Thursday, September 27, 2007

Inbound telemarketing strategies in dealing with Irate Callers


The business of inbound telemarketing poses quite a number of challenges. One of the challenges of every inbound telemarketer is dealing with irate customers. Crossing paths over the phone with this group of customers is inevitable. Reasons why they turn ballistic are varied. Some have valid demands, others are just easily angered, some unintentionally lash out their frustrations in life in general.

As a telemarketing merchant account holder, you will agree that to some extent, irate calls eat a large of percentage of the daily calls that come in. So, how do owners of telemarketing merchant accounts who run telemarketing businesses proceed in calming down this irate callers? Below are some of the ways you can take note and teach your agents.

  • Instill in your agents' minds that it's nothing personal. When a caller gets angry and goes on saying nasty things, it's not because they're angry at the person they're talking to, but at the situation. Tell your phone receptionists to not be rude, never hang up on the caller, and remember, it's not personal. They have to treat it in a business-like way.
  • Teach them the ASAP technique. This is a way to calm the angry caller's nerves. Apologize for the inconvenience, Sympathize with the feelings, Accept responsibility for the error, and Prepare to help.
  • Let them know that they can satisfy most people most of the time. Nobody can please everybody all the time. So, if after every effort has been done and still fails to calm down the angry caller, then that's it.
  • Make them use the swear stopper. The situation gets really heated up when the caller is already swearing non-stop. Your agents should not panic nor answer back. Once this ranting begins, teach the agents to interject immediately, calmly reassure the caller, address directly the main concern, and ask follow-up questions immediately.

Know how to calm your angry callers by reading the article in its entirety :
Inbound telemarketing strategies in dealing with Irate Callers