are heavily focused on online sales nowadays. This means that fewer customers will be walking in your front door and talking with a receptionist to get help. Instead, your phone contact center may be the first human interaction that customers have with your business. Whether they bought something online or over the phone, talking to a friendly and professional human makes a huge difference in how they perceive their experience.
By outsourcing your contact center you can leverage options like virtual receptionists, call transfers to ensure they are talking to the right person, and even getting help with booking an appointment if needed. When the wait times are short because you have a big team of contact center professionals, these services help ensure happy customers. It builds trust and even helps customers feel like they are valued and aren’t wasting their time waiting for someone to help.
Streamlining Order Processing and Fulfillment
Another way that contact center services can improve the customer experience is by processing and fulfilling orders. Businesses that sell products can leverage contact center services to take orders, check on what’s available, and even process payments over the phone.
When you use inbound agents who know your systems, they can even track shipments and notify the customers of delivery timelines. Getting real-time support means that customers can get all their product questions answered right away and know when their products will arrive after they place an order.
Tech Support and Issue Resolution
Not everyone is tech savvy, and when customers run into issues, they need to be able to troubleshoot with a real person. Using a professional team who knows your products can offer the real-time support your customer needs. Instead of sending asynchronous messages back and forth to a company over hours or days, they can work through their tech challenges as soon as they get someone on the phone. This kind of human interaction can’t be replicated with chatbots and emails. And, as your outsourced team solves the problems, it helps your brand continue to build loyalty and show that you’re reliable and can be trusted.
When you partner with an inbound contact center service, you gain more than just a phone answering service. You get to deliver an excellent customer experience that keeps people coming back to your company because they know that when they have an issue, you can be trusted to listen and take the steps needed to resolve it.
