While we read a lot about how to provide quality customer experience to the millennials through business interactions, little has been said about improving the customer experience of the elderly. When you have an elderly customer at the other end of the line, you should treat them very differently from how you deal with your millennial customers. Delivering high-quality customer experience to elderly customers requires an appreciation of their behaviors, knowledge, and ability to deal with them with empathy.
As a BPO company services provider, dealing with an elderly customer comes with its own unique challenges. You cannot deal with them the way you can deal with millennials and middle-aged. The reasons behind this are-
- Most of them are not that tech-savvy.
- Health deterioration has led to hearing loss and memory loss among the elderly.
- They have difficulty remembering things and, therefore, keep repeating themselves.
- They communicate slower.
- They do not like being patronized.
Elderly people often find it hard to understand the basics of modern technology, such as fixing the simplest computer issue or resolving a billing problem. Therefore, a customer service agent must pay extra attention while answering their calls.
6 Ways to deliver high-quality customer experience to elderly customers
Here are some suggestions for making the interaction go smoothly.
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Treat Them with Respect
Seniors often feel like they are being patronized or belittled by young call center service agents, even when this is not the case. Therefore, an agent needs to be extra cautious while talking to them. Instead of talking down to elderly customers, the agent must recognize their wisdom and treat them with respect.
If a solution takes longer to reach due to slower communication, an agent must not let the frustration show. Working with them in a non-condescending tone often achieves much better results.
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Write It Down
Deafness and forgetfulness are often the most common effects of age, and they make getting the message across a challenge. Therefore, writing down the information on a notepad or email can make the whole process easier and help them better.
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Give Coupons
Recognizing the economic standing of senior customers is the first step in forging a lasting relationship with them. Seniors can benefit from special discounts and coupons living off their retirement funds. If you can provide them with special discounts whenever possible, it will create a good relationship between you and your elderly customers, who will get a strong sense of customer experience.
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Patience is Virtue
Seniors often take longer to decide, understand a request, and respond. But that is no excuse for agents to show their annoyance or frustration. On the contrary, patience is the key here. BPO voice process agents and BPO non voice process agents, both need to slowdown, listen, and gather all information. And once they do that, dealing with senior customers gets much easier.
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Maintain a Cheerful and Helpful Attitude
While millennials prefer self-help tools, senior customers are still mostly old-school—they prefer talking to a live agent, either face-to-face or over the phone. Therefore, agents taking the calls should maintain a cheerful and helpful attitude to give senior customers a good customer service experience.
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Lend an Ear
Many elderly customers are lonely and do not even have someone to talk to. Therefore, they tend to talk more, even while discussing business with a live human agent. Sharing stories or talking excessively makes them feel better, and listening to them goes a long way in creating a pleasant experience for them. So, do not cut them off while they are sharing their stories. It will help you resolve the problem and provide them with outstanding customer satisfaction.
While it is not guaranteed that all elderly customers will have a great customer experience, they will help you improve their experience and earn their loyalty even when you follow the tips mentioned above.
