Many contact center representatives are no doubt very active with Twitter, Facebook, and other social media in their private lives. Social media awareness can be a valuable part of ongoing call center training. Many enterprises come to realize, however, that the value of expert call center representatives is as significant as ever. The 140 character limitation on Twitter, nevermind the security issues around the public platform, is often not compatible with the resolution of customer concerns.
Ultimately, there is great value in the comforting and confident voice of a well-trained associate via a personal conversation over the phone.
Let’s take a look at the Pros and Cons of contacting a business by phone vs. by online chat or social media platform:
Maintaining Quality Customer Service
Pros of the Phone Calls: More consistent customer service will often result when call center agents and managers are speaking directly with a customer. Technology exists to automatically record and scan calls for specific keywords within a conversation. This gives companies the ability to train customer service agents and sales professionals uniformly, consistently, and provides a way for them to capture any concerning issues, such as agents who do not follow a mandatory script, for example.
Security and Confidentiality
Cons of Social Media Conversations with Customers: Conversations held in public forums are not secure, or confidential. Sure, having call center agents stay abreast of what is being communicated across Twitter, Facebook, etc. about the company is good to know, but in our opinion, it ends there. Resolutions, personal ones – ones that build trust and rapport, are just not possible over social media.
Social Media Limitations
Cons: Again, Twitter may be a way that a customer chooses to express a concern or voice their opinion, but it is usually too limited a medium for properly resolving it a question or issue. A live conversation will result in resolution more quickly, securely, and easily than over the Web.
Training And Protocols
Pros of Phone Calls: Live conversations on the phone are immediate, resolution is more immediately, trust and loyalty is established. A review of call center response times is wise in the social media era. ‘I’ll get back to you within 24 hours’ won’t be an acceptable response to many that are active on social networks.
Do you have any other Pros for phone conversations or Cons for social media interactions in order to manage call center optimization and operations? If so, contact us – we’d love to hear them or Tweet us at @CallFinder!
