SMS - smart marketing solution for call centres

The call

"We are currently experiencing unusually high call volumes. The first available consultant will be with you shortly", and every 40 seconds, "Your call is really important to us..." Sound familiar?

Well, it irritates you and your customers alike. It's strike one. Your call centre is costing you more than you think - you're losing out.

The method

Call centre methodology uses incoming calls on Telkom SmartAccess numbers. These are identified by the 08 prefix and the catchy letter or number sequence that follows. Most people think that they are toll-free numbers, and 0800 is, sometimes. But if you think you understand toll-free, toll-share and 0861 numbers, best you read on.

0860 is a toll-share number, which means your customer always pays for a local call. If there is a long distance connection, your business shares the cost by paying for that portion of the call.

0861 numbers are called MaxiCall, where the caller pays for the entire call regardless of geography. This is not a strategic move from a marketing point of view.

In short, businesses using 0860/61 numbers force customers to pay to give them their business. This is strike two.

The mistake

Unfortunately, it gets worse.

These discounted rates only apply for Telkom-to-Telkom calls. When a customer calls from a mobile phone to any SmartAccess number, they pay full mobile phone call rates to their network provider. And you, as the business side of the call, pay Telkom for connecting every mobile-originated (MO) call you receive.

Now, you have customers paying full call rates and holding on for an indefinite period of time. Great for their service provider, not so great for them, or for you because you are paying Telkom. Strike three, you're out!

The plan

Your business needs to quantify this variable and unexpected cost. Apart from the set-up, rental and normal running costs of a SmartAccess number, the real issues are the percentage of incoming MO calls and the hold time.

In our experience, up to 85% of calls received by a call centre are MO. After all, there are about 40 million privately owned mobile phones in SA.

The solution

So, SmartAccess is not so smart. Here's your answer: SMS. This Smart Message System is also the Simple Management Solution.

Here's how to make it work for you: Let customers send an SMS to your business, and have your call centre call them back on a PremiCell system.

Customers benefit from SMS because:

• It is cheap and easy to send from anywhere, at any time.
  
• It never puts them on hold.
  
• It is non-threatening - if the business wants those customers, it will call them.
  
• It makes customers feel important to you when you phone them back.

Businesses benefit from SMSes because:

• They're free to receive.
  
• They connect 85% of your customers to your business 24/7.
  
• They increase your customer satisfaction levels when you call them back.
  
• They save you money.
  
• And your SmartAccess number can still handle the 15% of Telkom-originated calls.

There are many mobile instant communication products that can streamline the operation of a call centre, while also increasing efficiency and enhancing customer satisfaction. It is often the correct combination of a few of these products that provides the most elegant solution to a client's instant communication problems.