Even if a call centre effectively handles all sort of call traffic, still formation of a backlog is not beyond possibilities. A backlog is usually a considerable number of inbound calls that are either missed, dropped or abandoned due to heavy traffic, especially during peak hours. It also includes received text messages, emails, tickets and escalations. You may say it calls data debris as it lies in form of jumbled up pile.

For us it is equally important like all those numbers which are well-responded and resolved. A huge call backlog cannot be made overnight, if you positively look into it and go for productive sorting out. In case, you don’t, it turns into wild herd of mustangs that keeps you occupied pulling backwards, rather than letting go on and on.

Even though our call centre serves the customers with a healthy communication, promoting new sales opportunities, customers’ loyalty and positive brand awareness, still we come across a noteworthy backlog every day. Our task force while collectively handling inbound calls keeps flawless record of call disposition codes, call notes, updates in CRM and customers’ sentimental feedback. We don’t put that everyday load off to tomorrow, for we can resolve it the very same day. A normal backlog for us is the one that can be sorted out the same day and resolved within the very next; nothing more, and nothing less.

We don’t believe in moving forward blindfolded for those customers who need us with a reasonable approach. We also don’t believe in assuming that a certain customer who needed a resolution would return sooner or later, and will be served right away. We rather go for probing into how, when and why he/she proceeded towards us and respond accordingly. For reducing the backlog and keeping it as tamed, easy-to-handle demon, we take following measures:

Our call centre analytics, with the back of software solutions, make personalized detail of backlog that need to be resolved. They enlist all abandoned calls, emails, tickets and escalations and forward them to relevant agents to keep them updated for after call tasks. It gives the agents an instant acknowledgement of the issues to respond vis-à-vis.

We make a classified categorizing on basis of priority. It normally goes with contacting the callers who remained in the queue for specific time duration (i.e. 10 seconds) or kept calling back. We don’t go for the calls which are dropped within the first 5 seconds span, taking them as wrong numbers. In case of unresolved calls, our agents right away forward escalations to the relevant department to be seamlessly resolved. Our first concerns are the emails with complete details, which ask for clear-cut solution to a well-defined problem.

Our call centre software solution is proactively updated and equipped to respond the customers who made a call, remained in the queue, but didn’t call back. That automated reply is most often a call-back by the agent a configured email or text message that is sent as reminder; twice after the first contact.

Our productive agents use their lull time for sorting out with a positive short-listing. They are trained to maintain a high momentum by switching their efforts from easily solved queries to ones bit hard. Swaying between winning and about to gain goals enables them to hold their horses and solving a comparatively hard task of unresolved pending calls, emails and messages.

Alongside sustaining day to day hunky-dory backlog, we go for a weekly trashing process. We eliminate the numbers including wrongly dialed calls (within first 5 seconds) and those who don’t response back, even after our short-interval led contacts and call-backs. We also discard incomplete emails and tickets to keep our backlog clutter free.