The quality of customer service is essential to a company’s survival. In the digital age, speed (responsiveness) and personalization of exchanges are crucial to avoid losing customers to competitors.

Support employees, not replace them

It is now possible to combine traditional customer service with automation and artificial intelligence technologies to make your employees’ work easier. Please note, however, that the aim is not to replace employees, but to facilitate their day-to-day work.

Automatic replies are risky

There are virtual communication assistants whose mission is to automatically respond to customers in the absence of customer service employees. This is possible, but risky in certain business contexts. Indeed, if you’re a dental practice and your communication assistant gives the wrong answer about oral health, it could do you more harm than good. In fact, we tested ChatGPT with dentists and specialists, asking questions about oral health, and unfortunately, many of the answers were wrong.

Start by centralizing your customer exchanges

The first step in setting up a customer communication assistant is to organize your exchanges. This means synchronizing your customer database (e.g. CRM, ERP) with your virtual assistant to unify all interactions across all channels, such as calls, e-mails, text messages, documents, invoices and notes. Ideally, you record all exchanges made by all employees to obtain a complete history and ensure consistency later on.

Building your corporate memory

Indeed, for your virtual communication assistant to help your employees serve your customers better, it first needs to know your customers. Then, it can learn more about them. So, once your assistant has recorded and organized your customer communications, it will be able to use this data to assist your customer service employees. So you need to start by building up a data history, also known as “corporate memory”. Over time, your virtual assistant will improve its understanding of each customer to suggest personalized responses based on age, gender, style, purchases and past experiences.

Your virtual communication assistant aims first and foremost to facilitate your employees’ work, not to answer for them. Of course, over time, artificial intelligence and automation will suggest answers under the supervision of your employees. The ultimate goal is to make exchanges smoother, better and, above all, faster, to ensure quality customer service 24-7.

The first step in setting up a virtual communication assistant in your company is to gather and record customer exchanges. Then you’ll be able to analyze them, and possibly automate certain repetitive, non-value-added exchanges. You need to make sure you have a reliable data source where you can find all your customer interactions.

What your communication assistant can do

• Formulate or reformulate a response to a customer with the employee’s approval;
• Offer a personalized automatic response in case of absence;
• Establish the customer’s availability to communicate only when he or she is available, and avoid calling for nothing;
• Research and suggest useful information links to answer a customer’s question;
• Analyze customer feelings during exchanges to detect dissatisfaction and intervene quickly;
• Automatically transcribe voice messages to avoid manual transcription on paper;
• Follow-up on communication feedback within the agreed timeframe;
• Automatically translate exchanges into the customer’s and employee’s language;
• Correct employee clerical errors before responses are sent;
• Suggest improvements in style, tone and politeness based on customer history.
• Recommend a response in the customer’s preferred communication channel;
• And much more!

Thanks to automation and artificial intelligence, your virtual communication assistant reduces interruptions and repetitive tasks. As a result, it re

Equipping your employees with a virtual customer communication assistant enriches your employees’ interactions with your customers and strengthens the bond of trust to ensure your organization’s longevity. I invite you to read the RBC article on virtual communication assistants.

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Even today, many companies still conduct a large part of their business by telephone. This is especially true of professionals such as dentists and notaries, for example. Of course, few companies offer the option of communicating by text message. This is unfortunate, as it’s a means of communication favored by the millennial and Gen-z generation.

Turn your desk phones into smartphones

Today’s technology, such as virtual communication assistants (VCAs), lets you turn your desk phones into smartphones, centralizing calls, texts and e-mails in the same software and even in a single window to reduce the fatigue of switching from one screen to another.

A simple text message will save you precious timeprécieux

There’s no longer any reason to miss customer calls without automatically replying with a simple text message indicating that you’re not available, and inviting your customers to text you the reason for the call. In this way, you replace an answering machine voice message with a simple, direct text message that can be read at any time without having to stop what you’re doing, unlike listening to a voice message.

