Call handling, in simple terms is the management of telephone calls. In business, this can be managed in house or outsourced to a call handling service provider where a third-party handles phone calls on your company’s behalf. This solution can handle both inbound and outbound calls as well as other components of your customer telephone support system. In this article, we explain some call handling best practices you should embrace in order to provide excellent customer service.
What is the difference between inbound and outbound call handing?
Customers’ incoming calls are known as inbound. In most cases inbound calls come from repeat customers who have problems or inquiries that they would like to be resolved.
On the other side, outbound calls are where you are contacting the customer. These are typically cold calls to potential customers about their products or services.
Call handling best practices:
IVR Routing
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) can be used to allow users to navigate the menu using the telephone keypad or speech recognition. It enables a high level of client self-service. Customers can engage with pre-recorded audio to navigate to the appropriate agents and departments, but it also enables them to access particular pre-recorded guides, pay their own bills using the keypad, or instantly go to a voice mailbox.
Minimal wait time
Although we strive to eradicate hold times, it is inevitable that customers will frequently have to wait on hold. In addition to being a stressful experience, those long hold periods have a negative influence on brand perception and customer satisfaction, which eventually impacts a company’s bottom line.
Compliance
GDPR compliance is a requirement of any business or organisation that handles, stores, or processes the personal data of EU citizens- regardless of where they are based.
Before you call a single number, you need to be confident that you have a legal basis for processing that personal data.
An often forgotten about piece of personal data is your call recordings. They need special consideration to achieve GDPR compliance. With that in mind, every contact centre should have a clear strategy around call recordings under GDPR. There are two key areas to assess: whether you have a legal basis to record calls and your processes for handling recordings.
Increased elements of enforcement are a key element of GDPR. If you are found to be in breach of the regulations, you could be subject to a fine worth £17 Million or 4% of your annual turn over- whichever is greater.
Personalisation
The caller should feel important, at ease and engaged with throughout the conversation around their needs. Learn about the caller and gain some understanding of their habits to help navigate the challenging process they are facing. If the caller is an existing customer, having all their customer journey information is imperative to providing an excellent customer service experience.
Here at Woven we are not just an outsourcer; we offer a new way of working. Our people are powered by our technology to meet the needs of your business. If you want to find out more, get in touch with us on 03331037337 or email hello@wearewoven.com