What if your biggest strength at work was also what was holding you back?
If you work in a call center, then chances are you know how to hold a good conversation. This is an important skill in a career that is all about talking to strangers.
However, these conversations sometimes go on a bit too long. To become the best possible customer service representative, you need to understand how to lower your call time per customer. Keep reading to discover our top tips!
1. Use the Right Scripts to Lower Call Center Call Time
In a call center, scripts can be something of a double-edged sword. For example, if you get too focused on a script, you may not know what to do when a customer has a more unusual problem.
However, it’s important to at least have (and use) script templates for a variety of different caller situations. Ultimately, it’s up to you and your instincts to know when to veer away from that script. Most of the time, though, a good script can keep the conversation focused and lower your overall call time.
2. Keep Callers in the Loop About What You’re Doing
When call times are longer than they should be, it’s usually because a conversation is dragging on too long. More often than not, that happens due to customers nervously chatting. Basically, if you are quiet while working on the problem, nervous customers may try to fill the silence with chatter.
This is why you should announce what you are doing out loud to the customer as you are doing it (and be mindful of how you phrase it). These announcements help reassure customers that you are actively working on the problem. Making regular announcements will keep them from initiating many off-topic conversations.
3. Take Advantage of a Knowledge Base and CRM
Every now and then, you may get a completely new customer with a completely new issue. Most of the time, though, you get either repeat customers, repeat issues, or both.
You can use this to your advantage by checking both your company’s knowledge base and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program. A knowledgebase stores common solutions to common customer issues. With the right CRM, customer service representatives can update the file on repeat callers. When these customers call back and get someone new, this knowledge of their previous caller history can help shorten each new call and help with angry callers.
4. Learn the Products You Represent Backward and Forward
Sometimes, it’s not talkative customers that keep your call times long. Instead, it can be as simple as a matter of knowledge. If you have to keep looking new things up as the caller discusses them, it can really prolong the conversation.
This is a simple problem with an equally simple solution. The best thing you can do is memorize everything about your customer’s products or services.
When you know everything backward and forward like this, it helps to shorten call times because you can more easily discover what the customer’s problem is and how to solve the issue. By becoming faster at problem-solving, you can make (and keep) those call times low!
As an added bonus, understanding your products better can always help you sell those products. So if your customer service job also requires selling products, learning more about those products can boost your sales even as it lowers your average time per call.
5. Ask for Feedback from Call Center Management
As a call center worker, it’s easy to get paranoid about management listening to your phone calls. You might think they are simply looking for reasons to fire you.
In reality, you and your manager aren’t just on the same team, you share the same goals. In this case, the goal of lowering how much time you spend per call.
Most managers gained extensive company experience before working in management. That means they know a lot about how to navigate different caller issues. By asking for this kind of managerial feedback and implementing it, you can lower your call time and become a better overall worker for the company.
6. Ask for Full Explanations from Call Center Customers
Every now and then, some of the best advice to lower your call time may sound a bit crazy. For example, would you believe that one of your best strategies is to always ask your customers to fully explain their problems?
That may sound counterproductive at first. Why would you ask a customer to talk more if you want to lower your call times? The answer is simple: By fully understanding every aspect of the caller’s issue, you can more quickly formulate a solution.
The alternative is to have the customer explain the issue to you piecemeal. They may leave out certain things or only remember something later in the call. In this way, not asking for a fuller explanation makes the whole thing take much longer!
7. Implement Your Call Center Customer Feedback
Our last bit of advice to lower your call time is very simple. We’ve talked about the importance of getting manager feedback. You should also solicit regular customer feedback.
Some of this feedback may be verbal. For example, you can ask customers if there is anything else they need help with in this call or if there was anything that might have solved their problem quicker. As long as you develop a thick skin for feedback, this can help you learn what you need to know to lower call times.
Additionally, your company should distribute customer feedback surveys from time to time. These surveys help you gather important data, and that data can lower how much time you spend on the phone.
Come Work for the Best Call Center in Tijuana Today!
Now you know how to lower your time per call. But do you know who is ready to make the most of your talents?
Here at Seguros Confie, we are always ready to help bright new employees shine. To see how we can help find the job in the Tijuana financial district you’ve been dreaming of, all you need to do is apply today!