Your customers respond only when they cant quand ils peuvent

Missed calls are inevitable, even during business hours. Imagine the number of calls you miss during non-business hours. Your customers call when they’re available, and remember that people work and generally can’t call or receive calls at all times of the day. So they’re more likely to call early in the morning, on their morning break, at lunchtime or at the end of the day.

Replace an answering machine message with a text message

Replace an answering machine message with a text messageAutomatically answering a missed call with a text message gives your customers the option of switching from a call to a text message, making it easier to set up a call. This avoids having to run from answering machine to answering machine. The text message allows you to get an immediate response from your customer, and allows you to respond at your convenience without having to interrupt the call.

Establish customer availability before calling

Modern telephony makes it easy to set up a deferred mode of communication, also known as “aynchronous”, where everyone responds at their own convenience via text message. This means you don’t have to waste time communicating with a customer who isn’t available, and they can communicate with you even if you’re not. Some modern telephony technologies allow you to send a web link in the text message responding to your missed call. This link tells the customer to specify the ideal time to contact you and their preferred channel. Subsequently, your phone system alerts you to the date and time of the callback requested by your customer. Your phone can even check if the customer is available for the call a few minutes beforehand. If he’s no longer available, it can indicate another time slot. This means you don’t have to call a customer who’s not available. This way, everyone avoids wasting time trying to reach the other person.

Discover Fresk technology, a communication assistant that ensures an immediate response to all your missed calls 24-7 and establishes the customer’s availability before communicating, saving you precious time every day.

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Very often, the secretariat is a work area neglected by company management. Yet secretarial work requires physical and mental effort to keep up with all the demands that arise. And very often, these demands arise simultaneously. We underestimate the mental load required to respond to requests from customers on the spot, customers on the phone and team members. Some secretaries even have to deal with invoicing and bookkeeping. Interruptions abound, and yet secretaries have to perform tasks that require concentration. To concentrate, you need a quiet environment, free from noise and movement. In many companies, there’s music playing in the background and people walking by.

Interrupt everything to listen to your voicemail messages

For example, taking messages on voicemail requires stopping everything, concentrating to listen to the voicemail messages, noting down the number, the customer’s name and the details of their request for effective follow-up. The slightest interruption prevents secretaries from hearing or noting down the information, forcing them to start all over again at the risk of making a mistake. The slightest transcription error can result in a significant loss of time, since noting down the wrong call-back number will mean calling for nothing and having to concentrate again on calling and listening to the voicemail message, noting down and dialing again. This represents a major waste of time, but also mental fatigue, as having to do the same task twice is mind-numbing and discouraging.

Delays and transcription errors in voice messages

Not to mention the delay between the first voicemail message and the second following the transcription error. This will have the effect of undermining call-back responsiveness, with the risk of the customer not answering or being irritated by the delay. Once again, the secretary will suffer the consequences. And, when the secretary returns the call, he or she very often comes across a voice mailbox because the customer is unable to take the call because he or she is at work, and that’s normal! The secretary needs to be able to follow up again, because ideally, despite a voicemail message, you need to follow up quickly if you don’t get a return call.

A repetitive task with no added value

Simply taking a voicemail message is a repetitive, even mind-numbing task when it has to be repeated several times. This tires and discourages secretaries, and increases the risk of missing or losing a customer because the return call time is too long. Remember that the ideal return call time is less than an hour, otherwise the chances of the customer going to your competitor increase rapidly.

Reviewing voicemail message management

t may be time to rethink the way you manage your voicemail. Voicemail is a tool ill-suited to the speed and style of today’s communications. Let’s not forget that only 1 in 5 people leave a message, largely thanks to smartphones that allow you to text or voice messages quickly, and that you no longer need to dial numbers and codes to listen to your messages – you can read or listen to all your messages with just 1 click. Text messaging immediately short-circuits the loop of interminable voice messages, as it allows you to respond directly and immediately at any time. No more chasing each other with calls and voicemail messages that waste your time and energy.

