When you hear the words “call center,” do you picture an old-school phone bank built up of rows and rows of cubicles? If so, you may be a touch behind the times. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with the modern landscape of the customer service industry, you’re likely holding onto some fairly-outdated conceptions of how it works. With recent technological expansion, call centers have seen their fair share of radical shifts. There are a few common call center myths that circulate more than others, however. Here are five of them, debunked.
Nobody uses phones anymore
With the search engine explosion of the past decade, it may seem like everyone deals with customer service inquiries online, either via email or chat. Indeed, younger generations have definitely shown a preference for live chats and social media channels, but for the time being, the top way customers connect with businesses is through their phones. It’s still one of the easiest ways for someone to get a definitive answer and eliminates potential areas of confusion and mixed messaging. As it stands, phone-based customer service isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
All call centers are outsourced
If you’ve ever called a customer service number, you’re almost guaranteed to have connected with a representative from another country. It is true that many businesses outsource all of their customer service efforts in an attempt to save a few bucks. However, there are even more businesses that rely on the clever use of technology such as Bright Pattern Contact Center Software to keep their customer service an internal affair. They’re better able to address more complex problems and can be equally affordable as outsourcing.
Remote workers aren’t productive
Many call centers have adopted a distributed working model. This means that, as long as a company’s representatives can use the specified software, they’re ready to field calls. The idea that remote workers are less productive isn’t unique to the call center business. However, if anything, the majority of remote workers tend to be more productive. It also boosts employee morale in a profession that can often be thankless, to say the least. Happier employees and greater overall productivity? What more could you want?
The robots are taking over
Robotics and automation are playing a major role in how the business landscape is shifting. Indeed, robots are able to handle many aspects of customer service without the need for a live representative’s intervention. At present, technology simply serves to assist the customer service experience and streamline some otherwise clunky processes, such as information gathering. It’s guaranteed that the human experience is still a major component of customer service and will remain so for quite some time.
Quantity over quality
If you still picture a phone bank, it’s no surprise you’d think that quantity is valued more than quality. For some survey and census businesses, this might even still hold true. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth for the majority of companies nowadays. Customers are placing more and more emphasis on the quality of the service they receive and call centers giving less than excellent service aren’t performing to the best of their abilities. Depending on your business and the technology you use in your call center, both are equally as achievable with the help of automation, IVR technology, and call routing.
These aren’t the only myths that plague modern call centers, but they are some of the one that are most often repeated. Despite these myths, the industry as a whole has been making massive strides over the past few years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. It’ll be fascinating to see how much the industry has changed when the future comes around.
