We have all had the experience: we phone our cable company, wireless provider or our utility, talk agitatedly about the pressing issue, go through all the troubleshooting steps, and bang! The call center executive on the other end says, “Sorry sir. There’s nothing more that can be done,” and hangs up the phone. Well, this might have gone unnoticed during the pre-internet era, but not anymore.
The Internet is brimming with tons of customer service reviews, both good and bad, yet negative views tend to linger. Whether it is eBay, MakeMyTrip, or Amazon, a negative assessment of a product or service is likely to send customers running for the hills. This notion is further vindicated by a recent survey, which revealed that nearly 66 percent of B2B and 52 percent of B2C customers have stopped buying a product after a bad customer service experience; 39 percent of consumers continue to reject providers for two or more years after a bad experience; and approximately 95 percent of end users share their bad experiences with others. It was also revealed that every time a company or a service provider fails to resolve a customer’s issue, there’s more than 50 percent chance that they will never hear from the customer again. And that’s a lot of revenue!
These revelations shouldn’t come as a surprise in a market, where cut-throat competition has ensured that the quality of customer care can either make or break the fortunes of a company. Also, in today’s highly connected world, where social media has become an outlet for customer frustrations, it is highly unlikely that a bad experience will go under the mat. Iin the 21st century, a disappointed customer can easily reach hundreds or thousands of individuals within seconds.
So what should a call center executive do when he is left with no option to bail out the customer? Instead of declining to offer service or saying, “There’s nothing more that can be done,” he needs to be polite and say something reassuring such as “we will get back to you in the shortest possible time” and then get back with something tangible to send the right impression across.
Periodic follow ups and use of comprehensive call center services with customer-centric features can ensure that the focus will always be on the customer and never on conflict.
