Improving Customer Satisfaction in Call Centers

The quality of service directly impacts the level of satisfaction and, as a result, on the
relationship and loyalty. Without monitoring the variables that indicate the team’s performance,
it is impossible to identify the points that need attention and promote improvement. Stakeholder
management and change management planning are important in revolutionizing how a call
center operates, enabling it to focus on employees and customer satisfaction, thus increasing
company performance.
A major trend in technological innovation in contact centers is the increasing use of
speech recognition and task automation. The automation of process sequences in the call center
is developing into a decisive success factor. The agents would be relieved of annoying routine
tasks and would have more time for their core business. It is not true that the use of voice
technology in the contact center necessarily leads to a loss of jobs. Rather, the new technology is
a growth driver that contributes to the creation of new jobs.
Choosing a solution that will help one achieve excellence in customer service is a task
that requires the analysis of some technical aspects. It is not enough for the company to provide a
great technological solution; it has to be a partner. Change management and stakeholder
management helps in ensuring that the call center can align itself with the right strategies.

Purpose Statement

The quality of service largely depends on whether the customer can be identified. This is
the only way to set up an individual interaction and service process. Nevertheless, more than a
quarter of the call centers are currently not making any customer identification. The proportion
of contact centers with only one service number rose from 22 percent in the report last year to 36

percent this year (Cavazotte et al., 2020). 75 percent of the contact centers also report directly to
management, including 25 percent to the CEO (Cavazotte et al., 2020). According to the CCP,
this is proof that the realization that call centers have a direct influence on the most important
resource in companies. The degree of customer satisfaction is thus also an important factor when
assessing the call center. But paradoxically, often only the complaints of dissatisfied customers
are used to record and measure customer satisfaction.
The inadequate use of strategic indicators and metrics such as customer loyalty, customer
life cycle, or repurchase rates show that many contact centers have difficulties in presenting
customer values. Therefore, through the study of different parameters for measuring customer
satisfaction, the call centers will be able to improve service delivery and increase customer
retention and exploration of new markets (Cavazotte et al., 2020). This understanding will reduce
the attrition between the different stakeholders.

Problem Statement

One of the situations that most irritate customers in a call center service is the long
waiting period. When the customer loses patience with the company, they will probably
contraindicate the service or product to friends and relatives by word of mouth and also on social
networks. With the ease of accessing the internet, an organization’s bad reputation is quickly
spread.
When the customer, who is already dissatisfied with the delay and the problem of the
service or product, and is faced with an attendant who doesn’t seem to care about their afflictions,
he tends to become more impatient and closed to suggestions. There must be an approximation
on the part of the attendant, treating the customer by name, showing solidarity, and being willing
to solve the problem as quickly as possible (Cavazotte et al., 2020). Each customer behaves

differently, and the attendant must be trained to identify the customer’s profile and adapt to their
particularities — some are more anxious; others have difficulty understanding the commands.
Another of the main problems with the call center that increases consumer impatience
and delays service is the difficulty in communicating. Many agents seem to be in a hurry, and in
addition to talking too quickly, they pass on a lot of information at once. They do so without
breathing and without giving the customer a chance to take a stand. This type of situation is more
common in active service when it is the company that contacts the customer to offer a
product/service or make a charge (Seyoum et al., 2017). At the end of the service, the consumer
will not have absorbed even half of the information that the attendant provided and will be eager
to expose his point of view.
One of the main functions of the call center professional is to provide clarification on
procedures concerning products or services. However, when poorly trained, they tend to submit
to customer pressure and end up getting mixed up when passing on information. This is
extremely harmful, as some problems require step-by-step procedures to be resolved, so
instructions must be given in an orderly and correct manner (Seyoum et al., 2017).
Misinformation can worsen the product’s performance, generating much more dissatisfaction
and, consequently, more pressure on the attendant.

