Nicola Brookes, writing for Vonage, included a series of fascinating infographics in her article, “The Multibillion Dollar Cost of Poor Customer Service”. Among these graphics, we can see that the company uncovered that businesses lose some $41 billion dollars each year due to poor customer service—in part due to the staggering percentage of people who will share their poor experiences with their friends and family. Perhaps even more interesting is that despite the fact that we live in the Information Age and much of our lives are dominated by the Internet, as much as “75% think calling is most effective for a quick response but 53% are irritated if they don’t speak to a real person immediately”. Further, “59% prefer to contact a business by phone.” Despite access to email, web contact forms, chatting applications, and so on, the average person still wants to call.
Here are some other concerning statistics: “89% of [customers] have switched at least once or twice in the past year”. What are their reasons? Feeling “unappreciated,” “put off by rude or unhelpful staff,” being “fed up with speaking to multiple agents,” “annoyed by a lack of staff knowledge,” and tiring “of being kept on hold”. Given all of our investments into web-based communication platforms, have we collectively taken our eye off the ball? More than one hundred years ago, the American Telephone & Telegraph Company connected the first transcontinental phone lines, long before the age of zeroes and ones, but it feels like we’ve collectively forgotten all about this tool. If you’ve spent any time on the phone with your bank, your cellular or cable company, your doctor’s office, or any place else, you know how true this is.
Perhaps people still prefer the telephone because hearing a voice keeps the interaction human. Even when sending emails or using a chatting application, the fact that you can’t even hear the other person speaking makes them feel artificial. Whatever the psychological underpinnings, the fact remains that the phone is still king. Whether you operate a restaurant, a car dealership, a real estate office, local retail, or anything else, the employees who answer your phones are often going to create your customers’ first impressions. Make sure they’re good to avoid becoming another statistic.
As with all matters of customer service and salesmanship, quality requires consistent practice and evaluation. Many of our most successful clients have engaged us in telephone mystery shopping, a service where we target their offices or call centers with a recording system so their managers can listen and ultimately train their staff. Our shoppers can target specific individuals or times of day, ask your predefined questions or improvise on their own, and they can even complete surveys with reportable and actionable data so you can monitor trends.
Interested? The Brandt Group offers a free sample of our mystery phone shopping services. To learn more, head over to this webpage—or, if you’re among the 75% of people who believe calling is the most effective, you can reach us at 406–586–3036. Let’s get started right away!
