If you are a call center agent working in the bpo industry you must be well equipped in customer handling and know how to satisfy your customers. Even the slightest bit of dissatisfaction can turn things into worse and ruin the reputation or image of the company. Thus you should be really careful while interacting with your customer and always ensure that you never say certain things to your customers which are mentioned below:

Your details again please:

Your details again please:

Customers tend to get frustrated when they are repeatedly asked for their personal information by contact center agents. Doing this also gives a negative impression of the company.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Customers like efficiency and if you can provide a fast, efficient and quick resolution to the problems of the customers it will act as a bonus point. Whenever a customer calls at the contact center the CRM or Customer Relationship Management System should clearly record and display all the personal information related to the customer so that you don’t have to ask about them again and again.

I will call you back in a moment:

I will call you back in a moment:

Customers hate to hear about callbacks when they are in need of urgent support. They tend to feel that the agent is trying to ignore him or her by telling about call back. So you should avoid doing this at all cost until and unless it is absolutely necessary or you are totally sure about it. Customer service managers should ensure that no call back is missed out and it is done within the timeframe specified by the agent.

But wait…there’s more.

If the case is such that you are not aware of a certain thing asked by the customer and it requires a call back from your colleague or a senior make sure that you take responsibility about it and take care so that your colleague make the call back within the given time frame.   

As per company policy:

As per company policy:

It is very natural that at certain times you might not be able to help a customer or process his request as the company policy mighty stop you from doing it. But it’s never a good idea to say it on the face of the customer directly. Not only does it create an uncomfortable situation but also it makes the customer angry. Thus customer service agents should be very careful while telling such things and avoid it at all cost.

You were probably wondering how to manage such situations.

But there is nothing to worry about anymore. Instead of using phrases like company policy try to reply it with what you can do for your callers and the extra mile you can go to solve his problem.

Please hold on for a moment:

Please hold on for a moment:

No customer wants to hold on or wait during a call especially when they have no idea of what is going on. So try to avoid putting your customers on hold until and unless it is absolutely needed. Not only does it increases the call time but also infuriates the customer which might lead to more frustrations.

Here’s the thing,

you need to keep the customer informed about the actions you will take or the things you are going to do while keeping him on hold. This will make the customer realize that you are serious about the problem and reduce his frustration.

I am not sure:

I am not sure:

Whenever a customer contacts with the call center he expects s steady resolution of his problem and using this phrase can have catastrophic results at such situations. This not only infuriates the customer but also he thinks that you have no knowledge or proper training to work as a customer service representative.

Here is the deal!

There might be situations when you genuinely do not know the solution of a certain problem or you are not equipped to handle such situations. But instead of saying directly you don’t know about it or you are not sure, approach it in a positive way and say the customer let me find it out for you.

Go and check the website:

Go and check the website:

Never say this statement to the customer as it signifies that you are not interested in answering the query of the customer and you cannot help them. This can be a blunder in the customer service industry. It might be also possible that the customer has already visited the website in search of his answer before calling and have not got it there.

It’s easier than you think.

Don’t try to avoid such situations and instead offer the customer to send the link of the webpage via email which can assist him in getting the answers to the query. By doing this you have not only proved your efficiency but also made the customer happy.

Why have you done that:

Why have you done that:

This phrase is a big no when you are working in business process management. You need to understand the fact that mistakes happen and certain things which might seem to be extremely easy to you might not be so easy for the customers as they do not have detailed product knowledge and might do certain things by mistake.

Still not convinced?

So here is the thing you should do. Be extremely polite every time while handling calls and give proper instructions to the customers over the phone so that the customer feels encouraged and avoid using any kind of negative phrases.

That’s not my department:

That’s not my department:

Frankly speaking whenever a customer calls he is least bothered about whose department is handling which job and he has nothing to do with the internal working of the company.

Look - That's not all.

Simply avoid telling such silly things to the customers on call and concentrate on your work. Always remember that you are sitting there in customer service jobs and try to help the customers as much as possible. If required you can transfer the call to the right department if the customer query is such that it’s beyond your domain.

There is nothing I can do:

There is nothing I can do:

As a call center agent, you should never waste the valuable time of your customers.

You focus should be on solving the problem of the customers at the first point of contact rather than diverting it.

Sounds good, right?

You must remember that the customer has made a phone call with the hope of solving the problem and you should try out innovative ways and creative ideas to solve the problem of the customers. There is nothing called no in the world of business services and you will have to come up with a solution as per your judgment.

It will take time:

It will take time:

Avoid using these kinds of vague sentences while talking to your customers. Even if you find out that a certain request by the customer might take time to solve tell him the exact time frame and let him know the reason for the delay. This will build trust and you will be able to provide good customer service.

Handling customers is not a very difficult task. Simply follow the points mention above and provide customer support like a charm.