Customer service is vital to the success of a business. If successful engagement of the customer is utilized properly it can turn a bad experience around, being mindful that the converse is also true. However, it’s not just your employees that represent your brand, the entire experience does. This includes your company’s social media, customer engagement, and even how customers are treated when waiting to speak to an agent.
Last week my girlfriend and I were supposed to get a flight home, from Massachusetts, and get ready to return to our daily routine. We got all the way up to the counter to check our bags only to be told that we would be unable to get a flight back, for two days, because of a storm in Chicago. Best of all, the flight would be at 4:30 AM. We had to ask for a ride back, apologize to people that were depending on our return, and hope that our cats weren’t too angry.
I returned back and called the airline to see if anything could be done. I waited on hold listening to what sounded like a Gershwin tune being played on a theremin for an hour, before being told to call back. Sometimes that song haunts my dreams.
We made it past TSA, got to the gate, and saw the plane in the runway. Yet the sign at the gate said it was cancelled. I called the customer service line and was told that it’d be an hour wait. Not willing to be fooled again, I hung up. We waited at the customer service desk, with many angry people missing flights. The agent at the desk pecked away with both index fingers to try and get flights.
Fortunately, a second agent arrived and came to the rescue. His name was Gary and he must have been a magician because he got everyone to disappear. When it was our turn he presented me with a list of options. He told me to call another airline and get a code so that he could work his magic. We’d have an adventure ahead of us, but we’d be home.
That other airline, by the way, gave me the option of waiting on hold or getting a callback. If there’s anything I hope your business learns from my tale it’s that people would rather get the call back rather than listen to terrible hold music.
While Gary did a bang up job and managed to help a lot of people, I am reluctant to want to book my next flight with them. If the airline in question could have notified me in a timely manner, or even had agents that were more knowledgeable on their support line, or provided me with more options I’d be more willing to return.
Good customer service is more than just making sure your agents treat customers well at your locations, but through each way a customer experiences your brand. You wouldn’t pay for an ad that represented your brand poorly or have your employees show up in torn jeans and a t-shirt to work. Why then would you not want to have all aspects of engagement, tailored to meet your customer’s needs?
At IVR Technology, we provide services with your customers in mind. Whether your customers would like to be able to pay their bill by phone or be notified of a schedule change, we can work with you to help met your customers ever changing needs.