Data and Research Findings

The study on call centers is vast and contains prescriptions on how to make customers
happy or how to have a good service quality. Three characteristics of a call center operation that
consumers find crucial to quality assessment of service are convenience in making calls quickly,
agent friendliness, and consistency of the attendants in providing a reliable and accurate service
(Seyoum et al., 2017). The other measures of consumer satisfaction include access, including

skills communication from the attendants, time, including the attendants’ solution to the problem,
and quality, which includes the accuracy, consistency, and understanding of information from
attendants, added to the knowledge and kindness of the attendants (Zito et al., 2018).

Figure 1 : Customer satisfaction in the call center
The researcher, aiming to investigate the view of consumers, attendants, and managers on
the quality of call center service of some companies, used three investigation methods: telephone
interviews with users; focus groups with the attendants and observation of them working; and
semi-structured interviews with call center managers (Cavazotte et al., 2020). From the
consumer’s perspective, they found that two dimensions of this service contribute to a high
quality of service are the cordiality and efficiency of the attendant and the cost and convenience.
From the perspective of managers, product cost, convenience, and ease of access, and investment
in technology would be some dimensions that would bring competitive advantages for the
company (Zito et al., 2018). From the attendant’s point of view, they are more concerned with
the work itself and the negative aspects, such as excessive pressure from the managers and
repetitive tasks.

Figure 2 : Customer satisfaction considerations
The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the levels of
satisfaction with call center service and face-to-face service, with higher indices of satisfaction
with the face-to-face service. As for what most needed to be improved in the call center service
studied, consumers indicated a need for improvement in accessing the attendant, from the
moment they had already been connected with the recorded message, and in the provision of
correct information by the attendants.

Proposed Solution

Constant Communication
Ideally, the attendant should keep in constant contact during the service, reporting to the
customer on the progress, minute by minute. However, there must be an evolution in the
resolution of the problem and the concern to be as brief as possible — there is no point in
keeping in touch every minute without showing that the solution is close at hand.

Show empathy
The demonstration of empathy makes the customer feel valued, greatly easing the
dissatisfaction and low opinion that the company would have due to the root problem of the
connection, thus eliminating the possibility of negative word of mouth.
Structuring Communication
To ensure clarity in the communication, the attendant must use short and objective
sentences, giving the customer space to absorb the information and expose their questions. As
seen in the previous topic, it takes training, empathy, and identifying the customer’s profile.

Stakeholder Analysis and Benefits

Reduction of attrition is needed to improve stakeholder engagement. The process is not a
one-man task but the entire range of stakeholders must play their role. More specifically, the
following are the functions and roles of the main stakeholders:
Owners or shareholders
The role of the owner or shareholder stakeholder is as a supplier of funds or investors
who provide capital so that a company can run and develop. In addition, another role of
shareholders is as a supervisor in a company in controlling the performance of employees and
the financial condition of the company.
Employees
Employees are one element in a company so that a company runs as it should. We all
know that the development of a company depends on the human resources in it, and one of those
who have an important role is the employee or employee (Sarmiento et al., 2021). Employees are

the part that is directly related to the production of the company. A company must be able to
prosper its employees by providing adequate comfort and facilities.
Suppliers
A company must have the materials or tools needed when producing so that suppliers or
suppliers are needed. The role of the supplier stakeholder is to provide all the materials needed
during production on time and according to needs. When suppliers do not carry out their duties
properly, it will hamper the production process because of what will be produced if the tools and
materials are not available (Sarmiento et al., 2021). So, suppliers have a very important role.
Consumers or users
The role of consumer stakeholders is as users or users of products that have been
produced by a company. Consumers determine whether or not a product sells in the market
because the more consumers buy, the more benefits the product has in society.
Attitude and power
The stakeholders were rated based on their level of involvement and interest in the
company. Different rating for each category was developed as shown in table 1 below. It was
observed that the customer attitude rating has been going down for the last six months. The
change in attitude has resulted in their shift to the competitors. However, as shown in figure 2,
all stakeholders are relatively supportive, with the Call Center Manager, Head of Operations, and
Investors being highly supportive of the program. The employees and the customers have the
lowest attitude due to constant attrition.
Based on their level of interest and power, the employees need constant monitoring if the
call center is to improve its performance. The training group needs to be informed of any

planned changes so that they can update the curriculum on time. The customers require to be
satisfied and managed closely.
Table 1 : Stakeholder analysis
Stakeholder
Categories

