Discussing the Downside of Callbacks

There’s a lot of talk in contact center circles these days about callback solutions. These are systems that give callers the option of receiving a call back from the contact center at a later time.

The benefit of callback solutions is that callers don’t have to remain on hold and call centers can offload some of their traffic during peak times. But a recent blog by Monet Software’s (News - Alert) Chuck Ciarlo points out that callbacks also have a downside. They can create a disconnect between businesses and their customers, he says.

“As long as someone is on hold, they are still in contact with the company, and likely to follow through on whatever business inspired the call,” writes Ciarlo. “When that connection is broken, there is no guarantee the customer will be around to answer the phone when the agent calls back.”

He adds that customers may also view the callback as a rebuff, feeling they’re less important than other callers. And that’s not good, particularly in the age of the more demanding consumer, he says.

While customers are becoming more demanding, statistics indicate businesses are generally rising to meet those high requirements. The American Customer Satisfaction Index reports that overall U.S. customer satisfaction is looking pretty good.

That’s good news not only because it indicates customers are increasingly satisfied and businesses continue to improve on customer satifaction, but also because it bodes well for business financials.

As Phil Bak, CEO of ACSI Funds, a sister company of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, commented: “Our research has shown a direct correlation between changes in customer satisfaction levels and subsequent earnings surprises, which stands to reason since the customers are the people who directly contribute those earnings to public companies.”

The Commerce Department just reported that consumer spending increased 0.4 percent last month after an .8 percent increase in November.

Edited by Maurice Nagle