How Cloud Telephony Helps Manage Irate Customers

To remain competitive in today’s market, companies have to not just excel at customer service but also deliver customer experiences. Customers’ expectations are higher than they were before. Customers want to be addressed politely over calls and have their queries answered promptly.

But despite companies’ best efforts to deliver exceptional customer service, it’s common for customers to grow irate. While placating an angry customer is a skill that usually has to be learned over time, cloud telephony can improve the odds of creating exceptional customer experiences. Today, more and more companies are managing customers better than before with cloud telephony.

Companies that use cloud telephony enjoy better relationships with customers for the following reasons.

An IVR is always Even-Minded
Even the most effective customer support agent is inclined to lose his or her temper from time to time. While most agents hide their anger well from customers by putting their mikes on silent, it is not uncommon for customers to get an inkling of their true feelings. Even the most seasoned agents can elicit gaffs that reveal to customers their true temperament.

An IVR is part of a cloud telephony system and is always even-minded. It can never get upset, raise its voice, or lose its temper. A customer’s interaction with an IVR is always smooth and effortless. Hence, a business’s chance of creating memorable customer experiences spike when it starts using a cloud telephony system. With a cloud telephony system in place, a company is likely to develop the kinds of experiences customers have come to expect.

When customers hear the soothing, helpful voice of an IVR system, they tend to feel comforted and pleased that their issue is being resolved. IVRs are designed to have a soothing voice that customers will like. Built with this design, IVRs make customer interactions with companies pleasant. It is not uncommon for angry customers to feel relieved when they interact with an IVR. An IVR quickly presents options to callers and either resolve their queries or connect them to someone who can. It plays a crucial part in creating exceptional customer experiences.

But that’s not all! AI embedded in cloud telephony makes it possible for agents to manage angry customers better than ever before.

AI Reveals Caller’s Sentiment
A cloud telephony system has a built-in AI that can alert an agent when it suspects that an incoming call is from an angry customer. Using past information about a caller, AI can evaluate a caller’s temperament and share it with an agent before the incoming call is answered. Hence, an agent can be forewarned about a customer’s disposition and be prepared to respond appropriately.

Such heads-up before speaking to a caller goes a long way in preparing an agent to mollify an angry customer.

Cloud Data Helps Build Rapport
A cloud platform collects data about callers, which proves invaluable in helping agents serve customers better. The caller’s data, when integrated with a business’s CRM system, reveals hidden insights into customers. With such ideas, agents can build rapport with customers when necessary.

For instance, data collected about customers reveals their preferences and dislikes. Agents can use this data to their advantage:  a customer who was pleased with an earlier product or service can be tactfully asked how their earlier purchase worked out. Doing so builds an easygoing narrative with angry customers by reminding them of pleasant experiences with a company.

Also, armed with knowledge about customers’ likes and dislikes, agents can recommend products that are likely to be bought. Hence, an agent can pique an irate customer’s interest in a company.
Furthermore, because agents have access to caller’s past interactions with a company, they build up a repository of knowledge about different kinds of customers. Previous interactions between customers and agents produce data that helps agents rapidly gain a near intuitive understanding of how angry customers should be handed. An agent’s intuition, coupled with a powerful AI system that alerts agents to callers’ temperament, makes it possible to deliver soothing experiences to angry customers.

IVR Collects Customer Feedback
One of the best ways of building trust with customers is by asking customers to rate their experience with a company. When customers rate their experiences over months and years, they reveal crucial insights into their relationship with a business.  Cloud telephony plays a pivotal role in collecting such insights. The technology can receive feedback from customers and help design experiences that lead to fewer irate customers.

Authored by Ankit Dudhwewala, Founder SoftwareSuggest & CallHippo