Monday, December 29, 2014

Disadvantages of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing allows us to store documents and files and access them at any computer with an internet connection. Even though it has so many advantages, there are some things to be cautious about. Some people say there are no hitches to cloud computing, but there are numerous disadvantages.

Here are some of the main disadvantages of cloud computing:

Security and privacy issues

The biggest worries about cloud computing are privacy and security. Many users may not be happy passing over their information or data to a third party. It is even a greater concern to businesses that wish to keep their sensitive data on the cloud server. Even though venders ensure their servers are free from viral infection, it is still a concern since there are many users accessing the server every day. Storing data and information in the cloud makes your company open to external threats and hack attacks. We are aware that nothing on the internet is totally secure, there is always a possibility of external attack. So make sure you pick the right provider to keep your data secure.

Cost can be expensive

Even though cloud computing is cheaper than traditional desktop software, the fact that it is new to the market and has to be researched and improved time and again makes it more expensive. Vendors have to develop or buy certain software that will operate the cloud and fix any unforeseen problem that might occur. This makes the cloud computing very expensive. Also cloud computing costs are changing every day. 

Tech issues can still occur

Although you can access data and information on the cloud anytime and from anywhere, there are some times when the system can have technical issues. You should always know that technology is prone to outages and several technical problems. Even the very best cloud service provider runs into trouble. Cloud computing also makes your company dependent on internet connection. When it is offline, it means you are also offline. If your business suffers from slow internet speed, cloud computing may not be suitable for you.

Dependency on provider

Another disadvantage of cloud computing is loss of control or dependency. This means you will be tied to another company for long time and it is not easy to migrate to another cloud service provider. You also have little or no understanding in cloud service provider procedures especially when it comes to disaster recovery, backup and renovation.

Monday, November 17, 2014

The Fundamentals of Call Center Workforce Management


Call centers face several workforce management challenges including managing service levels, forecasting calls, and scheduling staff. Workforce management is a process that involves using precise staffing figures each hour to enhance service while reducing costs. It is considered one of the most significant planning and administration functions in a call center. This process is handled by a call center supervisor or manager. 
A call center has to track each employee’s daily performance and service. This makes it possible to determine the impact that each individual is making to the call center when it comes to attaining daily service goals. The call centers have to know the exact number of people who are needed to attain service goals. The workforce has to match the workload. If a call center is overstaffed, profitability is likely to reduce because of higher costs. On the other hand, if there are very few agents, customers will stop using the services and handling times are likely to go up

Call centers have to deal with complex contacts, increased customer expectations, new channels, and a need for improved agent skills during workforce management. This makes it necessary for them to do things right. On the upside, it is possible to learn about scheduling and forecasting to boost a call center’s performance. 

A call center has to clarify its values for its schedules to work appropriately. It is important to determine what will happen when workload forecasts are either high or low. The call centers management has to identify ways to ensure service levels are consistent. It may be necessary to seek backup from the rest of the departments or find external business partners to ensure customer needs are well met. 

To come up with workable schedules, call centers have to model a variety of scenarios. They have to come up with tests schedules that test different variables. A call center has to experiment with various alternatives to make better decisions in terms of training required, shift swapping, and agent group structures. Experimentation allows call centers to make necessary changes to come up with good schedules. It may take time to get a workable schedule but the results will be worth it. During scheduling, a call center supervisor or manager has to determine the right shift span, days off and days on, and start and stop options. 

Call centers will continue to face many challenges when it comes to meeting their customers’ demands, scheduling, and forecasting in order to handle their workload effectively. But they can take advantage of the latest forecasting and scheduling technology to simplify this process. 

Monday, October 27, 2014

US Contact Center Industry Generates 16,000 Jobs


It’s a great time for the US call center industry because business certainly is booming. According to Jobs4america, a little over 16,000 new call center jobs were created in the United States during this year’s third quarter.
 
Specifically, between the months of July and September, 16,080 contact center jobs became open. The Chairman of Jobs4america Matt Zemon remarked, “The American Contact Center Industry continues to show strong growth. We also commend all the organizations that are choosing to outsource to BPOs with a strong U.S. presence including Chime Solutions, Teletech and Liberty-Source.”
 
Factors contributing to the recent boom in call center jobs in the US include President Obama’s healthcare law and the rising cost of contact center labor overseas. Jobs4america.com reports that at least five million people in the United States work in call centers, and a great deal of them are based from home.
 