Cloud-based voicemail combined with text messaging

Why not equip yourself with a cloud-based voicemail system that allows you to receive your voicemail messages immediately on-screen, plus automatic transcription so you don’t have to fill your desk with post-its. The technology also makes it possible to know the telephone number of the customer calling, so you can link and record all your exchanges immediately in their customer profile. So there’s no need to stop, call your voicemail, transcribe and dial again, at the risk of having to start all over again.

Also, integrating text messaging will reduce the number of voicemails and make it easier to get an immediate response from your customer when they’re available, and vice versa.

Save time, energy and fun at work with a modern telephone system for today’s customer communications.

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Most dental secretaries receive little or no ongoing training in customer service. Yet they play a key role in customer acquisition and retention. Not to mention the fact that secretaries have little follow-up and evaluation to help them progress. This affects morale in the medium term and increases the risk of departures. Of course, most secretaries give 110% every day, but they are limited by time, experience and knowledge. Without ongoing training, secretaries struggle to progress. Yet the world is changing, and dental secretaries must adapt. Unfortunately, dental secretaries are struggling to reinvent the way things are done. Of course, they can contribute to innovation, but they need time and support to do so.

Secretaries need training not only in the care offered in the clinic, but also in customer service and work organization. We need to help them get organized so they can be more efficient on a daily basis. Customer service is an art to be mastered through experience and ongoing training. Obviously, you have to have the profile to be able to offer good service. Not everyone can do it! That’s why the first step is to recruit well.

Secretaries need to be trained to accompany and reassure customers on the phone, by e-mail and now by text message, to encourage new patients to come in. Very few secretaries are trained to convert a potential customer’s call into a new patient. If the secretary isn’t effective at getting patients into the chair, the clinic loses potential customers every day. Unfortunately, this costs dentists a fortune. And worst of all, most dentists are unaware of this situation because they have to concentrate on the chair.

At the very least, secretaries should be given a career development path with specific learning objectives. Having expectations of your employees fosters motivation. When a secretary doesn’t want to progress in an organization, that’s a bad sign!

Ask your secretaries about your care as well as your policies to get their answers. If you don’t like what you hear, train them! If you don’t have a customer service policy, now’s the time to draw one up, so that the whole team is held to the same standards. It’s very difficult to offer exceptional customer service if you don’t even have a policy that specifies expected standards.

Encourage your secretaries to learn and grow within your organization, and you’ll see amazing results. You’ll have happy employees, satisfied customers and growing revenues. Set up an annual learning path for your secretaries today, with assessments of their know-how and interpersonal skills. You need to take care of your secretaries by helping them to progress in their professional careers.

Secretaries play a critical role in the clinic, and like it or not, the world is changing, and secretaries need to change too. To succeed, make sure you :

• Define your customer service quality standards in writing;
• Set simple, achievable annual learning objectives;
• Offer ongoing training in work organization and customer service;
• Evaluate their progress at least twice a year;
• Equip them with tools and software adapted to today’s customer communications.

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Each generation has its own communication channel preferences. This is an opportunity for proactive companies, but a major threat for reactive ones. Find out why and how to adapt to the different generations to ensure your company’s growth and longevity.

Most customers have a smartphone in their pocket, which they carry everywhere and use to communicate at all times. Their phones enable them to communicate via different channels, according to their preferences. For example, calls, e-mails, text messages and chats such as Facebook messenger and SnapChat. Every generation wants to be served on their preferred channel. That’s why your company needs to adapt its communications to each target audience.

An overwhelming majority of Canadians aged 15 to 44 (96%) said they would have a smartphone by 2020, as did most Canadians aged 45 to 64 (87%). The proportion of seniors who reported owning a smartphone rose from 43% in 2018 to 54% in 2020.

Reference: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/fr/plus/3582-le-telephone-filaire-fait-place-au-telephone-intelligent

Each generation has its own communication preferences

Indeed, each age group has its own communication preferences, which means that companies need to adapt their communication style quickly to remain attractive to each generation they serve. Companies can’t afford to generalize their communications, as they risk driving away certain generations and losing important revenues. The telephone is still attractive to some, but repugnant to others. So we have to be on the lookout and adapt.

