Engaging Customers with Call Scheduling

They say time and tide wait for none. Add customers to that list. These days, with ample and better opportunities, they barely wait. The only way for a business to retain them is to be with them all the time. Call-scheduling, among other methodologies, can help businesses to keep the engagement high.

Call-scheduling is the outcome of thought, at the center of which is the customer who has to be continually cared for and engaged with. In doing so, the marketer stands to gain the most. Besides an important paying client, they get from the latter product feedback, criticism, and expectations, as well as the ability to pitch newer ideas against a bouncing board that remains positive and receptive.

Why the phone call?

The phone plays a significant role, more so in times when technology is increasingly building up in numbers and complexity. Making the ubiquitous phone call is still a preferred way by clients to express themselves. It also is the darling of the old, the infirm, and those averse to technology.

On the marketers’ side, too, phone calls make sense. They cut down on layers of back-and-forth communication and help come to conclusions pretty fast. Where calls are recorded and analyzed with the backing of technology, it can also be one of the best sources of information that can keep marketers at the very top of client recall.

Why is Call-Scheduling Crucial for Enhanced Customer Engagement?

One call loss could be a customer loss. And one call handled the right way could mean more in the pipeline courtesy of a satisfied customer. With the cost of retention ever-increasing, automated call scheduling helps higher customer delight and retention, and in the end, is value for money. Call scheduling solutions help connect customers with the right people in the organization who can help resolve their queries at the earliest.

Besides, using technology, calls so scheduled could be the perfect gold-mine of information. They can help strategize things to be done and steps to be taken to increase access to and retention of clients.

How does it work?

A customized service-provider app is integrated into the marketers’ website that’s used to receive calls and messages that are routed to the service provider’s system. Any request on the said website through this app comes to the service provider. If it’s a message, it is answered almost immediately by a Bot. If it’s a call, the agent attending tries to solve the issue or guides the visitor on what to do to get the desired response. The visitor has the option of leaving feedback at the end of the call that also goes through the service provider’s system. The marketer gets details of the calls including the recordings through an account created on the app.

Using AI, the entire activity can be recorded on cloud, real-time, etc., over CRMs for future or immediate use including bringing about the relevant analytics.

Call-scheduling in today’s scenario has many reasons to exist and grow. They include:

• Shortage of time – Buyers and sellers in equal parts are short on time but have to make and receive calls. One of the best ways to bring these disparate needs is to have a call-scheduling system. While synchronizing both the marketers and customer ends, it reminds them to process the call, records the conversation, and makes it available for further processing.
• Purpose-driven calling – In the normal order, no two calls need to pertain to the same subject. That said, there is an advantage to be had by scheduling and making calls about a particular subject. Given the similar patterns, it helps cut down on time while keeping productivity per call high. They also help record subject-related important information with little chance of losing it in the conversation. A call-scheduling is thus the best bet when it comes to listing to clients subject-wise, and processing information in bulk. The system does the rest with speed and efficiency.
• Automating & outsourcing calls – Call-scheduling helps automate calls with just the minimum need for a human interface. It also helps outsource both calling and receiving, which can help save immensely on time and effort. It automates for both sides of the table the ability to book slots when either the customer or the agent would like to place a call or be called.
• Integrating relevant people across the organization in making calls – Sales and prospecting in almost all cases is handled by sales executives at the bottom of the hierarchy. That said, when they come across bright prospects, they may need the assistance and support of higher-ups. Integrating such calls, be it from marketer to client or the other way could best be handled while keeping everyone’s calendars updated, a possibility only with the use of call scheduling.
• Call re-routing – Despite the best planning, unexpected things may happen on either side, i.e., marketer and customer. To make every call count, automating call scheduling helps re-route calls to designated persons (or bots) who would be fully aware of the issue at hand and provide the right support.
• Call analytics – Integrating calls with AI & deep learning is helping automate the act of deriving learnings from every call. What this leads to is precise information in a very clear and concise light that may lead marketers to tweak approaches for higher productivity, including sales and recoveries.

Call-scheduling is an interesting and welcome development that nevertheless needs the backing of certain basics from your service provider. The provider should be able to take care of things as basic as a robust network with near-zero downtime to the advanced ability of keeping the conversations secure through virtual numbers. Businesses should look out for providers who are able to provide jitter free calls with intelligent call connect, routing, tracking and even real-time event notification like Airtel IQ. That said, and with the backing of AI, call scheduling could just be the service a marketer would want most, be it to retain customers or gather much-needed information about client needs.