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Wednesday, September 10, 2014

The Benefits of a Cloud-Based Contact Center


Today, contact centers play an integral role in fostering long term customer relationships as they are the focal point of all customer connections. This has prompted a number of organizations to focus on cloud based contact centers or the conventional on-premise contact centers. However, many companies are adopting the cloud based contact center for customer support and connection because of the many benefits it offers. The following are some of the numerous benefits of a cloud-based contact center:

Fast deployment and integration with the existing infrastructure 

For the complete deployment or use of an on-premise contact center or system, there must be infrastructural changes including hardware and software changes, telephony changes, upgrade or installation. This requires a huge capital investment as well as time. On the other hand, cloud based contact center takes a very short time to deploy and it is easy to set up. This is because the services are offered by online service providers. The only equipment that is needed is a computer and an internet connection. 

Global access and delivery 

Cloud based solutions enable companies and clients to provide on-demand services and support to consumers that is accessible at anytime of the day and in any part of the world. This is made possible by the increased proliferation of mobile devices and online services that is increasing the demand for customer support.
Cost-effectiveness

Cloud-hosted contact centers do not require upfront expenditure to set up or deploy. Basically, these are services offered on a pay as you go payment model. This means that companies pay for services they need. This is cost effective in the sense that the information technology expense or spending will be reduced compared to an on-premise contact center which is a better return on investment in the long run.

Personalized customer service 

Cloud based contact centers allow companies and business to pick and select particular services to guarantee a more personalized user experience. The applications can be customized to suit customer demographics including geographical location, language as well as profile. Cloud computing also allows integration of other applications for example billing software, business reporting, purchase order management, analytics, just to mention but a few. 

In summary, from the above benefits, it is clear to suggest that cloud based contact centers can actually enable enterprises and businesses to lower their operational costs, deliver quality services and increase their efficiency.  

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Friday, August 22, 2014

The Importance of Call Center Phone Etiquette

Running and managing a call center is among the most challenging aspects in the world of business. Call center agents are required to not only provide customer support but also take orders, deal with customer complaints, etc. With so much to work on, sticky situations are almost inevitable.

Running a call center can also turn out to be one of the most rewarding tasks in a business. The manner in which situations are handled when they arise can mean the difference between the retention of loyal customers and losing customers. Good customer service begins the very moment a call center agent receives a call. If you are wondering how to gain more business through your call center, you may want to start by looking at your agents’ phone etiquette.

Training

The most important thing that managers sometimes overlook is the great need for training. Whether your call center is being handled by one or two people or by a large team of agents, training is the key for overall success. It is advisable for small and large business owners to ensure that every person who responds to customer queries and concerns on the phone has been trained. Basically, any person who answers the business lines should have undergone training. It is up to the business managers and owners to ensure that employees apply company phone policies and best practices. 

Here are some of the things that should be observed to improve phone etiquette:
 
Consistency
 
When it comes to consistency, it means making sure that everyone answers the phone consistently. If a call is an in-bound call, it is important to indirectly let the customer confirm that they got the phone number right. Most importantly, the agent’s hello should be brief. Employees should be trained to mention the company name first followed by their names. This simple introduction should be enough. 

Don’t interrupt the customer

No one loves being interrupted, especially when they are expressing dissatisfaction of a service. In this regard, never interrupt a customer who is complaining. Business managers and owners should ensure that this is achieved regardless of how difficult it might be. Employees should be trained to listen to the entire problem regardless of how long it takes. This is particularly more emphasized if the employee handling the call intends to hand of the call to another member of the call center. It leaves the customer feeling well taken care of.

Knowledge of how to use the phone system

Ensure that every employee with permission to respond to business calls knows how to use the phone system. Does everyone know how to make use of the hold button? One of the worst things your employees could ever do is to the put phone to their chest with the intentions of muffling the mouthpiece for them to speak amongst themselves. Customers might hear things you really do not want them to hear. In such instances, the hold button is your best friend. 

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Thursday, August 7, 2014

Essential Call Center Management Skills

Call center management is a discipline that incorporates a wide array of skills that blend well to create a successful and effective call center. However, gaining such skills requires a lot of dedication, among other essential factors.

Call center management entails a responsibility and role-playing on the individual assigned to handle this important activity. You should have several skills to incorporate into your leadership approach to enable a successful transition from a poorly run call center to a successful one.

Start by setting goals

Goal setting is one of the most important skills in any management position. Start by enlightening your call center employees about the importance of working towards particular goals. Make them aware of the benefits that the department stands to gain when the goals are followed to the letter. Ensure that your approach is as focused as possible and once they get this concept, they will work proactively by setting their own goals in a bid to realize the bigger goal. Work with them towards those goals and work out on what is to be achieved.