Generations in brief

• Baby Boomers – 1945 – 1964
• Generation X – 1965 – 1980
• Millennials – 1981 – 1996
• Zoomers (Gen Z) – 1996 – 2012

Generation Z, also known as Zoomers, hate calls

80% of them say they use social media to communicate via an application on their phone. They also appreciate face-to-face communication.

Millennials / Gen Y prefer texting because phones make them anxious

The report reveals that 88% of Millennials prefer texting to phone calls, and 52% feel anxious when taking a phone call.

Millennials greatly appreciate the non-intrusiveness of SMS communication. According to a hypothesis posed by OpenMarket, if given the choice between an SMS phone and a voice-only phone, 75% of millennials would opt for the SMS phone.

Reference : https://answernet.com/blog-generations-styles-communication/

Millennials / Gen Y like to communicate at their convenience without interruption

Text messaging enables asynchronous communication, giving each party the chance to communicate whenever they want without interruption. 90% of millennials read any new text message within 90 seconds of receiving it.

La Génération X préfère un appel ou un courriel

50% of Gen Xers say they prefer a phone call, and the other 50% of this same generation prefer e-mail to communicate with a company.

Boomers find text messages boring

Obviously, Boomers prefer face-to-face communication or a phone call. However, the Covid crisis has spurred Boomers’ interest in using text messaging to communicate. No doubt Boomers have been forced to adapt to communicating with younger generations. Even so, Boomers find text messages boring.

Every generation wants a personalized experience

Overall, consumers want personalized communications and experiences from brands with which they have a relationship and to which they are loyal. 88% of Millennials share this desire, followed by 87% of Gen Z and 82% of Gen X. At 77%, Boomers also show a strong desire for individual recognition from companies.

Reference : https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultalbot/2021/11/11/how-marketers-can-engage-with-different-generations/#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20all%20generations%20except,outpacing%20Gen%20X%20at%2053%25.

Your company needs to adapt now

Your company needs to know its customers and their communication preferences. Even today, very few companies offer text messaging to their customers. Most of them still use the telephone and e-mail, which turn off generations Z and Y. This limits their ability to attract and serve younger generations. This limits their ability to attract and serve younger generations. On the other hand, it’s an opportunity for proactive companies who want to capture market share from their competitors.

Is your company ready to adapt to the new generations?
Discover the Fresk Smart Cloud Phone that lets you adapt your communications to every generation.

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The average percentage of missed calls during working hours in dental practices is 30%. The average number of calls per secretary in a clinic is approximately 100 calls per week. This means that during working hours alone, 30 calls a week are missed. The statistical average of people leaving messages today is just 20%. This is largely due to the influence of smartphones, which allow you to text or leave an audio message directly. Dialing a number, then entering a code, then listening to an answering machine to listen to messages, is time-consuming and no longer useful with the evolution of telephones. This explains the low rate of messages left on missed calls. A missed call without a message represents a major risk of loss of revenue and reputation for the company.

Revenue losses due to major missed calls. If the average dental clinic misses 30 calls a week and only 20% of them leave a message, this means that 6 calls will be answered thanks to the message obtained, and the other 24 calls may not be returned.

This has a negative impact on customer satisfaction, and greatly increases the risk of missing out on potential new customers. With the average cost of a dental appointment ranging from $150 to $300, imagine that only 20% of these 24 lost calls represent new customers, for a total of 4.8 customers per week at an average value of $175 each. We’re talking about a loss of revenue opportunities of $875 per week, not counting the loss of existing customers who may call elsewhere out of discouragement. In addition to the loss of revenue, this tarnishes the company’s reputation. Imagine the loss in the case of a specialist dentist such as an orthodontist, for example, where the price of a treatment varies between $8,000 and $10,000. What if we miss a call from a parent with 3 children who need orthodontics? Losses mount very quickly.

