If you’re a sales professional, you’re likely sick and tired of external prospecting. Whether you’re soliciting in person or making outbound calls, it’s one of the most frustrating and time-consuming parts of the process. That’s why, when you receive an inbound call for information from a prospect, it’s a joyous occasion. One common mistake a lot of sales professionals make is assuming that an inbound call is a slam dunk can’t-miss sale. This is not the case.

Customer support can be a challenge. Especially in the B2B (business-to-business) industry, the quick decisions your support team makes can have a profound impact on a customer relationship. Whether or not they make the right decision on the phone can be the difference between calming an upset customer or making them even more angry. One method businesses are utilizing to improve the number of positive customer interactions that happen every day is to leverage customer support systems.

What do we call a “call center” today? Is it really a call center anymore or is it a vital part of the customer journey? Today, more than ever we have more ways to communicate with family, friends, and companies we do business with. Gone are the days of picking up the phone, waiting on hold listening to elevator music (some of it was okay), and being transferred 10 times to get something done. We demanded change as technology afforded us more options to get things done.

Humans have always loved the idea of robots having feelings. Hollywood has cashed in on this affinity in multiple films, from making robots fall in love with each other, to an alternative dystopian future where robots are taught to feel, leading them to overpower humans. But even with such narratives, humans like it better when chatbots are taught more about feelings and made to assist them with empathy1.

Providing good customer service is an art. Typically, someone calling into a customer support department is already angry and frustrated with the services your company offers, and it is the job of a skilled customer support agent to diffuse that issue and help that customer leave satisfied and smiling. Blindly fumbling about or taking a one size fits all strategy toward the happiness of your customers is a perfect recipe for failure.