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1、THE CALL CENTRE CUSTOMER CARE POCKETBOOK By Mike Applegarth, Adrian Guttridge & Keith Posner Drawings by Phil Hailstone Technology is becoming increasingly important in the business environment. However, ultimately it doesnt matter how good the technology is, it is people who make the real differenc

2、e. This book is a distillation of considerable experience, which reflects the customer service issues in our modern world. Concise and easy to read, it is excellent for anyone involved in any aspect of customer service. Jonathan Blain, Chief Executive Officer, ASAP International Group Plc Published

3、by: Management Pocketbooks Ltd Laurel House, Station Approach, Alresford, Hants SO24 9JH, U.K. Tel: +44 (0)1962 735573 Fax: +44 (0)1962 733637 E-mail: salespocketbook.co.uk Website: www.pocketbook.co.uk MANAGEMENT POCKETBOOKS All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored

4、 in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. First edition published in 2001 as The E-customer Care Pocketbook. This edition published 2005. Adrian Guttridge, Keith Po

5、sner & Mike Applegarth 2001 and 2005. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data - A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 903776 33 3 Design, typesetting and graphics by efex ltd. Printed in U.K. Who should read this book? Primarily, this book is for all

6、staff dealing with customers over the telephone or via the internet, whether or not they regard themselves as working in a call centre or for a organisation. If that is you, you will not only be offered guidelines and practical ideas for enhancing the customer service you directly provide, but you w

7、ill also gain an insight into the support mechanisms and further technology available to help your cause. It will enable you to see where you fit within an overall customer service strategy. There are also issues for managers of call centres or s to address, so they too will find this book helpful.

8、The book does not tell you how to set up a website, but it does explore some design issues and reviews the customer service pitfalls of the modern age. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1CUSTOMER INTERFACING 51 How telephony and the internet are Five factors that influence how an affecting supplier-customer rel

9、ationships, organisations use of the telephone both positively and negatively, and why shapes its public image; complaints into customer service is so important opportunities; handling problems; and four key areas of concern in projecting an COMMUNICATION METHODS 13 organisations internet image The

10、pivotal role of communications in customer service; call centres: MANAGEMENT ISSUES 79 business or consumer orientated, How far up our audit ladder does centralised or localised; and the pros your organisations customer service and cons of different communication level reach? How to overcome the met

11、hods from both supplier and facelessness of internet trading and customer perspectives reassure the customer; call centres IN-HOUSE SYSTEMS Importance of integrating customer communication channels; customer relationship management; gathering customer data and turning this into business intelligence

12、 33 beware concentrating on volume of calls handled at expense of quality of service; offshoring, cross-selling, personnel and training issues; and security JARGON BUSTER 102 A brief explanation of frequently used acronyms and industry terms I NTRODUCTION 1INTRODUCTION A NEW REVOLUTION Here we are a

13、t the turn of another century. With each new century we have entered a new era. There was the Agricultural Revolution at the start of the 18th Century, the Industrial Revolution at the start of the 19th Century, and the communications revolution (the telephone) at the start of the 20th Century. What

14、 revolution awaits us this time? The internet and mobile communications are having a dramatic effect on the way we lead our lives. Peoples buying practices are changing, and with this the customer revolution is underway. The importance of customer service is fast emerging. Now, the mass media create

15、s the awareness and the customers come to you: its less to do with selling, more to do with helping customers buy from you, again and again! 2INTRODUCTION DOT.COMMERCE The boom has brought convenience to window-shopping and all but removed the closed signs. Traditionally, the main contact with custo

16、mers was face-to-face. However, economic pressures have led to the telephone line being the backbone of customer service for large companies. Often when a new method of communication arrives, we believe it will replace existing methods (photographs for paintings, telephone for post, television for c

17、inema, internet for everything!). More commonly it just adds to the mix. In this book we explore the ways in which customers who have come to us could still be lost, and what we must do to keep them and get their friends aboard as well. 3INTRODUCTION CUSTOMER PROMISCUITY Customers equipped with toda

18、ys technology find it easy to move from one shop to the next, or one call centre to the next, so lock- in is important. Nowadays, customers are promiscuous: they have little loyalty and will not waste their time and effort doing business with you if another supplier makes it easier for them. Time is

19、 something that can always be spent elsewhere, along with the money. 4INTRODUCTION AFTER SALES SERVICE Some companies seem to provide the shop window that customers want. But having promised to deliver, the only support they provide is in getting the customers back up, whereas they should be giving

20、the customer back-up! What follows is a true story about one customer whose time and money could certainly have been spent better elsewhere. It concerns a major high street computer retailer who purports to be able to construct personal computers to the customers specification. The following events

21、reflect that companys concept of customer service and is exactly what this book aims to put right. Gateway to Hell! We start when the high street store confirmed details of the required computer and promised delivery within 7 - 10 days. Payment was taken by credit card and the customer went home hap

22、py with her purchase, anticipating the advantage it would give to her home-based business. 5INTRODUCTION AFTER SALES SERVICE A call from the customer to check the likely delivery date revealed no apparent problems. But on the seventh day the store rang to say that the computer could not be built to

23、the agreed specification. An internal zip drive could not be included, therefore the price would be lower and a new payment authority required. The computer could not be built until the authority was received! To cut a long story short, delivery took five weeks. But that was only the start! Printers

24、 and peripheral equipment never worked properly with the computer and so the customer sought help from the store. Its reaction was to send a contracted engineer, who incidentally had installed the machinery originally, to resolve the problem. The customer had to pay 20 per hour for the privilege! 6I

