In an age dominated by instant messaging and self-service, human-based voice customer support might seem obsolete. However, a recent survey conducted by McKinsey, which polled 3,500 consumers across all age groups, tells a different story.
Whether these insights surprise you or reinforce what you already believe, this article will give you many compelling reasons to integrate voice-based customer service into your support workflow. We’ll also share practical tips on how to implement it effectively.
What Is Voice Customer Support?
Voice customer support is a classic approach to customer service, which involves helping customers through phone calls. In this format, agents connect directly with customers to answer questions, resolve problems, and provide tailored assistance.
While it might seem rudimentary in today’s world of instant messaging and generative AI, voice support remains uniquely valuable. It can fill gaps that digital channels often can’t address.
Unique benefits of voice support in customer service
Voice communication offers distinct advantages in customer support. Agents can recognize the tone and emotions of customers instantly and respond accordingly. Communication becomes clearer as tone and inflection convey meaning that text-based channels often miss. Live phone support is also ideal for faster problem resolution since it eliminates the back-and-forth typical of emails or chats.
These qualities make voice customer support a must in certain scenarios:
- Complex issues. When customers struggle with problems that require detailed explanations or troubleshooting, talking in real-time is often the best (and easiest) course of action — exactly what voice-based customer support is all about. Live interaction helps clarify the situation and ensure that both the agent and the customer are on the same page.
- Emotional situations. When customers are frustrated or upset — such as service outages or product failures — speaking with a human can provide reassurance and empathy that automated systems simply can’t replicate.
- Urgent needs. For time-sensitive inquiries that need immediate attention, such as billing issues or account access problems, voice support offers a much quicker resolution than email with its response wait time or chatbot with its step-by-step process.
Overall, voice support can greatly improve your customer service, fostering customer loyalty and exceptional brand reputation. But this holds true only if you stick to the best practices of voice customer support.
Five Steps to Implement Effective Voice Customer Support
Setting up an effective voice support system is well worth it, but let’s be real — it’s not easy. It takes more than just installing a VoIP system and hiring a few agents to answer calls. The process involves many moving parts, from technology and training to strategy and ongoing optimization. While we can’t cover every detail in this three-minute read, here are the key milestones to set you on the right path.
Step 1: Assess your business needs
Begin by analyzing what your business needs from inbound voice support. Look at the types of inquiries you usually receive and determine which ones are best handled over the phone. Are these technical issues, billing concerns, or product-related questions? Identify specific pain points your customers encounter when seeking assistance.
Next, estimate the expected call volume, identify the KPIs to achieve, and adjust the budget accordingly.
Step 2: Choose the right technology
The right tools make all the difference. Look for a call center software solution that matches your business needs and budget. Make sure it integrates with your CRM and other systems and includes features like call routing (to connect customers to the right agent), voicebots (for basic self-service), and call recording (to improve training and quality).
Step 3: Build a skilled team
Agents are the core of the voice support system. Hire people who are great communicators, patient and empathetic. Then, invest in training to make sure they know your products or services inside out. Active listening and other soft skills must be part of the training program, too.
Step 4: Design a customer-centric strategy
Focusing on customer needs is the foundation of an effective customer support strategy.
Start by gathering data about the most common questions and concerns. This data will guide you as you write agent scripts. Do give your reps the flexibility to personalize conversations with customers based on the specific context of each call. This will lead to more genuine and empathetic interactions — the key characteristic of excellent phone support.
Make it easy for customers to provide feedback after the call through quick post-call surveys or follow-up emails. Their comments will show you what works well and where improvements are needed.
Step 5: Test and optimize continuously
An effective voice support strategy is never final — it needs ongoing evaluation and fine-tuning.
Set up a quality assurance process where supervisors can review recorded calls or monitor conversations in real-time, analyzing how agents solve problems and interact with customers. Closely track KPIs, like average handle time, first call resolution, and abandonment rates — and the customer satisfaction score.
Use the data provided by these metrics and customer feedback (see Step 4) to make informed adjustments. You might want to refine agent scripts, beef up training programs, or engage extra agents during peak periods.
Beyond these best practices, it’s essential to acknowledge the unique challenges associated with voice customer support.
Unique Challenges of Voice Support in Customer Service
Unlike email or live chat, phone conversations require all participants to be actively present throughout the conversation. Both parties must hear each other clearly to ensure mutual understanding and provide appropriate responses immediately. Revising or editing what’s been said and how is impossible, which calls for quick thinking and greater focus and clarity.
