The more calls your business gets, the better, right? Of course it does, but it may require your company to handle what’s happening in a certain way.
Call center calls are up
Invoca says that ringing phones in call centers can be a sign of a company’s success, but it can also be a sign that something has gone wrong.
While every business experiences a seasonal spike in calls or a slight increase in rings, your inbound call volume should be proportional to the level of business you expect to drive.
When call volume is much higher than you expect, it can overwhelm your call center, which can alienate your customers and tarnish your good reputation.
High call center volume can be more of a curse than a blessing. Here are some reasons why your call volume might be out of control and how to take control.
Reasons for high incoming call volume
Reason 1: Weakness of paid advertising
It’s not entirely uncommon for call centers dedicated to handling potential customers to be inundated with customer service requests.
This can often be attributed to poor paid search ad optimization, for example, if someone just searches for a bank name, they shouldn’t see an ad giving them a number for mortgage quotes.
A general search for the brand name without any other specific keywords should provide basic information such as a general phone number, links to find websites, or links to shared services. For example, if we take the search results for “Bank of America”:
It completely omits the contact number and lists many common inquiries and services. This ad format will help reduce calls for general inquiries and help customers find the information they need on their own.
Reason 2: Another poorly performing section
Sometimes the cause of call backlog is poor performance of other departments, as internal issues can cause high call volume.
For example, if there is a backlog of service requests that spans weeks, customers will start calling any number they can find to connect with someone who might be able to help.
To prevent this from happening, you should track service levels across all channels and monitor bounce rates from one channel to another. If calls are constantly bouncing from one department to another, you may need to increase your call quality monitoring to ensure you are meeting goals and SLAs, or it may be time to review staffing levels in the department the calls are bouncing from.
Reason 3: Design your own website
If you’re getting a lot of calls about business hours, inventory levels, locations, or other simple questions, it’s probably time to take a look at your website design.
Is your phone number prominently displayed but it takes five clicks to get to your hours of operation? Do you have a FAQ section? Does the search function work properly?
While having access to phone numbers is important for many businesses, it’s no substitute for a seamless online experience that makes self-service simple.
If you can create a pattern of simple questions that come from a number displayed on your website, then there is optimization work to be done on your website.
People should contact your business because they want to, not because they have to. Not to mention, a poor website experience turns away more customers than those who call out of frustration.
Reason 4: Limited communication channel options
If your phone number is the only obvious way to get further assistance, that’s how people will contact your business whether they have a question, a complaint, or want to make a purchase.
Providing other easy options such as email, online chat on Facebook, or forums can help significantly reduce call volume.
You can also consider using a chatbot to help customers get quick answers to their questions. Many consumers are happy to use online text chat to get quick answers to their questions, and you can easily direct calls from chat if it seems like they’ll need help making a sale.
