“If it’s free, take three”…or at least that’s the mantra that got me through college.

But when it comes to CALLBACK, are the FREE, out-of-the-box solutions that CCaaS providers tack onto their platforms ACTUALLY worth it?

We put on our thinking caps, talked to our experts, ran it by our clients, and the short answer is….it’s complicated.

So let’s clean up the confusion and put the question to rest.

Intro

Welcome to Snackable CX, where we break down our best resources into bite-sized guidance on how to stand out and be known for your customer experience. I’m Sam Salerno, here from Mindful, the best-in-class, total experience solution that aims to add kindness to your tech stack.

We all know, customers hate hold times. Nine times out of ten, they’ll start their journey online and only go to voice when they have to. Even then, they want their voice experience to be just as easy as their online experience. But when they hit an IVR and get the runaround with confusing menu options and ungodly hold times, naturally, abandon rates skyrocket, handle times go through the roof, and CSAT and NPS scores take a nosedive.

Many telephony platforms caught on and started adding built-in callback features as a simple, no-fee remedy that could make all those hold times woes *magically* disappear.

And, since we all like getting more bang for our buck, it sounds like a dream…until it isn’t. Enterprise brands with complex call centers soon realize that these out-of-the-box solutions really aren’t as plug-and-play as they seem. They require additional costs and resources if you want to implement them correctly, they only exist in the IVR channel, and they can throw a wrench in call flows and contact center configurations.

Listen, that’s not just me making generalizations. We’ve had many clients who’ve wrestled with these callback features come to us with these exact problems. And what’s worse, not only did those solutions cause chaos in their contact centers, but they wrecked the customer experience. Calls were often routed to who-knows-where, and customers were being shuffled, skipped, or dropped altogether.

We HATE the idea of callback getting a bad wrap, so we put together a list of what “free” callback actually costs you, AND what you should look for in a real-deal customer callback solution.

And look, real talk: a built-in callback feature could work wonders for your organization. Most of these kinks you’re likely to encounter come up when you’re operating a large, enterprise-grade contact center. I’m not saying to just write off these solutions altogether, but if you’ve got a large agent pool and are considering trying out something native to your CCaaS platform, these are some things to keep in mind.

So let’s start with the bad news first.

Built-in does not mean free or more efficient.

Mindful invented THE callback almost thirty years ago, so take it from us: no callback solution is truly plug-and-play right out of the box. Sure, you might be able to turn it on with the press of a button, but you’re likely to run into five problems right out the gate.

First, most built-in solutions only work in the IVR.

Like I said earlier, customers begin their search for help on your website, so when callbacks are ONLY available through a phone call, it short changes the level of experience you can offer. Not only does a poorly set-up callback solution make it impossible to collect customer context, but when customers use it, they have to start their whole journey over again — repeating themselves to an agent. Even though this is often chalked up to just being “annoying,” it actually bumps up average handle time by as much as two minutes, and can lower your first-call resolution by nearly 50%.

Second, most built-in callback platforms only offer agent-first dialing.

If you’re looking to optimize your contact center for efficiency — and really, who isn’t — then you need a solution that lets you use customer-first dialing. If your agents are tied up in forever ring cycles, customer voicemail, or have to handle their own retries, you’re only adding to handle times and compounding wasted agent time.

Third, your metrics will take a hit.

Since most callbacks keep the agent engaged even though the caller isn’t, contact centers see negative impacts across average speed of answer and other service level metrics. Not to mention what happens when the callback platform isn’t properly programmed to handle repeat callers.

One of our clients, the Connecticut Department of Labor, immediately cut out 11k daily repeat calls when they switched to Mindful after trying a built-in solution. If you want to learn more about that, check out the show notes for a link to our case study.

Fourth, a majority of built-in solutions are on the struggle bus when it comes to reporting vital CX analytics

Like how many people chose a callback, the number of successful callbacks initiated, callback time estimates, punctuality, reconnect rate, repeat calls, and more.

If you can’t measure these things, how do you even know if your callback solution is working?

