The role of the contact center in corporate reputation

There is no need to stress the importance of protecting the reputation of a brand. On it will depend whether the customer decides to purchase our service or to discard it. What is not so common in the agendas of marketing teams is the role of the experience that consumers have with the contact center in the reputation of the brands they manage.

The contact center has a key role in customer loyalty. At the same time, loyalty helps improve the image of a brand. The opinion of loyal users or customers will be positive. However, it is not strange to find dissatisfied customers who, because of a bad experience, give their opinion about the brand. The problem today is what means or channel will they use to unload their dissatisfaction?

Very rarely customers claim directly to the company, most of the time they prefer to give their opinion about their experience with a particular product or brand through the Internet. Companies once knew how satisfied their customers were by asking and listening to what they had to say. Something that of course changed radically. With Internet it is very easy for people to convey their own opinions.

Online reputation by definition is not under the absolute control of organizations. It is generated by this uncontrollable conversation. And if some businesses adapted well to the new rules of the game, and even learned from this great feedback machine that is Internet, others did not.

The contact center is increasingly a key element in this delicate balance between companies and consumers.

People have learned about their rights to claim. This scenario leads companies to look at contact centers in a different way. They see them as an opportunity to be able to evacuate any kind of dissatisfaction in the demand and turn it into an opportunity for the brand. A company’s reputation is not built solely with its history and products. Those who give it shape are the professionals behind the contact center.

How far can a customer’s claim get? Only 1% of consumers generate content on blogs. 9% interact through comments and other tools. The remaining 90% are passive spectators. That is why a timely call to active users can make a difference. Every call is an opportunity for improvement and that’s why operators must have the necessary tools to respond to people and foster a real link between the business and the call center, so that precisely those who respond can provide the necessary solutions and provide satisfaction.

This context presents a new challenge for companies when defining their strategies of communication with the consumer. They are not just mass media or BTL (actions below the line), businesses must really know the customer: listen, measure, modify and re-measure. And that’s a tailor-made mission for the .