Improving the Customer Experience with Call-backs

How to improve efficiency of your contact centre and increase customer satisfaction with a call-back option

Your customers have some serious “hang-ups” about waiting for service on the phone, don’t they? And who wouldn’t? Being put on hold can feel frustrating and make you wonder if you’ve been forgotten. With each second that your customer waits, their annoyance increases. Ultimately, you may take the call to find an upset client on the other end, or worse, the dreaded customer hang-up. A survey conducted by Virtual Hold Technology found that 64% of customers hang up if they are on hold for over five minutes. And those who remain have been known to start tweeting their discontent, discouraging your other clients from trying their hand at reaching an agent.

So what’s a smart contact centre manager to do? Often, budgets don’t allow for an overstaffed contact centre just in case one of those unusual service hiccups should occur or you’re suddenly swamped with a volume spike.

Try the call-back. Incorporating call-backs into your customer service protocol can minimize call abandon rates and let your customers know that you understand the value of their time. Follow these three easy steps to steer clear of that dial tone by pushing the right buttons instead.

Set Trigger Levels

The first step is deciding in what situations you will offer the call-back option. If your average speed of answer (ASA) times are low, there probably isn’t a dire need to offer the call-back. Some companies wait until the volume of incoming calls reaches a predetermined tipping point where hang-ups become more likely to occur. At that moment, they enact the call-back option.

Other contact centres, however, are concerned about losing a customer before that tipping point is reached. Offering a call-back option sooner rather than later decreases the likelihood that you’ll lose those calls. So, if your metrics show your customers are likely to hang-up after a 60 second wait, consider offering the call-back at around 30 seconds.

Don’t forget that many customers don’t accept the call-back offer the first time so offering it frequently can help keep those customers on your side.

Customer-First Versus Agent-First Call-backs

Call-backs can be customer-first or agent-first. In customer-first call-backs, the customer is called while their number is still queued. The primary benefit of customer-first call-backs is saving agent time, because agents don’t have to wait for the customer. However, this can sometimes backfire, as customers may become agitated after being put on hold for the second time and vent their frustrations when the agent becomes available.

Alternatively, in agent-first call-backs, agents are on the call before the customer’s phone ever rings. The primary benefit to agent-first call-backs is that customers don’t have to wait, which can mean greater customer satisfaction. The downside to this approach is that agents may spend time waiting for the customer to be reached.

Offer Call-backs from Different Communication Channels

Lastly, consider how you will offer the call-back opportunity. Offering a call-back option for telephone customer service is always a great idea, but bear in mind that many of your clients may be well-versed in other channels, such as mobile apps, websites, and social media. Offering a call-back option directly from those alternate channels can bypass the need for your customer to take the extra step of calling in the first place.

Still not convinced? Call-backs also benefit the contact centre by encouraging minimal customer abandon rates, reducing agent idle time, and cost savings on telecommunications. For more information on how implementing a call-back option may benefit your contact centre, check out our free white paper.