With interest rates significantly reduced, my husband and I contacted two lenders about refinancing our mortgage. What amazed me through this process was the vast difference in customer service and basic product knowledge between two well-known, national banking institutions.
Company A – When I called Company A, the agent recorded our financial information. He was knowledgeable about interest rates and loans. For every subsequent phone call, all details were saved in our file and available to the next agent. When we decided to begin the refinance with Company A, I was assigned a case manager who, after our first conversation, promptly sent me an email summary of our loan details as well as his direct phone line. Whenever I had questions, I could leave a phone message, send an email, or both. Every communication was acknowledged the same day and acted on by the next business day. If my case manager was unavailable or did not have an answer, I was redirected to another agent or supervisor who could immediately access my file.
Company B – I called Company B to see if their rates might be competitive. In less than 24 hours, I spoke with six representatives and received six answers regarding our eligibility and interest rate. Each time I called, I spent 30-45 minutes providing the same financial details to each new agent. Frustrated, I sent a detailed letter to a supervisor. The company offered to reduce the interest rate to entice us to refinance with them. We were assigned a case manager and soon after received an introductory email. Subsequently, I tried to call and email him over the span of several days. The communications were not acknowledged, nor were the questions answered. I figured out how to outsmart the phone system and get a live agent. These agents were rarely able to access my file or answer questions; I was usually just transferred back into the voicemail abyss. The only reliable way to get a return call would be if I found a particularly helpful agent who would hand deliver my message. When I resorted to leaving messages for a supervisor, I didn’t receive return calls and was told that she works off-site and is difficult to contact.
During this process, I was able to identify some of the qualities that I valued as a customer:
- Accessibility of files to approved agents
- Varied methods of communication
- Acknowledgment of and prompt response to incoming communication
- Knowledgeable agents who are well-trained in services and products
- Competitively priced products or services
If you work in a call center, you may not have much control over the pricing of your products or services, but consider how you could function more like Company A:
- What products or software would allow customer files to be more widely accessible to approved agents?
- How could you better facilitate communication with customers?
- How can you ensure that agents are sufficiently trained in your products and services? What products or software could you use as job aids to support the training?
 Kelly has been working as a contract technical writer for Inova Solutions for nearly three years. As a recovering high school English teacher, she enjoys the opportunity to still employ her ‘red ink’ when writing, editing, and formatting documentation. You can contact Kelly at kelly@insideinova.com.
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There is a Japanese term ‘MUDA’ which literally means waste and every process in customer service industry need to sweep it clean which they fail to do so , resulting in choas of information leading to repeatition in probing, resulting in anguish and irrateness of the customer ,and top result is De SAT ,so CLEAN is the magic word.
…Nahela Bernal( Black Belt Six Sigma)
Technology can be used for good or ‘evil’. The best companies that value their customers work hard to improve the customer experience. I could provide examples of a few that answer their calls with an ACD linked to customer databases providing much initial information to the CSR about the customer. When a CSR responds and simply says “what can I do for you today, Mr. de la Pointe”, it is a great 1st impression for whatever discussion ensues!
Other organizations – way too many of them IMO – seem to utilize their labyrinthine phone system to purposefully discourage customers to even try to talk with them. I’m sure everyone has an example of such company in mind. Sometimes, after you may have provided their system every personal identification information imaginable, a CSR may still ask you to repeat all of that! This is short sighted as invariably this will cost the company dearly over the long run.