BUSINESS TELEPHONE TECHNOLOGY: WHAT YOUR TEAM WISHES YOU KNEW


If you haven't taken the time to hear from your team about their needs when it comes to phone technology for business, now is the time. Your customer service agents are down on the ground, interacting with customers, using the phone system day in and day out. They are aware of its strengths and its weaknesses. They know what the customers are asking for specifically, and they can direct you toward making the right investments while you're upgrading.

DIRECT LINE ACCESS

The whole concept of a central operator that takes all calls and directs them appropriately was designed for efficiency. The automation of this process with numerical menus was designed to save labor. However, the one thing that many customer service agents want is the ability to have their customers contact them directly. If a call gets disconnected unexpectedly, or if they are working on a long-term problem with a customer, they may be waiting on a callback. If the customer has to navigate the entire phone menu every single time, or if they are automatically directed to the next available agent, they may not be getting a continuous level of service throughout their resolution.

WILLINGNESS AND DESIRE TO GO MOBILE

If you're looking for ways to advance your technology without spending a ton of money, you're in luck. Many of your employees are probably willing to use their personal phones for business simply because they are more comfortable with their own devices. In fact, they may already be directing customers to call them on their personal cell phones rather than wading through a convoluted phone menu because it is more convenient. Survey your team and see if they are willing to use their phones to expand your network, especially if you have WiFi available that will cover their messages and online time. Plus, many employees are actually willing to answer limited calls after hours if they are concerned about keeping a customer relationship healthy.

THE WEAKEST LINK

When it comes to phone technology for business, each solution needs to fit the environment. Even with a completely custom phone system in place, your team is probably aware of the single weakest link. They may be struggling with call quality, faulty headsets, slow loading screens when pulling up customer data, or something else. If you were to conduct a survey of your team and compare their answers, you will likely find one particular issue that irks everybody on the team. Your team may also be able to give suggestions for how to fix it or tell you how they work around the issue altogether.

Your team is your greatest asset when it comes to solving issues with your phone technology for business. Remember, they are intimately familiar with the system you have in place, and it is in their best interest to give you real insight into how it works. The better they describe their problems, the easier it is for you to fix them and for them to do their jobs in the future. They can help you directly by showing you problems with your current system as well as opening up their lines and their personal phones for more access at little additional cost to you.


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