Why do my customers call so often?

5 tips to increase your customer experience and lower your costs

1. Ask the customer what he wants.
2. Formulate a clear customer contact strategy
3. Look at all processes through the eyes of the end user and design processes accordingly.
4. Handle calls right the first time.
5. Establish a feedback loop and work continuously on process improvements based on customer feedback

1. Ask the customer what he wants.

We see it in practice all the time: We know what is good for our customer and we deliver it. Organisations that, manage to turn that reasoning around are often more successful. We ask the customer what they want and have us deliver that. That is a completely different approach. The approach is then from the outside in and not the other way around.

2. Formulate a clear customer contact strategy

What do we actually want from customer contact? We know what the customer would like but does that fit within our strategic objectives. Organisations need to think about the role of customer contact at the highest level. The strategic choice determines the tactical and operational objectives. Do we want valuable contacts with our customers? Do we want contact via the cheapest channel? Do we want to exploit commercial opportunities from inbound customer contact? Important questions to be decided at strategic level.

3. View all processes through the eyes of the end user and design processes accordingly.

What is your customer calling about? As indicated in to we 50% of cases about something you don't have right. These avoidable contacts result from a business process that is not aligned with the end user. Those processes are often set up from an internal approach.

So when redesigning processes, always start with customer input. Where are things going wrong in the current process and how do we align that process with what the customer wants.

4. Handle calls properly in 1 go.

An open door? Yes, in a way it is, yet we see some misconceptions about this in practice. We have a first-time fix (first time right, first line completion etc etc) of 80%. So 8 out of 10 calls are handled in 1 go. Top you would say at first glance. Until we look further. So 2 out of 10 are not handled in 1 go. Let's ask those 2 how many times they have been contacted about the same issue. That is often more like 3 times. So just a quick note: that 20% represents 6 contact moments.

These are the cases you need to delve into as a manager. Why does a customer contact me more than 3 times on the same issue and how do I avoid that.

5. Establish a feedback loop and work continuously on process improvements based on customer feedback

Customer feedback should be central to shaping and continuously adapting business processes. Therefore, set up a feedback loop. Every month, ask customers who have been in touch not only how they experienced the contact but also what was the reason they contacted you. Really keep the customer's focus. Not just by shouting that out in public very often, but by starting with what the customer wants. continually testing whether you are meeting expectations and continually putting the customer experience at the heart of everything you do.