Have you ever worked in a call center? Better yet, have you ever had to manage one? If you have, you would know that dealing with frustrated and angry customers is part of the job. It’s a stressful time for both the client and the agent. Statistics show that 74% of workers at call centers are likely to experience burnout.
If one were to give this situation some thought, a number of questions would arise. What makes clients so frustrated that they vent their anger at service representatives? What do they get most frustrated about? Can anything be done to preemptively address the situation?
In this article, let us look at three common factors behind client discontent. Hopefully, understanding this subject will give us some idea about what steps to take.
1. Poorly Designed Websites
Think about it. No one wants to waste time calling a helpline number and dealing with an agent who follows a script. People value their time and would prefer to get things done in the most seamless way possible.
Websites have been great for this and have replaced a lot of work that customer care agents previously handled. These days, many websites even offer AI chatbots that can troubleshoot and help answer basic questions.
These developments have been a boon to productivity for everyone. However, not all websites are created with care. Many websites fail to consider the importance of proper search engine optimization and the aspects it entails.
Confusing Website Navigation Is a Major Issue
Suppose a client is searching for information related to your products or services. They visit your website and start navigating it. However, the dropdown menus aren’t helpful and only lead to irrelevant information, or worse, dead links. They try to use the search button, but it doesn’t work.
You would be lying if you didn’t agree that such experiences can be extremely frustrating. Talking with a web design and SEO consultant during the website development phase could eliminate many of these problems. They can also help improve your website’s visibility in relevant search engine results, leading to more organic traffic.
According to SEO Inc, having a better website equals a better user experience and return visitors. Your clients are going to find the information they seek more easily, which will, in turn, reduce frustrated calls.
2. Perceived Incompetence
Clients call up because they want help. Unfortunately, a lot of customer support gets outsourced, and finding someone who can actually help is tough. It can sometimes feel like talking to a robot because agents have been trained to ‘stick to the script.’
Even the expressed empathy comes off as cringeworthy and inauthentic. Being told, “I understand this must be frustrating for you,” can anger callers even more. To make matters worse, clients can sometimes be more knowledgeable about the subject than the official customer service representatives.
While we are mainly talking about call-based interactions, the same can be seen in online support forums. Just take a stroll through Microsoft’s official support community. You have generic, unhelpful answers being given by official representatives while random users find and post the actual solutions.
What’s the point of customer support if they are incompetent? Clients are not wrong to be angry in such situations. They pay for a product or a service, and that transaction comes with an expectation. An expectation of prompt and competent support. Fail to meet that, and you can surely expect irate clients.
3. Too Many Transfers
There are few things as frustrating as explaining your problem to someone in great detail only to get transferred. Transfers wouldn’t be too much of a problem if the client’s issue was recorded and passed along. Instead, most clients need to start from scratch and explain why they are calling, all over again.
Combine this with poor communication skills, and it’s no wonder that tempers flare. A modification to the customer support script where the agent recaps the problem could go a long way.
Conclusion
The world would be a better place if everyone could be a little more considerate of each other. This means that customer service reps could try developing a genuine desire to help solve issues. This might involve learning more about a product or service, but it is time well spent. The work experience becomes more fulfilling and rewarding as well.
Callers should also understand the restrictions that customer care agents are bound by. Deviating from a script can result in suffocating meetings, burnout, and pay cuts. Both parties need to find ways to find solutions together, but sadly, this is easier said than done. At the very least, the more awareness we create about these realities, the better.