Lead by example

Be a role model to your employees. Creating your own goals and then sharing them with your employees will help them identify with you much better.

Always focus on continued improvement

Goal setting isn’t the only way to improve. You should be constantly devising other methods of further ways to potentially improve the call center. Since the employees are your greatest asset in the call center, you can also focus on their improvement. You can engage them in training courses to acquire more skills that will benefit them and the company. Such improvement will go a long way in increasing the efficiency of the call center.

Avail yourself at all times

Always try to be available for the employees whenever they require any form of assistance. Work out a plan out of your busy schedule to attend to all their needs.

Continually coach your employees

Your guidance should always be part of your approach. Give praise where it’s due and offer constructive criticism where there is need. Always aim to encourage them to improve.

Have a firm belief in your employees’ success

After coaching and encouraging them, have faith in them to deliver. Help them to have confidence that they can get the job done. Show them that they have your dedication to their success, and you will get a team that is fully dedicated to do the job.

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Thursday, July 17, 2014

How to Retain Call Center Employees

It’s a fact that one of the main challenges that a business faces is the ability to retain quality call center employees. This is not surprising considering that they have to deal with demanding calls and the monotony of taking calls for hours up on end. Now, many call centers are attempting to stop the high turnover of employees in order to save money and time.

Here are some tips to retain great call center employees for your contact center:

Invest in your employees

In order to be successful, your call center employees should have the proper training they need to excel. While most are probably not going to make a career out of calling customers, employees still need an adequate amount of support for career advancement. Offer training and coaching programs as well as mentoring programs.

Offer praise and incentives

Everyone likes compliments! Your employees deserve to be told that they are doing a great job and that you appreciate their hard work. Offer contests and incentives with cool prizes to keep them motivated to continue their dedicated work in the call center. They have to work long hours with a virtual smile on their face, but it can be easier when there are incentives involved to show that they are appreciated by management.

Consult your team

Communication is key in the employee-manager relationship, so ask everyone their opinion when it comes to improving the contact center workplace. Don’t just ask for the sake of asking; act upon their suggestions. Make them feel valued.

Accommodating schedules

Consider giving your employees the option to telecommute. This will be effective in keeping your costs low and reducing agent turnover. Give them the opportunity to make their own schedules if you can as long as you can still maintain service capabilities.

Staff turnover is inevitable at times, but you can do whatever you can to keep your employees happy and productive. It’s a win-win for everyone!

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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Role of the Contact Center Team Leader

A call center’s team leader is a critical part of the business’ success. They play a significant role in boosting team’s morale and encouraging success and diversity. In this article, we’ll highlight the role of the call center team leader as well as the attributes that he/she should possess for the success of a call center.

What is a call center team leader responsible for?

A team leader actively enforces the goals of the operation, policies and procedures, implements plans in the organization’s training and development programs, handles escalations, supports agents, monitors the cue, and works in conjunction with the administration. 

A team leader in a call center is the one responsible for managing team of agents  to ensure that they are performing towards achieving their targets They review their performance and provide coaching and training. Team leaders meet with the manager on a regular basis to not only give feedback but also to receive instructions or actions. They are the one responsible for keeping agents informed of what is happening in the call center that may have an impact on them. At times, team leaders are involved in the recruitment of new agents to work on specific projects for the call center. 

Attributes that a call center team leader should possess

·         Management skills-A team leader should demonstrate the ability to manage the call center agents and other operations.

·         Coaching skills-They should be skilled in delivering instructive, collaborative, supportive, and motivational coaching sessions that boost open communications. He/she should be able to diagnose performance issues and be able to develop effective action plans to address the main cause of the issue. 

·         Analytical skills- Team leaders should be able to identify business trends and opportunities as well as underlying threats, and be able to provide effective suggestions for developments.

·         Goal- focused skills-A team leader should consistently meet all established goals and accomplish tasks in a commendable manner and timely basis.

·         Prioritization- A team leader needs to demonstrate the ability to prioritize issues based on urgency and scope of impact. He/she should be capable of effectively managing multiple projects.

·         Motivation skills- They should know how to create a strong sense of job satisfaction and keep all call center agents motivated, by effectively communicating, recognizing, and rewarding good performance. He should be able to identify effective ways of developing and enhancing agent’s skills.

