by Tabitha Hergest

Created on: February 27, 2010

The fundamental requirement for any business is customers.

Obvious, you may say.  Without customers, after all, there is no business.

And yet, it's amazing how many otherwise sane and sensible entrepreneurs forget that very fact when choosing call-centre outsourcing partners.  Think about it; if the customer is king, as so many gurus tell you, and customer service is the very fulcrum on which good business balances, why do so many businesses settle for call-centres whose track-record on being understood by customers, let alone being able to offer that customer a good standard of service on their behalf, is patchy at the most optimistic?

And yet there are many horror-stories of call-centres doing just this.  They tread on the very sacred toes of customer-service, where call-centres from, let us say, India, cannot quite get the nuance of what people are trying to say.  The customer finds this a deeply dispiriting experience, nine times out of ten, and would rather put up with the nuisance than risk getting through to a "nice man in Bangalore", whose pleasantness or otherwise does nothing to disguise the fact that he's not able to understand your problem, let alone help you solve it.  The customer, then, wanders off to find a competitor of yours whose service is better, and doesn't rely on a staff whose language is closer to pidgin than yours or, if he decides to stay, will be a slow puncture in the inner-tube of your business for as long as you tolerate him.

Clearly, then, you don't want a customer service representative whose language is different enough from that of your customers to present problems.  So far, so obvious - although not so obvious to many banks, car hire companies and telephony providers in the United Kingdom...  Next, you don't want a customer-service-by-cribsheet option either.  Of course, it's a good and noble pursuit for any business to trim unproductive fat where it can, but beware of economising on customer service.  Remember, the customer service arm is amongst the most valuable in the organisation, and cutting back on it is like sealing up your mouth because you can breathe through your nose.  And never underestimate the intelligence of your customers.  They can usually tell when they are being read to, and most of them would go to a poetry recital if they want that.  They certainly don't want to be told how to solve a problem similar to theirs because it happens to be the nearest example the crib-sheets can describe.

Customer service is about serving customers.  Specifically, your customers, with your customers' problems.  With your goods and/or services.  This means, ideally, you want a dedicated call-centre staff which is not dealing with your customers one day, your competitor's customers the next, and some other industry sector the day after that.  Dedication cuts the confusion - and it helps the operatives get to know your products, and react accordingly.  It's of little use to anyone being on the front line of computer tech support if your only expertise is gardening, and it takes a long time to train someone up to offer the sort of service you, yourself, would expect.

And this, essentially, is the crux.  When you phone customer service, what sort of response would you be happy with?  The old Golden Rule applies - do unto others as you would have them do unto you - and if you don't, why be surprised if they leave you in their droves?  Your choice of call-centre outsourcing partner should reflect that.

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