Not only are dental clinics suffering from frustrating missed calls, but restaurateurs are also paying the price. The Journal de Québec article mentions that restorers are now faced with a very large number of missed calls on a daily basis. The lack of manpower, competition and low customer tolerance mean that missed calls lead customers to another restaurant. The article mentions that some restaurateurs lose $140,000 a year due to missed calls. It mentions that the Talk Soon tool can handle these missed calls via text message, as can Fresk software.

Most company directors and managers don’t have a view or statistics on missed calls. It’s a blind spot that’s hard to manage, and especially hard to quantify if you don’t have the tools to do so. Fortunately, a number of software programs are now available to counter these notorious missed calls and protect contractors’ blind spots, including Fresk.

Solutions such as Fresk can take care of these missed calls and counter the negative impacts in all types of businesses. IP telephony, the power of the cloud and the use of text messaging in business can limit the vast majority of these financial losses, as well as protecting your reputation.

Fresk software takes care of your missed calls using text messages to minimize friction and keep the opportunity with your company, not a competitor. Fresk software tells the customer that we’re unavailable, asks to set a good time to return the call, or tells them to text the request directly and that the company will respond as soon as possible.

In this way, the customer receives an immediate response from the company apologizing for its unavailability. As the saying goes, “A fault confessed is half forgiven!” It allows the customer to write their request immediately or receive a phone call at their convenience. Fresk immediately reduces frustration, response time and forces a response from the customer, as well as issuing a reminder as soon as possible.

Fresk software connects to your existing analog or VoIP phones, and handles missed calls after a defined number of unanswered tones. It gives your teams access to a text message communication interface to keep track of customers whose calls have been missed.

Fresk allows you to centralize your telephone communications, text messages and e-mails in one place. Don’t lose any more communication history, and make sure all your customers are taken care of on short notice, even if you’re not available.

Try Fresk today to protect your revenue and your reputation.

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Employees who are in contact with customers from the very first contact with your company play a vital role in developing customer relations.

It’s essential to recruit, train and evaluate these service employees to ensure quality of service and customer retention. One false step and your customer leaves for the competitor, not to mention telling his or her network.

 

Generations Z and Millennials are very demanding and do not tolerate any imperfections in the treatment they receive. Companies are walking on eggshells, and must ensure that they respond to this clientele at every moment of truth.

Customer service employees are often overlooked, and experience major difficulties. It’s important to realize that their role is key to the company’s success. A lost customer is very costly. And the price is even higher with the speed of the Internet and social networks, which allow people to express themselves to a

listening audience. The word-of-mouth effect is no longer the same as in previous years.

• 4% of customers openly communicate their dissatisfaction.
• 96% of dissatisfied customers leave the organization without saying a word.
• 91% of these will never return.
• A dissatisfied customer expresses his dissatisfaction to an average of 8 to 10 people.
• One dissatisfied customer in 5 tells 20 people.

Your employees influence customers’ perceptions of the quality of the services your company provides. Knowing the quality of the service you offer is necessary to protect your most valuable asset, your customers and your employees.

 

It’s no more pleasant for an employee to be in conflict or to be treated badly by a customer who is disappointed or frustrated by poor service. This causes fatigue, discouragement and burnout among your employees. The vicious circle begins as you lose manpower, have to recruit new people with no experience, and once again reduce the quality of the customer service you offer. And it’s not the employee’s fault; it’s your responsibility to train, support and evaluate them, to help them progress and achieve their full potential.

So you have to ask yourself, are my customer service employees well equipped to perform and ensure a good first impression at all times?

In many cases, service staff have an outdated computer with a small screen and a non-ergonomic position. Not to mention an e-mail box full of junk mail, an uncomfortable plastic phone that’s probably analog, and so on.

It’s time to update your employees’ toolbox:

• high-performance computer
• A minimum 26-inch screen or two 23-inch screens.
• Ergonomic keyboard and mouse
• Unified communications software (integrated calls, e-mails and text messages)
• A high-quality ergonomic task chair

Why not check the ergonomics of your workstation with an occupational therapist. This will reassure your employees of your concern for their health and comfort. It’s hard to ask people to perform if you don’t make an effort to equip them properly.