·         Ownership/initiative- Being a team leader in a call center, one needs to volunteer and participate or lead new initiatives. He should take ownership of tasks and make sure they are completed.

·         Communication skills- Effective communication is one of the crucial skills that every team leader, regardless of the industry should possess. He should be able to professionally communicate to subordinates, peers, agents, as well as senor level management. 

·         Personnel skills- As a team leader, one should show the ability to maintain confidentiality and address sensitive issues appropriately, in accordance with HR procedures. He should prove to handle difficult issues with total professionalism, and a well-documented plan for resolution.

If a team leader possesses all the above attributes, a call center can move to greater heights.

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Thursday, June 19, 2014

Contact Center Upgrades


Many companies have recently been looking for ways to upgrade the infrastructure and communication capabilities of their contact centers. These upgrades include moving into a multichannel system, moving into the cloud, and improving the overall infrastructure of the contact center.
Although multichannel contact centers have been feasible for at least a decade, there are few of them around lately. According to experts, this needs to change because the need is getting bigger and bigger due to the growth of mobile devices that feature voice and text-based communications from any device at any time.
Companies have a responsibility to communicate with customers through traditional platforms as well as text and chat. Unfortunately, many contact centers are not set up to accommodate multichannel users as they should. Their technology is simply not up to par.
Contact center managers should attempt to understand the needs of their customers by looking at unstructured data and speech analytics. According to an article on TechTarget, companies should “assess the end-to-end experience from the customer's point of view, starting with the customer's initial entry point of communication and moving through the Web experience to phone calls, emails and chat. The next step is assessing whether the company can deliver that seamless experience and identifying gaps in the infrastructure.”
Companies have plenty of options when it comes to call center upgrades, but they need to make sure they have a solid upgrade strategy that will ultimately improve the quality of customer care.
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Friday, May 23, 2014

How to Motivate Your Call Center Reps


Working in a call center can be challenging at times. It’s no secret that call centers have a high turnover of reps. While the working conditions may be good, many times call center reps are underappreciated and underpaid. One of the best ways to keep your reps and lower the turnover rate is to keep your employees happy.

Your call center employees are an important link in the customer/company interaction chain. You are trusting them with your customers—your most valuable asset. Failing to have faith in your reps will result in many of them leaving.

Here are some ways to motivate your call center reps and create better working relationships:

Raise their pay. Call center representatives are professionals, and should be paid as such. Let’s face it: No company wants to pay more. But unless you want to continuously hire new workers and deal with a high turnover rate, you need to offer a competitive rate.

Provide refresher training. Employees that have been employed with the company for a while will greatly benefit from refresher training.

Allow shift trading. When call center employees are able to swap shifts to meet their needs, everyone is happy. It’s a small change that creates a nice balance.

Create an off-site program. Reps who wish to work from home can do so through remote communication. Employees who excel can have this perk, and this will motivate others to excel as well.

Give benefits to part-timers. Part-time employees are just as important as full-time ones, so treat them as if they are as valuable by offering the same benefits.

Create an advancement system. Let your call center representatives know that they can be rewarded with better pay and more responsibility if they succeed and add value to the company.

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Thursday, May 8, 2014

Tips for Agents to Communicate Better


In a call center, communication is king. It’s a fact that effective communication will lead to a more productive and satisfied staff of agents. It sounds easy enough, but there are actually quite a few mishaps that can occur in an attempt to communicate to clients and customers. If your agents know how to better handle these situations, they can serve callers faster and with more confidence.
Here are some tips to help your agents communicate to customers more effectively:
Listen to the caller. Many agents may be so eager to serve the caller that they begin to answer before the caller has even finished talking. It’s best to wait until the caller has finished stating their question or concern before jumping in to remedy the problem. It’s easy for agents to get sidetracked with their own concerns about the call while they should be listening to the caller instead. Be present so that you can let the customer communicate their concerns. Failure to do so can result in callers feeling unimportant.
Speak slowly. Remember that callers are hearing the agent for the first time, and they may not always be clear on what you are saying. They should slow down and speak slowly. It is natural to tend to speed up after repetitive calls, but advise your agents to mindfully slow down and treat every call as if it’s the first one of the day.
Breathe. An agent’s breathing can affect a call. For instance, if they are sighing, they can come off as annoyed. If they hold their breath, it can mean they are tense. And we all know what yawning means! Teach your agents to be aware of their breathing during a call, and to take deep breathes in between calls.
Stay present. Make sure your agents know that when they stay on the phone, they should be present in that moment. While it’s easy to space out at their desks, agents should take breaks when they are feeling sluggish. Teaching them to stay in the moment will help their focus, even on trying days.
What about agents who work from home? As a call center manager, you can use video and chat in order to monitor their communication abilities in real-time. In order to do this effectively, you must communicate to your agents the importance of staying engaged and focused during customer calls.
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Friday, April 25, 2014

A Quick Guide to Call Centers


Almost everyone has heard of the term call center; however, very few people understand how a call center works. Here is a quick guide to call centers and how they work:

Business Model

Every call center should have a business model. It helps the call center to identify its goals and missions. Here are the basic components of a business model.

