Sound quality, an essential part of the customer experience in the contact center
Immersed as we are in an important digitization process in Customer Service to adapt communication models to customer demands, the channel that gave rise to our sector is still predominant: the telephone.
It is a fact that multichannel is an essential requirement, but it is also undeniable that most studies tell us that, regardless of the generation of customers, with more prominence among the older ones, the preferred channel is the telephone.
Among the main advantages for companies of the correct use of this channel is the improvement in customer loyalty. But we all know that this can end up being just the opposite if the client has to wait a long time to be attended to, if he is diverted from one department to another, if he does not find a decisive communication and so many other factors that, as Contact Center professionals , we have to consider.
One of these factors that can impact the Customer Experience when contacting a company by phone and that we rarely talk about is sound quality. What is more frustrating than calling a company and not being able to correctly understand our interlocutor?
THE EFFECT OF A BAD SOUND IN THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CLIENT
To understand more about how something so basic can affect our relationship with customers, we recently spoke with Jose Renard of EPOS , a leader in high-end audio solutions for businesses and consumers, who reminds us that “sound problems can create anxiety and negative perceptions among the participants of the call”, something that will undoubtedly negatively affect not only the Customer Experience, but also that of the employee.
“According to an IPSOS survey at the request of EPOS , the word “what” is the one that costs companies the most money. Hours of work or billing are lost in businesses due to customer dissatisfaction, due to poor quality of communication. Some significant data point to a series of consequences associated with performing their duties with poor audio: 36% assure that their efficiency decreases, 29% affirm that their productivity is reduced and 27% state that they lose time due to misunderstandings that arise during the conversations.” These data provided by Jose Renard help us to understand the fundamentals of having high-quality audio in our conversations with clients.
Going back to the data of the respondents “bad audio can cause negative financial and reputational effects for the organization: dissatisfied customers (cited by 23%), loss of a launch or proposal (19%), financial loss due to the incorrect performance of a task (18%) or loss of a key job or an agreement that implies an economic loss for the company (18%)” says Jose Renard when reflecting on the possible consequences of not addressing the possible deficiencies in the sound of a Contact Center.
TIPS TO IMPROVE SOUND QUALITY IN THE CONTACT CENTER
“Three out of ten users complain that their current headphones offer poor audio quality,” says Jose Renard, for whom investing in quality audio equipment may be the most effective antidote to combat poor sound. And he gives us important advice on what to look for in technology if we want to put an end to that low-quality sound once and for all. “The first thing is to use certified devices in the collaboration platforms that are used. The adoption of devices with active noise cancellation (ANC) is growing for greater isolation from surrounding noise, or wireless solutions that allow you to walk or move around the workplace for greater productivity and concentration.”
Thus, the first step towards improving the Customer Experience can be as simple as investing in professional sound equipment that ensures clear, clean and pleasant communication for both customers and employees.