And here’s the last one — and I promise I’m done being a negative Nancy after this:

Generic callbacks just aren’t in tune with your contact center.

Every contact center is unique, so it makes sense you need a solution that can flex and adapt to your specific needs. Even though CCaaS platforms offer a callback option, it’s typically a one-size-fits-all feature that requires some technical chops to line up properly with your ACD and workforce. This sets brands up for operational shortcomings, like rising callback wait times, bloated queues, overloaded call ports, even exacerbating your traditional hold times.

We talked to Evan Johnson, the VP of Contact Center at U-Haul, and he told us they tried to use an out-of-the-box callback solution, but it failed. There was too much volatility and not enough visibility into how these calls were connecting. It just wasn’t helping their customers.

Look, I know I’m being hard on built-in callback. But real talk: if your contact center is smaller, one of these callback features would probably work well for you! We’ve just seen too many enterprises wrestle with these built-in tools, and want to save you the headache if you’re in that position.

If all that negative talk is making you question whether callback is even worth it — or if you’re sitting there wondering if you might need to rethink your current callback solution — don’t worry, this is where we flip the script and focus on what you should look for in a callback solution and how it can actually take your contact center and customer experience to the next level.

For a full breakdown of callback essentials, you’ll definitely want to read our “Ultimate Guide to Customer Callback“, or listen to our previous episode, “Must-haves of Customer Callback,” both of which we’ll link in the show notes. But for now, I just want to highlight:

Three key components that you should get with a real-deal enterprise callback solution.

First, you want to look for a callback solution that’s omnichannel by design.

Your customers expect an omnichannel experience when they interact with your brand. Whether they’re on your website or app, interacting with a chatbot, or clicking through the IVR — every touchpoint needs to come together to create a single, unified experience that moves with the customer regardless of which channel they’re using.

A premium callback solution should be able to exist outside the IVR, and the best way to do this is by pairing it with a click-to-call solution that lets customers schedule a call with the next available agent (or at a later time and date) from any digital channel — like, your website, app, chatbot, text, WhatsApp, etc.

And just listen to these perks: it removes costly telephony fees, effectively eliminates hold times, proactively preps agents to improve first call resolution, and removes repeat callers across every experience.

Second, your callback solution needs to offer customer-first dialing to maximize efficiency.

If the solution you’re considering or currently using doesn’t let you switch between agent-first and customer-first dialing, avoid it. Yes, both options work and one might even be better than the other in certain contexts, but the point is you need to have the flexibility to choose between the two. Customer-first dialing means your agents aren’t sitting idle, waiting for the call to hopefully connect — so they can handle more calls and move through queues quicker.

Third, you should be able to fine-tune your solution for pinpoint accuracy and queue integrity.

When it comes to built-in callback solutions, plug-and-play could really be called plug-and-pray. If any element isn’t configured to your unique CCaaS setup, you’ll end up with even longer hold times and more frustrated callers than you started with. That’s why any premium solution you consider should make it easy to configure and tune callback pacing.

An intelligent solution can handle any volume and make dynamic changes based on business hours, holidays, and even closing times — letting your agents get home for dinner and minimizing your over-time expenses.

Next steps

We covered a lot in this snack, but it all comes down to this: callback is table stakes for brands that value customers. Period.

If you’re currently working with a built-in callback solution, or you’re weighing the pros and cons between built-in and third party options, you gotta make sure that you’re not just skimping and forfeiting an excellent experience. Take a good, hard look at your solution to see if it’s guilty of any of the pitfalls I mentioned today, then hit us up to learn how Mindful can turn that callback frown upside down.

Nutritional Facts

This episode has been adapted from our article, “The Hidden Cost of a Free Callback Solution,” which you can find in the Mindful CX library at getmindful.com.

We publish new Snackable CX episodes just about every week, so be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. See you next time.

Written and hosted by Sam Salerno.

Produced and engineered by Jared Evers.

Edited, mixed, and mastered by Adam Griffith.

Artwork designed by Rob Beckham.