If you’ve hired a call center to represent your business, you want every interaction to be perfection.  In the infographic below, we listed the top 60 worst things that could go wrong during a call center interaction. If you keep scrolling down, we’ve also listed some of our best tips on how to avoid, and sometimes just how to recover, from these call center mishaps.

60 Things That Could Derail The Best Call Center Interaction and How To Handle Them

• What happened: Transferred to voicemail
• How to avoid: Implement a backup transfer if the first transfer does not go through to a live person.

• What happened:  Customer broke their script
• How to recover: Operator should take a basic message and alert a supervisor that the script is broken.

• What happened: Customer script is too long
• How to avoid: Encourage customers to only include the necessities in their script.

• What happened: Customer created a loop in their script
• How to recover: Operator should take a basic message and alert a supervisor that the script is looping.

• What happened: Transferred but voicemail is full
• How to avoid: Always make sure the transfer staffs mailboxes are not full.

• What happened: Transferred to voicemail but forgot what to say
• How to avoid: Include a script for operators to read if they reach voicemail so they don’t forget what to say.

• What happened: Operator gave caller the wrong information
• How to avoid: Provide operators with general information and FAQs about the companies they are answering for.

• What happened: Caller won’t stop talking
• How to avoid: Create an operator-driven script which allows the agent to control the conversation.

• What happened: Caller refuses to hang up
• How to avoid: Politely tell the caller you are going to disconnect from the call.

• What happened: Transfer number keeps ringing
• How to avoid: Test all numbers before giving them to your call center to use.

• What happened: Transfer number answers then hangs up
• How to avoid: Test all numbers before giving them to your call center to use.

• What happened: Call center system is down
• How to avoid: Implement a back up plan that allows operators to continue to handle calls and send messages through on a back up generator system.

• What happened: Operator can’t help caller
• How to avoid: Encourage the operators to take basic messages and let the caller know someone will be calling them back.

• What happened: Caller wants to speak to a manager
• How to avoid: Let the callers know they are speaking with a call center but that they can escalate the message to a supervisor to call them back.

• What happened: Heard hold music after answering
• How to avoid: Monitor hold times and staff up accordingly to decrease queues.

• What happened: Operator quits during a call
• How to avoid: Ensure employee happiness and allow operators to take breaks when they need to compose themselves.

• What happened: Heard dead air after answering
• How to avoid: Make sure all phone lines are connected and active before sending calls to your call center.

• What happened: Heard busy signal after answering
• How to avoid: Make sure all phone lines are connected and active before sending calls to your call center.

• What happened: Call center is too noisy
• How to avoid: Agents should be using noise cancelling headsets.

• What happened: Remote operator’s dog is barking.
• How to avoid: Before hiring remote employees, ensure they do not have loud pets, or make sure the pets are not in the same room as the agent.

• What happened: Transfer employee says they aren’t scheduled.
• How to avoid: Always make sure your call center has the most up to date on-call schedule.

• What happened: Operator forgets to hang up.
• How to avoid: Allow call center agents to write reminders for themselves and post them on their work stations.

• What happened: Operator can’t access customer software.
• How to recover: Operator should take a basic message and alert a supervisor that the customer’s software is inaccessible.

• What happened: Operator can’t answer caller’s questions.
• How to avoid: Add FAQs the operator can use to help answer questions.

• What happened: Operator botches the greeting.
• How to avoid: Add phonetic spellings for difficult company pronunciations.

• What happened: Operator transcribes the wrong information.
• How to avoid: Implement a system that instructs the operator to read the information back to the caller to confirm that it’s correct.

• What happened: Transfer employee is upset you’re calling.
• How to avoid: Always make sure the correct employee should be on the receiving end of transferred calls.

• What happened: Operator accidentally hung up on the caller.
• How to recover: Operator should call the customer back and apologize for accidentally disconnecting the call.

• What happened: Operator burped on a call.
• How to avoid: Remind operators to use the mute button when they need to.

• What happened: Operator cleared their  throat on a call.
• How to avoid: Remind operators to use the mute button when they need to.

• What happened: Operator sneezed on a call.
• How to avoid: Remind operators to use the mute button when they need to.

• What happened: Operator needs to the use the bathroom while on a call.
• How to avoid: Implement designated bathroom breaks for all operators periodically throughout the day.

• What happened: Transfer number comes back to call center.
• How to avoid: Test all phone lines before forwarding to your call center.

• What happened: Operator’s headset volume is too high.
• How to avoid: Have operators test their headsets before each shift.

• What happened: Remote operator’s child is crying.
• How to avoid: Ensure that remote operators don’t have children in the house during their shifts.

• What happened: Caller has health emergency.
• How to recover: Operator should calmly instruct the caller to call 911 or transfer the call to their medical provider.

• What happened: Repeat caller isn’t getting a call back.
• How to avoid: Implement a warm transfer to in-house staff for repeat callers.

• What happened: Poor phone connection is cutting out.
• How to recover: Apologize and attempt to call the customer back.

• What happened: Call center has phone lines mixed up.
• How to avoid: Test all lines periodically to ensure no mix ups.