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Find out more about this simple process, which is sometimes slowed down by some telecom companies wanting to slow down your departure.

Telephony tools have come a long way in recent years. A simple VoIP phone is somewhat outdated. Your company needs a much more powerful communications tool to support its growth and ensure its continuity.

What does it mean to “port” or transfer your business phone number?

“Porting” is the act of transferring your business number from one provider to another.
This action allows you to keep your telephone number known to your customers and avoid having to communicate a new number at the risk of losing customers. Also, you don’t have to make any changes to your website, brochures and various directories where your company is listed.

For example, when you want to “port” your business phone number to Fresk, it shouldn’t take more than 3 to 5 days. However, large telecommunications companies can take up to 6 weeks.

You can initiate your transfer request directly through your Fresk account or via our website www.fresk.app.

Do not cancel your telephony service provider, as you will not be able to “port” or transfer your company telephone number afterwards.

Types of phone numbers that can be ported

All telephone numbers can be ported. Under no circumstances can your provider prevent you from porting your number. This is your right, guaranteed by the CRTC and explained here.

Office landline

You can transfer your local landline business number from one provider to another, as long as you live in the same geographic area. This method is called LNP for local number portability, managed by the Canadian Number Portability Administration Center.

The transfer service is free as long as you are at the end of your contract.

• If you wish to transfer a single number, this is a Category A Porting transfer.
• If you need to transfer several landline numbers from local numbers, this is considered a category C porting transfer (“complex porting”). Most companies are in category C.

 

Steps to transfer or port your business telephone number

Find your telephony provider

This can be a VoIP (voice over internet protocol) provider.)
The advantage of VoIP phones is that they allow you to have cloud-based systems and unified communications, which means you can “unify” several communication channels including “phone, email and text message” and sometimes instant video and secure file exchange.

For example, Fresk is a UCaaS, or “Unified communication as a service”, a platform that allows you not only to call, but also to send text messages with your company number, synchronize emails and other instant messaging systems, and send secure documents.

Fresk is a VoIP telephony system that adds a layer of intelligence via cloud-based software that can draw on computing power, artificial intelligence and databases.

You can then communicate from the device of your choice, ranging from a desktop phone, laptop or fixed computer, tablet and mobile via the mobile application.

Gathering your information to transfer your phone

The first thing is to sign the transfer authorization (CA) and authenticate yourself to make sure you are the owner of the phone number to be “ported” to another operator. If you have several telephone numbers to “port”, indicate them in your authorization letter.

Normally, you’ll need to provide your first and last name, the company name and business address, and a list of the telephone numbers you wish to port. – to carry. You must also submit a copy of your telephone bill from your current provider.

• When you call, indicate immediately that you wish to transfer your telephone number.
• When you call your current provider, indicate immediately that you are calling to transfer your number. They will then be able to transfer you to the right department, otherwise your requests will be incomprehensible to customer service.

Request a CSR, your customer service record

Speed up the process by asking your current supplier for a Customer Service Record (CSR). It contains all the information you need for your transfer. Normally, this simplifies the transfer.

Confirm your subscription with your new supplier

Once you’ve done this, you’re ready to choose your new telephony plan with your new provider. The Fresk team is available to help you at any time.

Confirm your phone number transfer with your new provider and initiate the transfer

To have your phone number ported, you need to make the request. Your letter of authorization and invoice allow your new provider to initiate the request with your current provider.

Normally, the transfer should not cause any interruption in telephony service if your Fresk devices and accounts are already installed and operating with temporary numbers. Once the transfer is complete, Fresk automatically takes over, your new devices and accounts start ringing, and you can make calls via Fresk too. Your teams have also been trained in advance by Fresk experts.

Fresk’s 24-hour transfer team – number porting

As soon as your number is ported, our satisfaction team calls your team for immediate follow-up within your business hours.

Call to make sure your account is closed

Your previous provider will automatically close their service with you. It’s important to contact your former provider to make sure everything is canceled to avoid charges.

Maintain the contract with your former supplier to spread the load

If you wish to maintain payment of your contract, simply request another number and pay your service charges until your contract expires.