Code
Initial

Attitude

10 – 10

Activity
0

• 10

Attitude
Rating

Power
0

• 10

Interest
0

• 10

Power
Rating

Call
Center
Manager

A 8 9 72 8 8 64

Head
of
Operations

B 6 7 42 8 10 80

Investors C 7 6 42 9 10 90
Supplier D 5 7 35 6 4 24
Human
Resources

E 4 5 20 6 5 30

Internal
Quality
group

F 4 5 20 7 8 56

Customers G 2 7 14 8 6 48

Training
Group

H 5 6 30 3 8 24

Employee I 3 8 24 3 3 9

0246810

Interest

0
2
4
6
8
10

AB
C

DE

F

G

HI
Interest / Power Plot

Manage
Closely

Keep Informed

Keep Satisfied

Monitor
Figure 1 : Interest and power

Adversarial

-10-50510

Attitude
0
2
4
6
8
10A
B
C
D
EF
G

H
I
Attitude / Activity Plot

Supportive

Figure 2 : Attitude

Change Management Plan

Invest in employee engagement
A key theme of this post has been putting your employees at the forefront of your call
center strategy. The logic is simple and you can apply it to almost any routine task. The call
center onboarding and training plans should focus on both the company and the person by asking
the agents what they need from the company (Hayes, 2018). Regardless of the task, when agents
are engaged in what they are doing, agent performance will improve.
Act based on customer feedback
The voice of customers is the most important thing to consider. It essential consideration
when creating a training plan. Conducting regular CSAT and other customer surveys to find out
where the real customers feel there is a gap in the call center will help develop a curated training
schedule that addresses customer needs (Hayes, 2018). The surveys will help in adapting it to the
needs of the customers.
Perform a SWOT analysis

With the results of the CSAT surveys, the call center management can perform a SWOT
analysis. A typical SWOT consists of four quadrants. The top half focuses on the internal
functions of your company. The lower half involves outside activities that you don’t necessarily
have influence over.
Strengths
 Large and growing
team
 Basic knowledge of
the product
 Higher training
budget

Weaknesses
 Handling time keeps increasing
 Training resources are
overwhelmed
 I had to postpone call control
training
 Lack of a business continuity
plan

Opportunities
 Train senior staff to
become coaches
 Renew the career
progression plan
 Job training
scholarship awarded

Threats
 Competitors gaining market
share
 Phone system setup slows
onboarding
 Closest rival using semi-
automated call center technology

In each chart, examine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It’s a good
idea to run this SWOT exercise quarterly across all departments, including sales, customer
experience, and engineering (Hayes, 2018). There are likely to be several problems that you can

solve right away. Once they have identified them, they have the basis for an improvement plan in
the call center strategy.

Implementation Methods

Service automation
People have less time each day to wait for an answer or solution. Many situations can be
resolved simply and do not require an operator to interrupt. For these situations, service
automation is a viable and efficient option. The company can prepare a service portal with
various options for users to choose from. Thus, you do not need to have a very large team, as it
will only be activated when it is not possible to solve the problem automatically.
Humanized Interactive Voice Responses (IVRs) are based on the traditional model of
recording voice messages. The difference is that the technology does not need to present a list of
options to the customer for the client to resolve their question. When requesting the user’s CPF
number, for example, the system can cross-reference with the company’s database and
immediately inform the status of product delivery (Zito et al., 2018). Then, the customer can be
automatically transferred to an employee who will be able to clarify further doubts. This gives
more agility and efficiency to the contact center service.
Multichannel service
Consumers are always connected to computers and smartphones. Omnichannel is
precisely focused on providing a differentiated experience for customer service. A solution like
this uses multiple channels for consumers to seek an answer to their queries. Thus, consumers
can choose the most practical way to solve their problem, and the company must offer the same
quality of service on all platforms.
Automatic callback

