Are Call Centres Still Important in the Digital Age?

In the digital age, you may be forgiven in thinking that call centres are less important. With the onset of social media, many consumers prefer to voice their queries and complaints via the public route. Facebook and Twitter has given rise to digital and social means of handling customer services.

With easy access to email via smartphones, many consumers will use email to contact customer support. Due to the instantaneous nature of email, it is easy to reach their preferred business on the move. Plus, they can pick up replies instantly and respond accordingly.

It can be suggested that call centres are less important than they used to be. But, there is still a need for them even in the digital age. Let’s be honest, communication with a human is a lot more robust than dealing with a computer or similar interface.

The importance of call centres, in the digital age, should be underestimated. Here is why.

All Hail the King of the Call Centre

A call centre is still a vital department for all businesses in the digital age. More and more people are becoming au fait with technology. Silver surfers are uniting and becoming more tech savvy. But, this doesn’t mean that a call centre should be ignored in the face of setting up a new business. In fact, they are more attractive than ever before.

Did you know that 91% of people use the telephone as a means of contacting a company? What is more, 79% of people want to keep it this way. The onset of the digital age is a great thing for speeding up business processes. But, in regards to customers, they want to hear a voice at the end of the phone. More information can be sought online regarding this matter. If you want to ensure that your business stays ahead call, handling is going to play a vital part in your organisation.

Faceless Organisations

Social media have a prominent place in customer services. But for many consumers, social media can still seem like businesses are faceless organisations. Many companies like to have a human point of contact for their customers. This is because over 15% of social media complaints do not get responded to. Having a call centre means that problems can be tackled in the first instance. Should an issue rumble on, it can have severe ramifications for a company? People are important to resolving customer complaints and queries. In some circumstances, customers have already exhausted the social media route. If they do not receive a satisfactory response, they need to talk to a person.

A contact centre should not be underestimated. It is an important part of the customer retention process. It can also be used to generate new sales and leads. Why omit a practical and functional part of any organisation?

Despite the onset of the digital age; the call centre is still business critical function to have. The call centre is here to stay. Make sure you are utilising it within your venture.