Over lockdown, our teams and the technology that they use have both been put under a lot of stress. For many people, staying productive and keeping in touch with colleagues are both significantly more difficult when working from home. But arguably, the most dangerous problem for business comes to their customer service.
Without the communication benefits of the office, or a lack of effective technology, standards can start slipping. Whether processes take longer, or communication breaks down, there is a real need for businesses to stay on top of things in this department. Of course, the most damaging thing that can happen is that businesses may end up missing customer calls entirely.
For most businesses this is an incredibly serious issue. In high-stakes industries such as real-estate or manufacturing, each lead can be worth thousands. even worse, prospective customers aren’t likely to call twice. This means we’ve got to get it right first time, even when the team are working from home. From the technology we use, to the practices we carry out, here are our top tips for making sure your team stop missing calls during lockdown.
Find out your peak call times
The best way to solve any problem is to get informed about why it is happening. Missed calls are no different. Thankfully, there are some really easy ways to get in the know. Many communications platforms will provide you with a lot of helpful stats and analytics tools. These can be a massive aid to keeping you informed about the status of your system.
You can see who is picking up calls when, the duration of calls, and crucially, when the most calls are coming in. For most businesses this is usually sometime around mid-morning.
Once you can identify peak calling times, you can make sure to assign more people to the phones at these times, so far fewer inquires get missed.
Evaluate where changes need to happen
When you know the time calls are coming in and they’re still being missed, it comes down to identifying where change needs to occur. For many teams it will be just an act of making sure the right people are working on the phones. Call statistics can be used to see the call duration of a specific operator. Call recording can also be used to understand what is not going quite right.
This provides you with a platform to sit down with your staff and work together to improve your call process. If you work out how to improve things with your staff and calls are still being missed, maybe it’s time to take a look at the technology that you use.
Work with the right systems
Modern phone systems are designed to handle a high volume of calls. Many, however, are not designed to do this in a remote environment. In order to work together in a truly effective way, even when away from the office, you need a phone system that prioritises versatility.
This is where we believe VoIP systems shine best. VoIP solutions are designed to help connect remote workers and make their lives easier. They feature simple call routing services, allowing you to direct calls to staff groups at a time rather than individuals. This means that if one member of your team misses a call, the next person in the group won’t.
VoIP systems also allow you to handle calls in a far better way. VoIP systems integrate with your customer database, meaning when someone dials in, your team can quickly see their details. This not only allows you to give each customer a more bespoke experience, but it cuts down on the time spent searching for their information.
We know that everyone works differently, especially during lockdown. We all have a working process that works best for us. That’s why we suggest considering the phone system that you use. Relying on your old office system might sound like a cheaper way to get around things in the short term, but this isn’t sustainable in a remote environment.
Working with flexible technology such as VoIP can massively speed up your call processes while you’re working from home or even once you’re back in the office. The ease of use of VoIP as well as the useful stats, analytics and recording features can revolutionise your communications.
Chrome are here to help!
We hope this guide has given some insight into why missed calls happen when your team are working from home. Now that you know the causes and hopefully some of the solutions to missing calls, we hope that you can find a way to solve this problem that suits your team.
Want to find out more about VoIP, call statistics or any other telecoms solution? Give us a call here at Chrome on 03333 212 707. You can read more about our business phone systems here.