It is common for customers to contact your company and, even with many lines available,
all employees are busy. An automatic dialer with VoIP technology can recognize the number you
have dialed and place a call to the customer as soon as the operator becomes available (Zito et
al., 2018). With this, the consumer does not need to wait for several minutes on the line and is
much more satisfied with the speed of response. For this, it is recommended to use an automatic
message to inform that the practice will be done.
IP telephony
This is a telephone system that allows contact center staff to make calls at a low cost,
which generates long-term savings for the company. It also guarantees stability and quality
during calls and allows the recording of conversations to provide security for both parties. This
IP telephony technology is also very flexible and allows for extensions if the company needs to
increase the number of employees (Zito et al., 2018). In addition, it also has features such as
automatic answering and sending messages between professionals through a voicemail linked to
the email.

Evaluating Success

Before moving on to the list of metrics, it is important to reflect on the goals that measure
your strategic objectives. To define these numbers, the company requires good predictive
analysis and some fundamental criteria. The goals need to be challenging to contribute to the
team’s motivation. At the same time, they cannot be out of touch with reality — which could
have the opposite effect (Proenca & Rodrigues, 2021). That is, when something seems
impossible to achieve, it is easier to get discouraged or give up, and when it is too easy, it does
not require effort. In addition, goals need to be measurable, clear, objective, and concrete, with a
defined deadline and, preferably, an incentive program – awards.

It is important to look at any monitoring process as an opportunity for improvement. If
this culture is absorbed by the team, it is easier to guarantee the veracity of information and the
improvement of processes. The periodic application of monitoring practices through metrics not
only allows for an improvement in the operation — which would already be satisfactory — but
also ensures the development of an increasingly efficient and low-cost work methodology
(Proenca & Rodrigues, 2021). Any manager, director, or entrepreneur works dedicated to
improving their operational efficiency. However, when it identifies in advance where the biggest
problems are, it manages to prioritize the actions that will bring the greatest improvement impact
(Proenca & Rodrigues, 2021). Within this context, it is very important to create channels for the
customer to express their level of satisfaction, complaints, and suggestions. The more your
metrics reflect the customer’s perspective on your business, the greater your chances of success.
To conclude, consider that call center metrics will bring more significant results in the
medium and long term. That’s because tracking history provides a much more complete and
comprehensive view than a short period. That’s why many companies choose to outsource their
call center (Proenca & Rodrigues, 2021). By doing so, the company automatically incorporates
all the experience gained based on indicators, allowing it to apply a method that has been proven
to be effective, with clear objectives and reduced costs.

Conclusion

Companies with aligned cultures add up to productive capacity, if companies have
opposite cultures, the company-company relationship may not produce results and even make the
relationship with its supplier unsustainable. The call center company should invest in Customer
Experience (CX), Customer Success (CS), and support teams so that this monitoring is closer
and more specialized, providing improvements in their operation, service flow and even helping

the operators’ productivity. The call center teams will be aware of what is important for company
success, the points for improvement mapped out by all stakeholders, and provide a guide to the
realization of the goals and, consequently, in the relationship with the customers.

References

Cavazotte, F., Moreno, V., & Lasmar, L. C. C. (2020). Enabling customer satisfaction in call
center teams: the role of transformational leadership in the service-profit chain. The
Service Industries Journal, 40(5-6), 380-393.
Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
Proenca, T., & Rodrigues, H. (2021). Empowerment in call centers and customer
satisfaction. Management Research: The Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of
Management, 19(2), 143-161.
Sarmiento Barletti, J. P., Larson, A. M., & Heise Vigil, N. (2021). Understanding Difference to
Build Bridges among Stakeholders: Perceptions of Participation in Four Multi-
stakeholder Forums in the Peruvian Amazon. The Journal of Development Studies, 1-19.
Seyoum, L. (2017). The impact of service quality on customer satisfaction: the case of ethio
telecom call center (Doctoral dissertation, St. Mary’s University).
Zito, M., Emanuel, F., Molino, M., Cortese, C. G., Ghislieri, C., & Colombo, L. (2018).
Turnover intentions in a call center: The role of emotional dissonance, job resources, and
job satisfaction. PloS one, 13(2), e0192126.