You were calling because you got an email at work indicating that you now had two health savings accounts, and you were trying to figure out which one was the right one. Unfortunately, once you actually talked to a real person, after working your way through scripted prompts and waiting on hold, you found out that you actually had a bigger problem than you expected. Once you found out the answer to which of the two health savings accounts you should use, you decided to request two more insurance cards. The person on the phone said that you could only have one insurance card because your coverage only included one person. This was a major problem because you are supposed to have family coverage that also included your wife and two daughters.
New year. New insurance cards. New college class schedule. New vehicle license plates. New internet company. What is on you list?
Many people face a number of changes as the calendar turns from 2016 to 2017. And while some of the changes are simple and can be required with the click of a computer key, other changes actually require a real live phone conversation.
When was the last time that you had any luck getting a hold of a real person on a phone? While we can often solve many of our problems and get our questions answered by working our way through a few screen prompts, we occasionally need to get a hold of a human resource. Unfortunately, it takes a real effort to get a hold of a real person today. When you make most phone calls today you end up talking to a robotic machine trying to direct you from one recorded comment to another. Then, if you are lucky, you will end up talking to a real person. If you are unlucky, you will be put on hold listening to canned music while you wait your turn to talk to one of the few real people available.
sound familiar?
Does Your Company Use a Live Phone Answering Service to Improve Its Communication with Your Customers?
Many companies are taking a step toward improving customer relations by hiring a live phone answering service to take questions, concerns, and comments. Asking customers who may already be frustrated, confused, or angry to work their way through several automated prompts is not the best approach. Instead, the decision to hire a live phone answering service can help you diffuse stressful situations and turn frustrated customers back into loyal clients.
It may come as no surprise that as many as 61% of Americans prefer to receive their customer service over the phone. No wonder. The idea of wading through computer generated prompts when you are already frustrated is simply not inviting. Companies that are keeping customers from year to year are making sure that trained staff members are available to answer questions.
And while being able to communicate with a real person is a major advantage, not only companies can provide this service with the current staff. Instead of requiring a on site employee to answer and handle phone calls, many companies, instead, contract with live operator answering service options. Staffed by people who have been specifically trained to answer the questions that are most often asked and the bet answers or solutions to those questions.
Professional answering services, in fact, are often able to handle the calls from two or three companies. With a call handling service that understands everything about your company, its services, and its products.
Consider these statistics about customers and live telephone answering services:
- 78% of Americans surveyed say they have not followed through on an intended purchase due to a bad customer service experience. A live phone answering service can help avoid the bad results.
- 59% of Americans would try a different company or brand for better customer service.
- 81% of consumers say they return to purchase from a company after having a positive customer service experience.
- 61% of Americans say they prefer to receive customer service assistance over the phone.
- 45% of American consumers indicate that they will abandon an online purchase if their concerns and questions are not quickly addressed.
- 55% of surveyed customers would pay more for better customer service.