• What happened: Caller is speaking another language.
• How to avoid: Encourage customers to utilize bilingual agents and set up a Spanish line.

• What happened: Customer is forwarded to the wrong number.
• How to avoid: Encourage customers to become familiar with their forwarding number and instructions.

• What happened: Customer software is showing security alerts.
• How to recover: Operator should take a basic message and notify a supervisor about the alerts.

• What happened: Caller reached the wrong number.
• How to avoid: Make sure your business’s lines are forwarded correctly or all phone numbers are listed in a clear location for customers to access.

• What happened: Caller falls asleep on hold.
• How to avoid: Monitor queues periodically to make sure hold times aren’t long.

• What happened: Transferred to disconnected line.
• How to avoid: Make sure all transfer numbers are in working order before forwarding lines to your call center.

• What happened: Operator forgot to put their headset on.
• How to avoid: Encourage operators to write reminders for themselves that they can post in their work station.

• What happened: Caller gets sexual.
• How to recover: Politely let the caller know you are uncomfortable and will be disconnecting the call.

• What happened: Transfer number rings busy.
• How to avoid: Implement a second transfer attempt to a different number if unable to reach the first transfer.

• What happened: Operator farts while on a call.
• How to avoid: Remind operators to use the mute button when they need to.

• What happened: Transfer number is wrong number.
• How to avoid: Make sure all transfer numbers are correct and in working order before forwarding lines to your call center.

• What happened: Operator can’t hear caller.
• How to recover: Apologize and offer to the call the customer back.

• What happened: Operator forgets to press mute.
• How to recover: Apologize to the caller and make sure it doesn’t happen again!

• What happened: Caller is upset.
• How to recover: Apologize to the caller and see if you can escalate the call to a supervisor.

• What happened: Operator wakes up employee on transfer.
• How to avoid: Only transfer calls during business hours.

• What happened: Operator can’t hear employee after the transfer.
• How to recover: Offer to call the customer back and attempt to transfer again.

• What happened: Transfer employee says they no longer work there.
• How to avoid: Make sure your call center always has the most up to date information regarding your staff and business.

• What happened: Caller is having a conversation with someone else.
• How to recover: Politely ask the caller to gather the rest of the necessary information needed to send the message through.

• What happened: Operator puts caller on hold and forgets about them.
• How to recover: Apologize to the caller and make sure it doesn’t happen again!

• What happened: Hear automated recording after the greeting.
• How to avoid: Remove all automated systems so customers always reach a live voice.

The post Top 60 Worst Things That Could Happen During A Call Center Interaction appeared first on SAS Call Center.

At SAS, we’re dedicated to giving our clients and their callers the best customer service experience possible, which means we take the time to hire the most professional customer service reps. However, the same can’t be said for all call centers. To help prepare you for whatever customer service experience may come your way, we listed 30 different types of customer service reps, and categorized them into what we think would make a great customer experience, all the way down to what we think would make a catastrophic customer experience.

Great Experience

• Friendly Talker: Friendly talkers engage in conversation, and ask how  your day is going. They listen to what you’re saying, and they genuinely care about providing a great customer experience.
• Excited Talker: Excited talkers may speak a little too quickly, but they’re just so enthusiastic about their job they can’t help it!
• Knowledgeable Talker: Knowledgeable talkers know what they’re talking about, and can answer any question you have.

Mild Experience

• Fast Talker: Fast talkers are a bit hard to understand, and you may have to ask them to repeat themselves, but ultimately they provide a good experience.
• Loud Talker: Loud talkers may disrupt the people around them, and may make you hold your phone away from your ears, but they mean well.
• Life-Sharer: Life-sharers are good to talk to when you’re trying to kill time in the doctor’s office – not when you’re trying to cancel that hotel reservation before your lunch hour is over.

Neutral Experience

• Indifferent Talker: Indifferent talkers are neither here nor there. They get the job done, but they don’t really bring anything else to the table.
• Wants to know too much Talker: Similar to Life-Sharers, the “Wants to know too much Talker” can eat up time that you just don’t have.
• Joke-Telling Talker: As long as their jokes are funny, you probably don’t mind talking to a Joke-Telling Talker. But on the other hand…

Questionable Experience

• Boring Talker: Similar to Indifferent Talkers, Boring Talkers don’t really bring much to the table other than a monotonous voice and a “stick to the script” attitude.
• Close mic Talker: Close mic Talkers are hard to understand and may make you feel slightly uncomfortable.
• Winded Body Talker: Unless they just got finished running a marathon, there’s no reason a support rep should be out of breath.
• The Forgetful Talker: Um, what did you say? Forgetful Talkers are annoying because you just told them your whole problem and they’re already asking you to repeat yourself. Rude!
• Quiet Talker: Quiet Talkers provide a questionable customer service experience simply because you can’t hear a thing they’re saying.
• Distant Talker: Distant talkers sound like they’re miles away from the phone, which is miles away from a great customer service experience.
• Speakerphone Talker: Speakerphone talkers simply don’t care about their surroundings or who they may be disrupting. They’re also harder to understand and sound like a garbled mess.

