4 Call Center Challenges You Might Not Expect

A call center is a department that handles incoming and outgoing calls from both current and potential clients. Sometimes, call centers are given less attention. However, call centers are a crucial component of any business. This is because customers will primarily contact your company using this medium. 

A call center may be a conventionally sized office. Or an internet-connected network of several smaller offices. It can also be a cloud phone system where agents can work remotely. Moreover, operations for call centers may be carried out internally or outsourced.

One way to gain a competitive advantage is to have a successful call center. It is a crucial differentiator for many businesses. Sometimes even more so than the goods and services they provide or the money they make. However, just like every department in a company, a call center also has several challenges.

4 Unexpected Call Center Challenges and How to Tackle Them

There are numerous difficulties that call center QA teams, including agents and managers, must deal with. Here are some of these challenges and how to tackle them:

1. Not Using a Call Center Software 

To compete successfully and thrive, every business must deliver excellent customer service. But when it comes to responding to calls, it can be difficult to answer every client’s queries. 

Poor customer service and not bad products ar what are killing some businesses. Customers expect exceptional service, but businesses are unable to immediately respond to their calls. This is a big deal!

Call center software can help businesses provide better customer service. The call volume management of call center software is enhanced by features that optimize call flows. These features also enable customers to receive better and quicker assistance. Plus they automate business processes. 

Every business needs a call center to handle all customer-related inquiries. It is so much more than just a platform to occasionally answer calls and give customers-friendly service. You can track, monitor, and manage each call you make to a client using the call center’s seamless operation.

Companies that are doing great in their customer service relation often make use of any of these types of call center software;

• Inbound call center software. There are technology companies that create this for businesses. Inbound call center software is mostly for those who don’t have much money to afford the two types. It is just to receive incoming calls from clients—both current and prospective. They frequently offer customer service and support, suggest products, take orders, or schedule appointments. They also collect account payments or help with account management.
• Outbound call center software. This software makes outgoing calls to current or potential clients, typically to solicit business, conduct surveys, and raise money. Or even raise awareness for a political cause. When you think of telemarketing, an outbound call center comes to mind.
• Combined- make and receive calls for the aforementioned purposes as well as any additional business processes.

Call center software helps your call service agents by providing a well-written narration and features like call monitoring, call routing and call recording to increase productivity. Some call center software can also serve as an IVR call center. With its useful features, this software can reduce the workload for the agents and increase efficiency.

1. Too Much Stress 

Source 

Full-time employment in a call center is generally regarded as being quite stressful, and for obvious reasons. Anyway, this should be curbed.

Customers can detect stressed employees because they are more likely to perform worse. In a call center, common sources of stress include:

• Numerous phone calls
• Angry or aggressive clients
• Fewer call center agents
• Excessive demands
• Noisy and difficult environment 
• Outdated equipment. (Some call center devices hang!)

Businesses obviously cannot prevent rude customers, but they can equip staff with the means to handle them. In dealing with such customers, implementing a strong “hang up” policy is one strategy. 

This is essential, especially where there is a rule that agents must handle calls until the caller hangs up. No amount of effective communication can satisfy some rude customers. 

A great way to make sure your staff can manage their stress is to permit them to end a call early if a customer is abusive. In this way, your agent won’t be entangled in a prolonged and stressful situation that can affect their day negatively. This way, agents can gather themselves before moving to the next call.

Additionally, you can have experienced supervisors to whom agents can escalate problems so they can attend to other calls.

1. Lack of Complete Information

You may have been on calls where the agent was unable to respond to a query. You might be passed from one department to another as they search for the right response. On occasion, you may have to wait for a very long time. 

In either case, it frequently leaves customers angry and perplexed. This is frequently brought on by your call center staff not having access to the data they require.

There is a theory known as the “forgetting curve”. This explains that knowledge can be lost over time. It still applies whether you’re learning in person or online. 

Even the best onboarding training may be forgotten, particularly if some of it is not used often. This is why you should always refresh the memories of your agents at intervals.  

Now, technology has made this challenge easier to tackle. There’s no need to merely rely on memory. Creating a simple-to-use knowledge hub for your staff can have a big impact. 

This way, agents can search the hub for pertinent information rather than having to transfer the call to another person. Just be sure to keep this hub updated with any new information!

Regarding information, call centers frequently suffer when they are not kept up to date on new developments. Your staff needs to be informed if your marketing team is running a social media campaign. Otherwise, they might have to deal with calls about which they know nothing.

1. Over-Reliance on Scripts

A good call script can ensure that the customer receives all the information they require and can promote a consistent experience for all parties. However, it may also hinder your agents’ ability to 

• Respond appropriately
• Use sound judgment
• Or genuinely investigate the issue.

Scripts themselves aren’t a problem. Rather, excessive reliance on them is. It’s very upsetting as a customer to hear an agent who is obviously reading from a script and not listening to you carefully to understand your problem. Your agents will be able to offer a better customer experience if you give them the freedom to deviate from the script.

Final Thought 

There are many issues that call centers must deal with. Some of these issues might be particular to a business. In this article, a select few that are thought to be the best are discussed. However, you can overcome any issues affecting your call center with the help of call center software solutions.

All of the interactions between call center employees and customers are what call center applications are there to track, measure, and manage. With this, you are sure to achieve success in customer relations.