Mission

The mission states how the call center will help the company achieve its goals. It also specifies what the company expects from the call center.

Business goals

They include both short term and midterm goals that the call center wants to achieve. They also define what the organization wants from the call center.

Performance drivers

These are the processes, behaviors and tools which help the call center to meet the expectations of the company. Performance drivers are usually measurable.

Tech Tools

In order to run a call center you need several technical tools. Have you heard the terms IVR, VoIP, CRM and ACD? These are some of the tools and technology that modern call centers use to carry out their operation. There are several others, too. Here is a list of them.

·         Telephone network

·         Automatic call distributor system

·         Data network/Internet

·         Predictive dialer

·         Interactive voice response system

·         Web applications like email and online chat

·         Computer workstations

·         Local area network (LAN)

·         CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems like scripting, customer analytics and billing tools.

·         Computer-telephony integration software and hardware

·         Knowledge base

·         Workforce management software

·         Agent performance dashboard

·         Data warehouse

·         Call-recording equipment

·         VoIP communications technology

The call center team

The call center may have the most sophisticated tools in the world. It still needs efficient people to bring it to life.

The call center employs many people and they have several different roles to perform. For example, in every call center, there are agents, supervisors, business analysts and managers. Here is a quick overview of their roles.

Roles of call center employees

Senior manager

The senior manager is responsible for establishing the vision and mission of the call center. The annual goals for the call center are set by the senior manager.

Call center manager

The call center manager works with the senior manager and formulates polices which help the call center accomplish its goals.

The call center manager also identifies the performance drivers that have a direct or indirect impact on the business goals of the call center. S/he is also entrusted with the duty of assigning key roles to other employees. Other duties of the call center manager include creating a culture which supports the call center mission.

Resource analyst            

The job of a resource analyst is to predict customer demand and identify the resources necessary to meet it.

Reporting analyst           

The reporting analyst is the person who provides statistical feedback on key performance drivers and business goals. They also have a responsibility to conduct analysis and identify ways to improve the performance and results of the call center.

Network analyst

They recommend the tools required to improve performance. They also have a responsibility to ensure that these tools work properly.

Agent performance team includes the recruiter, team leader, trainer, and quality analyst.

The agents are the people who handle customer contacts. The recruiter recruits agents. The trainer imparts the required training. The team leader shows the agents how they should perform. The quality analyst gives feedback.

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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Improving the Quality of Call Monitoring


There is more to monitoring than finding problems and solving them. Call monitoring also involves identifying and showcasing positive messages. Today's contact centers are technologically sophisticated but sometimes a simple 'thank you' works better.

Gather data and use it properly

Every contact center should monitor call quality because it provides valuable insights into the performance of their advisors. By monitoring call quality, the contact center can set standards and provide required training.

Get the basics right

Small things like using appropriate phrases and greetings can make a big difference. Regular monitoring ensures that advisors get the small details right. Better still, by monitoring call quality regularly, the contact center can nip bad habits in the bud.

No need to install cutting edge technology

You don't necessarily have to invest in sophisticated monitoring tools. Simple manual checking may also provide valuable insights. Some monitoring is definitely better than having no monitoring at all.

Set realistic targets

When you achieve them, it will encourage you to set even higher targets.

Take your advisors into confidence

The contact center should be able to win the cooperation of employees from the early stage itself. When a contact center implements monitoring, many employees will assume that it is going to be critical. Consequently, they may resent it. On the other hand, if the existing monitoring system hasn't changed in several years, agents and advisors may start taking it for granted. Convince your employees that the goal of quality monitoring is not to kill their morale. Instead, it is a program designed to benefit both advisors and consumers.

Monitoring should be collaborative, not prescriptive.

This will encourage advisors to cooperate and accept the system. Advisors should know why the quality of their calls is important to the company. They will be able to deliver better performance if they know what the organization expects of them.

