Ultimate guide to call routing

Owning a business in an era of technological revolution is not an easy task. Nowadays, the internet has become one of the top marketing tools available. Therefore, if you’re a business owner you have no other option but to adapt to all the new systems, apps, and features available. Moreover, providing quality customer service is now essential for the success of your company. Thus, it’s highly recommended that you have a contact center. Nevertheless, even this requires having a complex system in place with multiple features. And this article focuses on one of these features. So, here is your ultimate guide to call routing.

What is call routing?

Call routing is a call management feature that is also known as an automatic call distributor (ACD). As the name suggests, it distributes incoming calls to the right agents based on certain criteria. This in turn results in shorter wait times and quicker problem solving for customers. Therefore, it represents a key element in improving the customer’s experience.

How does call routing work?

In general, the call routing system uses the information provided by the customer over the phone to distribute calls to the right agents. The steps are:

• Caller Input. This is the part where the customer answers some standard pre-recorded questions or selects certain options. Usually, this is done by using the dial pad.
• Call Queuing. At this stage, the system uses the information provided by the client to place the call in the appropriate queues.
• Call Distribution. After waiting in queues, the calls are distributed to the right agents based on certain criteria and data.

Which call routing method is best?

There are many types of call routing methods and there’s no such thing as the best one. Only you can decide which is more appropriate for your business and your customers. And to do this you first need to understand your target audience. Nevertheless, here are two examples of call routing methods to consider:

• Skill-based routing takes into account the knowledge and skills of the agents. Thus, depending on the type of query or issue of the customer, the call will be distributed to the agent with the right set of skills to deal with it.
• VIP routing uses caller ID to identify your most important clients. By doing this, it can prioritize their calls. This in turn increases client satisfaction.

What are the benefits of call routing?

When customers call a contact center, the chances that their call will be immediately distributed to the right agent are slim. Thus, customers have to spend a long time on the phone, while they are being transferred from one agent to another. Moreover, they have to explain the reason for their call to every agent. This is not only frustrating but time-consuming. So, here is where call routing comes into action.

By reducing the wait time and the duration of the call, this solution will reduce customer service costs and increase customer satisfaction. Moreover, based on previously collected data, call routing systems can improve customer-agent matches. This in turn will further increase customer satisfaction.

What should you avoid?

Here are some of the most common mistakes that you should avoid when using call routing:

• Lengthy call queues are created when a contact center uses a call routing strategy that classifies customer calls that are subsequently distributed to a small number of agents. This can lead to hang-ups which are bad for business. One solution would be to implement a callback option. This way, your agents can contact the customers later.
• Not preparing agents well enough is a big mistake. During the caller input stage, customers can sometimes select the wrong option. Thus, their call will not be distributed to the right agent. In this case, the person who answers should be well-prepared to transfer the call to the appropriate agent. Otherwise, the customer will become frustrated by all the waiting.
• Having too many options will once again frustrate the customer. Listening to a menu with ten options and then moving on to another submenu is too much. Therefore, you should try to keep it as simple as possible.

How do you combine call routing with your website?

Now that you know the basics of call routing, let’s see how you can use it in connection to your website. First things first, you need to add your contact center phone number to the website. Or, if you want to have more control over the process, you can get a customizable widget like ConvertMore that prompts visitors to call. Once a user places a call to your contact center, the call routing system will do the rest.

How can you attract more leads?

Your company website represents the online image of your business. And nowadays, this is more important than ever. This is because the majority of customers rely on this online image when deciding which company to choose. So don’t underestimate its power and do some research on how to reduce bounce rate. Things like page loading time and accessibility are highly important.

Once you determine customers to stay on the website for enough time to assimilate some of the content, you have to determine them to complete an action. Thus, knowing how to improve conversion rate is key. Testimonials and multimedia content are some of the things you should consider. But widgets are essential too. Once customers review the content of your website they might have questions. And studies have shown that people still prefer talking to a representative rather than communicating in writing. Thus, you need a call widget that connects to your contact center, which uses a call routing system.

However, if a visitor calls outside your business hours, it’s good to have a callback service for website. This is also recommended in case the customer doesn’t have time to wait and hangs up. By calling them back, you show professionalism, which customers will highly appreciate.

Conclusion

Call routing systems are great for improving customer satisfaction. They reduce wait times and call durations, which benefits both the customer and your business. So, now that you know what it is, how it works, and how it can be implemented, you should try to apply it to your business. Remember that high-quality customer service is essential for a successful business.