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“You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be too easily duplicated. But a strong customer service culture cannot be copied.” – Jerry Fritz, speaker and trainer
According to Microsoft’s State of Global Customer Service statistics, 58% of customers believe that customer service affects their choice of a brand. Meanwhile, 61% of customers do not prefer to transact with a business after an unsatisfactory service experience.
Businesses need to go the extra mile to create a wonderful customer service experience that has the potential to retain customers for the long haul. Everything boils down to the way your representatives interact with the customers and how they make them feel. Therefore, call center agents play a crucial role in this context.
Cloud telephony provides modern organizations access to a host of call center management solutions that they can leverage to go above and beyond with customer support.
Call barging is one such feature that adds to the quality of these interactions. Your agents and managers can deliver excellent experiences to callers with the use of this simple cloud telephony feature.
Before diving deep into the application of call barging and how it can potentially empower your business, it is imperative to learn what the tool is all about.
What is call barging?
Call barging allows another team member or a manager to intercede during an ongoing conversation and interact with the caller. While barging in on a call may sound intrusive to the rep and the manager, it can go a long way in elevating the customer experience and training support agents.
Call whisper and call monitoring are also cloud telephony features. Call whisper allows a manager to listen-in on an active call and whisper advice to the agents. The customer, on the other hand, is not aware of the manager’s presence.
Call monitoring lets a manager only listen in on a live call. Neither the agent nor the caller is aware of the same.
Call barging is helpful for managers in more than one way, especially when it comes to managing remote sales teams that need constant supervision and support.
Recommended Read: Call whispering guide
What are the benefits of call barging feature?
Customers have high expectations from company representatives. They expect quality service and swift resolutions. Whether they’re calling for query resolution or to register a complaint, they want your agents to understand their concerns and resolve them at earliest. Availability and accessibility are vital, but your agents should ensure that they offer appropriate solutions as well.
While trained agents will probably have answers to all the questions, new ones often struggle. They need a manager’s help, which is possible only if the latter is around. This is where call barging comes into the picture.
Let us explain the benefits that this tool offers.
(1) Constant support for reps
It’s a given that new support agents may not always be able to live up to the customers’ expectations. In fact, even seasoned ones can slip when faced with a tricky issue. With call barging, they have a safety net that comes to rescue in such circumstances.
Managers can be right there to take over the conversation and offer an actionable solution to even the most challenging issues. New recruits can also get a step ahead with training by listening in on real-time conversations. Agents, on the other hand, feel more confident when they have a senior around.
(2) Technical aid at hand
With call barging, it is not just the managers who can join in and take over challenging sales and support calls. At times, prospects and customers bring up complex, technical queries that your sales reps cannot handle on their own. It becomes harder when a deal hinges on their ability to clarify such questions.
In such scenarios, the representative can have a technical contact barging in to resolve the concern. It can help them achieve first call resolution, close the deal and convert the prospect.
(3) Peer support
Another benefit of call barging feature comes in the form of peer support for the members of the sales team. Each rep brings their unique experiences, skills, and expertise that can be of value in specific situations.
By letting all the agents’ barge in on calls, you can create a collaborative environment where everyone is willing to help each other. Peer support will boost the confidence of your team members. It acts as a cohesive force that joins them all into a single unit, even when they work remotely.
(4) Happy prospects and customers
For any business, prospects and customers matter the most because they keep your sales soaring and the organization running. Making them feel special is the key to conversions and retention.
When it comes to giving them the treatment they deserve, call barging can play a significant role. Your agents can have a senior, such as a top executive or manager, barging in on the call and interacting with the prospects and customers. This will make the callers feel valued, and they will stay with your business in the long run.
(5) Agent training and monitoring
Call barging can be of great value from the agent training perspective. It empowers your managers with live call monitoring so that they can assess the real-time performance of each agent.
It also enables them to identify gaps in customer support and address them with proper training and development initiatives. Even as they train agents in real-time, managers can resolve issues on the spot and ensure top-notch experiences for the callers.
When should managers use call barging?
Now that you know the benefits of call barging, you should learn when to use this feature to your advantage. Call barging is a powerful tool; however, one should not barge in on every call. Rather, managers should use it judiciously. Here are the scenarios wherein call barging can be used for maximum benefit:
- An agent is truly stumped by a query, probably because it is too technical or complex, and needs the guidance of a seasoned team member
- A rep is still in the training phase and does not have enough information or experience to handle all types of questions or angry customers
- A caller is upset and wants to talk to the manager
On the other hand, you must not use call barging if it is likely to have a negative impact on your customers or doesn’t add value to the call. You have to use discretion because the objective of the feature is to help agents rather than downsize their confidence.
Conclusion
Training and managing remote teams are easier said than done, but it is something that all businesses must do to gain maximum traction. Features like call barging can substantially help you in your efforts to enhance the efficiency and confidence of new and existing representatives.
It is vital to pick the right service provider who shall enable you get the most out of call barging. Acefone provides high-end cloud telephony solutions that offer a complete range of features, including call barging. Avail this solution right away and take your customer service to the next level.