25、NTRODUCTION AFTER SALES SERVICE Further problems surfaced. Not trusting the engineer, nor wanting to pay further, the customer found a support number and was connected to a call centre in the States. They guided her through a process of shutting down software, as the computers resources were inexpli

26、cably overloading. Unfortunately, and unbeknown to the customer, the scanner was disabled during that process and, later, could not be used to complete an important business document by its deadline. The customer was left to panic and incur additional expense again by doing creative things with pay-

27、as-you-use photocopiers. Solving one problem had simply started another. The next time the customer called the support number, she got an entirely different accent at the end of the line. Her call wasnt routed to the States this time but to another English speaking country where the words can be dif

28、ficult to discern until the ear becomes attuned to the accent. This time she was told that whoever she had spoken to before had given her the wrong instructions! 7INTRODUCTION AFTER SALES SERVICE When the CD-rewriter also failed to function properly, all the customer wanted, having spent nearly 2000

29、, was a new machine - one that did the job it was supposed to do. But no! The customer didnt come first: the companys internal processes were more important. The standard reply to any request for a competent engineer to come on site and sort out the computer, or even to provide a temporary replaceme

30、nt while it was being fixed, was We dont operate that way! The customer perceived that her business was at the mercy of an unsympathetic, self- focused, money-grabbing organisation that failed to meet its obligations to her. Not once did anyone express so much as an apology or concern for her predic

31、ament. It wasnt just a home PC she was buying, it was also a business tool, offering the hope of greater efficiency and professionalism and contributing to paying the mortgage. Further insult was added to injury when arrangements were eventually made for the computer to be collected and taken away f

32、or repair. The customer had to manage without it for a few days. Needless to say no replacement or compensation were offered. 8INTRODUCTION AFTER SALES SERVICE Moreover, the courier acting on the manufacturers behalf went to the wrong address, despite specific instructions from the customer. Althoug

33、h only four miles away, the courier told her the collection would have to be rescheduled for another day! The convenience of telephony had taken over. After sales service was to be done over the phone and face-to-face contact had to be paid for. Communications were to be remote, leaving the customer

34、 feeling very isolated. The purpose of this story is to show that customer service is measured ultimately by the customer. Customer service cannot exist only at the point of sale. Neither is it a system or set of procedures with an internal focus that views the customer as an irritation and incident

35、al. It is an ethos, a living culture within the organisation, and not just two easy-to- use words - one for each finger! Inevitably, one disappointed customers story will deter many other would-be purchasers. Yet thats just the tip of the iceberg now that customers have the choice. Its incidents lik

36、e this that should be isolated, rather than the customers they refer to! 9INTRODUCTION CUSTOMER PERCEPTION A recent survey of bank customers supports the lessons from the previous pages. It highlights that the quality of service has worsened dramatically as the banks shift to internet and telephone

37、operations. Customers, it seems, are unhappy with the loss of face-to-face contact. In particular, they feel that their needs are taking second place to cost cutting and profits. The message is that the convenience of 24-hour operations has to be tempered with its limitations. Transmitting to someon

38、e may be quick, but communicating with them, before either party can make appropriate decisions, requires more personal rapport to be established and may need involvement from a number of different people in the organisation. 10 INTRODUCTION CUSTOMER SERVICE AS SOLE DIFFERENTIATOR Utilities companie

39、s were the early pioneers of treating customer service as though it were a product itself. This is because there is nothing else to differentiate one gas or electricity supplier from another, as the product is the same. So CRM (Customer Relationship Management) was born out of the need to differenti

40、ate providers. It allows the provider to treat each customer as important whilst interfacing as one coherent operation, rather than as departments of the same organisation operating independently without any apparent communication between one another. 11 SE CINTRODUCTION CUSTOMER SERVICE AS SOLE DIF

41、FERENTIATOR Customer service is a number of experiences, not just one product. What has not changed is the need to build customer loyalty. A life-long relationship with the customer is, therefore, still the goal of all good companies. Customer ?HOO Deregulation of the gas market in the UK has allowe

42、d choice for the consumer. The gas product is the same, as is the infrastructure of supply pipelines. What then differentiates the various suppliers? Believe it or not, the unit price per therm is perceived as attributable to the service rather than the product. If a supplier offers more affordable

43、gas with a noticeable 12 level of good customer service, it may have a customer for life. C O M M U N I C AT I O N METHODS 13 COMMUNICATION METHODS ATTITUDE TO CUSTOMERS Our attitude to customers can be one of irritation or apathy when they dont understand our systems and how we operate. Therefore c

44、ommunication is at the heart of customer service perceptions, and the way we communicate is all-important. Research shows that communication is split into three methods of delivery in normal face-to-face communication: 7% What we say 38% The way we say it 55% Body language If we cannot see our custo

45、mers and they cannot see us, then we can rely on only 45% of the medium to communicate our message accurately! 14 COMMUNICATION METHODS ATTITUDE TO CUSTOMERS Peter Ustinov defined communication as: The art of being understood! How much more chance exists then for misunderstandings and confusion when

46、 so much of the visual support of the message - and reaction to it! - is missing? For example, fork handles could easily be misheard as four candles or vice versa. An opera goer might prefer a more formal style of address; a football supporter a more casual approach. 15 COMMUNICATION METHODS ATTITUDE TO CUSTOMERS It is well known, and used to good effect by companies, that certain regional accents more readily convey the impression of empathy and understanding. Each country will have its own variations that can be perceived as h