Responding to inbound calls is the primary function of most customer service teams that are looking to deliver a positive customer experience.
Most businesses outsource a call center and support team to field customer service requests and complaints from their clients.
These inbound call centers usually organize phone support queues and distribute inbound calls to the representatives of your support service team.
That is just the tip of the iceberg in running a call center company. There are a lot more things to uncover in managing inbound calls.
In this article, we are going to list down must-do inbound call strategies that can help you ace your inbound call operations.
What are inbound calls?
Inbound calls are phone calls made to a business or a company’s customer service teams. These calls are received by a company’s customer service or technical support team—depending on the issue of the call.
Responding to inbound calls is the primary function of most customer service teams that are looking to deliver a positive customer experience.
Handling inbound calls might sound easy to some. In reality, it could take a lot of planning and effort to make the process smooth for both your agents and customers.
Must-do inbound call strategies
To perform at your best, refer to the section where we list down the factors that make up an inbound call center functioning. These approaches can make a huge difference as to how your team can develop the best-fitting inbound call strategy.
Create a call center strategy
Before building a team, you’ll have to first determine the right strategy you’ll need to implement for your customer service channel.
Questions like “What products and services do you offer?” and “Do you want to provide technical support, customer service, or both?” should be at the top of your list.
After determining the type of calls your agents will take, you will need to hire the right talents who would field inbound calls from your customers. You’ll need to plan what your call flow is, as well as the key metrics needed to ensure agents’ efficiency.
Eventually, you’ll need to develop a plan for handling a higher volume of calls too. You’ll need to prepare for your expansion as well if more and more customers are in dire need of assistance.
Considering these types of factors in planning your strategy can ease future roadblocks you may encounter on the road.
Determine ‘how many’ and ‘who’ to hire
Recruitment, training, certification, and onboarding—all of these staffing processes are never cheap. If you’re starting a new company, it can be challenging to determine the right headcount upon hiring.
For a starter, you’ll first need to estimate how many calls you will get in a month. You can refer to your product usage reports and obtain customer feedback to get a better perspective on how often your customers interact with your business.
After you have your estimate, you can now start staffing your support team. If you have a good reference for hiring the best set of dedicated professionals to field your inbound calls, it would also ease your planning.
Great customer service begins with the right employees who provide it, so it’s important to be meticulous in your hiring process. Remember that these people will represent your brand’s image, vision, and reputation.
Invest in technology and equipment
Your inbound teams won’t be able to function without an inbound software system that will receive, analyze, and distribute calls. Investing in a company’s software is worthwhile as you can also upgrade easily when your business expands over time.
Apart from software systems, you’ll also need to invest in the proper hardware that your team will need to operate with. This includes computer monitors, headsets, keyboards, and other equipment that they’re going to use every day.
Other companies also use calling tools that track and record calls and automatically pull up customer information when the call starts.
Your entire operation would heavily rely on the software system and tools you’re going to use so make sure to choose the perfect technology for your team.
Re-evaluate your call center metrics
Once your support teams and systems are officially up and running, the last step would be to identify your call metrics. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are a set of scores that measures your performance as a team, as an individual, or as a whole site.
KPIs include the agents’ average holding time, customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction rate, net promoter score, and other quantifiable measures that you may set for your team.
Your KPIs ensure that your daily goals and quotas are realistic and attainable. By constantly monitoring and analyzing your call center metrics, your inbound call center teams will be able to maintain their positive service and improve on their lapses.
Put your best foot forward in implementing inbound call strategies
Call center companies that openly plan and strategize for their call flows and overall support needs will draw significant results in their call center operations.
These steps to starting strategizing for your own company are a good head-start in delivering the most current customer service needs. With the right expectations and planning, you can create a more enjoyable customer service experience.
