Has Covid had a negative long-term impact on customer service?
I was in a meeting recently and was bemoaning the service levels at a UK airport I’d landed at last week. To my surprise, the general consensus of those in the meeting was that Covid had damaged the quality of customer service across the UK – full stop; and, what’s more, the public had become accepting of it. Is this true? If it is, it is very worrying for Paperclip as our business is based on supporting businesses that understand, value and delivers customer service.
Paperclip answers telephone calls. Our clients either run all their calls through us (‘full divert’) or those they are unable to answer within an allotted time, usually 10-15 seconds (‘delayed divert’).
Paperclip’s experience of Covid lockdowns will resonate with business owners
I suspect that the Paperclip experience of Covid lockdowns and constraints will resonate with many business owners. At the start of the first lockdown, the emphasis was on regrouping and survival. Clients put their contracts on hold as they struggled to work out what to do; call volumes dropped across most business sectors; we invested in technology to facilitate hybrid working, with some team members being able to answer calls at home. Not ideal, but a solution at least.
In the early stages of Covid, I think it’s true to say that customer service levels suffered in most industries: home working; Covid infections; self-isolation; furloughing; technology constraints.
As the dust settled, businesses came to terms with the new commercial landscape and started to look at how hybrid (home/office) working models could be made more effective. Paperclip benefitted from this as many clients started to use us as their reception service, with calls being transferred to clients’ homes, mobile or office numbers as required. Virtually all the new clients that joined Paperclip in this period have remained with us as restrictions have been lifted.
In my experience, customer service started to recover in this period, although wait times for many businesses were still far too long. However, I feel it is true that people were, in general, accommodating of this as they understood the challenges businesses’ faced.
Identifying, recruiting and retaining staff during Covid
As Covid restrictions lifted, UK business returned to a degree of normality in the second half of 2021, many of Paperclip’s clients reported they were finding it difficult to identify, recruit and retain staff to handle demand as it started to recover. Paperclip has certainly found it challenging to strengthen its team to handle the increase in call volumes we are experiencing. We have made greater use of local media and recruitment specialists to broaden our recruitment base.
Staff turnover in many sectors has increased post-lockdown and, if you have ever worked in a business with a high staff turnover, you will recognise that it invariably does have an impact on customer service quality as new recruits are trained, learn the ropes and settle in. This has been another contributor to Paperclip’s growing client base, with businesses engaging with Paperclip to support their in-house customer service teams to maintain service levels.
Customer service remains a priority for successful businesses
Whilst I can only comment on my own personal experience and feedback gleaned from Paperclip clients, airport apart, I feel that customer service remains a priority for successful businesses. This does not mean that recruitment challenges have disappeared completely, or that hybrid working systems have fully bedded in. Paperclip continues to attract new clients which have recognised that traditional receptions services no longer work for them in a (hopefully) post-Covid world.
Retaining a focus on customer service can set your business apart from the crowd
Maintaining consistently high levels of customer service is challenging at the best of times. Organisations that are able to retain their focus on customer service, and those that consider customer service as part of their DNA, have an exciting opportunity to set themselves apart from those which are willing to risk losing customers in return for short-term cost savings.
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Hi, I’m Anne Batty, Managing Director of Paperclip. I am passionate about customer service. I believe enduring relationships are built on being open, transparent and trustworthy.
I love questions. So, if you have a question relating to telephone answering – pricing, technical, scope and more – I would love to hear from you at anne@paperclip.co.uk or 01246 418181.
Paperclip’s clients enjoy working with us. I know you will too.