Many people have come to loathe picking up the tele and calling a customer support number – often dreading having to navigate through tedious phone trees and holding the line while listening to some awful tune. But with today’s technology, there are many other options available, such as email and online chat support, where a customer can get assistance without really even having to actually speak to a person. These chat support desks are run by people – not at a call centre, but a contact centre. Filled with experts who can handle different forms of communications, contact centres are the hubs that can handle all sorts of communications, not only calls, but also emails and live chats, as well as social media and the back end of a company’s website blog, posting content and responding to comments. Without efficient contact centre services the entire economy would likely collapse.
With the ever-growing advances in technology, it’s really too much for one person – let alone one company – to handle day-to-day operations of a business plus all communications. Gone are the days of a single secretary answering client calls. Even a small business or mom and pop shop ought to have social media. One might even say a company that merely uses call centre services alone is outdated as well. A company must be able to keep up with the daily management of an online presence: a website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – and the list goes on. What’s more, a solid online presence doesn’t just create and post content – it manages customer expectations and keeps on top of responding to comments on those initial posts as well. Taking all of this into consideration, it’s no wonder companies turn to contact centres to help manage it all. Contact centre services are in high demand these days.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), there is a point at which customers get fed up and decide to take their business elsewhere. The WSJ says this is called ‘Breakpoint’, or in other words, ‘an informal term used by some companies and consultants to describe the point at which consumers quit, whether it’s canceling a subscription service, no longer buying a product or switching to a rival company’.
There are many factors that could cause a customer to leave, especially in the contact centre world. According to an interview by the WSJ, “Ewan Duncan, a McKinsey & Co. senior partner who consults on customer service, is among those who say the perception—not the actual experience—has grown worse in recent years. The social-media echo chamber and the fact that live customer-service agents are tackling more complex problems gives the impression things are worse than they are, he said.”
Duncan says disgruntled customers tend to act more than satisfied ones. He adds, “When you’re sitting on a plane and don’t have a gate, you’re grumpy and you tweet it out. If you have a good experience, you thank somebody and that’s it.”
This brings us back to the reason why it is so important to have a professional staff from a company that can handle all contact centre needs. PITON-Global is one example of a company that has won awards for excellence in service; better to pay companies such as this to stay on top of all contact centre needs than for a customer to get frustrated and take their business elsewhere. A company works so hard for customers – it is equally as important for it to work hard to retain them, so thank goodness for the existence of outsourcing to contact centers around the world who can help businesses focus on their corps competencies, while meeting their clients’ needs. Contact centre services will continue to play a mission-critical role for UK-based companies in a hyper-competitive business environment.
