Perfect ways to handle call centre escalations

Posted by Alexis Powell on April 29th, 2017

 In a call centre solutions providing company, it is part and parcel of their day to day operations.

However, it is important to note that some call centre units have a high escalation rate while there are some that are able to deliver ‘First call Resolution’ (FCR) on frequent basis. There are various like call centre volume and industry domain that affect the frequency and the number of escalations. A call centre is considered to be most efficient when escalations are reduced to as minimal as possible. The question arises, how can we actually achieve this objective?

Let us discuss the steps in detail as to how we can achieve it.

1) Empowerment of call centre executives

If a call centre solutions agency is looking to maximise upon the FCRs, it certainly needs to vest certain powers to the customer service executive as much as possible. This means that our executives need to feel free while deviating from scripts to make effective utisation of soft skills such as ‘verbal artistry’ and good workforce management. In order to fulfill this goal, the executives responsible for delivering customer service need to have the required de-escalation tools and required permissions pertaining to offering discounts and other vouchers at their disposal.

Empowerment of executives hit at every touch point of a call centre unit as it relies on effective recruitment and shifting from mechanisms to measure performance of an executive in terms of Average Speed of Answer (ASA) and Average Handling Time (AHT) to the degree of customer satisfaction (CSAT).

2) De-escalation in action

When a customer is dissatisfied about a certain aspect of our product or service, a customer service executive has a limited time-frame to de-escalate the situation. It has been observed in some of the cases that a customer becomes so irate that there is virtually no time to rectify the error. In such situations. Escalation of case to the superior may just be the only option.
In cases where the needs are less urgent in nature, the customer support executive in a excellent call centre solutions company is often required to work really hard to convince the customer that they are both able and willing to lend a helping hand and assist them in their queries. The first step should always be to acknowledge the customer is upset because of his/her distasteful experience with the organisation.

Then, it becomes all the more important to determine exactly what the problem is and what needs to happen in the following steps. Our customer support executive should then be find out the exact problem and what the customer expects. Our executive should then decide if he/she will be able to fulfill the customer demands or the problem needs to be escalated to the superior.
In cases where the executive is not able to deliver what the customer expects, then and only then should they offer a callback from his/her supervisor as it will be helpful in taking the heat out of the situation and the supervisor will be able to familiarise himself to the problem at hand.

3) Final escalation

The manager needs to have an in-depth knowledge of the company policies, especially the ones pertaining to the statutory rights of the customer. The manager needs to be vested with the powers to offer higher compensation as a gesture of goodwill. But, in some cases, matters go so out of hand that the call is required to be escalated to the call centre manager or the line manager. In such cases, the call centre manager would be required to weigh-in the expected losses and the decline in brand value through negative word-of-mouth to the choice of giving in to their needs. Some the major factors like customer lifetime value, referrals etc. need to be considered before the line manager actually decides to fulfill customer demands.

Hence, the steps mentioned above needs to be followed properly in order to handle customer call escalations in an effective manner.