Here’s a scenario that might sound frustratingly familiar. Your agents are working their way through queries, responding with speed and skill, and ticking off their to-do list with ease along the way. But soon, the same customers are asking your team the same questions. Questions that could’ve, should’ve been answered before, either by other agents or elsewhere on your business’ site.
All of a sudden, your agents’ progress and productivity hit a real roadblock. Now multiple employees are having to deal with the same customer, who’s causing your team to go round and round in circles just to find an answer.
While these instances are a headache for just about everyone involved, the effects they can have on a business can be far worse. As well as affecting employee performance, they can put a dent in the company coffers too.
Below, we’ll take a look at the issues involved and how you can resolve their effects.
What issues do repeat customer queries create?
Low-quality customer service
If an agent is attempting to solve a customer’s issue, but there are already multiple records and notes in their name, it can be harder and more time-consuming to find a solution. And while that’s sure to frustrate your agent, it’s probably nothing compared to the annoyance the customer is experiencing.
Also when a customer’s query goes unresolved, that’s when they start to turn to other suppliers who can cater to their needs.
Lack of productivity and efficiency
Repeat customer queries are great at getting in the way of a productive day. By their repeat nature, previous attempts to resolve the customer’s query have clearly been unsuccessful.
That means several different agents have attempted to deal with a single concern. Whether it’s over the course of a few days or passed around to different agents during a single day, having to deal with the same query can be a real drain on their time. The potential back and forth caused by this takes away from their ability to focus on other areas of their role.
Poor business processes
When repeat queries occur, your agents may begin to lose faith in the software used to record this information. At this point, it’s easy for them to resort to things like Excel and Post-It notes instead. This might be handy in the short term, but long term, it limits the amount of customer information that your business can rely on to grow.
In a company that holds vast swathes of customer data, not only do such methods make it unmanageable, but it may be far easier to lose it.
Negative brand reputation
Imagine how frustrating it is for a customer to have their question remain unanswered day in, day out. When queries repeatedly fall on deaf ears, the message becomes clear: your business lacks effective customer service.
For such a customer, making the leap to a competitor is an easy decision – and it’s unlikely they’ll return to you later down the line either. What’s more, they’ll be more than happy to let others know about their bad experience, whether they broadcast it on the internet or simply to friends and family.