How to spot the best outsourced customer service

How to spot the best outsourced customer service

There are many benefits to outsourced customer service, from taking the weight off the shoulders of in-house operations, to leaving the telephone answering service function in the hands of the experts. But how can you tell the pros from the amateurs? What are the hallmarks of customer service experts, based on the performance of their agents? Here we look at some ways of spotting the best outsourced customer service agents.

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Benefits of using a call centre

Benefits of using a call centre

The statistics indicate that retaining customers can be up to 7 times cheaper than attracting new ones. A key way to retain customers is by ensuring you provide an expert level of service to your customers' needs and requests. Outsourcing your customer service function to an efficient call centre can help to satisfy your customers, keeping them happy and ensuring they remain committed to your business. Below we've highlighted some of the key benefits of using a call centre to handle your customer service calls. Benefits of using a call centre

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How a telephone answering service can work for your funeral home

How a telephone answering service can work for your funeral home

When someone dies, it’s a difficult and upsetting time for family members, and sorting out funeral arrangements is at the top of the grieving relatives to-do list. This can cause problems if the death occurs during the holiday season, outside of office hours, or if you are abroad in a different time zone at the time. That’s why it’s vital that your funeral home is able to provide a rapid and sensitive response to enquiries any day, any time, all year round.

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Top qualities of a sensitive call handling agent

Top qualities of a sensitive call handling agent

Any job that involves taking and making customer calls requires excellent customer service agents on the phones, but within a care industry such as support for funeral businesses, it is critical. Customer acquisition and retention rely on the contact the customer has directly with your team as this is the first real idea they have of how the company sees and values customers during difficult times. Here are some of the behaviours an excellent call centre agent will demonstrate within these areas to help you to ensure that you are making the right decisions for your business.

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Things not to say when dealing with a bereavement

Things not to say when dealing with a bereavement

When a loved one dies, everything becomes emotional and challenging. That’s why it's important when providing a funeral call service that you say the right things. When you’re providing a service, it is imperative that you are both sympathetic and supportive. Unfortunately, saying the wrong thing could be seen as insensitive and could not only do harm to your business but could cause more grief for the bereaved as well.

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The importance of translation services in the Funeral business

The importance of translation services in the Funeral business

In order to be able to build strong relationships with your customers, you need to be able to communicate with them. In 2011 the ONS carried out a Census focusing on what languages people speak, it found that 4.2 million people over the age of three spoke another language other than English as their main language

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The importance of being 'human' in funeral call handling

The importance of being 'human' in funeral call handling

When you're handling calls relating to funerals, being 'human' can go a very long way. It might seem obvious, especially when calls are sensitive in nature. However, sometimes the stress of the situation, the volume of calls taken and the need to get the call right means it can at times start to feel robotic. It's important to remember that every call you take is a new person with a new level of grief and emotion. They're not just a phone number on a sheet. It's a difficult time fraught with complex feelings and often requires a greater level of sympathy and support

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Best practice for handling difficult phonecalls

Best practice for handling difficult phonecalls

Answering a phone call regarding the death of a loved one is always going to be a challenging situation. For nearly two decades Frontline has been providing a compassionate and empathetic telephone answering service for several funeral call handling businesses. We are committed to providing the highest levels of customer care in these difficult conversations, and take several steps with our staff to ensure that every call we receive of this nature is handled as gently and effectively as possible.

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How to use call escalation effectively

How to use call escalation effectively

In theory, "call escalation" can be the key technique in problem resolution. Should a customer have a question a representative can't answer, escalation is a neat way of diverting queries to more senior members of staff. Over many years, Frontline have developed a streamlined and effective escalation process that connects customers with the person who has their answers.

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3 ways to maximise your customer appeal

3 ways to maximise your customer appeal

Whether you have just started up a new business or you have been trading for a long time, there are always ways you can increase your profits. Your business may have become a bit stagnant, maybe your reputation is far from perfect or you are struggling to get your business off the ground. Most businesses have these obstacles but fear not, there are some simple improvements you can make to increase your customer appeal, which will help you achieve real success.

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5 reasons to use a telephone answering service to take your customer orders

5 reasons to use a telephone answering service to take your customer orders

As technology continues to evolve, an increasing number of businesses are turning to online forms for customer transactions, rather than providing a telephone answering service. However, although this may seem like an easier way to increase your orders, it can actually prove to be quite problematic. These are some reasons why a telephone answering service is a much more effective option.

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3 great reasons to use a telephone answering service

3 great reasons to use a telephone answering service

The world of business is fast-paced and non-stop. There are so many things to do it can be difficult to know where to begin. Outsourcing your phone needs to a telephone answering service can free up a load of time and take a lot of the stress out of your day. Here are three great reasons to use a telephone answering service...

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Top call centre customer frustrations and how to avoid them

Top call centre customer frustrations and how to avoid them

We’ve all experienced the frustration of calling a call centre to fix an issue, only to get stuck in a queue, get put on hold, and finally speak to an advisor who doesn’t want to listen and does not understand your problem. Contacting call centres can be exasperating and if the customer experiences any of these problems, they may move their business away from you to a competitor. Take heed of our top tips on how to avoid these issues and provide your customer with the best level of service possible

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