Updated on November 1, 2021 by John Clarke
Customer service should be the first priority in any business. Communication should be a close second. While you may provide great customer service, tensions can still arise if proper communication and communication channels aren’t there. How do you find the right channels? Who can you trust to help you make these choices? Find the answers to these questions and more below
How does my phone system affect customer service?
A good phone system positively impacts the customer service experience by allowing customers to reach who or what (i.e. specific information) they need at any time with ease. “One of the most important processes that an inbound call center or phone system can facilitate is putting your customer in the right place quickly, effectively, and not with a lot of rings, transfers, or messages to listen to first,” explains Alex Desberg of Ohio.net.
“We’ve all experienced that phone tree hell, where you call ABC company, and then get a message telling you to, ‘press one for such and such,’ and then after that, you get another message that says, ‘oh, if you’re planning to pay your bill or you’d like to receive some information press 2’ and you keep getting these choices until finally, you make it to the right voicemail box. By that point, you’re frustrated. You leave a message, or maybe you don’t leave a message because you’re frustrated, and you hang up.”
In that scenario, you’re compounding (or even creating) an issue by leading your customer down an exasperating communications rabbit-hole.
How do I know my phone system is actually providing a great customer experience?
Evaluating the effectiveness of your phone system as it relates to customer satisfaction is easy. “The phone system should track every call in and out, and what happens to that call. So, you can review performance using that data. You can see, “Are we having too many phone calls going to voicemail? Are people abandoning the calls?” I mean, at Ohio.net our call records specifically tell you if the caller hung up while a message was being played,” continues Alex. “That should be a red flag, right there. That tells you that people are not happy with the process. So, if you’re seeing that, then that’s a good indicator that it’s time to change something.”
Additionally, you want to ensure that details as basic as your outbound caller ID are correct. “When making outbound calls, having the right caller ID is really important. Otherwise, your clients keep seeing the wrong name come up when someone from your organization is reaching out to them.” Having the wrong outbound information is not only confusing but limits the likelihood that you’ll get an answer from whomever you’re calling, stunting easy, proper communication with your customers. You can’t deliver great service if you can’t easily get in touch with your clients.
Does my business really need a specific customer service setup?
Yes, yes it does. A specific, custom setup doesn’t have to be complex or expensive; it has to meet your needs. If customization weren’t important, every business would be using the same call center or automated answering service.
That’s why Ohio.net customizes every phone solution, every single time, no matter how big or small the customer is. “We have this provisioning process where a new client actually sits with somebody who designs phone systems all day long. The designer then provides the best solution based on what the customer explains as their problem,” explains Alex.
Whomever your provider is, it’s very important to be very open about what you’re looking for and to be clear about how you want your needs met. If you’re unsure about a process, need, or service, ask questions. “There are a few times where we’ve deployed a phone system where all the client asked for was, ‘Make the phones ring and we’ll work it out in the end.’ Then they continue for a long time with just some basic inbound phone features and never take full advantage of the capabilities and services available because they didn’t want to ask the questions.”
And that creates a frustration process as well. The more interaction that we have, the more questioning and answer sessions we have, the closer they’re going to get to exactly what they want right out of the box.
 Considering a change to your current phone service? Unsure of how to select the right telecommunication service for your customers? Let our experts help you determine which tool(s) will provide the best service experience for your customers by contacting Ohio.net today.