It won’t be wrong to assume that the call center agents are trained to sound robotic. Don’t get us wrong when we say robotic as the term implies consistency. Call center agents have a very monotonous job. It can test their patience at times. Call center services sector can be challenging and not every company prepares its call center agents for these challenges.
If your business relies heavily on call center support then training your call center agents every now and then is extremely important. There are numerous things that are a major no for the customer support staff to do.
Let’s get started with a few major don’ts all call center agents must avoid:
Never lose your cool
Customer support agents often encounter rude customers. Customers are most of the time agitated and many don’t talk to the agents respectfully. It could get the best out of anyone for that matter on the other side of the phone.
Call center agents especially can’t lose their cool. The minute they start to argue or sound a little impatient the customer would know. And that in most cases does not end well. The customers can make a mountain out of the molehill and it could look bad for the agent as well as the company. It is the reason why as a call center agent you are checked if you have got what it takes to handle such kind of pressure. Hiring boards are instructed to hire individuals who have their anger in check.
As a call center agent, focus on the bigger picture. The customers in most cases are just agitated about the product/service not you. Once you let them vent, you can move forward with resolving their issue. Just keep in mind that as long as you are in control of your anger nothing can go wrong.
Don’t transfer too many times
As a call center agent, there comes countless queries that are novel in nature. You won’t have a ready-made answer for everything. Intuitively, you would want to transfer the call to someone else probably to a person who is at a higher position.
Not only does it frustrate the customer but it looks bad for you as a call center agent. What you can do is take your time and think it through without panicking. You have a system right in front of you. You will definitely find something that can help you out. So, try your best to avoid transferring the call.
Don’t take long pauses
At times while you are finding out the solution to a certain query, there comes a long pause until either you or the agent speaks. This pause does not need to be a silent one. A silent pause could mean numerous things to the customer. The customer could think that either the call dropped, or the agent is unable to hear them, or the agent does not know what they are doing.
Instead of keeping it silent, you can keep the customer engaged by asking them details about their issue. Keep telling them that you are looking into it so that they know you are still on the other side.
Never tell the customer that you don’t know
The customer comes to the call center support for the solution to their problem. The last thing they want to know is that you do not know. Telling them straight away that ‘I don’t have an idea’ is only going to frustrate them. Even if you do not know the answer to their query, try to keep them engaged until you either find something resourceful or someone to transfer them to.
While you might think that not many resort to that answer, you’d be surprised to look at the statistics. Many clients have withdrawn from businesses after a single bad experience at the hands of the customer care department. This means that every single call an agent makes is important. Telling any customer you don’t have a solution to their query is a big no.
Summing up
It only takes patience and consistency to become a good call center agent. There’s not much technical you need to learn when it comes to the don’ts of a call center agent. Just keep in mind whatever you would not want to hear as a customer seeking help is what you ought not to tell the person on the receiving end.