Given all that, voice customer support comes with its own challenges that set it apart from text-based support:
High operational costs for 24/7 voice support
Running a phone support system that’s available 24/7 is resource-intensive. It requires a dedicated team of skilled agents, robust infrastructure, and advanced technology to keep things running smoothly around the clock. These costs can quickly add up and become a hurdle for smaller companies.
Managing language and cultural barriers
Businesses serving a diverse range of customers should factor in language differences and cultural nuances when setting up their voice support. Misunderstandings between agents and customers can be frustrating for both sides. Hiring multilingual agents or training your team on cultural sensitivity will make conversations smoother and more effective.
Mitigating technical issues
Technical hiccups like dropped calls, poor audio quality, or system outages can disrupt conversations and leave customers feeling frustrated. A reliable telephony system and strong internet connectivity are critical for minimizing disruptions and maintaining service quality.
Handling high call volumes
Even the best-prepared call centers can feel the strain during peak times or unexpected surges in call volume. Long response times and overwhelmed agents often translate to unhappy customers and high abandonment rates. So, planning for scalability during busy periods is an absolute must.
Maintaining agent morale
Voice support agents often feel stressed, especially when dealing with upset customers. A lack of proper training, emotional support, and regular breaks can quickly result in burnout, leading to higher turnover rates and lower service quality.
Keeping quality consistent across agents
Providing the same high level of service across a team of agents isn’t always easy. Differences in communication styles, problem-solving approaches, or following scripts can make customer experience inconsistent. Regular training and clear guidelines are key to addressing this challenge.
Data privacy concerns
Handling sensitive customer information over the phone comes with certain considerations. Customers need to trust that their data is safe, which means businesses must prioritize compliance with data protection regulations and implement strong security measures to safeguard information.
How AI Can Help in Voice Support
A typical call center today is much more than just a group of customer support agents sitting in cubicles. Technology has long automated some parts of the process, such as call routing, call transcribing, and automatic ticket creation. Now, AI-powered voice support solutions open up even more opportunities to make your agents’ lives easier.
AI-driven interactive voice response (IVR) systems
AI transforms traditional menu-driven IVR experiences into conversational interactions. These systems can understand natural human language, allowing callers to express their needs in their own words instead of navigating through numeric menus. Voicebots can handle basic requests, escalating only the most complex or critical issues to human agents.
AI chatbots for pre-call triage and post-call follow-ups
AI chatbots can gather essential information from customers before they connect with an agent. This will make agents better prepared to assist callers right from the start. Post-call follow-ups can also be automated, with chatbots checking in with customers, gathering feedback, or providing further assistance.
AI-assisted call routing
Call center software usually includes this feature, but AI takes it to the next level. Some AI-powered call routing tools use information from a caller’s digital journey — for example, the webpage they visited before the call — to route them automatically to the most appropriate agent. This results in greater accuracy, shorter hold times, and fewer transfers.
AI-assisted call recordings and transcripts
AI-powered call center systems can record and transcribe customer calls, simplifying the wrap-up process for agents. While non-AI systems offer similar capabilities, AI enhances this feature significantly. For example, some AI algorithms can automatically redact sensitive caller information — credit card numbers or SSNs — from recordings and transcripts.
AI-powered call scoring
AI can evaluate each call based on specific criteria and provide immediate feedback to agents and managers right after it ends. This helps eliminate bias and human error in performance assessments.
AI copilots
AI can also support human agents during calls. These tools actively listen to interactions and pull relevant information from knowledge bases, previous conversations, and customer profiles, suggesting the best responses and next steps.
Why Voice Support Matters in Customer Service: Conclusion
Despite the rise of GenAI and the growing popularity of chat-based support, human-driven voice customer support is more than just a whim of customers looking for a human touch. The empathy, creativity, and flexibility humans bring are invaluable when addressing complex issues, urgent matters, or situations when customers simply need understanding and reassurance.
That said, recognizing the importance of human touch doesn’t mean you should eliminate technology from your voice support strategy. In fact, without the right software, even the best voice support efforts can fall short.
Is your current help desk software creating obstacles in your voice support workflow? Help Desk Migration can help you switch to a system with seamless phone support integration or built-in voice support capabilities.