How can NotLost help you with those tricky enquiries that come in centrally?
Central contact centres play an important customer service role for many businesses. They provide a host of vital services and serve as an important link with customers. Contact centres are especially important when face to face contact is limited due to Covid restrictions.
When a customer calls in, a good engagement can leave a lasting, positive impression. A frustrating encounter will do exactly the opposite.
It’s likely that you have invested heavily in your call centre to deliver great customer service. Making sure your team has access to the best technology and training is an important part of this investment.
Unfortunately, there is one type of enquiry that many businesses are not well equipped to handle; lost property.
The unlucky customer’s lost property journey
Let’s say someone reaches for their phone on the way back from work, only to be greeted by an empty pocket. They then get in touch with your customer service team, hoping for a quick resolution.
At this point the contact centre team member must try to respond accurately. However with no visibility of what items have been handed in across the network, they are unlikely to be able to resolve the situation on the call. A description of the item is taken and the search begins.
Enquiries now need to be made to either a centralised depot or various locations within your network. However the customer often doesn’t know exactly where their item was lost.
The description of the item is passed along, and so begins an endless back and forth of internal communications. This also often leads to staff having to search through internal logs and piles of items. The entire process can take days and is incredibly frustrating for all involved. Sound familiar?
In many cases the search is fruitless. The item in question has perhaps been handed in elsewhere, or not at all. However, without a simple way for the contact centre to look across the network, there is no way for them to know.
So here we have a process which at best is disjointed, and at worst a waste of everyone’s time. In certain situations. it can even be losing you money as a business.
Needless to say, it doesn’t need to be like this.
A better way
NotLost have developed technology that could transform how you handle these kinds of enquiries, by equipping your staff with tailor-made lost property software.
When an item is found on your network or at one of your sites, team members can log it immediately. They just need to upload a photo and the system does the rest. It will also automatically suggest matches with your customer enquiries.
Call centre staff are also given visibility over found belongings in real time, so when someone calls looking for their phone, your team searches for it, matching the details given by the customer to the information entered by your team.
The delighted customer can now be given an answer in five minutes rather than five days.
For your team, managing lost property from a call centre is now as slick and seamless as all your other processes.
Customer self service
The customer can be directed to a self-service portal to further save time. Here they can register their lost belongings and check the status of their enquiries themselves. These enquiries are then automatically matched with any items that have been handed in.
Getting belongings home
Once the item has been matched with its rightful owner they can then choose either to collect it from your premises or to choose from a range of delivery options.
Collection isn’t always possible for customers which makes the postage option an incredibly important part of the process (especially during the Coronavirus pandemic..!)
In summary
Now you have a system that works, ensuring previous labour intensive processes can be handled efficiently. This is achieved by enabling the registration of items on the spot and creating transparency across your team.
Most importantly, it frees up time for your staff to handle the enquiries that will make a difference to your business.
Whether you’re a hotel chain or transport network, you can hardly be held responsible for when someone loses something on your property. The manner in which the process is dealt with however is down to you as a business. However, returning somebody’s phone is the perfect opportunity for a positive engagement with a customer who’ll be singing your praises.
Find out more
Get in touch with us on +44(0)20 8037 3970 or drop us an email . Plus, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay up to date with all things lost property!