Much has been said about how switching to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) improves internal business communication and allows for greater employee mobility and flexibility. What is less commonly discussed is how that switch can improve a business’s ability to communicate with its customers and drastically improve the customer service experience. According to a recent Avoxi report, 68% of customers are lost to a competitor because of poor telephone-based customer service experiences.
VoIP can increase customer satisfaction and reduce the number of clients who switch to a competitor. Here are four common customer service annoyances that VoIP helps eliminate.
Pressing Too Many Numbers
Many companies rely on automated “press a button” systems to route incoming calls, and most customers are turned off by the effort required to reach a real human being. More and more VoIP providers are now deploying Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) systems, which allow customers to simply tell the machine with whom they want to speak and have their call routed immediately.
Long Wait Times
Every time a customer decides not to stay on hold for customer service, the company loses an opportunity to make a good impression and retain that customer’s future business. VoIP systems are increasingly offering callback services that enable customer service reps to call customers back automatically as soon as they become available.
Voicemail
Customers expect to speak with a person, not leave a voicemail. VoIP systems offer increased mobility options. Calls can reach staff even when they aren’t in the office, and that means fewer voicemails are required.
Having No One Available
Sometimes customers are faced with longer than average wait times due to a spike in traffic that normal staffing levels are unable to handle. VoIP has advanced routing functionality that would allow staff from other departments to receive customer service calls temporarily in such a situation, allowing the customer service department to regain its footing.
Customer service is all about communication. Easier, more pleasant telephone-based customer service increases customer satisfaction and retention. Contact us for more information on how VoIP can help businesses increase customer satisfaction.