I recently had to call a local provider’s contact center for
assistance with an issue. Well after navigating the menu and waiting for what
seemed like an eternity I eventually spoke a customer service representative.
The customer service experience was one of the worst I have encountered in all
my years of working in customer service. Contact centers are driven by metrics such
as First-call resolution (FCR), Average Waiting Time (AWT), Average Hold Time
(AHT) just to name a few and these have to be monitored and adjustments made
during the workday in order to meet stated customer service objectives.
But what could cause such a poor customer experience in the
first place. Well, here are my top five reasons.
Agent absenteeism – More so seeing T&T is ranked fifth among
countries in the world with the highest rates of workplace absenteeism.
High staff turnover – Negatively impacts quality, because
every time a trained agent leaves, fewer are on hand to ensure an optimum level
of service.
Little focus on first-call-resolution – Resulting in
the customer having to speak to several agents regarding a single inquiry
Poor integration of IT platforms – Resulting in the employee
having to access multiple systems (CRM databases, workforce management tools
and sales order processing applications) to satisfy customer request thus increasing
the transaction time.
Employee/Job mismatch – Wrong person for the job.
What's the longest you had to wait to speak to a customer care agent?
