Availability is a key factor that determines a good and bad customer experience. By adding more touch points this can be improved. Like instant message, emails et. This is an excellent way to create an always-on effect, particularly for customer support, but you may not have the staffing resources to fulfil 100% availability.
Many businesses view these options as a buffer between ‘costly’ phone or on-site support [Being Human is Good Business, K. Smaby]. Many clients, however, need real-time, vocal support or reassurance — a lil bit of that human touch – to quote Bruce Springsteen.
This post will help you effectively manage queries, provide valuable information and add a personal touch for inbound callers using your business phone system.
Custom Music on Hold
According to a recent AT&T study, more than 70% of all business calls are placed on hold for an average of 45 seconds. Another study by Cell Marketing Magazine confirms that customers prefer On Hold Music to silence and will remain on the line longer. Entertainment is great customer experience after all.
Blueface’s Unified Communications Portal allows customer administrators to adjust their music on hold on the fly. Simply log in, visit the Music on Hold UC tab and upload your new audio file. Read the Music on Hold tutorial for more tips on how to set it up or keep reading for reasons why you should.
Expectation Handling
There are times that the volume of incoming business calls becomes unmanageable. Blueface UC allows you to change your music on hold instantly for just such an occasion.
Keep your customers informed of the process, arrange callbacks or detail the steps being taken to resolve any potential issues.
Call reporting from Blueface can help identify high call density periods and set up dynamic call rules that include music on hold.
Marketing Campaigns and Seasonal Purposes
Let your customers know about your opening hours, special offers, seasonal events and new products with customisable music on hold. UC music on hold is easy to set up and configure in real time so keeping your customers informed has never been easier.
Sample
Did you know? We are cutting prices for [Event] on all [products]. [Company X] is offering all existing customers an additional 20% off all this week! Offer ends [Date].
Blueface recommends being precise with your offers and marketing material – ie giving them something to ask about – as being too broad can create customer inertia.
Entertain Callers and Retain Calls
One of the primary goals of Music on Hold is to entertain. Try mixing inoffensive license free music in the background with your audio recording message.
If you want to be vocal-free, Chopin and Bach have gotten a lot of airplay over the years but many customers are now electing to pay licensing fees for popular songs. We would also suggest reaching out to talented local musicians to write you a license-free song, tailored to your business. Just… watch your call volume – licensing can get expensive very quickly.
What’s in a Name? Name Recognition
Name recognition shows you who is calling from a user’s synced corporate phone book on the UC Portal. While this feature is generally utilised for internal calling, there are other benefits to knowing who’s calling, every time.
Getting Familiar Internally
Name recognition is particularly useful for large companies with multiple branches or remote workers. Name recognition displays a person or group on your handset and allows your staff to see which person or group has called them before they answer.
Blueface, for example, has offices scattered in Hong Kong, New York, London, Ireland, Italy… and so on. Staying connected and gaining valuable insights from global team members helps us grow our network faster, and knowing who’s calling helps us deliver better customer support, faster.
Humanising the Customer Experience
Widely quoted but irreverent, Dale Carnegie writes in “How to Win Friends and Influence People” that to a customer, hearing their name is the “sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
Dale Carnegie
Using a person’s name is crucial, especially when meeting those we don’t see very often. Respect and acceptance stem from simple acts such as remembering a person’s name and using it whenever appropriate.
Instead of uploading an internal corporate phone book, account managers can create an external corporate phone book of active accounts/customers. If done correctly, your external contacts’ name will display when you receive an incoming call.
This feature is particularly beneficial for companies who offer long-term guidance and support as part of their service level agreement. Recognition leads to excellent customer experience.
Your account management, sales and support teams can quickly familiarise themselves to customers with a hearty, name-inclusive, greeting. The title track to the 1980s comedy, Cheers, says it best: “you want to go where everybody knows your name” and with UC Name Recognition, that place is your business.
Busy Lamp Field Awareness
Nothing quite matches the frustration of being transferred, only to be disconnected and forced to go through the IVR menu again. A caller’s pain is compounded if support is a premium number.
Busy Lamp Field presence detection informs users of other user availability from their handset. This is easily set up by visiting the Unified Communications Portal. Need help setting it up? Check out the BLF Support Page on the Blueface Help Section for more customer tips.
Reduce Transfers, Improve Customer Experience
First call resolution is an immensely satisfying experience for customers but one call quick fixes are often a stretch. Wrong department dialling and lack of clearance, multiple transfers or even a dreaded 48-hour callback period.
According to Zendesk research, 63% of people reported growing frustration with each transfer and during issue resolution, transfers can thrust client relationship onto thin ice. If there is a need to transfer, busy lamp field will let you know whether or not the transferred destination is busy. Set expectations about availability and reduce transfers with BLF.
Situational Awareness
Flashing busy lamp field lights on your handset is a great high-level overview of current call volume. No need to ask if a person is available or check their calendar, just check the flashing lights on your handset.
This feature is particularly beneficial for call centres, sales teams and account management teams in the technology industries. Busy lamp field is also an excellent presence detection tool for small business receptionists. If you have your handset set to Do Not Disturb, your phone will not ring but BLF grants you visibility over incoming call volume.
More Customer Experience Features Coming Soon!
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