Reality Check. the Global Economy Call Center Experience Needs a Makeover

So you dial the phone and the voice on the other end sounds foreign. You immediately decide this is going to be an awful customer service experience. You start thinking had you known technical support was going to be across the ocean you would have chosen a different company; a different brand perhaps.

On the other end someone enthusiastically picks up the phone, tells you their name and asks how they can be of help. They are thrilled to have a job. The voice that responds to their excitement sounds disgusted from the onset.

And so plummets your company’s customer service rating.

It seemed like a good business decision at the time. After all, cheap labor equals increased shareholder value. Or does it? How many customers have you lost? You probably can’t even get a handle on that – although some highly paid consultant will help you figure it out – and use up your cost savings. Or you could just move your call center back to your soil.

But here are the bigger questions………………

Is it a matter of packing up and going home or educating the global economy on the future of call centers? Is the call center savings being passed along to the customer in terms of a better product with more features? Would the world respond differently if the product got better and better, leading to more sales which in turn resulted in increased profits for your shareholders? Can you lower the purchase price to earn customer loyalty? Or was the call center move all about savings? Should it be positioned as investment in the future? Here’s the bottom line..……..Is the overseas call center about your customer needs or your bottom line? The overseas call center can work for everyone – if a few things change.

Welcome to the 21st Century Call Center Makeover – it is long overdue.

1. Ditch the script!: Callers know when they are being read a script. It is clear. It is obvious. Stop reading to us. Stop trying to fit our questions and issues into your script. Customer issues don’t always turn out the way they are scripted. Sometimes “happily ever after” just does not occur. Look at the divorce rate! Call center employees need to be able to converse, not read. They need to laugh and express emotion – happy ones of course.

2. Play with the merchandise!: A U.S. based manufacturer of quality bicycles allows their employees to take a bike ride during lunch. They want their employees to know their product; to experience their product. Be it computers, airline tickets, electronic gadgets, or bank credit cards let your employees play with your product. Let them see it, touch it and feel it. And make this a regular requirement!

3. For the 7th time…………….: “So let me clarify Mr. Rich (or Madam), you are telling me that your voice mail message will not delete when you choose the delete option.” First of all, prostitution is still illegal in most places; and as you are clarifying things for the 7th time I am thinking that your competitor wants me back as a customer – and they’re courting me as I try to speak with you. I get mail from them – daily. I am staring right at their offer as you are not solving my problem. They are local; their people are in my country.

4. Let them think: The human mind really is a terrible thing to waste. Are you old enough to remember that one? But think about it, how many of our decisions are made for us by computer models and algorithms these days? Remember common sense. Think about some of the more common technical issues surrounding your product and the nature of the calls to your call center. Would common sense have solved the issue before you hit F5, F2, ENTER, BACKSPACE, CTRL-ALT-DELETE AND THE RESET BUTTON?

5. Don’t you dare hang up on me!: Shame on you. You’re not helping me. I have no clue as to what you are saying and when I ask for your supervisor, you put me on hold for 20 minutes and then you hang up on me. And now you want me to remain a loyal customer? Now perhaps you don’t seem to care, but the person signing your paycheck sure as heck does. Please find the person who can solve my problem.

6. Hire them; don’t outsource them: If you’re cheap and cheap labor is what you need, can you at least put them on your payroll? This may increase employee engagement.

7. Understand why I hate you: I don’t really hate you – even though my neighbor lost his job when his company transferred it to your country. It is not you I hate. You are the target of my anger. That is all

8. Join a Laughter Club: A happy employee is a productive employee. Laughter is proven to relieve stress, and since we know how stressed your customers are on the other end of the phone, one of us needs to be smiling or enjoying the customer service experience. Both of us would be a bonus. There are laughter clubs in so many countries, from India to England to China. Joining a laughter club just might be the solution to prevent hardening of the attitudes.

If this Global Economy thing is going to work, we’ve got to start working together. Is your organization ready for its makeover?

Article written by Rich DiGirolamo & Gail Hand, August 2007

Rich DiGirolamo (www.richdigirolamo.com) and Gail Hand (www.gailhand.com) are professional speakers based near two different oceans. They work with organizations wishing to change the Global Economy Call Center Experience