Provide feedback

Use a fair method to score and evaluate data obtained from the call monitoring process. Use the same standard all the time.

Once you have set milestones, you need to ensure that they are kept to. The contact center can deliver the feedback one-to-one or through group sessions. No matter what method is selected, individual members should be able to voice their opinions and concerns.

Provide skills training

This will definitely improve the performance of your advisors.

Have a competent team to assess quality

There should be a dedicated person to do the evaluation.  If the contact center is large, there should be a specialist team. You can't expect your supervisors to monitor quality. Their duty is to launch campaigns.

After identifying a person to handle monitoring, you should provide them with the resources, skills and training they need to efficiently carry out the appraisal. Call quality tends to improve when a monitoring system is implemented. That means, by investing more time and money into your monitoring, you can provide better service to your clients.

External benchmarking

You should also compare the performance of your contact center with your competition. If your contact center doesn't have a monitoring tool, you should consider outsourcing this to an external monitoring agency.

Reward best practice

You can improve the morale of your team by rewarding their work. For example, you can institute awards for advisors delivering exceptional performance.

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Thursday, April 17, 2014

What Makes the Telephone the Most Effective Channel?


Some people believe that the traditional telephone is the most effective medium to provide customer support.

These days, the customer can communicate with the contact center through many channels. The telephone is just one among them. So what makes the telephone so special?

Thanks to the easy availability of multiple contact channels, customers now want the freedom to decide how they should communicate with the contact center. They may even switch between channels. For example, they may start the communication with an email and then switch to phone or social media, or web chat to discuss the same issue. No matter what medium they choose to contact the call center, they expect nothing short of excellent customer service. This poses many challenges for the call center. This also calls for a system that allows the call center agents to see the customer's messages across all mediums in one place. They should also be able to see the caller's profile and history for effective handling of the problem.

While such systems are available at the moment, the cost can be prohibitive. And hence the organization should carefully decide how the agent should respond when customers communicate through multiple channels. A telephone call is still the most effective way to respond. More sophisticated systems may be available, but nothing can beat the telephone in terms of efficiency and affordability.

Email communications can be quite time consuming. Tweets are very public. Verifying the identity of someone who contacts you through the web chat can be difficult. Text messages should be linked to a CRM system. A telephone call, on the other hand, is quicker. This is the channel a customer will prefer if they expect an instant reply.

When the customer makes a call, they can get to the point faster. Now this gives rise to another question. Are your agents capable of handling these calls properly?

The call center agent may have access to a sophisticated system that gives complete details of the customer across all channels. However, if the agent is too busy and takes time to respond, the call center fails to win its objectives.

Research reveals that even in inbound contact centers, up to 40% of the calls are outbound. This is because the call center has to return the calls and respond to emails. One way of getting around this problem is to install an outbound dialer to field calls.

This system will ensure that important customer promises, for example the promise to call back, are not forgotten. Call backs can be automatically set up or by the call center agents. If there is an efficient dialer, the customer will not have to call the contact center to follow up.

Thanks to precision dialing technology, tweets, chats and emails can also be fed into the dialer to send a fast response to customers. It is also possible to blend SMS with outbound dialing campaigns.

Once you have the right system in place, the contact center will work more efficiently and seamlessly. This may also encourage the customer to stay around and appreciate the improvement.

LeadXL provides accurate, actionable information and analysis, resulting in increased conversion of leads from ALL sources. Lead XL was built for lenders following a clear path to success: Analyze. Revive. Enhance. Contact Lead XL today!

Friday, April 11, 2014

How Computer Telephony Can Benefit Your Call Center

The main focus of a company is delivering service and making sales. The key is to make it easy for customers to get in touch with a business’ services. Computer telephony—sometimes referred to as computer/telephone integration or CTI—is a technology that was created to enable better contact between companies and customers.
Computer telephony is not one piece of equipment; rather, it involves interlocking technologies and combining two streams of information through open and standards-based systems: data and voice. It’s used in all areas of business today, but it really shines in the call center. Computer telephony has the potential to improve the way your company interacts with customers.
Here are some other benefits that computer telephony can offer your contact center:
Make more sales. You can build customer loyalty when you have more information about the caller. You can appeal to them on their terms with information in the corporate database.
Improve customer service. With more information in the hands of the customer, they can sometimes even serve themselves, costing you less for labor.
Reduce your telecom usage costs. You can also have shorter call times and cut hold time as well.
You’ll have happier customers. More of the customers’ problems will be solved the first time around.
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