The Fresk team is available to support you throughout the porting process. There are no associated costs.
We look forward to counting you among our customers, and to offering you a tool that’s far more powerful than a simple desk phone.

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It’s important to remember that your customers are your main source of income, and this is essential to the long-term survival of your business. Meeting your customers’ requirements is the key to your company’s future. Responding quickly to your customers makes them feel important. If your customers are important to you, then make sure you respond quickly!

 

It’s very important to respond quickly to potential customers, otherwise they’ll move on to the next supplier on Google. If your company is able to provide fast answers, the potential customer won’t take the chance with the competitor, and you’ll avoid losing new potential customers. Are you quick to respond to your customers?

 

A study by Super Office shows that :

• Nearly half of customers (46%) expect companies to respond within 4 hours.
• 12% expect a response in 15 minutes or less.
• 90% of customers consider an instant response to be crucial or very important when they need customer service assistance. Of these, 60% consider an instant response to mean a reply in 10 minutes or less.

Knowing the average response time (ART) you offer your customers is key to determining your ability to meet these consumer demands.
Once you know this measure, you’ll be able to understand your company’s effectiveness in responding quickly to its customers. You’ll then be able to gradually improve and increase customer satisfaction to be more successful and stand out from your competitors.

 

How do you calculate your ART or average response time? 

First, focus on obtaining an average response time for all your contacts, whether customers or not.

AVG = average
SUM = sum

This means knowing the exact date and time of all missed calls and returned calls for each one.

Average time for returned calls = AVG(SUM(Returned call – Missed call))
A= Returned call = 12-19-2023:14:00
B= Missed call = 18-12-2023:10:00

B – A = Call return delay = 28 hours (non-business hours).
B – A = Call return time = 4 hours (business hours).

B – A = Call return time = 28 hours (non-business hours).
B – A = Call return delay = 5h (working hours according to opening hours).

Then do the same for all calls in the desired period. It is possible to calculate for each communication medium.

• Average return time for answering machine messages = AVG(SUM(Returned call – Answering machine message ))
• Average delay e-mail returns = AVG(SUM(e-mail answered – e-mail received))
• Average time text messages returned = AVG(SUM(text message answered – text message received))

 

IMPORTANT: Each communication has a specific date and time.

Finally, it is possible to know the average return time for all our communication media :

Average return time for all channels = AVG(SUM(Unanswered communications – Answered communications))

This can then be calculated for both business hours and total hours to assess your speed of response to customers. Finally, it’s worth filtering for contacts (not customers), new customers and existing customers to optimize your response efficiency.
All these calculations are difficult to make and maintain if you don’t have customer communication software. Discover the Fresk dashboard that calculates all this for you at every moment.

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Numerous studies have established a direct link between poor customer service and loss of customer loyalty.

 

But what is poor customer service?

It manifests itself in unjustifiable delays, such as long response times to messages or e-mails, interminable waits, missed calls that are not returned, or even the simple oversight of a waiting customer. Attitudes, such as not smiling during exchanges, not respecting schedules and so on, are also part of the problem. When your customers discover a more satisfactory service from your competitors, they invariably head there.

 

What is the cost of a lost customer?

Let’s turn the question around: how much does it cost to acquire a new customer? It can cost up to 25 times more to find a new customer than to retain an existing one. So it makes financial sense to invest in customer service quality. Not to mention that quality customer service confers a significant competitive advantage. What’s more, a loyal customer who warmly recommends your company pays off handsomely. In a tough economy, guaranteeing quality customer service is crucial to your company’s longevity.

 

Remember that :

• Only 4% of customers report their dissatisfaction to the company.

• 96% of dissatisfied customers leave without returning. Of these, 91% will never return.

• Your dissatisfied customer informs between 8 and 10 others.

• 1 in 5 of these dissatisfied customers will inform up to 20 others.

Finally, even if sometimes your service isn’t perfect, by quickly correcting the problem, 95% of people will be ready to continue working with your company and will tell 5 people favorably about it.

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