Employees that work in customer-focused industries or roles can often feel overwhelmed. Let’s face it–customer service can be tough. People rarely call to tell you what a great job you’re doing. It’s to let you know something is wrong or to vent frustration. For many in these roles, these experiences can make it uncomfortable to get on the phone with a customer. But if you can train your employees get over that anxiety, the “call back” is a phenomenal customer service tool. Here’s why.
Gain an Extra Touch Point
Assuming your frontline (i.e., customer-facing) employees are personable and present a positive image of your organization (and they should), a follow-up phone call is a great way to put those employees in front of your customers for an extra time. Frequent touch points build strong brands.
Build Dependability and Trust
It’s surprising how many customer service employees neglect explicit commitments to return a call or get back to a customer. Of course, those commitments must be honored. Beyond that, though, calling back when it isn’t expected helps your employees set themselves, and your organization, above the rest.
Leave a Lasting Impression
Customers don’t remember acceptable or “decent” customer service. They remember poor (not just terrible—simply poor) customer service. But they also remember exceptional customer service. They comment on it to colleagues and other potential customers, and it stays in their minds when they think of whom they want to do business with. A callback to show a customer that your organization is honestly interested in following up and knowing that an issue has been resolved, or simply to check in to see how the customer is enjoying the product or service, will help you make the kind of lasting impression customers will remember.
This is an era where even e-mail seems outdated and more and more communication is handled impersonally. In spite of—or perhaps because of—this, there is tremendous value in a quick phone call to a customer. Not only does it provide a touch point more personal than an electronic message, it demonstrates care and commitment.