Advice for businesses on how call centers can offer a competitive advantage.

One of the largest national banks is running ads that tout 24/7 access to a live human being as their competitive advantage. The reality is that most people still expect a high level of personal care from the companies they patronize — despite the growing prevalence of online commerce.

A well-managed call center can make your customers feel comfortable and valued, it can boost sales, and it can capture valuable customer feedback that will translate into subsequent improvements in products and services.

Following are some of the most common questions I hear from small to midsize businesses about call centers, and I asked one of my clients, Susan Gordon, President of Doug Mockett and Co., a maker of fine furniture hardware and components, to chime in with some specifics.

My customers place orders and communicate with us through our website. Why do I need a call center?

Some people are just more comfortable talking to a person. Even those who regularly shop online may not want to do much research, read long copy, or pick through the process steps on your website. For anything beyond the simplest transactions, customers often prefer the quick, customized, knowledgeable help that an experienced rep can provide.

When customers cannot find the information they want online easily, or if your service emails are too generic, they often turn to the phone in frustration to resolve their concerns. If you are not ready or able to help them through live support, you may lose the opportunity to do business with them altogether.

Mockett’s online store is beautifully presented, but the call center remains a critical part of the company’s customer service. According to Susan, “We often get calls from people who couldn’t find the exact answer to their questions on our website, particularly when it comes to design considerations such as finish or fit. And for any customer who needs custom products, a conversation can be crucial. Our customers expect our reps to respond quickly and accurately to their problems. We’re training our service reps so they are able to respond to these demands in an efficient, but also a friendly and caring, manner.”

How can a call center increase my sales numbers?

The call center lets your customers engage with an empathetic person who can provide solutions that are tailored to their unique needs. Over time, excellent service strengthens customer loyalty and encourages customers both to buy — and to recommend your business to others.

The one-on-one call interaction is also a great opportunity to sell more to each customer. This is not easy, since many customers choose their merchandise before they dial. And, some reps can be fearful — and occasionally, downright negative — about selling. Teaching reps to  “make an offer” instead of asking them to sell, often reduces resistance, particularly when they can “show off” their company’s products or services to customers who need specific details or reassurance.

As Susan explains, “Our reps are lovely people, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re comfortable selling on the phone. We recently rolled out a product knowledge program to help our reps demonstrate more care for our customers. We’ve found this to be particularly important in a down economy.”

Reps must also recognize the value and quality of your merchandise or services, because if they happen to take a personal dislike to the add-on product or offer, the truism that “you can’t sell what you don’t buy” will prevail. So if they are uncomfortable for any reason, work through it with them or try to come up with alternatives.

Finally, an effective call center can salvage sales that would otherwise be lost. “We found that some customers had the same expectations of our website that they would have in a retail setting – if they see a product, they assume it’s available for them to buy. Losing orders when a product was out of stock became a problem, so we decided to tackle it at the point of sale,” said Susan. “We found that we could offer a variety of options and put a better face on unavailability. Our reps can gently suggest substitutes or acknowledge customer patience, and their increased product knowledge gives them more confidence and credibility.”

How do I train call center reps?

Your rep may provide the only live contact with your customer, so it is vital that the experience be both comfortable and satisfying. Reps must be knowledgeable about not only your products but also the solutions to the most common customer problems. Reps also need the flexibility to know when and how to make exceptions and adjustments, when to placate, and when to stick to their guns.

The most effective approach to training design begins with data collection and analysis to determine what your customers care about and to identify the ways they typically raise those concerns. Then you can teach your reps to recognize the customer cues and clues that indicate a problem and how the customer would like it resolved. Susan emphasizes the importance of training reps in taking responsibility for customer problems and empowering them to offer personalized solutions.

The training presentation itself should be kept as simple as possible, focused on product value and practicing the language you want them to use in the call. Be sure to spend a significant amount of time role-playing customer interactions; the practice helps reps handle customers correctly. Reps also need specific instructions about where and how to find the detailed information they may need while on the phone and to know when it is appropriate to consult a supervisor for help.

A single training session is rarely enough, so plan for followup, including debriefing the reps after they have some live experience with customers.

How do I evaluate my call center?

Measure such outcomes as products per order, dollars per order, and call-to-order ratio, as well as how they trend through the seasons, by rep, and in conjunction with your various marketing efforts. Many companies use call monitoring to ensure that reps are meeting quality standards for content and style. As an added benefit, monitoring provides actionable market intelligence, particularly because customer comments are unsolicited.

Qualitative feedback from your reps can also be very valuable. Conduct regular feedback meetings to discuss your customers’ comments. Good reps listen carefully to each customer and provide the company with insight into customer preferences and concerns, and can also sound an early warning about problems that customers are experiencing. Be sure to let the reps know what steps your company has taken to address these issues.

“By tapping into our existing call center data, we have market intelligence that matches anything a survey could capture,” said Susan. “Based on these insights, we have made changes at virtually every level of the company, from warehouse practices to packaging to systems changes.”

Should I consider outsourcing my call center?

Many small companies have neither the call volume nor budget to work with an outside call center. In addition, keeping the call center in-house permits a level of control and contact that you cannot match with a vendor, including the ability to train the people who will be speaking to your customers, particularly when you are dealing with complex products or services. On the other hand, some small and midsize companies do develop successful relationships with off-site suppliers. Oftentimes, these outside vendors do little more than act as a scripted answering service, collecting basic information from the customer. Some also manage call volume overflow or serve as a back-up in case of a work site disaster, which can be an invaluable lifeline during a critical time.

Finally, a business considering implementing a call center for the first time should talk to professionals in the field as well as managers from similarly sized companies that have had one in place for some time. A call center can provide a tremendous competitive advantage for today’s small and midsize businesses, and the returns expand exponentially when it is designed and operated with customers’ needs in mind.

Liz Kislik is president of customer service and human relations consultancy Liz Kislik Associates LLC (www.lizkislik.com). She can be reached at lizk@lizkislik.com or 516.568.2932.

© Liz Kislik; reprinted from MaaS360, First Quarter 2010