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South Africa has enormous potential as a call-centre hub for
the rest of Africa and even the wider world. It’s already been exploited in the positive sense by companies overseas recognising an affinity for the Dutch language
among ‘Cape Coloured’ people. In linguistic terms, it appears to be a happy marriage and callers to various firms are now chatting to our inimitable sisters and
brethren daar innie Kaap.
Most call centres today aren’t dedicated just to one company or indeed one field of business. I know of one that will deal
with your medical emergency, your travel hassles, your roadside assistance with your car, and so on. Depending on the number you dial they know which assistance
service you’re expecting to receive. The risks that go with this ‘economical’ service trend are enormous.
I had occasion to speak with someone at Standard
Bank’s Internet banking service recently. My conundrum was electronically paying someone with a Post Bank account. It appears you can’t EFT into a Post Bank account
from Standard Bank because it’s not listed as an option. The call centre operator ‘assured’ me that I could simply transfer the money into the ‘Post Office’ option and
it would be fine. Patent nonsense and dangerous advice. Imagine trying to retrieve incorrectly deposited money from the Post Office!
This experience is not an
isolated incident. The level of so-called ‘expertise’ encountered in call centres is terrifying. There is, in most instances, clearly some sort of ‘script’ and God
help you if your enquiry is ‘off-script’. Then you get into the murky arena of spontaneous assumptions by poorly-paid and deeply unsophisticated operators.
I
had the satisfaction last year of being responsible for the head of a financial services call centre being sent for ‘re-training’ because he (the last line of
authority in the call centre to whom I could speak) didn’t know the difference between a General Power of Attorney and a Special Power of Attorney.
Try calling
the oxymoronic ‘Joh’burg Connect’ right now and all these months into Summer we’re still getting a nasal, cold or flu-infected voice on the pre-operator recording.
Thank goodness that Winter’s coming up soon because her voice will be back in fashion shortly.
Trying recently to book a flight with SAA had me thinking I’d
gotten through to a boisterous community function in a sub-economic area. How the operator could concentrate with all the background noise, only he knew.
The
point of all this whinging is what? Simply put: Your first point of contact with your client creates a crucial impression. It’s what Jan Carlzon, legendary head of
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) referred to as ‘A moment of truth.’ Once that impression’s made, it’s very difficult to shed. It’s rather like having someone come up an
un-weeded, overgrown driveway with sagging garden posts, to a front door with peeling paint and bits of debris blowing around on the steps. Imagine if that were your
home. A while back I encountered exactly that when we made a house-call to someone trying to interest us in buying into her cosmetics business. I said - not unkindly
intended - to a colleague of mine as we parked the car, ‘This is not the home of a successful business person.’ The observation proved to be absolutely spot-on. The
mantra has to be ‘image, image, image!’
What’s needed then? There should be rigorous training of call centre staff, away from the standard scripted responses.
Make sure their brains are engaged before they open their mouths. Make sure they’re not chewing gum, eating, or having the last few words of a personal conversation as
they come on the line. Have acoustic privacy screens so the client doesn’t get bombarded with background noise pollution. Train the operator to recognise before the client demands another level of intervention that it’s beyond their ability to resolve. Have someone make regular ‘dipstick survey’ calls to the call centre to see what sort of reception and help they get. Publicly applaud and reward staff who exhibit initiative and handle conflict or difficult situations well. Use recordings of their encounters for training purposes. Use recordings of the (in the majority) incompetents as examples of what not to do.
Above all, make sure that the working hours, the breaks, the ergonomics, the refreshment areas and the support and ongoing training you give to call centre
staff all facilitate professional service delivery.
Don’t take the combined marketing, advertising, communications, PR and promotional budgets of your company
and pour them down the sewer of an incompetent call centre. Remember, the client seldom knows it’s someone else handling issues on your behalf. They think it’s you!
So, do your homework thoroughly and implement your own quality assurance processes, or abdicate your brand-stewardship at your peril.
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