Unfortunate Experience

• Cutting out Talker: Unless you’re actually driving through a tunnel, your callers shouldn’t have to piece together every other word that you’re saying.
• Slow Talker: Slow talkers aren’t the worst, but they are just. So. Boring. Speed it up, Sally! We don’t have all day.
• Long to Respond Talker: If your callers have to question whether you heard them or not because you’re taking forever to respond, or if you fell off the line entirely, you’re not providing a great customer service experience.

Unsavory Experience

• Side Conversation Talker: Side conversation talkers are notorious for providing unsavory customer service experiences because they’re always snubbing their callers.
• Robotic Talker: If we wanted to talk to robots we would have called your answering machine.
• Yawner: We get it, you’re tired. Come back to work when you get more sleep!
• Bathroom Talker: “Did I just hear the toilet flush?” Unless you’re on the phone with your mom or your best friend, you probably shouldn’t be talking on the phone while you’re in the bathroom.
• Inappropriate Story Talker: Some stories are meant to be told in public, and some should probably never be told ever. Do your customers a favor and don’t make things weird.
• Interrupting Talker: If your customers can’t get a word in edgewise, they’re going to get real mad real quick.
• All About Me Talker: An “All About Me Talker” doesn’t care what your customers have to say, which makes for quite an unpleasant experience.

Catastrophic Experience

• Disrespectful Talker: Disrespectful talkers were never taught manners from their mamas, and it shows.  If you can’t R-E-S-P-E-C-T me, then I ain’t buying what you’re selling.
• Back Talker: Customer service reps who talk back to their callers should not be customer service reps, unless they’re representing a business from hell.
• Angry Talker: It’s okay to be angry. It is not okay to be angry at a customer who is already angry because of an issue they are having with the company you are representing.
• Sarcastic Talker: Unless you’re making fun of your little brother, don’t be a sarcastic talker – especially at work.

The post 30 Types of Customer Service Representatives appeared first on SAS Call Center.

Success is an arbitrary measure. If you’re goal is to run a successful call center, you need to develop what success looks like to you. Is it the number of customers you have? Your monthly billable amount? Your profit? Your turnover? As you work out what’s important to your success, we’ve identified 7 keys as the foundation for any successful call center – no matter how you measure it!

#1. Provide Noise Cancelling Headsets

Investing in noise cancelling headsets for your call center agents will help decrease background noise – which always sounds unprofessional. Bad caller feedback to your customers is almost always a relationship ender.

#2. Skew the Cubicles

Cubicles are great for keeping noise levels down in an office setting. However, if cubicles are laid out in a skewed design rather than a standard grid layout, they can help reduce noise even further.

#3. Focus on Agent Training

If you’re only putting your agents through minimum training before they start answering calls, they’re definitely going to sound unprofessional. Invest time up-front into agent training, and schedule monthly breakout training sessions to keep your reps sounding fresh.

#4. Have a Game Room

Having a break or game room where agents can go to chill out during the day is ideal for blowing off steam and coming back to the phones refreshed. Agents who don’t have an outlet for stress will be less likely to maintain professionalism while on the phone.

#5. Don’t Skimp on Security

You need to lock your call center down. When the call center is secured, data remains protected and the possibility of a data breach is  minimal. Plus, security makes you eligible for fun certifications like PCI/DSS compliance and HIPAA compliance which prospective customers will love.

#6. Provide Points of Escalation

Being a call center agent can sometimes mean taking calls from irate customers. However, there should always be a point of contact in the call center where the agents can escalate calls when the going gets tough. When an upset caller knows they are being escalated to a manager, the difficult situation becomes diffused.

#7. Require a Professional Dress Code

Since call centers usually deal with customers via phone, every day is dress casual day. However, requiring a more professional dress code can help raise the bar and create  a steady, professional atmosphere.

The post 7 Keys to Running a Successful Call Center Infographic appeared first on SAS Call Center.

• You need to be on Instagram
• Customer service should be handled 24/7
• You should survey your customers regularly

While it’s one thing to follow blind advice, it’s even better to have facts to back them up. For example, Microsoft’s 2017 Customer Service Report found that 78% of consumers have a more favorable view of brands that ask for and accept customer feedback – a nod to the importance of surveying your clients. Additionally, they found that 59% of customers had stopped doing business with a brand  because of a poor customer service experience – a nod to the importance of 24 hour customer service. These statistics help paint a clearer picture of what goes into creating the best customer experience, and allows you to make an informed decision about if your business needs to change course, or if it’s not worth the investment.

We highlighted some of the more important statistics from the report into an infographic. Keep reading to learn which channels customers are using to reach out and how often, if social media is that big of an influence on consumers and what customers actually think about their experiences.

If you find our customer service infographic useful, please share it on your own site using the code below:

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<img title=”Customer Service as 100 People Infographic” alt=”Customer Service as 100 People Infographic” src=”https://www.sascallcenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/CustomerServiceas100People.jpg” width=”2500″ />
<pre><em>Image originally posted on <a href=”https://www.sascallcenter.com/customer-service-as-100-people-infographic/”>The SAS Call Center Blog</a></em>
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