If Your Customers are on Hold, So are Your Profits

If Your Customers are on Hold, So are Your Profits

It’s easy to take it for granted, but whenever we have a problem with a product or service, there’s almost always someone on call who can help resolve it. While not every business offers 24/7 answering services with live agents, more and more are making this type of customer service a top priority. It’s been shown that prioritizing customer service allows companies to generate profits up to 60% higher than competitors. And because live phone answering services are such a major part of customer service, it should come as no surprise that in 2012 the global telecommunications industry reached $2.1 trillion, and it’s only been growing since.

What Does Quality Customer Service Sound Like?.

Whether we’re at the grocery store, a restaurant, or any business, we’ve all had at least once experience with lousy customer service. We know when an employee is fed up with our concerns or unwilling to address them properly. But we’ve also had several positive customer service experiences, where someone has least attempted to help us in any way possible.

Over the phone services, though more remote than the customer service you experience directly at a store, still must hold itself to the same standards. The best call services are defined by how quickly a customer can speak directly to a knowledgable and helpful agent, and how effectively said agent addresses and alleviates a customer’s complaints and concerns.

The Link Between Profit and Customer Service.

Over 80% of customers claim they return to a business after having a good customer service experience, and about the same percentage say they’ve backed down from a purchase due to a bad experience. For companies to stay competitive and profitable then, they have to provide the best customer service possible. Quality phone service is especially important because customers feel like their problems are being addressed directly and with individual concern. Email is far less efficient when it comes to addressing customer concerns. In fact, studies have shown that only 27% of customer inquiries over email are answered correctly and promptly.

The worst part of this negative customer service is just how little it takes to turn a customer away. It takes an average of 12 good customer services to erase the mark of just one lousy one. And bad experiences can spread like wildfire, since people are twice as likely to share a bad experience with others than they are to share good ones. So, yes, good customer service is important for all businesses, and the best way to efficiently take care of customers’ problems is through quality live telephone answering services.

Is There a Use for Automated Answering Services?.

While it’s true that customers prefer to speak to a real human being on the other line, automated answering services can be helpful if implemented the proper way. In order to provide quality answering services, live agents must be able to address an issue as efficiently as possible. An automated answering service can help direct both the customer and agent to the basic issue before the agent tackles it more in depth. In this way, the automated service prepares the live operator for the problem at hand, while saving the energy of both the operator and the customer of talking through unnecessary things.