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How to manage your customer service call center


Some companies have figured out the secret required to increase customer satisfaction, increase incoming call resolutions, and positively affect the company's bottom line. This secret is the use of a customer service call center.

Managing a customer service call center can be a very complex business. The manager is faced with a lot of customer service issues. Not only do they have to make sure the call center is running smoothly, but they have to coordinate scheduling, call costs, rent and utilities for the business, and promotional events or advertising, if any.All of these responsibilities can be extremely overwhelming. Learning how to manage your customer service call center properly will greatly enhance business and reduce any unwanted stress, and it will provide extremely better customer service.


In managing your customer service call center, there are some things you'll want to start with:

See how much work your call center is going to have.
Schedule the proper resources that will meet your demand.
Plan and adjust the schedule based on the amount of calls and availability of your staff.

Look for technology that can help you with these things and that can help you handle calls efficiently. There are a few different options when it comes to handling calls. There's what is called the Dynamic Call Routing program and also the Automatic Call Distribution program.

Dynamic Call Routing has a computer directly connected to the telephone company's switchboard office. This computer allows you to control the routing of your customers call at a large capacity before they even hit your system. Basically, what this means is when call volumes come in too high for your call center to handle, you can direct those calls to another customer service call center in your company. The promptness of taking these calls will provide greater efficiency for your call center.

Automatic Call Distribution can increase the effectiveness of your call center operations. When customer calls arrive, it routes a large volume of incoming calls to a pool of waiting employees. The ACD program makes use of telephone queues, which is like a waiting room for callers, instead of directing calls to specific telephone extensions.

There are a number of things that the ACD does. There are recordings that greet the customer, and it provides important messages about the company or any promotions that might be going on. This delays the call until there is a representative ready to assist them. There's music that plays between messages to make waiting more pleasant for the customer. There are also certain options to push to send the customer to the appropriate agent to fit their needs. The goal of ACD is to answer the call as fast as possible, while providing the highest level of customer service that you can.
After the call is received by an agent, make sure the agent has all possible materials to quickly assist the customer.

There should be a computer program set up to access information on pricing, products, services, customer accounts, how to handle complaints and whatever else they will need. Computer Telephony Integration is one type of system that allows interaction between the telephones and the computers. It can easily pull up any needed information on the customers.

In learning how to manage your customer service call center, you need to make sure to keep notes and reports of activity.

There are a few different kinds of reports necessary to track productivity. Create reports on the performance of your agents, such as: how long they were on the phone, how they helped the customer and how many customers they helped in one shift. Keep reports on how many people called your call center and how quickly they were helped. Also note how many customers hung up. Gather information on your customer experience, your agents and business performance. Most of these reports can be done through your ACD program.

In keeping a close watch on your reporting you can better understand how your business in performing, and how to improve. Once you know how your customer service call center is doing, you can look into ways of improving productivity and efficiency.

One way to improve efficiency in your call center is proper staffing and scheduling. Scheduling can become an issue when different shifts start and others end. Good scheduling will take the information from your reporting system and allow you to project how many agents you will need in the future. You can change the call volume and agent efficiency and determine how many agents you will need to reach your desired performance levels. Remember to keep your call center staffed during peak hours such as: lunch time 12:00pm-1:00pm and also early evenings 5:00pm-6:00pm. This is when most people have time to call because they are off of work.

Learning how to manage your customer service call center will be important to your overall productivity and success. With the proper systems and programs and a team willing to work, you are on your way to a successful customer service call center.


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