In this age of modern technology, many call centres now rely on automated systems to manage their customer calls and enquiries. These bots can answer basic questions, solve basic issues and provide customers with more information. But undeniably there are times when an automated system just won't do. In fact, here are just three situations that require real human customer service.

There will be many times in your career where a customer will call you while needing emotional support. Whether your business is funeral call handling, or you're helping clients during their times of need, staff who are answering the phones and helping these clients need to ensure that they understand the situation at hand

A call to a funeral director is amongst the most difficult that anyone will ever have to make. The loss of a loved one and the stress of making arrangements after they’ve passed can be deeply traumatic, upsetting and difficult.

If you're a customer-facing business, then you will know what it's like trying to meet every one of your customer's needs over the phone - and this is tenfold when it comes to sensitive topics and subjects such as those related to the funeral market, which can leave the people you work with feeling more vulnerable and uncomfortable than they would in a typical customer service situation.

Gaining customer loyalty is a must for all businesses, but before you can gain loyalty you must build trust. The way your contact centre deals with customers will have a huge impact when it comes to trust building, so here are four tips for call centre agents looking to form strong customer relationships.

Many people assume that contacting a business will be met with dull, unenthusiastic call centre agents. However, the right agents for your business should offer a positive experience for all callers. Handling customer calls should always be done with care, especially in funeral call handling or other sensitive circumstances. Here are three tips to ensure that your customers find their conversation helpful and rewarding.

Loyal customers are the beating heart of any business; they are what help keep it alive. Creating happy customers who will stick by your brand and use your time and time again requires a lot more than offering great products or service. It comes down to their customer service experience, especially the way their calls are handled when they have a problem or enquiry. With that in mind, it's time to consider whether your contact centre, and therefore your business, is meeting the following customer expectations.

When it comes to customer service you may often find yourself on the receiving end of angry customers. For contact centre staff, it is particularly likely that you'll experience this anger, and it's essential to know how to handle it. Anger manifests for various reasons, from complaints about a service or product to grief and sadness. With that in mind, it's important to understand that no two customers are the same, but the way you handle them must always use the same care. There is much advice on the best ways to deal with angry customers, but there are also some things to avoid at all costs.

Customer experience is at the forefront of business in today’s world and yet it can be a struggle to run a department or a company while trying to answer calls that may well pave the way for new opportunities. Equally, a barrage of calls can actually create more work for businesses and can result in important jobs being neglected. So what do you do?

Some people may argue that in-house customer service is the best way to support customers. But when it comes to the busiest periods of the year - or sudden growth in your customer base - it can be difficult to provide the same reaction time and consistent quality that can be provided by an outsourced customer service. Here are four great reasons to outsource your customer support...