Inbound calls may seem like a simple concept for other businesses but it is important for you to know that there is an art behind it.
When a customer has a question that needs to be raised, they want to be assisted immediately. It is your responsibility to make sure that there are channels available for your customers to contact you.
Also, you need to make sure that an effective strategy is in place to give a resolution that could satisfy your client.
Definition of inbound calling
An inbound call is an incoming call from a customer to your company. It happens when customers initiate contact with your business.
While clients’ reasons may vary, inbound calls are often focused on answering questions, resolving customer queries or complaints, taking payments or setting up a service.
Since inbound calls are often the first point of contact you have with your customers, your team must deal with it in a polite, helpful and professional manner.
The importance of having a good inbound calling strategy should not be underestimated. It can affect everything from how quickly your team can pick up a phone to how they can resolve a customer’s problems efficiently.
How to enhance your inbound calling strategy
Inbound call centers can be considered as the brain of your organization. When inbound calls are received, they are processed, sorted and either handled directly by a call center representative or transferred to the right department.
The way you respond to a customer or potential client who is reaching out to you could make or break their relationship with your brand. Establishing a solid inbound calling strategy can help you ensure that customers and prospects are properly taken care of.
Here are some ways to help you create a more effective inbound calling strategy.
Utilize the power of technology
The right inbound calling technology will enable your team to help more callers in less time and effort but still deliver great service.
Consider using a call routing tool to direct the caller to the right customer service support. Also, make a compilation of important caller information like location, purchase history, plan details among others.
Every time a representative of your company takes a call, information should go straight to your customer relationship management tool. This type of data could help you understand your client better. It allows your employees to access your client’s details for a more seamless interaction.
A good inbound calling strategy enables your company to give a remarkable service to the customers which results in an overall better client satisfaction.
Train your team intensively
Customer service representatives do not only need to retain and relay large amounts of information. They also need to be multitaskers, great communicators and excellent problem solvers.
They also need to know how to empathize with customers, putting themselves in their shoes to better understand the problem and give a solution that will make the caller happy. Therefore, you should help develop your team’s skills through regular training sessions.
Remember, customer service representatives are the ones who interact with your clients the most in your business. It’s important that they have support to represent your brand well.
Consistent training and support for your team will give them the ability to successfully do their jobs while making them feel valued and supported.
Diversify your channels
As said before, phone calls remain to be the most popular channel customers go to when contacting your company. But it is also expensive as you can only answer one client at a time.
To solve this, try to divert some of that phone traffic to other channels. Like live chat or emails. You can often take on two or more live chats at once and you can use templated responses for your emails.
Now that almost everyone can access the internet, think about the most efficient way where your customers could reach you quickly and your team can respond promptly.
Make a good FAQ page
Some people hate contacting customer support, either because of the hassle or they can’t find time to do so, therefore you have to give them a way to resolve their problems on their own.
By creating an informative FAQ page or providing downloadable manuals, clients can answer their own questions rather than actively seeking you out.
If you find that your support team is spending a lot of time answering the same few questions, it’s usually a sign to start creating an FAQ page on your website.
Track everything
After answering a call from your customer, it is important to follow-up if they are satisfied with the service you have provided. Set up some kind of tracking method to help you with this.
Consider providing different numbers for your business to track the performance of each call channel. You can also try segmenting your inbound call channel based on service levels.
Categorise the calls from the most important ones, which you need to answer immediately to the less pressing matters, which you can answer when you’re free.
Any type of stratification that you can think of helps you track the performance of your support channels and if your company is providing better customer service.
