We've all had this experience.
The phone rings at home and you pick it up. If you're in the Contact Center business, you hear the slight Autodialer delay and know it is a Contact Center call, possibly an outsourced one. You hear the myriad of other voices in the background as the Agent asks for your spouse. You say he/she isn't available, identify yourself and offer assistance. Then, one of these three things usually happens:
1. The Agent immediately hangs up without identifying themselves.
2. The Agent tells you he will call back later and hangs up without identifying himself.
3. The Agent identifies themselves and tells you the reason for the call (nothing violating HIPPA regulations). They politely listen while you offer to handle whatever they need. They explain with a friendly tone that they need to talk with your spouse directly as his/her name is on the account. The Agent thanks you in a pleasant way and says they will call back .
Unfortunately, the first two appear to be gaining popularity with many Outbound callers. There is no focus on the Customer Experience. They appear to see the "wrong party" reached as someone unimportant to their call goals.
If they are an Outsource Agent with these negative practices, it may be because their management team has negotiated a deal with the company they are representing for a high volume of contacts and what they consider to be "results" (i.e. volume equals higher sales numbers), which often results in a "get it and go" presentation rather than one of a high quality experience. Whether the call is originating at an internal or external Center, the negative approach used may be because the Agent is not being effectively monitored and coached for quality. Internal Center management may also be using the numbers metrics solely as their business guide.
Most people have caller ID and can attempt to reach the offending company to lodge a complaint if the Agent handled this type of call poorly. Some people just don't bother but will announce their experience loudly on Facebook, Twitter and other Social Media outlets. My personal experience when calling is that many Supervisors are pleasant and appreciative of the feedback. Whether they are able to do anything once I lodge the complaint is another story.
Much depends on the management of the Center and what their true goals are: numbers or quality, or a balance of both. The Agent is delivering the message, good or bad.
If you are hiring an Outsource team to make calls for your business or if your internal Center is making outbound calls, you need to decide what image you want to portray to Customers and their families. You can be successful, generate revenue and still be efficient in contact metrics. Your coaching with Agents on how to make that great first 30 second impression is key. For all the high volume contacts and sales resulting from lots of dialing, you may also be losing business because of poor handling of decision maker "not available" calls.
Are you focused on speed or quality? It only takes one bad Agent Experience to lose business for you.